Palm Desert is a city in California’s Coachella Valley, set between the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains and the Little San Bernardino Mountains. Its landscape is characterized by desert plains, palm trees, rugged mountain slopes, and irrigated areas created around residential neighborhoods and golf courses. El Paseo forms the city’s best-known commercial district, with shops, galleries, restaurants, and public art along a landscaped boulevard.

Micronesia, officially the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), is made up of more than 600 islands scattered across the western Pacific Ocean. Each of its four states (Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae) offers travelers something distinctly different. Ancient stone ruins, sapphire lagoons, volcanic peaks, and remote island communities all tell a story of resilience, connection, and seafaring heritage.

Arecibo is a coastal municipality on the north coast of Puerto Rico, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the island’s northern karst region. It is known for a varied landscape of beaches, limestone hills, caves, sinkholes, forests, and rivers, including the Río Grande de Arecibo and Río Tanamá.

Aceh is a province at the northern tip of Sumatra, with Banda Aceh as its capital and a coastline facing the Andaman Sea, Malacca Strait, and Indian Ocean. Its identity is strongly shaped by Islam, local adat traditions, and a long history of sultanates and maritime trade. Banda Aceh’s Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is one of the province’s best-known landmarks, while the Aceh Tsunami Museum documents the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami and its lasting impact on local communities.

One of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, the Douro in north-central Spain and Portugal just might be the world's most beautiful wine region. Most of the river on the Spanish side isn't navigable, so river cruises generally travel roundtrip from Porto, on the coast of the Atlantic.