I've spent about 100 hours on Amtrak trains from the Northeast to the Southwest. In my experience, traveling by train in the US is typically more expensive than flying, though it depends on the route.

So when I was booking my travel from Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada to Seattle, I was shocked that a coach train ticket cost $50 compared to the $150 basic economy airfare on the same day.

I certainly paid more in hours — the train ride took four compared to the roughly 1-hour flight. Still, I was excited to travel slowly and watch landscapes transform from one country to another.

I'd traveled in first and business class on Amtrak trains before, but this was my first trip in coach since I was a kid. So I wasn't sure how it would compare to my countless experiences flying in basic economy.

Since the ticket was less than half the price, I didn't expect the train seat to be so much cozier than the stiff, flimsy plane seats I'm used to. I even avoided the neck and back pain I usually get when flying.

On the train, the seats felt wider with more legroom than on a typical economy flight.

I stepped off the Amtrak train in Seattle around noon. It was my first time stretching my legs since I'd boarded in Vancouver four hours earlier. With an indie-rock soundtrack in my earbuds and the sun shining above me, I was excited to lug my suitcase on foot to my hotel one mile away.

But I quickly learned that a mile in Seattle doesn't feel like a mile in New York. The route was almost entirely uphill. When I stopped to catch my breath at an intersection, I noticed the street to my right climbed up even taller for as far as I could see.

In my city, I walk a lot, but most of the roads are relatively flat. So I wasn't expecting to feel so exhausted after just one mile.

Situated next to the coast in Downtown Seattle, Pike Place Market is an iconic outdoor market with over 200 stores and restaurants. I've been hearing about it for decades, so I spent my first afternoon in Seattle perusing the nine-acre shopping hub.

On a sunny Thursday afternoon, the market was crowded with locals and tourists alike. I shuffled my way through what felt like a line to get a peek at the fresh seafood. When I needed a break from the mob, I found refuge inside a used bookstore.

Every so often, a delivery truck would drive through, dividing the crowd into two tightly packed globs, but most cars weren't allowed to drive through Pike Place Market. This made sense to me, since each passing vehicle halted the pedestrian flow.

But I was surprised to learn that the open-air market's cobblestone streets are normally open to all cars — the city is testing a ban on cars aside from vendors, delivery drivers, and those with disabilities, the Seattle Times reported in April. The temporary ban began on April 23 and will continue until the end of summer.

I was lucky enough to inadvertently schedule my trip during the ban. I couldn't imagine what it would be like if cars could freely move through the already crowded market.

While wandering the narrow alleyways around Pike Place Market, I was slowed down by groups of tourists stopping to take selfies in front of a vibrant brick wall. The wall was spackled with an array of hues from peach to periwinkle.

At first, I thought the specks of color were dried-up chunks of paint. But when I saw a pedestrian pull a gooey wad out of their mouth and stick it on the brick wall, I realized the wall was a gum canvas.

I was shocked and a little grossed out upon my realization, but when I focused on how the wall actually looked rather than the germ-infested materials, I thought it was a playful work of art.

Before you ask, no, I didn't add my own contribution to the Seattle gum wall.

I lost my charging port somewhere between Vancouver and Seattle, so I headed to a Target near my downtown hotel. Back home in NYC, the Targets I frequent are small and offer little more than a drug store.

So, I was shocked to learn that this location was a 96,000-square-foot, three-story establishment. While still smaller than Targets you'll find outside of cities, according to the Seattle Times, the store had a wide variety of groceries, toiletries, and tech products.

There were so many aisles of home goods that I thought I could decorate my entire apartment with its offerings.

Seattle has long been known as a tech hub where software engineers move in droves to work at big companies like Amazon and Google.

Locals told me I could find the booming scene in the South Lake Union neighborhood, home of the original Amazon headquarters. The company's presence in more than 30 office buildings led to the neighborhood's nickname, "Amazonia."

Before visiting, I expected to find nothing but business-centric streets lined with glass skyscrapers in a tech-fueled neighborhood. So I was surprised by the large presence of nature in South Lake Union.

The neighborhood borders Lake Union, where I explored a waterfront park filled with runners, bicyclists, picnickers, and geese. Locals said the park is dead on the weekends, but tech workers frequent it during the week. Nearby, the Google building had a whole forest of trees on the rooftop.

The pop of color caught my eye while strolling through "Amazonia. In an outdoor space between Amazon buildings in South Lake Union, the bright yellow trailer is hard to miss.

I got a closer look and saw boxes full of bananas beneath the awning, and a sign that read, "Take one — not just for Amazonians but for anyone in the community."

I didn't expect to find a free snack stand in the middle of a city. Amazon previously told Business Insider that founder Jeff Bezos came up with the idea to provide a complimentary healthy snack with no wrapper. The stand first opened in 2015.

From a hotel's rooftop deck, a local pointed to a mountain in the distance and told me it was an active volcano.

I could hardly see the volcano through the haze, but they told me Mount Rainier, which last erupted in 1894, was more visible on clear days.

I was shocked to learn that this city, home to nearly 800,000 people, is so close to what could be a natural disaster. According to the Seattle Office of Emergency Management, the city is a safe distance away from a potential blast's flow, but water and power resources could be affected.

Seattle's mix of natural and urban lifestyles reminded me of my previous trips to Pacific Northwestern cities, which comforted me.

But I was surprised by Seattle's unique attributes, from Pike Place Market to the oddly alluring gum wall.

And since it was so different from NYC, I definitely plan to return to Seattle to get another break from the Big Apple.

Anderson said one of the most underrated trips they've ever taken was to South Dakota in the summer of 2022, where they spent the Fourth of July camping at Custer State Park.

"We were able to get a last-minute camping spot, and it wasn't crowded," she said. "You could spend a week there because it's so beautiful, and there's so much hiking."

It was a sunny 75 degrees Fahrenheit — perfect for hiking, Anderson said. During her hikes, Anderson appreciated the park's unique geographic features.

"Custer Park is known for having these rock spires. I've never seen anything like it," she said. "You get a really good reflection of the rock formations on Sylvan Lake."

The park is also full of grasslands and wildlife, from donkeys to bison, she added.

"You can drive from Custer to Badlands National Park, and you can also stop by Mount Rushmore," Anderson said. "So you can easily make a whole road trip there."

In July 2023, Anderson explored hidden gems in eastern Idaho.

"Grand Teton National Park is really popular, but on the other side of the Tetons, the Idaho Teton Valley isn't very popular," Anderson said. "They have amazing wildflower hikes, mountains, and waterfalls."

Anderson said she also explored sand dunes nearby.

"No one was there when we went except for a few people on ATVs," she said. "But for sunset, we had the sand dunes completely to ourselves."

"Sedona, Arizona, is obviously a really popular destination, but a lot of people don't visit during the summer because it's really hot," Anderson said. But when she went in late August 2024, temperatures had cooled down a bit, and there were still no crowds.

"It would be a good destination for people who don't mind getting up early to hike and or like hiking at sunset," she said. "We hiked at sunrise and sunset to beat the heat, and we had a lot of the trails to ourselves."

Anderson recommends staying at Ambiente Sedona, an adults-only hotel, and spending the hottest hours of the day at the pool.

"In South Carolina, everybody goes to Charleston, but we went to this place called Carolina Heritage Outfitters in the Edisto River area of South Carolina," Anderson said.

Carolina Heritage Outfitters is a tour company that offers treehouse camping by canoe. Anderson told BI that her tour guide said it's a popular activity among locals.

"You canoe downstream a very easy 10 miles to a treehouse, stay overnight, and then canoe 10 miles back to the tour company," Anderson said. "That was one of the coolest things that we've done. We travel all the time, and we've never done anything like that."

Anderson said she's been to Wyoming many times.

"I think, in general, it's underrated as a state to visit for tourism. It is obviously popular because of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park," she said. "But you don't really hear about people going other than that."

South of the Tetons in Wyoming, the Wind River Range offers a similar experience and is far less crowded, Anderson said. For maximum privacy, Anderson recommends pitching a tent at the free campsites in the Green River Lakes area, as she did in July 2024.

"You do have to prepare because it is remote, there's no service, and we took a 20-mile dirt road to get there," she said. "But there's nobody else around. You can go swimming, and the landscapes are so beautiful."

Medicine Bow National Forest is another underrated destination in southern Wyoming.

"We went there in the summer of 2023, and they have amazing lakes and mountain peaks that made me surprised that it's not more popular," Anderson said.

"Mammoth Lakes in California is really popular during the winter because it has great skiing," Anderson said. "Fewer people go during the summer, but it's one of the best hiking destinations we've been to."

Anderson went in 2022 and hiked through mountains, swam and kayaked in the lakes, and marveled at waterfalls.

"It's like a quintessential summer experience," she said.

Shooting Star's history dates back to the 1930s when the Resor family created Snake River Ranch, now known as the largest working cattle ranch in Jackson Hole.

Shooting Star owner and operator John Resor transformed a section of the ranch into an exclusive golf course, club, and residential community. It was a $130 million project.

Roughly 22 miles from Jackson, Shooting Star is sandwiched between Snake River Ranch and Jackson Hole Resort.

When I toured the property, I thought the clubhouse looked like a luxury ranch. The expansive building overlooked the golf course and a 25-meter lap pool.

I spotted nods to the American West when I stepped inside the clubhouse. An animal skull and realistic paintings of cattle at Snake River Ranch decorated the foyer walls.

I also noticed a range of natural textures, from the wood floors and ceiling moldings to the leather seats in front of the large stone fireplace.

I'm no golfer, but it was instantly clear why Golf Digest ranked this a top 100 course in the US.

The 250-acre course looked dynamic, with aspen and evergreen trees dotting hills parted by 50 acres of water hazards, including ponds and streams. It was designed by Tom Fazio, who also designed Donald Trump's golf clubs in Westchester, New York, and Pine Hill, New Jersey.

Fazio also designed multiple courses at the exclusive Vintage Club in Indian Wells, California, where Bill Gates purchased a home for $12.5 million in 1999.

The golf course blended in so seamlessly with its surroundings that I thought it was a naturally occurring landscape, but the land was actually reformed with a design goal of making each hole unique.

According to a Shooting Star brochure, the process included moving 2 million cubic yards of dirt, planting more than 2,500 trees, and carving out 50 acres of lakes.

For a handful of PGA pros, including the golf club's director Ben Polland, Shooting Star is more than a home course — it's a day job.

According to Jackson Hole Sotheby's International Realty, most homes didn't hit the market. However, the available listings include two-acre plots of land for $15.5 million and three-bedroom, four-bathroom cabins for $11.75 million.

In the winter, Shooting Star becomes a skier's haven, and the Alpine Barn is the hub.

Inside, there were nearly 200 lockers. During ski season, the barn shows movies and serves complimentary food. A shuttle takes skiers to the nearby Jackson Hole Mountain Resort to hit the slopes, but there's also a track around the course's perimeter for a short run.

The 2,400-square-foot facility had smart cardio equipment with large screens overlooking the swimming pool and barn. A handful of workout studios offered classes like yoga and pilates.

Outside, there were also tennis and pickleball courts.

I entered one of the six treatment rooms and thought it felt serene.

Limestone and wood moldings texturized the walls. There was a fireplace, cozy seating, and two treatment beds.

Natural light poured in from the window at the back of the room. There was a gigantic stainless steel tub in front of it.

Bathing in there with a view of the course and the surrounding Tetons would be a dream.

I spotted glass jars containing toothbrushes, razors, hair ties, eye drops, and over-the-counter pain and allergy medication.

The dining room had a wood-burning fire pit inside. Out on the patio, members could dine right next to the golf course.

The property feels vast, so seeing it all planned out on one table helped me better understand the course and development.

I left with a sense of what it might be like to be a member of such an exclusive club in an epic location.

Thomas said she had the time of her life visiting Pakistan in June 2024.

"You would not believe the places I had all to myself," she said, recalling trekking glaciers and camping in solitude beneath mountains over 22,000 feet tall.

The country has many beautiful landscapes, and Thomas especially recommends hiking from Fairy Meadows to the base camp of Nanga Parbat, the ninth-tallest mountain on Earth.

She also suggests travelers head to Rakaposhi Base Camp and stay at Hapakun Campsite for glacier views. They can also drive the Karakoram Highway, one of the world's highest paved roads that's surrounded by mountain views.

If you're a thrill seeker, visit Skardu, where you can drive motorbikes, paraglide, ride horses, or go on desert safaris.

She also recommends spending a night in the mountain village of Karimabad, which offers boutique accommodations and local markets with handmade goods.

History buffs should also visit Lahore's iconic UNESCO sites, such as the Lahore Fort citadel and Badshahi Mosque.

Montenegro is Thomas's all-time favorite country. She's been to the small European country multiple times, most recently in June 2024.

"It has everything for an amazing summer vacation," she said, including "picturesque old towns and cobbled streets with alfresco dining, beautiful beaches, mountain backdrops, and underrated national parks."

Thomas said Montenegro's beaches, mountains, and architecture are similar to what you'd find in Italy, but without as many crowds. After all, the Balkan country typically receives millions fewer visitors a year.

While there, she recommends visiting the coastal town of Kotor to take a boat trip around the bay or a cable car to the alpine coaster that goes down a cliff overlooking the bay.

Travelers can also enjoy the historic architecture in the nearby town of Perast, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

While in Montenegro, Thomas also suggests visiting Sveti Stefan for a beach day and Skadar Lake for kayaking.

Just south of Montenegro, Albania is an underrated spot for relaxing beach vacations and adventurous trips.

"Not only does it have a gorgeous coastline, but the mountains are incredible," she said.

Thomas visited the country in June 2023 and hiked to waterfalls, mountain passes, and alpine rivers. She said she didn't see many other tourists during her trip.

She recommends hiking in the Alps of Albania National Park and stopping at the Albanian Riviera, a coastline with turquoise water and white-sand beaches similar to what you'd find in more crowded spots in Europe.

The country's also home to Ksamil, which some have nicknamed the "Maldives of Europe," but Thomas recommends heading a little more north to Himarë instead. Both places have beautiful beaches, but the latter is usually far less crowded.