This past year, we spent nearly the first half in Portugal, with a short trip to southern Spain, then spent the summer driving across North America via eastern Canada, the midwest and the mountain west of the United States. We rounded out the year with a trip to the US southwest to Moab, Grand Canyon, Sedona AZ and Santa Fe NM.
It is so hard to pick and choose our favorite (new) places we visited this year but here are the 5 which rose to the top.
The White Villages of Andalucia. We stayed near El Gastor in an Airbnb down a long winding single-track dirt road overlooking Zahara de la Sierra. Perhaps it was our fabulous Airbnb, but we fell in love with this part of Spain. We visited Ronda, Zahara de la Sierra, El Gastor and Setenil de las Bodegas. While Ronda is a big draw for the remarkable views of the old and new towns above the deep canyon and the bridge which crosses it connecting the two towns, our favorites were the smaller and less touristed towns like Zahara de la Sierra and Setenil de las Bodegas.
Nova Scotia. We were just absolutely wowed by Nova Scotia. We stayed in three different spots: in tiny Smiths Cove, on a small private island in an Airbnb near Port Medway and near Baddeck on Cape Breton Island. The Cabot Trail and Breton Highlands National Park were certainly a highlight with their stunning views of cliffs and seashore reminiscent of Ireland or Scotland, but we also just adored Smiths Cove. We didn’t have high expectations going in, but they were far exceeded.
Yellowstone National Park. This was my third trip and Melissa’s first. My first was as a kid and my second was in winter post-college. I remembered the geysers and steaming sulfur-smelling springs, but little else. It, and the road to it from Sheridan, just blew us away. We stayed about a half of an hour southwest of the west entrance in Idaho and spent three days driving through and sightseeing in the park at its many famous, and less famous, sights.
Flathead Lake, Montana. Melissa used to come here often in her 20s but I’d only seen it once on a drive around it on my way to Glacier National Park from Missoula while on a work trip many years ago. We rented a somewhat-rustic Airbnb cabin right on the lake with extended family which left us with many fond memories of days on the water, evenings watching deer graze in our yard and nights around the campfire with roasted marshmallows and s’mores.
Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is cheating because it is not a “new” place, but it is just absolutely one of our favorite places to visit and, we recently visited for the first time in a very long time, so it made the list this year. In winter, the smell of piñon burning in fireplaces all around town wafts through the air. In summer, the restaurants, the Plaza and hotels are jammed with tourists. We’ve been in all seasons and adore New Mexico’s high-altitude capitol (highest state capitol in the USA), its art scene, its fabulous, delicious food and laid-back vibe.
The Traveling Ridleys 
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