The Thing About "Most Beautiful" lists

If you are anything like me, which you probably are, you love to look up new places to explore. Then you add it to an already extensive list of places you want to visit that would take anyone 50 lifetimes to get around to seeing. Then the search engine algorithms find you and fill your timeline with a million articles on traveling and “Top 10” lists of “must visit” locations in places you can’t even locate the approximate area on a map.

One I recently came across was a top 10 list on the most beautiful beaches in the world. Being a Floridian, I always love reading these top 10 list about beautiful beaches to see if we made the list. Also, I love seeing if I have been to any of them. This list did have Horseshoe Bay Beach located in Bermuda and I definitely agree. I have been twice on 2 separate transatlantic cruise crossings, and the beauty of Horseshoe Bay Beach is absolutely spectacular. If you are a beach vacation lover, you should absolutely look into Bermuda. This lively island has amazing resorts and towns that make a perfect vacation. But what about the other locations?

The beaches themselves are quite remarkable to look at, but do they really make the best beach vacations? Many times, my honest opinion is no. At least for people like me, that is. The beaches in the articles are breathtaking, but aside from the beach, there isn’t really much else to do. To me, “most beautiful locations” shouldn’t be confused with “best locations.” After my 10^th application of sunscreen laying on the beach, I feel the need to get something to eat and find nightlife to keep that vacation feeling going strong. Afterward, I’ll see if there is any place still open at 2 in the morning to get some ice cream. Most of the time, I missed closing by around 4 hours and the next night I’ll go before drinks and karaoke. Usually, I’ll find a minimart still open and grab one of these packaged ice cream cones and go to bed happy.

If my idea of a beach vacation sounds like a good time to you, maybe skip a lot of the “most beautiful” beaches because outside of a stunning beach, there is little else to do. Your beach vacation might start to feel like a camping trip. This is great for those that love camping. We love to think about taking a trip to “get away from it all” but when planning a trip, keep in mind what “it all” really is. The first part may be the real things we want to escape, like work and stress. But don’t forget that this term also might include restaurants, bars, convenience stores, transportation, ice cream, coffee, hot showers, etc.

So maybe to get away from stress, a beach destination like Miami Beach isn’t optimal, but maybe a nice beach town is really what you are looking for. As for those locations that are so amazing to look at, many are highly ecologically sensitive areas that thrive best in our absence. Wherever people go, we tend to leave a path of utter destruction. I feel it’s best to leave those beautiful scenic locations away from mainstream tourism, so they stay beautiful for us to enjoy from pictures taken by the nomad photographers that love living off the grid and who’s idea of a “good time” is camping 100 miles away from the nearest person. The worst thing we can do is to taint the beauty of pristine locations and not even be the kind of traveler that would actually enjoy them for what they are, a secluded and unblemished location lightyears from all signs of modern civilization.