In Cuba, the most jarring case of culture shock is the distance between the worlds of visitors and those who live there.

The first thing you notice upon arriving in Stowe is the intense green. Not only are the mountains, forests and meadows green, but the very air smells green. Welcome to Vermont, where the air is clean and suitable for drinking in deeply. When you take in a lungful, it's akin to a deep religious experience or a seven-course gourmet meal in a five-star Paris bistro. Environmentalists will feel as if they've landed in the Garden of Eden.

Less than 20 miles separate America's first permanent English settlement (1607) in Jamestown, from the last battle of the Revolutionary War (1781) in Yorktown. Located strategically in between these two historical areas is the second capital of Virigina: Colonial Williamsburg.

Is there anything that you can't do in San Francisco? While there on a recent visit, I examined fruit flies through a microscope at the Exploratorium, rode a big red fire engine across the Bay to Sausalito, toured the Boudin Bakery Museum and watched workers make sourdough bread, enjoyed the hysterically funny and campy "Beach Blanket Babylon" musical, saw Painted Ladies on a Victorian Home Walk tour, savored exquisite French cuisine at Restaurant Jeanne D'Arc and, oh yes, I left my heart. And that was just in the first 24 hours.

At the top of the 163-foot lift hill on The Voyage, a wooden roller coaster at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Ind., the view was exhilarating: "It went up so high it almost went up in the clouds. I could almost see the parking lot where we came in," 9-year-old Preston Reynolds said.

Think of Minnesota and fishing, hockey tournaments and maybe a Bob Dylan song spring to mind.

And there's even less to do when it snows, right?

Wrong.

Although Karen Witter works in a museum all day, she still picked a city with plenty of museums for her to visit on her recent vacation.

The view from the hammock is a stunning combination of cerulean water, verdant plants and exquisitely sculptured rock that molds the coastline.

Four hours from Springfield is a winter playland of ski slopes, snow sculpting, quaint and elegant shops, premium hotels and restaurants -- with dancing horses and a blizzard of holiday lights to top things off.

In the shade of Barcelona Cathedral's ornate, 230-foot-tall spires covered with construction scaffolding, oboists and trumpeters begin playing a moderately fast yet somber song. In front of them in the square, passers-by suddenly put down their bags and join hands to form a circle. They begin to dance, holding their arms up triumphantly while stomping and kicking their feet in unison. While eating tapas at a café on the square, my mother and I and my dear friend from college watch with amazement as the locals perform the Sardana, a traditional Catalan dance that takes place every Sunday.

"Paris makes you want to live forever." That's what my husband said as we walked the streets of the City of Lights. In Paris, you never want your time to end. It sweeps you up in its arms like a dancer and twirls you around, dizzying you with its lights, smells, sights and touch. In a moment, you feel you're a part of it, like a stranger who becomes your best friend. The historical splendor of the stones and steel is as welcoming as a soft bed.

There's something special about massive red sandstone rock formations towering over a beautiful and fragile desert environment that calls me to explore the region. Edward Abbey once served as a seasonal ranger in the area and in his famous book titled "Desert Solitaire," had this to say: "This is the most beautiful place on earth."

It's the fastest and most exciting two minutes in sports. Imagine several tons of fluid fury and power thundering down a dirt track for thoroughbred bragging rights and the coveted blanket of roses.

I spent my first evening in Myrtle Beach blinking back tears. Not because I was sad. Far from it.

Winter can be a long, slow grind, especially for baseball fans. The cold and snow only serve as reminders that sunshine, green grass and the crack of the bat are still so far away.

Some fans, though, have the perfect cure for the winter blues: a trip to Florida or Arizona for spring training.

Steve Hayden and Richard Lashbrook have traveled extensively in the United States because they are both American Kennel Club dog show judges, and they judge regularly at shows around the country.

Just what do you bring to a birthday party for a city that's now officially 150 years old? If you're heading to Denver, then be sure to bring your Crocs, those bright and colorful rubber shoes that are designed to give you happy feet.

When everything came together - three weeks off, the right vaccinations, helpful relatives the Reisers jumped at the chance to take the trip of a lifetime, and they went on safari to South Africa.

Although the Drake family has been to several different locations for family vacations, this April's trip to South America was a first. The family went to Peru and the Galapagos Islands at the end of what would be considered the rainy season in Peru and Ecuador.