Australia

“Australia is just so full of surprises,” wrote Bill Bryson. The land down under is an incredible place, a country and a continent defined by its extreme landscapes, its flora and fauna (poisonous creatures notwithstanding), not to mention epic beaches, excellent food and wine and cheerful people with cheeky good humor as dry as its vast deserts. From the remote outback to the Great Barrier Reef, it’s also got one of the world's oldest living cultures and one of its greatest cities—Sydney—making it hard not to be delighted here.