Tomorrow is Steve’s birthday! Woohoo! Fun fact: It’s also my mom’s birthday! Woohoo!

Steve and I have been traveling and making happy memories together since 2013, but his travel history goes much further back than that! His first-ever trip abroad was to Japan (I know, just like me!) for his first job after getting his Master’s from MIT. He lived in Boca Raton, FL, and flew all the way to Tokyo in 1996 for a week, and he was hooked! So after nearly 25 years of travel, I made him choose his top 10 travel moments. But he couldn’t so I’m letting him have a bonus. Keep reading!

10. Experiencing Salzburg

We needed a win. Our previous trip was to Morocco, and everything went wrong. Like, everything. We were kind of unsure how our trip to Salzburg would go, but it was an absolute win when we needed one. We got peak fall colors, the weather was perfect, the people were friendly, our hotel was phenomenal, and we got a major deal with the Salzburg Card! As many things that went wrong in Morocco, that many things went right in Salzburg. Good travel is a mix of good planning and good luck. Salzburg gave us both when we needed both!

Read more about Salzburg on my Austria Page!

9. Swimming at the Great Barrier Reef

When people ask Steve about epic trips, the Great Barrier Reef often comes up. And he often likens the experience to swimming in a live, natural aquarium! I totally agree. The colors seem not-quite real, the fish are beyond incredible, and the sealife that make the reef their home are stunning! Once you get to one of the many nearby islands, it’s so easy to just walk out a few feet and be in it. Just swim a few more feet out and it seems to go on forever! It was an epic, memorable, other-worldly experience.

Get the Whole Story: 10 Reasons to Visit Cairns

8. Flying in Tiny Planes in the Galapagos

The experience of flying in tiny airplanes between tiny, open-air airports on remote islands is quaint! And adorable. Sometimes we put our luggage on a scale, sometimes we had to get weighed ourselves, and a passenger always got to sit up front with the pilot! There was no security to speak of, sometimes we had a paper ticket, and sometimes not, and the views from above were breath-taking to say the least!

Want more? Read What to Expect on a Tiny Plane

7. Hiking in Zermatt During the Snowiest Winter in 30 Years

Our trip to Zermatt was on the brink of being cancelled because the village was closed to everyone just a week before our trip! They opened up in time for us to go in, stay a couple of nights, and then they closed it again after we left! They had their snowiest winter in 30 years, and it was amazing to see. We hiked on the mountains, marveled at the feet and feet and feet of snow on the rooftops, and started little avalanches on the slopes! It was certainly a memorable experience unlike any we’d ever had before or since!

Read on: Snow Hiking in the Swiss Alps

6. Lava Boat Ride on the Big Island, Hawaii

The lava flow on the Big Island of Hawaii is the stuff of legend. By the time we visited on our third anniversary, it had been erupting for over 34 years! We scheduled a viewing tour on a “lava boat” to see the lava bursting into the ocean on our anniversary, and it was a truly unique thing to see (and smell)!

Read all about it! Unforgettable Lava Boat Tour

5. Seeing the Easter Island Heads Up Close

There’s a surreal, historic mystery about Easter Island and its ancient heads. It’s the most remote and unique place we’ve ever been, and seeing it all up-close and personal was amazing! We hiked to see them, we took a tour to see where they were made, we even got up early to see them at sunrise!

Keep Reading: Ultimate Guide to the Easter Island Moai

4. Hiking Around Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta

There is something special about Uluru and Australia’s red centre. It has an epic beauty that’s truly unlike anywhere else we’ve ever been! You can see across the flat land for days, and then all of a sudden, there are these unmistakable rock formations. The weather in August is chilly but preferable to the unbearable heat in summer down under, so we had the hiking trails practically to ourselves, which was fun and special!

Read More: What to Know Before You Visit Uluru

3. Swimming with Penguins in the Galapagos

Where can you swim with penguins in the wild? Not many places, but you can in the Galapagos! They played with us, outswam us, and everyone had a good time. Life’s best travel moments are those that are unforgettable, unparalleled, and so cute it leaves you with a smile every time you think of it!

Want more? Check out Our Favorite Animals on the Galapagos

2. Sunday Mass at Notre Dame with His Mom

Steve’s family is Catholic, so it was very special for him and his mom to attend mass at one of the most iconic and historic cathedrals in the world. This was in 2003, when Steve lived in France, and his mom had to get her very first passport to visit him there!

1. Hiking the Waianapanapa Coastal Trail on Maui

Sometimes the best experiences are the ones you find on accident! That was definitely the case for this hike on Maui’s famous Road to Hana. We stopped into a state park, but instead of taking a bathroom break, eating lunch, and getting back on the Road to Hana quickly, we chose to take our time and walk along the dramatic rocky coast. We had the most epic wave show! Between the color of the water, the black and jagged lava rock, and the vibrant greenery growing alongside it all, we could not have picked a more incredible spot to have all to ourselves!

Read on: Hiking Hawaii: Maui

BONUS! Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb

This was a pretty special one because Steve had already don’t this one a previous trip to Sydney, but when he took me there for my first trip to Australia, he wanted to make the memory with me, too! We loved it. And this is one of my favorite photos. Look at that big smile!

Want more? Check out Quick Whit’s Best Travel Moments, too! And you can find all my travel bucket lists on my Travel Tips Page.

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