Top Travel Days of 2021, Every Day in Jamaica
It was wonderful to return to the warmth of Jamaica with the family in December after a 3-year absence. Having been to the island over a dozen times, I don’t feel the need to walk up Dunn’s River Falls, see Bob Marley’s boyhood home in Nine Mile, watch the cliff divers jump off the rocks near Rick’s, or raft down the many rivers. Because I’ve already done that many times. No, all I wanted to do was spend time with the family, swimming in the soothing Caribbean waters, walking the beach to spot pelicans, reading the latest Amor Towles novel, playing and usually losing in Rummikub, eating my daily lunch of spicy jerk chicken, and certainly drinking my fair share of rum. It was well-deserved rest and rejuvenation for my weary body and soul.
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Pent up for months due to the pandemic lockdown, come mid-July, we were ready to leave the house and head to Eastham on the Cape for a week. We rented a cottage down the block from the bayside Thumpertown Beach, where we would spend most afternoons and evenings swimming in the calm surf and watching the sunset. In the mornings we would bike to Nauset Light Beach and on the up-and-down 
In April, I crashed my car and had to deal with an unexpected, exorbitant tax bill. May brought the death of Lisa’s dad, Ken. Then in early June, we learned that one of our trusted tour operators that we like to use for Africa trips had just went bankrupt. Needless to say, by the time I reached the waters of Lake Temagami in late July, my nerves were shot. All I wanted to do was jump in the water and swim. And for 3 days, that’s primarily what I did. Dove in the heavenly waters of this vast lake and swam free crawl, backstroke, elementary backstroke, underwater, to a small island directly across from us. It was a perfect cleansing of my body in these pristine waters, happily washing away the year’s stress with each stroke.
Located at the southern tip of a long, narrow peninsula, Placencia attracts sun worshippers from all over the globe with more than 16 miles of white sand. If you tire of the beach, a popular day trip is a half-day kayak through the mangroves of Monkey River. Crocodiles, howler monkeys, even manatees can be spotted here. A popular beachfront restaurant in town is De’Tatch Seafood Beach Bar, where you dine on shrimp burritos or fish tacos. If you’re lucky enough to snag one of the six beachfront cabanas, all air-conditioned, at 
Best known for the Cape Cod National Seashore, Cape Cod is also riddled with more than 300 ponds. These freshwater swimming holes are hidden in the landscape, far from the crowds at the beach, and a joy to swim in on a hot afternoon. However, they are tricky to find. Unlike bay and ocean beaches, where signs point you in the right direction, towns on the Cape like to keep these warm freshwater locales a secret. Many of these ponds have limited resident-only (with requisite sticker) parking. Fortunately, they are near town centers, so you can grab a bike and go have a dip. For my top 10 favorite swimming holes on the Cape, replete with necessary directions, have a look at this 
Six miles south of Benbow, in Leggett, California, Pacific Coast Highway or Hwy 1 comes to an abrupt end. Highway 101 will pick up the slack and hug the shoreline north of Arcata on a picturesque drive of headlands rising from the Pacific as you drive to Orick. But that still leaves 80 miles of wilderness shoreline, not easily accessible from any highway. Called the Lost Coast, it is the longest undeveloped coastline in the continental United States. Yesterday, we took the twisting and turning Bryceland-Thorn Road from Redway to the remote village of Shelter Cove. At this small coastal community, houses hug the shoreline backed by flanks of forest and high headlands that make up the