Pools are fine. The ocean’s great too, if you don’t mind the waves and the salt. But nothing beats swimming in water so clear you can count the rocks on the bottom, whether it’s a spring-fed river, a mountain lake, or a turquoise pool under a waterfall. Wild swimming has caught on right alongside cold plunges and forest bathing, and it’s easy to see why: it might be the most relaxing way to get outside.

From Lake Tahoe to Arizona’s Havasu Falls, these are nine of the clearest places in the US to take the plunge.

Most Japan trips start and end with Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.

Add a drive through Setouchi, around the Seto Inland Sea, and you’ll hit a historic canal town, the art island of Naoshima, a school that teaches you to make udon, and a 300-year-old thatched farmhouse in the Iya Valley.

October Edition

Steamboat Springs has produced more than 100 Olympians, runs a downhill race for cowboys in full Western gear, and offers free Sunday skiing at Howelsen Hill, North America’s oldest continuously operating ski area.

It’s also far from the I-70 gridlock that clogs Vail and Breckenridge, with hot spring soaks, gondola happy hours, a food scene well beyond chili-cheese fries, and dive bars worth closing down.

One is a former Missouri morgue turned vacation loft that lends out paranormal research gear. Another has a third-floor New Orleans bedroom where guests report seeing a young girl in a yellow 1890s dress.

Add Oregon’s Twilight Swan house and a Stranger Things replica near Atlanta, and you’ve got 10 Airbnbs for anyone who doesn’t need a full night’s sleep.

Chris Tomkins went from part-time watch salesman to Virgin’s first-ever Head of Yes, spending six paid months on cruises, Upper Class flights, and helicopter rides. He breaks down the application video that landed him the gig, and there’s still time to go for the next one: applications close Oct. 20.

The Matador Editorial Team

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