Globe Trekker

A road trip west across the U.S. includes the Blue Ridge Parkway and stops in Nashville and Memphis, Tenn.; Route 66, from Oklahoma to Arizona; the world's best preserved meteor crater.

Colonial Chihuahua, Mexico, where Pancho Villa started the Mexican Revolution; silver mine in Zacatecas; the colonial Silver Road to Mexico City.

Cajamarca, Peru, the site where Incan soldiers were slaughtered by Pizarro's conquistadors; Lima, once home to the Spanish Inquisition in South America; the volcano El Misti holds well-preserved ice mummies.

Santiago de Chile, gateway to Easter Island; Tahiti; an ocean voyage includes a crossing to Pitcairn Island.

Kingdom of Tonga; Fiji; Norfolk Island; Kanak people of Noumea, New Caledonia.

The Silk Road trade route begins at the silk capital of Xi'an, China; sampling the wines and grapes of Turpan; 1,000 Buddha cave in Kuqa; Kashgar Market.

The ancient kingdom of Samarkand and Bukhara in Uzbekistan; the lost city of Merv; the modern capital of Baku in Azerbaijan; bazaars of Istanbul.

Vampire myths in Bulgaria; Nis Skull Tower in Serbia; Dubrovnik, Split and Rijeka in Croatia; Vienna, Austria.

The U.S. Mint in Denver; hiking the Mesa Trail; research trip to Crow Canyon; Utah's ski resorts, the Great Salt Lake and national parks.

Bengal tigers at Sunderban National Park; floating school; ship-breaking yards in Chittagong, Bangladesh; seaside resort of Cox's Bazar.

Gerhard Church, Lake Sevan and the Armenian Genocide Memorial; Tbilisi, Georgia; the Caucasus Mountains; roots of Georgian song and dance; the carved city of Vardzia.

A banana plantation in Honduras; the Mayan ruins of Copan; Izalco volcano in El Salvador; El Imposible National Park; rodeo fiesta in San Luis del Carmen.

The Pho Binh noodle shop in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; imperial cuisine; traditional banquet hosted by the Flower Hmong tribe; seafood feast.

A weekend with a 1950s theme includes stops in Atlantic City and Wildwood, N.J.; Delaware; crabbing on the Chesapeake Bay; the Art Museum in Philadelphia; Flight 93 National Memorial; Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; and Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia.

Spice trails reach from the Molucca Islands of Indonesia to the Indian province of Kerala; spice blends that define world cuisine include Jamaican jerk seasoning, Indian garam masala, Chinese five-spice powder, and Middle Eastern harissa.

The Mackintosh Museum in Glasgow, Scotland; Stirling, the site of a victory by William Wallace; island of Islay; fishing off the Isle of Skye; battlefield of Culloden; Clanloddoch Games and Gathering; Orkadian wedding; St. Andrews; Edinburgh International Festival.

Greek islands Hydra and Patmos; nightlife on Mykonos; Apollo's birthplace on Delos; city of Akrotiri on Santorini; hiking the Samaria Gorge on Crete; tiny island of Gavdos.

Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria; Yorubaland; witch doctors in Oyo; historic walled cities in northern Nigeria; ancient Kurmi Market; traditional Fulani village of Chafe; mountain gorilla in Nigeria's eastern highlands.

Touring Beirut and the Lebanese countryside to explore the country's people, culture and cuisine.

El Rastro flea market in Madrid; Spanish Civil War landmarks; El Escorial; Roman aqueducts of Segovia; hillside town of Toledo.

Day of the Dead festival in Pazcuaro, Mexico; old colonial town of Guanajuato; Acapulco; annual surfing festival in Puerto Escondido; Mayan ruins of Palenque; San Cristóbal.

San Telmo, Buenos Aires; Recoleta Cemetery; gaucho street fair; ferry excursion across the Rio de la Plata; Mendoza region of Argentina.

Luxembourg Gardens; Le Cordon Bleu; Palace of Versailles; Mona Lisa; a ride up the Eiffel Tower; Moulin Rouge.

Ski-touring the Haute Route from Chamonix, France, to Zermatt, Switzerland.

Exploring the roots of Cantonese cuisine; spiced pork; the rice fields of the Parl River Delta; tea mountains; city of Xiamen; soul food in Daya Bay.

World War II locations in the Pacific include Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Chuuk Lagoon in Micronesia, the Solomon Islands, Bikini Island, Kokoda in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines; Japan's Nagasaki Peace Park.

Sea kayaking and penguin watching in Paradise Harbor, Antarctica; Mount Scott, Kiev Peninsula, Antarctica; crossing Drake Passage.

Surrounded by rain forests, mountains and volcanoes, St. Lucia, Martinique and Montserrat are three of the top vacation spots in the world.

Maputo, the capital of Mozambique; Africa's biggest coconut plantation; Mozambique Island, the first European settlement in East Africa; the village of Mueba.

Reindeer racing competition at the Easter Festival in Norwegian Lapland; the northern lights; trekking through the Italian Dolomites to the via ferrata; the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland.