Hatteras Island ranked second in HomeToGo's 2025 travel report
The list includes other vacation spots such as:
Bull Shoals, Arkansas.
Cherry Grove Beach, South Carolina.
Dale Hollow Lake, Tennessee/Kentucky.
Temecula, California.
Put-in-Bay, Ohio.
Captiva Island, Florida.
Traverse City, Michigan.
Grayton Beach, Florida.
Port Clinton, Ohio.
'Memorial Day is one of the biggest markers of American travel habits, and vacations around this holiday can act as an interesting early indicator of what's ahead for the summer,' HomeToGo Travel Expert and Spokesperson, Eleanor Moody said. 'This year, we're seeing vacationers gravitate toward locations offering space, scenery, and a slower pace—from lakeside gems in the Ozarks, to serene stretches of the Carolina coast, to scenic cities situated in wine country. On average, travelers are venturing 746 miles from home to reach Memorial Day vacation destinations, indicating a preference for spots that feel distinctly different from the everyday, providing both distance and downtime.'
HomeToGo's Memorial Day Travel Report says that the majority of the top ten trending destinations this year are rural or small-town spots, with lake and river retreats, beach towns and island breaks, and gourmet stays in wine country reigning as top priorities.
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National Geographic
2 hours ago
- National Geographic
Headed to the Pacific Northwest? Here's a first timer's guide to visiting Seattle
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Over Labor Day weekend, Seattle Center hosts Bumbershoot, a joyous end-of-summer music and arts festival. Fall: In September and October, harvests are in, summer crowds are out and it's the ideal time to visit the farmers, crafters and other vendors at the historic Pike Place Market. Seattle celebrates the glass arts in October during Refract: The Seattle Glass Experience. Winter: Head to Seattle's Chinatown-International District for Lunar New Year celebrations. February's Northwest Flower & Garden Show offers previews of spring. February is also Museum Month, when downtown hotel bookings include passes for half-off admission at many museums. In mid-March, join the 'bloom watch' for peak viewing of Yoshino cherry trees on the University of Washington quad. 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How to visit Seattle sustainably Seattle is serious about sustainability. You'll spot recycling and composting bins in restaurants and attractions. Compostable take-out containers and utensils are standard. The city banned plastic bags back in 2012, so tuck a tote into your suitcase. Transportation: Downtown is hilly, but very walkable. Sound Transit's Link light rail is electric powered. King Couty Metro's fleet is almost entirely hybrid or zero-emission vehicles. And there are plenty of e-scooters and e-bikes available for rent. Shopping: Explore neighborhoods via vintage and secondhand stores by shopping at Barn Owl Vintage Goods in Georgetown, Lucky Vintage outlets in Fremont, Ballard and the University District, and Two Big Blondes, the country's largest plus size consignment store, in the Central District. Harriet Baskas is a Seattle-based journalist who writes about museums, airports and travel. 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American Military News
10 hours ago
- American Military News
7,000+ military, security troops deployed to protect top Mexican vacation spots
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Buzz Feed
a day ago
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25 Things That Shocked Foreign Visitors To America
One of the best things about travel is that it opens your eyes to how people from different parts of the world live. On the flip side, if you have ever wondered about what non-Americans thought of American culture and its unique quirks, it gets covered in r/AskReddit when someone asked, "Non-Americans of Reddit, what's something that absolutely shocked you when you first visited the US?" The reverse culture shock was real. Here's what people had to say: "One British boyfriend of mine was flabbergasted at the size of my parents' bathroom sink." —YourMothersButtox "As someone who grew up in the UK and moved to the US, the distance between places was the biggest thing to get my head around." "The cars, which looked normal on TV, were twice as big as normal cars back home." —bartvanh "The accommodations provided for physically disabled people in public transit and public places. I felt genuinely happy that there is a country that takes its protections seriously. You would not want to catch yourself in a disabled state in my country." "The listed price in stores not being what you pay. So, coupled with my unfamiliarity with US coinage, I bought everything with notes and ended up weighed down with pocketfuls of loose change at the end of each day." —akiralx26 "All the ingredients in medications on TV, and advertising medication on TV." "The gaps around the stall doors in public restrooms took some getting used to!" —BareBonesTek"We hate it, too."—pandorumriver24 "So many cereal options." "Portion size. You get a TON of food at a restaurant." "How straight and white people's teeth were!!!" —Fit_Acanthaceae6191 "I've been living in the US for a year. One thing I am absolutely livid about is that you have to pay to find out how much tax you owe. You can do the calculations yourself, but I wasn't confident enough to do it, so I did what most Americans do and used a proxy to file my taxes, and I had to pay $50. Like, this is insane. How the IRS doesn't just tell you how much you owe is baffling to me. This felt like a scam." "In France, your taxes are already filed automatically because the equivalent of the IRS knows your employment status, along with how much you make, and your family situation. You just have to verify that everything is in order, and you can add deductions if needed. It took me 20 minutes to file taxes in France, while it took me two days to check things ten times and review all the checklists on what I needed to send and to whom."—Matrozi"American here, and we hate it as well. The best part? They know what we owe, and if we do our taxes wrong, we get in trouble, pay penalties, or worse. TELL US THE NUMBER, AND WE WILL TAKE CARE OF IT."—sginsc"It's actually on purpose. H&R Block and Intuit are paying lobbyists to intentionally make it more difficult. Source."—get_off_my_lawn_n0w "How sweet all the food is, particularly food that shouldn't be sweet, like bread." "Advertisement. Shitty advertisements absolutely everywhere." "Personal injury lawyer ads." "Everybody asking how I am doing, straight after the, 'Hi.'' —Important-Sir-3956"Kinda like the British, 'You alright?'"—The_GREAT_Gremlin "The accents. In Canada, there are a few regional accents, but not that many. In the US, there were SO MANY." "Homeless people. I know every city in every developed country has some to some degree, but my god, all the cities I visited in the US had homeless people on every other block. Most of them sadly appeared like they had serious mental health issues. Everyone else was walking by like it was normal." "The contrast between rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods — the outright poverty in some areas of the richest country in the world." "That pregnant women work until the end and that there's no postnatal paid leave." "Open carry. I'm accustomed to only seeing law enforcement officers with weapons holstered." "Flags and political signs in people's yards. On bumper stickers, in shops and cafés. This was outside of election season and it felt like everyone needed to let you know if they were a DEMOCRAT or a TRUMP supporter." "In Ireland, you could know someone all your life and never know who they vote for. Only a complete weirdo would put political slogans in their garden. It's considered crass to fly a flag outside of St Patrick's Day or a football match."—Tukki101 "We were driving towards the Grand Canyon in the middle of nowhere with no buildings around, and suddenly, there was a fireworks shop next door to a preschool." "Drive through everything. The funniest one was a burger place we went to. You were supposed to park, order next to the speaker, and then eat in your car. We parked and tried to go inside, and the guy was like, 'Wtf, are you doing?'" "How big and beautiful your country is. Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Yosemite are stunning. I drove to Arizona, Utah, and California, and it was just amazing. New Orleans was out-the-gate exciting. Beverly Hills Cop did not prepare me for your national parks." —MischaJDF"Outside of the cities, how beautiful the countryside is — the diversity of mountains, forests, deserts, and lakes. It is a very beautiful, big, and diverse landscape."—Stevebwrw And finally, "Americans aren't actually as much the assholes as propaganda media constantly portrays." Are these takeaways surprising? Let us know in the comments!
