12 Places In The US I Deeply Regret Not Visiting When I Lived There

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Last year, I made the move from New York City to Berlin. Though I've loved exploring my new city, the distance has made me homesick and a little regretful for all the places I didn't travel to while I lived in the US.

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In recent weeks, the pandemic and quarantine has only compounded my nostalgia for all the missed opportunities of my pre-corona life. I can't help but keep thinking, "Agh! I should've gone there when I was just a safe and short flight away!"

Travel might not be a reality right now, but my daydreams are pretty much the only thing keeping me optimistic. So, I'll share the places I wish I'd gone to when I had the chance (and that every American should visit when it's safe to do so).

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Hopefully this list will add positively to your hopes and wishes for the post-crisis future.

1. Miami, Florida

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I've literally never wanted to visit Florida more than when I lived in Europe. This is because Florida is almost always the only American territory that western Europeans have traveled to, and I feel deep pangs of regret when I can't join the whole Florida-lovin' conversation. I compare it to coming back home from a trip to Paris and everyone asking me how the Eiffel Tower was, and me being like, "Uhh, well I heard the locals aren't huge fans of it, so I didn't visit it." What I'm trying to say to all Americans is, Florida is Paris. Go there if you get the chance.

2. The mountains of Alaska

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I don't know why I made such huge efforts to plan my outdoors-y travel for outside the US when the mountains and isolated towns of Alaska were right there for me to explore.

3. Madison, Wisconsin (or like, anywhere in the Midwest really)

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The Midwest is like that one delicious-looking chocolate bar with the questionable packaging you always see at checkout, but you never want to risk trying because you like your Twix so much. Now that it's so unavailable to me, I really wish I'd tried that bar.

4. New Orleans, Louisiana

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There's something truly magical about being in a bar/restaurant that breaks out in song and actually knowing the words and being able to sing along. Okay, fine, I admit I always thought it was a little cheesy, but now that I live in a German-speaking country where I don't know a single song by heart, I weirdly wish I could indulge in this ritual?! And where else but in New Orleans, the capital of street music! (In my head, at least.)

5. The Appalachian Trail, northeastern US

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There's something beautiful about exploring the backcountry, falling in love with it, and being able to say, "Ah, I love this land." I love being an American. (I guess, in general, I just miss being patriotic.)

6. The dry, desert landscape of Arizona

Flickr / Daniel Spiess (CC BY-SA 2.0) / Via flic.kr

I miss deserts, y'all. I swear this isn't meant to be humble brag, but: When you're surrounded by exacting urban landscapes in the winter, and verdant shrubbery in the summer, you really start craving the exact opposite. Am I crazy or are desert wastelands just the most beautiful landscapes on Earth?

7. Anywhere serving breakfast tacos, Texas

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I've said this in almost every non-Los Angeles city I've ever been in: "The food scene here is great, but the Mexican food here sucks." I know Texan tacos are often more Tex than Mex, but what I would do for a breakfast taco right now.

8. Montana

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In the year 2020, Montana feels like a lush, idyllic haven, distanced from the politics of the two coasts and a lot of the Midwest. It's all rolling hills, happy cows, and probably where the dairy industry films all their commercials.

9. Boston, Massachusetts

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I once stopped by Boston on my way to Martha's Vineyard and wasn't totally sold. But people here talk about Boston as if it were an elegant, American replica of Versailles, on par with NYC (the superior city on every count, IMO). I think it'd warrant a second, more exploratory trip.

10. The Hawaiian Islands

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Ok, so first of all: I totally know why I never traveled to Hawaii when I lived in NYC — the flights were expensive! But now that I'm even further away, Hawaii feels like a tropical destination once affordable and now too-luxurious.

11. Savannah, Georgia

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First of all, "Savannah" is one of the most farm-chic names I've ever heard. Second of all, I've wanted to try fried green tomatoes since that one Dr. Seuss book. And third of all, I really just want to be able to say I've eaten fried green tomatoes in Savannah.

12. Portland, Oregon

Flickr / Diana Robinson (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) / Via flic.kr

Everyone has that one city that all their friends aggressively recommend to them as the one place they "know YOU'D like." It's the city you feel like you HAVE to visit not only for the sake of travel, but also to understand how this one friend views you. Well, this is my city. In some ways, I'm kind of glad I never visited. I hear it's kind of annoyingly hipster and bougie? *takes sip of home-brewed cold brew from Hydroflask* *shrugs*

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