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Saturday dawns frosty and foggy. Initially, my daughter, Grace, and I fear our 8 a.m. horseback ride in Alberta鈥檚 Badlands will be cancelled. But no, Rocking R Guest Ranch co-owner Marvin Kinsman assures us the conditions are perfect.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK Bison surrounded our minivan. Big ones and little ones. Some weighing about a ton, strolling a metre outside my window. This was so Yellowstone.

REGINA Standing on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River, near the Whitecap Dakota First Nation, presents a view of an endless river and a valley on either side.

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY Here鈥檚 how not to start a road trip. First, at the Alamo rental car counter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport just over the line from Washington, D.C., discover that your driver鈥檚 licence is missing.

PONTA DELGADA, SAO MIGUEL, Azores You can feel her pain.

Halle is a professional cuddler. This little two-and-a-half-year-old koala has my daughter, Grace, in a eucalyptus-scented embrace. Grace smiles and snuggles and Halle half closes her eyes.

MARANA, Arizona The distinct, bell-shaped mountain rising above the Sonoran Desert northwest of Tucson holds a special power, say those who鈥檝e spent time here 鈥� a magnetism that draws you in, sets you apart, even if only momentarily, from a difficult

Just as I was an expert picnicker as a young backpacker, I鈥檓 now an older backpacker 鈥� who is packing a little extra taste and money 鈥� so I find myself seeking out 鈥渇oodie鈥� meals these days.

MARA NORTH CONSERVANCY, Kenya It鈥檚 not just a safari. It鈥檚 a master class in the untamed world, a behind-the-scenes education with experts who are the talking Google gods of wildlife.

How is it possible? How can they all be so jaw-droppingly, picture-perfect blue? The vast rivers and lakes beside the saw-toothed Canadian Rockies of Alberta are an otherworldly, electric shade of turquoise.