From the deserts of Southern California to the forests of Alaska, the U.S. possesses an incredible diversity of nature. For most of her life, Joy Ryan never saw the landscape beyond her home state of Ohio. Then, when she was in her mid-eighties, her grandson Brad Ryan decided to take her on a journey to all of the U.S. National Parks — a mission that took eight years to complete. At the age of 93, Grandma Joy has finally seen all 63 parks, ending the monumental feat in the National Park of American Samoa.

“When I learned she had never seen the great wildernesses of America — deserts, mountains, oceans, you name it — I thought that was something that would trouble me if I didn’t take action in some way,” Brad says. This idea sparked their first trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. However, once they were on the road, Brad realized that they could visit more parks nearby, and their trips multiplied. Over the years, they managed to see all the famous sights at Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, the Redwoods, and so on.

Despite Grandma Joy’s older age, she could hike mountains and do white water rafting. Brad praises her enthusiasm for life as the key to her good health. She expresses gratitude for each new day and is always excited about the next adventure. Finally, their long journey across the U.S. ended with American Samoa. “It’s about 6,700 miles from Ohio, where we live. It’s the only U.S. National Park south of the equator. It’s a long trip, but we’re excited to go,” Brad explains. “We can enjoy the beach and the beautiful tropical paradise. But as we’ve learned from the rangers that work there, American Samoa is an island community firmly rooted in family. And I think that there’s a bit of a poetic beauty to ending it there, too.”

4 of the World’s Most Amazing Train Journeys

Start: Beijing                  End: Lhasa

Distance: 2,330 miles       Duration（时长）: 40 hours

Connecting Beijing with Lhasa, the Z21 train transports its passengers from a modern city to a mysterious land. What’s unusual is that the train climbs nearly 16,400 it on its journey to the roof of the world: the Tibetan plateau, where it passes yaks, flying prayer flags and snow—covered mountains.

Start: Hanoi                    End: Ho Chi Minh City

Distance: 1,072 miles       Duration: two days

Some railways run through historic cities, others run beside beautiful coastline and a few are famous for the colorful characters on board. The Reunification Express meets all these conditions. It travels over a thousand miles from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south. There’s no better way of exploring all the glories in between.

Start: Chicago                  End: San Francisco

Distance: 2,438 miles        Duration: 52 hrs 40 mins

As for appreciating the breathtaking scenery of the North American continent, nothing compares with Amtrak’s California Zephyr train. This journey travels nearly 2,500 miles across prairies, deserts, the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada on its way.

Start: London                       End: Fort William

Distance: 509 miles               Duration: 13 hrs 30 mins

Starting from crowded central London to the dry and cold air and beautiful views of the Scottish Highlands through one overnight train journey is a perfect example of experiencing the romance（浪漫）of rail travel. It’s just a pity that the whole experience—from delicious foods and drinks to being taken into la-la land—feels like it’s over very quickly.

Nobody likes waiting in long lines at amusement parks, especially when you are with babies. Disneyland or Disney World are known for their splendid rides, attractions and large crowds as well. The familiar result is that many guests have spent a lot of time just waiting on lines while visiting the theme parks, which annoys the majority.

Until recently, both parks have made use of the FastPass system to keep guests moving. On certain rides, park-goers could obtain a ticket that allowed them to come back within a specific time window. At that point, they would wait on a special line for seating. As explained in a recent YouTube share, the system worked similarly to a real queue. Instead of waiting in line, guests could continue to explore the park and, most importantly for Disney, spend more money at shops and restaurants.

While the FastPass system became popular, usage ended during the recent pandemic (流行病). With both the California and Florida theme parks operating at reduced visiting number, the space taken up by FastPass kiosks was instead used for socially distanced lines.

In its place, Disney has developed a new planning tool called Disney Genie. The online app, which became available in Disney World in October, allows guests to create a path for their visit. By using park data that’s updated throughout the day, the app will help guests plan out their visit so that they can hit the rides and attractions that they want in the most convenient way. Guests using the app pay an extra fee and get the option to book the next available time to ride select attractions.