Outside Magazine’s Top Travel Stories of 2023

This was the year that travel truly rebounded, with more than 975 million Americans globe-trotting to far-flung outposts. It’s no surprise that readers were looking for inspiration on where to go, as well as advice on where to travel safely. It was also a year that we all wanted to feel happy and hopeful about living and exploring in the U.S., too, in places that are uncrowded, affordable, and accessible to all.

Here’s a look back at Outside’s most popular travel stories of the year. May it excite you to take some amazing trips in the year to come.

1. The 10 Most Beautiful Hikes in the World

This story by our trail columnist Grayson Haver Currin was read by more than half a million people eager to check out his hiking bucket list. Currin provides expert advice and inspiration for a lifetime, not to mention the incredible images that scream “I wanna be there right now.” Readers swooned over Croatia’s Plitvice Lake National Park (“Blew my mind,” wrote one), where you stroll along boardwalks over azure pools (see photo above)—but not swim, as several Instagram commenters who had visited pointed out. We popped in a few interactive Gaia GPS maps to help readers envision various routes and difficulty levels. “I want to do them all now!” wrote a fan. We’re with you.

2. The 15 Happiest Places to Live in the U.S.

Every year we look forward to the Happiest Countries in the World report and decided we needed a national version. So we did our own research on the topic. This was no easy endeavor—our team of editors and fact-checkers looked at topics like climate change, affordability, diversity and inclusion, and percentage of public land, and we tapped sources like Sharecare’s Community Well-Being Index, the Trust for Public Land, and the Human Rights Campaign for up-to-date data. After whittling our list down to 15 from 300 places, we assigned writers familiar with our final choices to dig deeper into the outdoor scene for specific reasons locals loved living there, as well as noting any areas that still needed improvement. The resulting article resonated far and wide with our readers, whose responses varied from “Shhh stop telling all the secrets” to “Great town, good beer.” We enjoyed the debate.

3. This Is the Most Beautiful Town in Colorado

Outside travel editor Alison Osius is a longtime resident of the Centennial State, home to some of the most awesome mountain towns in the country. So when she came back from attending the Mountainfilm festival this summer and said, “Telluride really is the most beautiful town in Colorado,” we asked her to write about why. Read this essay for her justification and why she betrayed her own hometown in the Rockies.

4. This Is the Most Affordable Town in the West

We’re very aware of the high cost of living in mountain towns out west and wanted to see if we could find the most affordable place to live the western dream for this story, researched and written by Outside correspondent Graham Averill. Our choice kicked off a lot of debate on Instagram and made some readers pretty mad. “Everybody in Laramie [is] pissed right now,” one reader wrote. Someone else chimed in, “Now every developer and investor is going to want to destroy this place.” But a local or two seemed to be saying not to worry. “Guarantee you 95% of these people commenting have never lived in Laramie,” one opined. “If you’ve lived here you know why it’s so affordable and why this article isn’t a threat.”

5. Should I Travel to Mexico or Costa Rica Right Now? I’m Concerned About Safety.

The world is an unpredictable place these days, and right before countless Americans set off for spring break this past year, violence in these two countries was making headlines. Our travel-advice columnist, Jen Murphy, reported on safety considerations and government warnings, and she found a travel agency whose state-by-state map of Mexico clearly delineated State Department advisory levels to help readers better understand which places were considered most dangerous. The article was read by hundreds of thousands of people.

6. Tipping Is Out of Control. Here Are the New Rules.

Travel director Mary Turner noticed that tipping amounts were reaching more than 30 percent at registers across the U.S., and that she was being asked for tips in places she’d never been asked to tip at before. So we asked our travel-advice expert, Jen Murphy, to look into what was going on, and her story really hit a nerve with readers. In fact, they’re still commenting on the piece months after it was initially published. Readers have some definite thoughts on who’s to blame for the higher expectations. Said one commenter: “A screen can suggest whatever it wants to suggest. I’m tipping 15-20%. 30 is absurd.”

7. The Day a Wild Stallion Tried to Kill My Horse on the Pony Express Trail

In 2019, Outside writer Will Grant embarked on a 2,000-mile horseback ride along the entire Pony Express Trail, from Missouri to California. He went on to write a book about his adventure that was riveting and romantic, so we weren’t surprised when the the excerpt we published from it took off. Grant encountered more than a handful of tough things en route—among them rattlesnakes and blistering desert heat—but nothing quite compared to a very pissed off wild stallion.

8. Stockton Rush, the Pilot of Missing Titanic Sub, Told Outside Why He Kept Going Back

Like much of the world in June, we were transfixed and saddened when the submersible Titanic went missing thousands of feet beneath the ocean. We recalled that in an article on extreme travel, our writer Alexandra Gillespie had quoted Stockton Rush, Oceangate’s CEO. As part of our continuing coverage, we asked if she had other salient material from her interview with Rush, and indeed she did: she had talked to him twice, via Zoom, in March 2021 and September 2022, and had audio. Gillespie put together the transcripts of that interview for a story that helped illuminate the motivations of this now tragic figure.

9. The 18 Best State Parks in the U.S.

“While national parks get dubbed ‘America’s best idea’ and the full Ken Burns documentary treatment, the state-park system scattered throughout the U.S. is treated as an afterthought,” writes our national parks columnist Graham Averill in this story. With crowding a concern every summer, and travelers intent on experiencing stunning public lands, we wanted to give the 6,972 state-park units some love. The solution was asking Averill to pick some of the most spectacular, with unique adventures to match. He chose the sites best for wildlife-watching, solitude, dramatic landscapes, and more. If you’re trying to determine just where to head with your family and friends in 2024, his list is the place to start.

Tasha Zemke traveled both internationally—to Japan and Israel—and domestically—to Marin County, California, and Los Angeles—this year, each time with family, which made the trips that much sweeter. In 2024, she plans to use airline miles to book a summer trip to Paris for a birthday celebration with her best friends.