I grew up in Panama City, Florida, running wild and free on the "World's Most Beautiful Beaches." Here's what my hometown looked like when I visited last summer. I promise this wasn't photoshopped. It really is that perfect.

Come December, East and West Coasters may flock inland to our favorite ski towns (and, let’s admit it, après-ski towns), but by spring, we’re usually headed back to our respective shores and making plans for summer travels, seaside.

It’s unfortunate that we too often relegate the Rocky Mountain states to winter-destination status; after a few years of spring and summer trips to Colorado, I’m struck by how much the area has to offer summer vacationers. Under mountains in bloom, towns put on festivals (I happened upon a great wine fair in Boulder last year), rivers welcome rafters, trails beckon hikers. Planning a Colorado vacation for summer means a ticket to a veritable mountain paradise.

While L.A. residents fight the smog and sit in traffic, many do not seem to know that just 24 easy miles away lies the island resort of Catalina. In contrast to the giant city that lies across the Pacific to the east, Catalina Island has always been something of an anachronism, where golf carts outnumber cars, the clocks move on “island time,” and a herd of buffalo still roams.

Imagine monitoring a meerkat population in the Kalahari. Picture tracking black sea turtles in Baja California. This summer, you could take a volunteer vacation with our partner Earthwatch Institute and work side by side with scientists who are doing important research in the field.

Please join us in welcoming Holly C. Corbett to The Window Seat. She is the co-writer of the blog The Lost Girls and the new travel memoir of the same name.

I’d rather spend my vacation time exploring than vegging out on a beach. Belize’s mix of lush rainforests, labyrinth of underground caves, and Mayan ruins make this Central American country the perfect place for adventure. Plus, it’s just about a two-hour flight from Miami. I wanted to go diving, hike to ancient Mayan ruins, and look for wildlife, so I headed to the former fishing village of Placencia. Located on a peninsula that’s nestled between the Caribbean Ocean and a mangrove-fringed lagoon with the Mayan Mountains to the west, it offers the best of land and sea activities.

After two visits to New Zealand, I am very familiar with travelers' number-one question: just how long does it take to get there? The answer: about 18 hours’ flight time from the U.S. East Coast, or three in-air viewings of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But here’s why Down Under is worth the long haul: once you land in New Zealand—no matter where you touch down—some of the world’s most varied and striking landscapes are a stone’s throw away. In fact, you can visit half a dozen pristine national parks in the time it took you to fly from New York to New Zealand; big on beauty and small on space, New Zealand’s geography favors travelers tight on time. Plus, all Kiwi national parks welcome visitors with free entry and hospitable overnight huts.

Editor's Note: It's Earth Week on the blog! In honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, The Window Seat editors are blogging about our favorite ways to go green while globetrotting. Ask us your eco-questions, join in the green conversation, and help us celebrate Mother Earth.

Happy Earth Day, everyone! In honor of the occasion, I hope that you can take at least a moment today and appreciate something about the natural world, whether it’s acknowledging the stars overhead as you scurry down the sidewalk on your way home from work, the new blooms pushing their way up and out of your backyard garden, or that sweet spring smell in the air that lingers after a lilting rain.

It's Earth Week on the blog! In honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, The Window Seat editors are blogging about our favorite ways to go green while globetrotting. Ask us your eco-questions, join in the green conversation, and help us celebrate Mother Earth.

(Click the play button on the left, not the video screen)

There are many easy ways to green your vacation, but airfare presents the biggest challenge to today's eco-minded traveler. There's no such thing as hybrid or biofuel planes and yet air travel is a necessary part of reaching most destinations quickly. (I don't know about you, but I only get a few weeks off a year. Sure, it'd be nice to bike to Mexico but...)

I hate to be a debbie downer, but two of the happiest stories in the news—the 40th anniversary of Earth Day next week and the World Cup in South Africa in June—have been reminding me that things may not be looking up for one of my favorite places: Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater.

The crater is the world's largest intact caldera, the historic home of Tanzania’s Masai people, and a natural enclosure renowned for its dense population of wildlife. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage site that’s been under scrutiny from UNESCO since 2007 as the area has struggled to maintain a balance between conservation and development. Ngorongoro Crater already spent time on UNESCO’s danger list from 1984 to 1989, and the notable increase in safari vehicles since then means it could appear on the list again.

The last of winter’s rains are washing through the streets, but a sudden profusion of skirts and sandals says that San Francisco is ready for spring. I'm with the masses--Mother Nature needs to pick up the pace and get summery! But without the aid of a weather-controlling device, I've really only got two choices: wait out the chill, or drive south to SoCal.

It took me some time away from home to really appreciate Southern California. In fact, this has been the first year spring has really signaled an inner craving for a day on the beach. I've found myself flipping through swimwear catalogues, pricing tickets to the coast, and wondering how well those spray tans work--the whole pre-summer ritual. And every time I begin planning my escape, I start with Laguna Beach.