United Kingdom

The United Kingdom - known for their love of tea, its rainy days, and complaining about the weather while drinking said tea. The country consists of a group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe and can easily be considered a cultural superstar. It is home to literary greats as William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and J.R.R. Tolkien.  It is the birthplace of soccer, rugby, cricket, boxing, and golf. And it is also home to, of course, the royal family.

There is a familiarity while traveling around the United Kingdom. A feeling of comfort like you've been here before. Maybe it's the countless movies and stories like Harry Potter, Peter Pan, King Arthur, or even Mary Poppins that have engrained the land in our minds as children. Maybe it’s the architecture, buildings (some over a thousand years old) mashed in throughout the land that have been around since the Middle Ages. It gives the place a lived-in look; stone steps actually worn away with years and years of use. Whatever the reason, there seems to be a feeling of home as you travel through the busy streets of London, explore the quaint villages of the Cotswolds, and catch a glimpse of Edinburgh Castle as you eat ice cream on Haymarket Street.

The landscape consists of a unique blend of rugged terrain in areas like Scotland and rolling pastures of farmland that has been tended for centuries. This makes it an ideal place for hiking and exploring.