It’s been more than 500 years since Columbus sailed to the Americas, and nearly 300 years since Captain James Cook set foot on Hawaii. So where can modern-day explorers travel in order to truly get off the grid? While there may be some places left on the planet that haven’t been touched by humans (such as Surtsey, anewly formed island off the southern coast of Iceland that, by law, cannot be visited, so that scientists can study the ecosystem from afar), many if not all of them are illegal to visit, or too dangerous for visitors to consider. Nevertheless, there are a few places in the world that are the perfect blend of hidden yet accessible. And by in large, these unspoiled spots are almost always in the form of an island.
To be sure, many of these locations are not for everybody. If you hate long flights, for example, then these trips might be synonymous with a journey through Dante’s Inferno. Yet before you’re deterred by the length of the voyage, just remember the words of the late Anthony Bourdain when he said, “Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund.”
