Rocky beaches are not something we are not generally fond of here in the Northeast. Until you have seen these.

Purgaratory is named for a deep glacial chasm in the face of a towering oceanside cliff. Anyone who ventures too close to it’s appeal will slip down through the slick side walls and drown in the chasm. It has happened.

This area of the Rhode Island coast is a study in dramatic contrasts. On the one hand, you have the sheer, steep conglomorate quartz rock walls that receive the full brunt of the North Atlantic’s might and, just a short distance away, is one of the most private and delightful New England beaches you could ever find.

Brave and hardy surfers challenge both these environments as soon as the sun comes up every morning.

Aquidneck is a mere 38 square miles and sits in the middle of Narragansett Bay. Cool breezes and a long growing season make it one of the most lush and verdant areas on the East Coast. First settled in 1638, the old world charm and slower pace of life here is evident everywhere you look.

While Newport is home to seaside restaurants and hole-in-the-wall cafes, Middletown, just up the road, feels worlds away. Farms, vineyards and open-air markets offer up the freshest home-grown foods you’ll find anywhere on the East Coast.

At the Southern end of Aquidneck Island lies the vibrant town of Newport; arguably one of the world’s premier sailing and yachting destinations. Here lobster boats, launches, water taxis and pleasure craft all vie for space amid massive super yachts. Best seen from the water, but a dockside table will do nicely as well.

The area known as Catskill Park contains over 700,000 acres of mountains, woods, rivers lakes and waterfalls. It is also the oldest forest on earth dating back some 400 million years—before animals crawled out of the sea to walk the earth. Everywhere you go, you can sense and feel ancient nature running it’s course like the streams that meander through the landscape.

Everywhere you turn in Catskills there is water.

It comes as a surprise, but slowly. As you travel point to point, and especially if your have the windows down, you hear it as you see it. Rushing, babbling, quietly running past, alongside and under you as you traverse the small towns and homesteads that lay nestled in this 700,000 acre wilderness that exists just 2 hours from Manhattan. Rivers and streams pour from the mountains ceaselessly filling the lakes with literally the cleanest water in the United States. And if that were not enough, blessing us with more waterfalls than anywhere in the world per square mile. Time to gas up and hit the road.

All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, -John Edward Masefield

There is something special about the light this far South. Cabo San Lucas is perched at the southern most tip of the Baja Peninsula. It is bounded on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on the other by the Sea of Cortez. It is said about Oceans that "The Atlantic never forgets, but the Pacific has no memory." As I stare out over azure and gold waters, you can feel a curious sensation... existing in a place where nature rules and time has no meaning.

Those two words are the gateway to a new life. When spoken and shared…the possibilities are endless.