“Namibia,” the flight attendant said when I asked her where the most beautiful place she’d ever been was.  It took us years to get there after her suggestion, but we finally made it last month.  There is a lot of pressure on a country when someone tells you it’s the most beautiful place they’ve ever been. I kept trying to remind myself to curb my expectations.  How else would Namibia have a fighting chance?

Matt and I spent hours of our trip (there were many lengthy car rides) discussing what makes a place beautiful and how we rank or rate beauty.  Architecture can be beautiful.  A landscape can be stunning.  A sunrise or rainbow with no specific place can catch your eye.  Does a beach or a mountain provide more beauty? I love the mountains.  Others prefer the beach.  How does your mood in any given moment impact how you perceive a place?  Can a spectacular place override any mood?

Namibia is striking.  I found myself gobsmacked more than once and audibly and unintentionally would utter, “wow” in the awe of the landscape before me.  One sunset we rode ATVs across the desert dunes.  The ride was fun, but the views were amazing.  I’d “wow” and the words echoed in my helmet making me chuckle.  Each time we crested a dune, the view, and my reaction came as a surprise.  I wasn’t anticipating more beauty over each dune.

Would the landscape have been as beautiful at noon?  Was it the sunset that really made the dunes pop?  The dunes themselves?  What creates the beauty we see?

The dunes in Namibia appear to be in motion.  They are not merely mounds of sand.  They have waves and sideways arches carved into them by the wind. Ripples run along the surface.  Subtle layers of sand flow down the edges like a mini avalanche.  They are mesmerizing.  They seem somehow alive.  In a harsh climate, they appear soft.

We took a sunrise hot air balloon ride.  A man proposed to his girlfriend.  That couple created a beautiful moment in a stunning locale.  A giraffe walked toward the watering hole at our tented camp at night—set aglow by the light in the camp.  Beautiful?  Maybe. The moment was certainly magical.  Here was a giraffe, ambling toward me as I fell asleep.  It felt like a children’s book come to life.

Is Namibia the most beautiful place I’ve been?  I’m not sure.  It certainly falls somewhere on this list of most beautiful places:

  • The White Mountains – particularly one night when all the small evergreens at the peak were coated in ice. As the sun set, the light hit the ice collected on the end of each branch and lit up the trees like a forest of Christmas trees. It lasted minutes.
  • Dingle Peninsula, Ireland
  • Switzerland
  • Iceland — every waterfall, but one day we happened across a place that just looked like a mystical fairyland.
  • Machu Pichu – especially looking down from a mountain when the sunlight hits the ancient city first thing in the morning.
  • Banff in Canada
  • Glacier National Park
  • Lucia – particularly the rainbows
  • A lone volcano we passed on a plane to Katmai National Park
  • Patagonia, Chile
  • Jordan — Petra and Wadi Rum
  • Kilimanjaro – the view once above the clouds and the night sky
  • hood — the blend of ice and sunshine
  • Crater Lake, Oregon
  • The butterfly migration in Mexico
  • Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone
  • The view from many mountaintops

What surpasses them all is the Northern lights—not a place at all.  You can go to many places to witness them.  I’m not sure of the order of the places above, but what belongs to number one is clear.  The Aura Borealis wasn’t just nice to look at.  The beauty I beheld bounded through my body.  Namibia provided many moments like that too.

To top the list in beauty, it takes more than a pretty setting.  When a place is so beautiful it stirs emotions inside you, and that deserves to make the list.  “Beauty is the promise of happiness,” wrote 18th century writer Stendhal.

What became clear to me when I thought about beauty is that any place that I rated high on my list didn’t just feel like it met a concept of beauty—sure the place has incredible physical attributes.  But when something was really beautiful, I felt an overwhelming feeling of joy.

Is beauty a concept or a feeling—an emotion?  Apparently, I’m not the first one to ask this question.  Philosophers and scientists have been asking for hundreds of years.  Research has shown that when we experience beauty we feel happy, don’t want the moment to end, and sense the experience is meaningful.  A 2019 study found living in beautiful places makes people happier.

Beauty and happiness are strongly linked.  To make my top 20 list of beautiful places in the world, I have to feel the beauty—it becomes a memory that won’t easily fade.

 

 

Which do you think is more beautiful?  Email us back with which of Maggie’s plank locations in Namibia you think is the most beautiful by responding to this email with your answer. Everyone who responds will be entered to win a free month of on-demand classes. One winner will be selected next week. The free membership code can be used any time before September 1, 2023.

Keep Reading

Looking for more travel inspiration? Check out Maggie’s other travel recommendations!

Are you or do you know a recent high school grad? If so check out our senior summer challenge for the chance to win a $500 scholarship!

Keep Connected

Order Your Copy of Keep Moving Today!

Subscribe to the Keep Moving Blog

Like the Personal Euphoria Facebook page

Find us on Twitter

Follow me on Instagram

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel