Three backpackers looking up Enchanted Valley towards the chalet with clouds in the hills beyond, Olympic National Park, Washington Credit: Shutterstock Published Jun 12, 2026, 9:17 AM EDT Amber VanWort is a freelance writer who specializes in travel news. Her passion for US based travel began when she found herself in Nevada in 2024 for a wedding. She was particularly amazed by the contrast of Las Vegas’s dazzling lights next to the vastness of the desert, not far from the strip.