Reason #21 we should go to Thailand: We're in awe of nature

Theo and I grew up in the Midwestern United States, where we both currently live. Northern and Central Illinois are both rather homogeneous as far as natural wonders go, consisting of flat farm lands and prairie punctuated by the occasional rolling hill. Our UTE application video is a pretty good example of the scenery found both in Urbana and in DeKalb.

Land in the Midwest is characterized primarily by its flatness, but Theo and I both grew up close to some of its most beautiful scenery: the Great Lakes. It was a short drive from my parents' home in Saginaw, Michigan to my grandmother's cottage on Lake Huron, and I spent almost every weekend of the summer running on the beach and swimming in the always cold water of the lake. I remember all of these trips fondly, and I believe that these summers, and the scenery of the Great Lakes, have helped define who I am.

For this reason, I find my natural surroundings to be incredibly important, and it's something I always pay attention to when I travel. On my trips through Europe, I waxed poetic in my travel journal about the countryside of Tuscany and the rocky cliffs of Ireland. The places I found to be the most awe-inspiring were those most unlike the places I grew up. In Costa Rica, we hiked through forests different from any I had seen at home, visited hot springs, and even swam at the base of a waterfall. But the volcanoes were the most awe-inspiring. We visited both Arenal and Poás, very active and incredibly amazing volcanoes. Poás has a crater with an incredibly acidic lake at the center, which gives it an otherworldly appearance. And of course one of the most amazing natural wonders I've visited, Mt. Fuji, is a volcano as well.

One of the reasons we chose Chiang Mai as our destination was for natural wonders like these. Theo and I can't wait to climb to the top of Doi Inthanon, take in the Mae Sa Waterfall, and raft down the Mae Taeng River. In our application video, we showcased the place that we come from. In our videos and pictures from Chiang Mai, we will give the natural wonders of Thailand a starring role.