Places Where You’ll Feel Small

A little perspective is always a good thing. As much as travel makes the world small, it also can put us in our place because no matter how small the world may seem, we are much, much smaller. When life’s day-to-day stuff seems insurmountable, this little attitude-adjustment can actually be kind of pleasant.

Here are seven places I’ve enjoyed feeling insignificant on our big Earth.

Big Bend National Park, Texas: Hike to The Window, atop the Chisos Mountains, and look out over the vast expanse of the Chihuahua Desert. Think about the ornery organisms that call this harsh landscape home.

Shanghai, China: The scale of Buck Rogers architecture in this economically exploding city seems intentionally designed to make mortals feel like specks. China: It’s really, really big.

Panama Canal, Panama: A line of massive grey ships carrying the world’s goods and resources stretches to the horizon and beyond as they all wait their turn to navigate the portal between oceans. World economies meet here.

Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Oklahoma: The world’s largest protected remnant of tallgrass prairie is 39,000 golden, whispering, rustling, undulating, bio-diverse acres, with resident bison herds. And this is less than 10 percent of what once covered North America.

Navajo National Monument, Arizona: From the viewing site, you are eye-level with a hawk as you stand and look down across the forest scrub at a cliff dwelling carved into an enormous red bowl. How could the Anasazi not worship nature, living nestled in the bosom of its grandeur?

The Outback, Australia: Locals do their best to impress on visitors the heartlessness of the continent’s red center. People have been known to wander off and never return. Respect this land because it doesn’t care about you.

Mid-Atlantic Ocean: No matter how big your liner for A Crossing, it is dwarfed by the great sea surrounding it.