Thanks to presence of Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevadas, and Cascades, western portions of United States feature breathtaking scenery in addition to fantastic skiing conditions. With 12,000 foot peaks, azure blue skies and hundreds of inches of snow it doesn't get much better. Do you want to blast down ruggedly beautiful mountains of Montana through waist-deep, dry powder natives call "white smoke"?

Maybe skiing with rich and famous is more your style--if so try Aspen, Colorado, known for its majestic four mountains. Mammoth Mountain, Vail, Jackson Hole, Steamboat Springs, Taos, Snowbird, hundreds of runs and resorts of Utah, Washington, California, and Idaho. Simply too many to list!

Just north of 49th parallel (the Canadian border) lie some of world's best skiing options featuring top ski resort destinations. Banff/Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada, located in heart of Canada's Banff National Park, ranks as one of most scenic mountain resorts in North America, if not entire world.

Hitting Rails —

It has been a time-honoured tradition for North American university grad to leave his sheltered nest and seek unknown in a distant land.

Unfortunately, tradition also lends way to cliché.

The early twenties, book smart grad is filled with an ambition to add some life experience to his new set of professional letters. He sits in a dockside café eating hometown food with French provincial names as he writes into a leather-bound booklet some deep insights that he assumes are original. He dreams of having a torrid love affair with some local peasant girl but settles instead for swapping email addresses with some Canadians doing exact same thing. As entertaining as this prospect seems, it was not my wish. I wanted to carve out my own adventure, and in Europe there is no better way than by train.

The European rail system has been for years second-to-none for accessibility, comfort, and, with Rail Europe, affordability. There are a variety of Rail Europe passes for different prices that can get you anywhere you wish in little time and from city center to city center. North Americans must purchase Rail Europe tickets before departing Europe (you can't get them in Europe) and well in advance of their trip, and in certain countries passes are valid on ferries and riverboats. The passes are easy to use and, if taken advantage of fully, are cheaper than most other forms of transportation. Best of all is that trains can get you to remote areas that you would otherwise miss. For budget-minded night excursions or hotel trains save you hotel rooms so that you awake next day in a new country!

Copenhagen —

I landed in Copenhagen and got immediately roped into standard tourist sites — Tivoli Gardens , Royal Palace, etc.