Tenerife, Canary Islands

Tenerife always surprises: land expecting just another sunny island, then drive ten minutes from the airport and suddenly misty pine forests appear with Teide floating above the clouds like an unrequested postcard.

Some days are spent hiding in the green north, sipping wine in a crumbling plaza in La Laguna while it drizzles; others are down south, ignoring the crowds because the water is that impossible blue and the black sand burns bare feet.

The island never picks a side, so it just keeps switching between lush forest and desert coast while Teide watches from the middle, unbothered.