If you’ve lived in Michigan your whole life like I have, you might take it for granted, but we are a vacation destination for people from all around the country.

Saugatuck, Kalamazoo, Traverse City—visitors flock from inferior states like Illinois and Ohio during our beautiful summer and fall months to enjoy hundreds of miles of freshwater coast, acres upon acres of lush forests, and preposterously cheap weed.

So, this year, I’d encourage you to get out and take advantage of the many pleasant peninsulas around us. If you live on the lakeshore, visit Kalamazoo. If you live in Kalamazoo, visit Grand Rapids. If you live in Grand Rapids, visit Traverse City. If you live in Traverse City: Hello up there!

Our Mitten Travel Guide gives a few ideas of some top highlights and hidden gems to add to your itinerary, along with our annual Road Trip Playlist, full of the best tracks from local bands to act as your soundtrack. And while you’re out and about, we’d suggest beating the heat with some sweet treats from our Ice Cream guide.

This month also has our latest guide to the best patios and decks around West Michigan, because what is summer for if not eating outside? And you can find a Q&A with Fuji Yama Asian Bistro, which has been run by two brothers since 2010 and is outdoing itself every year, with freshness and quality acting as the guiding star. If you haven’t been in a while, this is not at all the same all-you-can-eat sushi of yesteryear.

If I have one suggestion for you this summer, it’s this: Make a bucket list. Check out a new beach, hit the water park, visit a garden, go skydiving—whatever your heart desires. Summer flies by every year, and you’re probably already shocked by how far we are into it. But the more you plan ahead, the more warm weather you can enjoy, here in the uniquely beautiful Mitten State.

'Til next time,

Josh Veal, Managing Editor