Is there any nation on earth that has more natural attractions, from the scenic coastal towns of Maine to the volcanic islands of Hawaii and the natural beauty of our majestic national parks?
I was a mixture of a country boy and a town boy, really. Chichester is a town on the coast of England, and I grew up all along that strip of coast that Chichester branches out into. Sometimes I was living in a house in the country, and sometimes I was living in a town.
I didn't start traveling abroad until I was 17, but I spent many summers on the beaches of Donegal in Ireland.
To visit the West Coast, now and always, is to be overwhelmed by its beauty - the blue water and blue skies, the temperate air and the beaches and the looming mountains not so far away.
When I was young, my family used to go and stay in hotels on the south coast in places like Devon. I loved those holidays because they were with my brothers, who were away at school; I really looked forward to them.
I think that Jersey Shore is awesome. I've gone to Cape May every summer of my life.
I go down to Newport and Huntington a lot. It's more crowded than where I grew up on Phillip Island, but I think it's helped me adjust to life in America - getting into the water as much as I can.
Superstorm Sandy inflicted havoc and heartache throughout the Northeast, hitting the Big Apple and its surrounding coastal towns hard.
The two things that I miss most when living out of Australia are the bush and the Pacific coast, especially fishing in the surf at night!
I'm sure you're used to hearing that when people get to Long Island for the first time, it's a bit of a shock to the system. But I found Long Island people very endearing.
You get people who are on benefits who prefer to be on benefits by the seaside.
I'm in love with the city. You can impress an Australian with a city, but you can't impress them with a beach.
I love coming back around Northern California.
On my return to Cornwall I discovered that I was living in a tropical paradise. For now I am content to explore my own home and our nearest neighbour France.
I lived in New York my whole life. Like every New Yorker, I have stories about spending summers on the Jersey shore, riding the roller coaster in Seaside that is now famous for that sickening photo of it being washed out to sea.
Whenever I tell people in Berkeley, Calif., where I live, that I'm headed to the beach in Alabama, they are shocked. Most people outside of the Gulf Coast have no idea that Alabama has beaches - even though if you look at a map of Alabama, there is a part of it that looks as if it should belong to Florida.
My mum lives near Holkham Bay in Norfolk, and with my dad by the coast in Suffolk, I spend quite a bit of time by the sea.
There are good waves not that far from Manhattan - on Long Island, in north Jersey. It's true that the best surf around here tends to happen in winter, so you need a good wetsuit, and the time window of good waves is often pretty short, so you have to stay on top of the forecasts.
I love driving; driving along the California coastline is the best drive in the world.
Here's how you get Hollywood in Positano: You need a nail salon and a yogurt place.
I grew up in Aberdare and some of the nicest beaches close by were at Tenby and Saundersfoot.
Jersey is always with me. I was one of the lucky ones. Asbury Park is just the greatest place in the world to spend your childhood.
My mom used to take me down to the Jersey Shore when I was 7, 8, 9 years old. I can remember being down in that area - Belmar, Seaside Heights, Asbury Park and all those places that I went back and revisited.
Put a compass to paper and trace a circle. Then tell me which other country has such a concentration of places like Amalfi, Naples, Ischia, Procida, Sorrento, Positano, Pompeii, and Capri.
As a young child, my family holidays were always in Rock, Cornwall, with my parents, older brother Kim and sister Nicola.
