Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s Pacific Coast is where the jungle meets the sea. This place lets you indulge in the best nature has to offer.

The average cost of living here is $522 for a single person](https://livingcost.org/cost/mexico/puerto-vallarta)) and $1,544 for a family of four, excluding rent. For rent and utilities, you are expected to pay $781 if you are single and $1,217 for a family of four.

A cold, windswept island chain in the north Pacific Ocean is hardly the first location that springs to mind when contemplating the world's most beautiful places. But the Aleutian Islands, located between 51° and 55° N latitude, is a special place that defies all expectations and assumptions. Though beset by fierce winds, thick fog and heavy rainfall, the islands have mystical charm. A haven for seabirds and marine life, the islands are a wonderland of rugged volcanoes and snowcapped peaks surrounded by a vast expanse of deep blue ocean. 

The Aleutians form the northern extension of the Pacific Ring of Fire, extending in an arc westward from the Alaskan Peninsula for 1,200 miles (1,900 km) to the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula. The Aleutians consist of more than 70 islands, including 14 large volcanic islands, 55 smaller islands and several islets. They are located where the Pacific Plate sinks below the North American Plate, creating an active subduction zone. Here, the molten lava bubbles up to the surface, and several of the islands contain active volcanoes. A group of scientists recently proposed that the Aleutian Islands are the interconnected vents of a much more massive underwater caldera, Live Science previously reported. 

Unalaska is the best-known island in the chain and the only one with a permanent population. Attu Island, the westernmost of the Aleutian Islands, is a premier destination for bird-watchers, containing countless resident and migrant seabirds and numerous nesting sites and colonies. Attu Island is also famous for its role in World War II: In May 1943, American and Japanese forces clashed in a bloody month-long battle that culminated in an Allied victory and the withdrawal of Japanese forces from the island chain.