The Azores are a set of nine magical volcanic archipelagos smack in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Time has passed them by, and they remain virtually untouched and ready to be explored. I am here because I was invited to the European Travel Agent Forum on the island of Terceira, home to the UNESCO Heritage town of Agra do Heroismo. The Azores have decided they want more American and Canadian tourists. There are now daily flights from Boston and NY that can get you here.

So, this is how I find myself standing on the rim of a caldera high in the sky and take in the vast beauty all around me. Shall I go left or right? The sky is beginning to get dark and stormy. Blustery gusts come out of nowhere. I was told not to get caught up here if the weather turns bad. I hesitate. Except for a German couple that quickly disappears, I am alone.

The trail is a well-worn, rocky path grooved into the ground about a foot deep. It’s far enough from the edge for me to relax. I can’t decide where to look - left into the caldera or right where I can see the town of Horta and the imposing Mount Pico, Portugal’s highest peak, just across the bay. 

Calderas are bowls that are formed when volcanic eruptions recede, causing the ground to collapse on itself. This particular caldera is on the wild and remote island of Faial, part of the Azores, Portugal. Faial is nicknamed the Blue Island for, come spring, the hillsides are blanketed with hydrangeas as far as the eyes can see. It’s late October, but there are still a few stray blooms around.

I've taken a short wooden staircase from the parking lot up to the start of the trail. Before me, a cascade of green earth undulates up the ridge and down into the bottom of the bowl. A small lake sits at the bottom. I start walking, keeping an eye on the sky. Working up a sweat as the trail rises and falls, I remove my raincoat and then another layer, but quickly realize there just is no way to get it right.

To peek into this crater made a million years ago is to peek into a window of earth’s past. I am giddy with joy, no longer worrying and wondering how this day might unfold. It’s already surpassed my expectations. A million thoughts swirl in my head as seagulls soar above. The ground cover, rustling in the onslaught of wind, seems to reply “you are here, you are here, you are here.” 

To be human, one must understand that our existence is but a blip - a short journey on a rock floating through space. I am not special, just a sack of random DNA. But I am alive and free to roam about these wild dunes today and ponder both past and present. This place is living up to the hype.

We stop in a tiny, picturesque oceanside town. “No other tourists come here - you're the first American,” she teases me, poking fun at my aversion to crowds. The town, Porto Martins, is filled with lovely painted cottages and walled gardens. I asked Patricia if the homes are second homes for people on the mainland of Portugal. She says, “No, they don’t come here. The beaches are too pretty on the mainland.” And here lies the reason that the Azores have remained undeveloped. Even the Portuguese don’t visit. 

I tell her I could see myself renting a cottage for a month or two, inviting family and friends to visit. Patricia thinks it's a great idea. “We can all have gin and tonics on the porch,” she laughs. My phone buzzed, and I saw it was my adult son. “Where the heck are you, mom?” he asks, saying his wife saw some pictures I had posted. I tell him, and he says, “I’ve never heard of the Azores.” I try to paint the picture I am seeing. “It’s like if Iceland and Tahiti decided to have a baby.”

I take a taxi to Furnas, home to the famous thermal swimming pool and luxury hotel, Terra Nostra Garden Hotel. The hotel butts up to an incredible, 30-acre botanical garden and has private thermal jacuzzis in the park solely for guests to use. After a delicious fish sandwich at the bar, I don my gray robe and make my way in the dark to the jacuzzis. I have to turn on my phone flashlight because I can’t see where I am going or if anyone else is in them. Turns out, I am alone. I slide into one with spigots that pulse hot water on my shoulders and am enveloped in warm, orange-brown water rich with iron. It’s heavenly.

The next morning, I meet my guide, Chris, an expat Canadian living on Sao Miguel and founder of Roam Azores. When Chris learns during our email exchanges of my love of hiking and my aversion to instagrammers, he promises to take me off-the-beaten track. Our first hike is a three-mile loop into the forest to Salto do Prego waterfall. 

This is a challenging hike, and I can see why many tourists couldn’t do it. There are steep inclines, roots and rocks to navigate, and I am soaked through the bone within minutes. It’s raining heavily but the trees give us some cover. I tell Chris I don’t think my raincoat is waterproof after all. He laughs and says ‘No, that’s all sweat. It’s impossible to stay dry here.”

After a fun encounter with wild chickens, we eventually arrive at the waterfall. Surrounded by a peaceful glen of towering 100-foot Japanese pines, it is both surreal and magical. We climb above the falls, and Chris shows me soaking pools that he says are filled with people during the summer. But for now, we have it all to ourselves.

For the next two days, Chris and I wander around debating the merits of AllTrails Premium, discussing managing client expectations, sharing our favorite temperature for ocean swimming and bonding over a mutual love of hiking. As he expertly drives on the twisting mountain roads, Chris continuously monitors the sky determined to maximize my sightseeing. More than once, he announces “We are going to do something else” and changes directions as we dodge black clouds and banks of fog. The weather is indeed crazy.

The last stop of the day was jumping in Terma de Ferreira, a thermally heated sea cove at the tip of the island. At the bottom of a death-defying road with hairpin turns, we change into our suits and plunge into the sea. Surrounded by the murmuring of fellow swimmers in this natural wave pool, feeling the water change from cold to hot, I bob up and down grinning ear to ear. Happy and free. This is how life should be. The Azores tick all the boxes.