If you live in a region with apple orchards, you should definitely try and go apple-picking one weekend in October. It’s a day trip that family members of any age will enjoy and apple-picking season ends around Halloween. Hillview Farms also has pumpkin-picking, hay rides, and a store with lots of the farm’s products for sale, as do a lot of other places. You can spend a whole day getting into the spirit of autumn and go home with pounds and pounds of fresh apples for making pies, pumpkins for carving, and homemade cider and donuts for devouring. If you’re still not inspired to go apple-picking, you should simply spend a day outside to admire the fall foliage. These gorgeous colors only happen once a year.

Cheung Chau is a small island to the west of Hong Kong Island. A forty minute ferry away, Cheung Chau is an ideal day trip for teen travelers interested in a bit of an adventurous hike, shopping, and seafood.

Inhabited longer than any of the other regions of Hong Kong, Cheung Chau remains a fishing village today as much as it did hundreds of years ago.

An interesting historical bit that my friend and I discovered when we went there is that Cheung Chau is the alleged hiding spot of Cheung Po Tsai, a pirate living in the 19th century. We only discovered this when we inquired about a restaurant’s name. Cheung Po Tsai restaurant (original, I know) was named as such in honor of the notorious pirate. The restaurant had great food from all types of Asian as well as European cuisine and is run by a foreigner.

For the thrill seekers out there, voyaging down Cheung Po Tsai’s cave is a lot of fun. It’s on the south side of the island and is directly off of the main path. This is where Cheung is supposed to have stashed his treasure. Be warned, this was not meant to be the most obvious spot and is tricky to get into.

The opening is small and you descend through into the darkness. Bring a flashlight! My friend and I had no idea it was going to be that dark and both relied on the feeble light my iPhone gave off. Thankfully, a ladder has been cemented to the wall. The walk is tight, dark, and narrow and you need to watch out for moving rocks. All is worth it, though, for the bit of adventure!

Other parts of the hike around the island are as intimidating, but nothing is treacherous.

When you’re finished with the hike, you can be rewarded with some good seafood by the ferry pier while enjoying the view of all the junk boats.