So, it's true what they say. Definitely hard to go through and pick a winner. All of you had great photos to submit, so it was very hard trying to hone in on which ones fit the contest the best and then figuring out which ones really just grabbed me.
Thank you all for sharing, and I hope to see you out for all the upcoming contests (and maybe even traveling around and working together!)
Honorable Mentions: (in a somewhat ascending order)

chasp

danspend

ATucker

Mats K

Mark Caballar

Gill Kopy

Nick Vivian

Chris Bladon
Third Place: (I chose three here, they were all great!)

Yulia Smirnova- Great color and framing. Makes me want to go and "get away."

Dominic Cantin- Same here. Great shot of a nice little tucked away cottage on the seaside... I feel like this is where I should retire!

James Ross- This is a great little row of houses(?) along the waterfront. Reminded me of my trip to Mallorca a bit.
Second Place: 
McGarva- This photo is superb! It almost looked like a completely remote valley in the mountains until I noticed the road cutting through. Excellent!
These next two photos were almost too evenly matched. What tipped the scales, in the end, was the relevance to the theme. Sometimes the story behind the photo helps!First and a half place:
Jeroen Bosman- This is a phenomenal capture. I would hate to have to be that cold just to get that shot, but well done! That line from the ridge really sets this photo up. And just the sheer magnitude of the expanse that person is crossing really shows the solitude.
First Place:
Sandi Whitteker- Awesome shot. I love the wash coming up on the sand (is that actually a black sand beach, or just a product of the b&w shot?). But as I mentioned, the story pushed this over the edge for the win. This is right on Highway One, north of San Francisco and yet seems a million miles away.... even called "The Lost Coast." Perfect! Congrats!