Start making your travel plans now for 2017's total solar eclipse

Start making your plans for Aug. 21, 2017.

After today, that's the next time the moon will pass directly between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow for a total solar eclipse. While the phenomenon is not especially rare — there is one approximately every year-ish — the location changes. It can be very difficult, and often very expensive, to reach the spot where the moment of total darkness, or "totality," will take place.

Today's eclipse, for example, is primarily passing over open ocean. Residents and visitors of some of the islands in Indonesia will be the only people to get a view from land. In 2015, totality was only visible from land on the Faroe Islands and Svalbard, in the North Atlantic.

But next year, a total solar eclipse will cross the entire United States, from Oregon to South Carolina. Trust me, you won't want to miss this.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The map above charts the path of the total eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017. All of North America (and some of South America) will get at least a partial eclipse -- but a partial is no match in experience to the total.

Total eclipse enthusiasts in the U.S. and those traveling from abroad will likely be headed to the "point of greatest eclipse," in western Kentucky near Hopkinsville. The town has been the focus of eclipse chasers for years. Really. Every hotel room in the vicinity will be booked.

But luckily for everyone else, there's no need to go to that one point to experience totality. And if you haven't already done so, you really should experience totality at least once in your life.

So where can you go? Anywhere between those two blue lines that cut across the map. The closer you are both to the red line and to the green and magenta markers, the longer totality will last.

Here are a few ideas for some amazing total solar eclipse viewing — weather depending.

Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee and North Carolina

The small Tennessee towns of Sevierville and Gatlinburg are not in totality's path; however, they are right next to it and they provide easy access to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The region — which happens to be where Dolly Parton is from — offers lots of entertainment, too.

Plan to drive into the park early so you can be in a great spot for totality, which will happen approximately 1:30 p.m. ET. That is a rough time, though — wherever you go, triple check the exact time of totality to be sure you're where you want to be when it happens.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas

To get the full effect of totality, it's advisable to be somewhere natural. Think meadows, grasslands, a clearing in a forest, rolling hills with lots of wildlife nearby. Animals tend to respond to totality as they do to nighttime, meaning nocturnal birds will make an appearance.

That said, there's no reason to avoid cities if you're making a trip of it. Kansas City is right on the edge of the path of totality, making it a great base for a trip.

Jackson, Wyoming

Jackson is very close to the center of the path of the eclipse, and offers easy access to Shoshone National Forest and Yellowstone.

Camping and an eclipse? Talk about connecting with nature.

Portland, Oregon

Portland is not in the path of totality, but it is an amazing city to visit, and Mt. Hood National Forest and Willamette National Forest are an easy and beautiful drive away.

The longest duration in the region will be very close to Mt. Jefferson.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

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