2025, Can You Believe We're Still Alive? Travels Far & Wide From a Year That We Survived

Well, well, well; w-e-l-l. You know, that’s one of those phrases I picked up somewhere along the way that I return to again and again, but for which the source material is lost to the ages. Where the hell did I get it? Just like the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know. But can you guess what the world is about to know? That’s right! The deepest, darkest, most intimate thoughts, recollections, and reminiscences on the year that was right here on All Things Wanderful.

General TravelLogan T. HansenJanuary 6, 2026travel, travelogue, travel blogging, travel guide, travel recommendations, travel inspiration, travelspiration, travel ideas, travel writing, travel reviews, travel tips, travel appreciation, travel diary, travel planning, year-in-review, Universal Studios, Universal Studios Hollywood, Jaws, Steven Spielberg, Kai Ryssdal, Marketplace, NPR, Las Vegas, Sin City, Luxor Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Cajun, Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis, Biloxi, To Kill a Mockingbird, Nelle Harper Lee, Harper Lee, Monroeville, Monroe County, Old Monroe County Courthouse, Gregory Peck, Mrs. Teresa' Homemade Treats, Los Angeles, City of Angels, Santa Monica, Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Dodger Stadium, Freehand Hotels, Freehand Chicago, Freehand Los Angeles, Freehand, hostel, hostel stays, Boston, Boston Calling, Harvard, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, All Time Low, The Maine, Cage the Elephant, Avril Lavigne, Fall Out Boy, all-nighter, Disney World, Orlando, Florida, Tron, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Tower of Terror, Guardians of the Galaxy, Expedition Everest, Alice in Wonderland, Euro trip, cheap airports, cheap travel, Canada, Minnesota, Northwest Angle, Alert, Canadian Forces Station Alert, All Things Wanderful, Chicago, Miami, New York, George Washington Hotel, Flatiron District, Bourbon Street, French Quarter, Ruby Slipper, The Natchez, Oklahoma City, Dorothy Gale, Beverly Shores, Michigan City, Gary, Indiana, Michiana, Chicagoland, West Michigan, Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, South Shore Line, Maycomb, Maycomb County, Truman Capote, Confederacy, 2026, 2025, ten-year anniversaryComment

Getting Hostel in the City: All (or Most) of What You Need to Know About Freehand Hotels

Finding accommodations in the heart of a major American city is generally going to be a pricey affair. If you want to stay right downtown where all the action is, that’s usually going to come with a heftier price tag. That makes perfect sense, of course, but what if there was a way to get around the higher cost without sacrificing location or comfort? Freehand Hotels are by no means a magical remedy to this conundrum, but they do offer a digestible solution.

North AmericaLogan T. HansenSeptember 17, 2025travel, travel guide, travel advice, travel inspiration, travelspiration, travel deals, Freehand, Freehand Hotels, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, hostel, hotel, hotel deals, nightlife, hotel stays, hostel stays, travel reviews, travel recommendations, travel tips, travel ideas, travel planning, travel budget, budget travel, budgeting, cheap travel, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac, New York, Florida, Illinois, California, George Washington Hotel, Flatiron District, Manhattan, bohemian, affordable travel, affordability, affordable, historic architecture, Never Have I Ever, Freehand Chicago, Freehand Los Angeles, Freehand Miami, Freehand New York, Windy City, City of Angels, Magnificent Mile, rooftop bar, rooftop pool, solo travel, solo female travel, female-only dorms, travel hacks, travel logisticsComment

New Orleans: Four Days of Beignets & Foul Play(s) in the Big Easy, Pt. 1

Of all the iconic cities in the good ole U.S. of A. — New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Nashville (to name a few) — New Orleans was one that I had yet to check off my list. That was rectified in the spring of 2025 when I ventured once more to the Deep South with my parents and two of my siblings for a little family vacay in the Big Easy.

North AmericaLogan T. HansenApril 29, 2025travel, travel guide, travel advice, travel inspiration, travelspiration, New Orleans, Louisiana, Big Easy, French Quarter, travel recommendations, travel reviews, travel tips, travelogue, travel ideas, travel itinerary, travel diary, travel blog, New York, New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Nashville, Deep South, The Natchez, Blue Bayou, Blue Bayou Restaurant & Oyster Bar, Creole, Cajun, Creole cuisine, Cajun cuisine, jazz music, architecture, French architecture, Spanish architecture, Creole architecture, Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras, Henry Clay, Lafayette Square, Canal Street, Bud Light, hard seltzer, Nesbitt Corner Store, The Scooby-Doo Show, Scooby-Doo, New Orleans Steamboat Company, Gray Line, Gray Line tours, Mississippi River, seafood, jambalaya, plantation tour, swamp tour, ghost tour, cocktail tour, city tour, Duke Heitger, Steamboat Stompers, Orleans Parish, St. Bernard Parish, Musical Legends Park, live music, Cafe Beignet, Hurricane, Hurricane drinkComment

2024, Won't See You No More: Closing the Door on a Year Loaded With Travel Galore

Stop me right now if you’ve heard this before, but, hand to god(s), we had another major, major year here on the blog, shattering records all over the place. I mean, are you ready for these percentages? I don’t know if you are. I think you’re gonna have to convince me. “Uhh, how the heck am I gonna do that?” you ask, staring blankly at your phone/tablet/laptop screen as you read these words. Well, it’s simple, Fred: …

General TravelLogan T. HansenJanuary 8, 2025travel, travel guide, travel guidance, travel advice, travel blog, travel blogging, travelogue, travel diary, travel writing, travel recommendations, travel reviews, travel tips, travel ideas, travel inspiration, travelspiration, travel planning, travel photography, travel appreciation, travel junkie, travel logistics, travel bucket list, year in review, year-in-review, happy new year, All Things Wanderful, Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations, No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach, Travel Channel, Sally Field, northernmost point, Minnesota, Northwest Angle, Ireland, England, Cork, Galway, Dublin, London, Europe, European vacation, Eurotrip, Euro trip, United Kingdom, Africa, cheap flights, find cheap flights, airports, Arizona, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Dodge Challenger, Sleepy Hollow, New York, Hudson Valley, Hudson River, Headless Horseman, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Mitten State, The Mitten State of Mind, Michigan, Michigan travel, Oklahoma, Flint Hills, Kansas, Route 66, Historic Route 66, U.S. Route 66, Hoover Dam, Clark Griswold, Wally World, South Rim, Grand Canyon South Rim, Google Maps, Google, Lake Mead, Mount Rainier, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, Washington State, Crystal Mountain, Crystal Mountain Resort, Mount Olympus, North America, gondola, gondola rides, Iceland, Israel, Jordan, Longmoore Street, Westminster, Airbnb, Blarney Stone, Blarney Castle, Blarney Castle & Gardens, Wicklow Mountains, RMS Titanic, Titanic, Ed Sheeran, Merlin Castle, Chicago Bulls, Limerick, sheela na gig, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Nancy Hands, Nancy Hands Bar & Restaurant, Guinness, Guinness beer, Guinness Storehouse, Hex Girls, Sphynx Tattoo, beach volleyball, volleyball, Chicago, North Avenue Beach, Windy City, Oak Street Beach, Oak Street, beach, beach life, beach day, beaches, Lake Michigan, Barcelona, Barcelona El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport, Dublin AirportComment

A Little 'Too Sleepy' Hollow? Haunts, Hangs, & Happenings in the Headless Horseman's Hometown

Nestled up in the Hudson Valley, only an hour or so from the hubbub of New York City, is where you’ll find the small village that author Washington Irving once described as “one of the quietest places in the whole world”, where “the occasional whistle of a quail or tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquillity”. Sleepy Hollow, forever immortalized in Irving’s writing, is still a quaint little place to visit these days; whether or not Ichabod Crane would recognize it in its current state is another question.

North AmericaLogan T. HansenOctober 31, 2024travel, travel guide, travel inspiration, travelspiration, New York, Sleepy Hollow, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, travel blog, travel diary, travel advice, travel recommendations, travel reviews, travel ideas, travel planning, New Jersey, LaGuardia, New York City, autumn, autumn getaway, autumn inspiration, autumn travel, Croton-on-Hudson, Halloween, fall getaway, fall travel, fall, Hudson River, Hudson Valley, NYC, Andrew Carnegie, Headless Horseman Bridge, Headless Horseman, William Rockefeller, Edgar Allan Poe, David Neilsen, Old Dutch Church, Old Dutch Burying Ground, Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground, Pocantico River, Route 9, Broadway, Philipsburg Manor, Philipsburg Manor House, Twilight Village, Twilight Village at Sleepy Hollow, Spirits of Sleepy Hollow Country, Kykuit, Rockefeller estate, Armour-Stiner Octagon House, Octagon House, Sleepy Hollow Bookshop, The Horseman's Shop, Beekman Ale House, Bridge View Tavern, Beekman Avenue, Tarrytown, D23, Disney, Sleepy Hollow Film Festival, Sleepy Hollow International Film Festival, Tarrytown Music Hall, Lonesome Ghosts, Walt Disney Archives, Walt Disney, Rebecca Cline, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Coffee Lab Roasters Inc, Set Back Inn, The Taco Project, Little B's Burger Bar, Sweet Grass Grill, Lefteris Gyro, The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze, Van Cortlandt Manor, American Gothic, The Scream, pumpkin art, pumpkin patch, pumpkins, Gourd & Goblet Tavern, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse, Tarrytown LightComment

2023, Won't You Wander With Me? The Final Epistle From a Travel-Filled Missile

The year 2023, with all of its ups and downs, peaks and valleys, and trials and tribulations, has come and gone — as has another 365 days here on All Things Wanderful. So now it’s time to take stock. What caught people’s attention? What fell flat on its face? Were you, the loyal readers of this increasingly-sporadic travel blog, entertained, or at least mildly amused? Did you find the content contained within this digital rambling wreck informational? Enlightening? Perhaps even erudite?

General TravelLogan T. HansenJanuary 7, 2024travel, travel advice, travel guide, travel inspiration, travelspiration, travel writing, travel blog, travel blogging, travel recommendations, travel reading, travel reviews, travel ideas, All Things Wanderful, travel diary, travel bucket list, northernmost point, Canada, Great Lakes, Cal-Neva, Cal-Neva Lodge, California, Nevada, Michigan, Little Manistee, Little Manistee River, kayaking, Maine, ghost trains, Key West, Florida, New York City, Big Apple, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Flint Hills, Route 66, Historic Route 66, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Alum Cave Trail, The Sinks, Old Smoky Distillery, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Minnesota, George Floyd, George Floyd Square, Kansas City, Missouri, Crystal Mountain, Crystal Mountain Resort, Seattle, Twin Peaks, Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis, Kansas, Wichita, skiing, Mall of America, George Perry Floyd Square, Ground Zero, The Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn, Rockefeller Center, The Edge, The Edge NYC, NYC, New York, Hall des Lumières, Mediterranean food, Ernest Hemingway, Northern Michigan, Airbnb, Bering Strait, Diomedes, Diomede Islands, Little Diomede, Big Diomede, travelogueComment

No Matter How Many Times You've Been, New York City is Always a New Adventure

Here’s the thing about New York: there’s always a new adventure to be had. That is even the case when you only have roughly 36 hours to spend in America’s largest city, needing to cram a number of stops and activities into a short amount of time. But under those kinds of time constraints, what can you feasibly make happen? Well, let me tell you.

North AmericaLogan T. HansenMay 1, 2023travel, travel guide, travel advice, New York, New York City, LaGuardia, Essex Market, East River, Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Manhattan, Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Empire State Building, Lower East Side, Greenwich Village, Dyker Heights, Peking duck, Edge NYC, The Edge, Lyft, Lyft bikes, Hudson Yards, West Side, Cartier, Fendi, Ray-Ban, New Jersey, Bar Blondeau, Wythe Hotel, Laser Wolf, The Hoxton, Israeli cuisine, salatim, Mediterranean food, Friends, Lafayette Grand Café, Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery, Lafayette Bakery, Supreme, TikTok, Jack's Wife Freda, SoHo New York, SoHo, Reiss, The Tyger, Hall des Lumières, Destination Cosmos, The Plaza Hotel, Rumours Bar & Grille, Life of Pi, Schoenfeld Theatre, Olivier Award, Pier 35, Big Apple, Empire State Comment

Photos of This Lakeside Village in Western Europe are Essentially Travel Porn

Whether you’ve crisscrossed the globe five times over or simply scrolled through Instagram on a lazy afternoon, you’ve undoubtedly learned by now that some destinations are just more photogenic than others. That’s not to say that “ugly” cities and towns aren’t worth visiting; places that impress with personality alone are certainly bucket list-worthy. It’s more about this plain statement of fact: not all destinations are equal in the eyes of the camera’s lens.

Allow These Expertly-Curated City Guides to Refine Your Travel Bucket List

Traveling to a new city can certainly feel overwhelming. Whether you’re planning on spending a long weekend partying in Miami or a week sightseeing in and around Paris, you likely want to use your time as efficiently as possible, knocking as many things as you can off your list while still being able to enjoy everything. But sometimes it’s difficult to know where to begin.

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