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

New Orleans: Four Days of Beignets & Foul Play(s) in the Big Easy, Pt. 2

There they went, walking down the street in a straight line, looking like a high school football team warming up before practice with some high knees. There was Andrew, James, Michael, Patrick, Lucy, Bernadette, and, oh my goodness, don’t look now, but it’s Francis of Assisi himself. That’s right: it was Thursday in New Orleans and the saints were marching in. Or was I just hallucinating?

North AmericaLogan T. HansenMay 17, 2025travel, travel blog, travel advice, travel guide, travel inspiration, travelspiration, travelogue, travel writing, travel recommendations, travel reviews, travel itinerary, travel ideas, travel diary, travel blogging, New Orleans, Big Easy, Louisiana, The Natchez, Ruby Slipper, Saint Francis of Assisi, Oklahoma City, Dorothy Gale, The Wizard of Oz, eggs cochon, Dean Martin, Caesars, casino, Titanic, Titanic: An Immersive Voyage, RMS Titanic, Antti Wiljam Sihvola, Finland, Idaho, Bourbon Street, Bourbon Street Drinkery, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, Lafitte's, Jean Lafitte, Pierre Lafitte, Andrew Jackson, President Andrew Jackson, Battle of New Orleans, War of 1812, Purple Drink, Purple Drank, Sazerac, absinthe, Herbsaint, piano bar, Jason Kelce, Kylie Kelce, Kate Moss, Family Guy, Nicolas Cage, Adam Devine, Tennessee Williams, Jelly Roll, Miami Dolphins, French Quarter, French Quarter Ghost and Murder Tour, ghost tour, Ursuline Convent, Louisiana Supreme Court, Jacques St. Germain, LaLaurie Mansion, Delphine LaLaurie, Madame LaLaurie, American Horror Story, Kathy Bates, AHS, slavery, New Orleans Bee, Dr. Leonard Louis Nicolas LaLaurie, Pierre Trastour, Paris, Creole architecture, Creole cuisine, French architecture, French cuisine, National World War II Museum, World War II, Anne Frank, Campaigns of Courage, Road to Berlin, Road to Tokyo, The Original Pierre Maspero's, Napoleon House, Napoleon Bonaparte, Chicago, Northside Barbershop, Chartres Street, Governor Nicholls Street, Royal Street, Curio, Curio Bistro, beignets, Pierre Maspero's, Felix's, Felix's Oyster House, Hard Rock Cafe, Musical Legends Park, Airbnb, Deep South, Bon Jovi, Livin' on a Prayer, Jon Bon Jovi, Royal House Oyster Bar, MichiganComment

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.

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