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: all you have to do is read the following quotation about the subject that’s brought us all here, that lovely, glorious, worldview-expanding, cranium-opening, beautiful, wondrous, amorphous, multi-adjective-inducing thing — travel!

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

Road Tripping Across Arizona, from Hoover Dam to the Grand Canyon & Beyond

I had never been to Arizona — now the 35th state I have checked off my race to all 50 — so you can imagine my excitement as I first laid eyes on the sign that read: “The Grand Canyon State Welcomes You”. My main objective was to visit that gargantuan hole in the earth that has entranced visitors for centuries. So, after finally making a stop at the damn dam and a nearby overlook of Lake Mead, I instructed the Google Maps machine to take me to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

North AmericaLogan T. HansenSeptember 12, 2024travel, travel diary, travel inspiration, travelspiration, travel ideas, travel recommendations, travel guide, travel blog, Arizona, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Chevy Chase, Vegas Vacation, National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation, National Lampoon, Nevada, Lake Mead, Phoenix, Glendale, Flagstaff, Picture Canyon, South Rim, Grand Canyon South Rim, petroglyphs, Northern Sinagua, Galaxy Diner, Route 66, Historic Route 66, road trip, road trips, road tripping, Dodge Challenger, rental car, Las Vegas, Sin City, summertime, summer vacation, summer travel, South Rim Trail, Grand Canyon State, U.S. Route 66, Stephen King, Night Shift, Clark Griswold, Colorado River, human remains, Village Historic District, Grand Canyon Village, Hopi House, architecture, historic architecture, Native American, Sinagua, Trail of Time, hiking, the great outdoors, outdoors, outdoor recreation, outdoor adventure, US 180, Black Canyon City, Sunset Point, Sunset Point Rest, travel photography, travel blogging, Arizona State Land Department, rock carvings, National Register of Historic Places, I-17Comment

Two Peas in a European Pod: One Week in Ireland & England — Day 7

London had been a trip, as had Galway and Cork and Cobh before it. But we were back in Dublin, where we began (and then ended and began again), and it was finally time to give the Irish capital a proper spin. Thus, on a wickedly windy Saturday morning, we stepped out of the Ashling Hotel and onto Benburb Street, ready to take on the city.

EuropeLogan T. HansenJuly 31, 2024travel, travel advice, travel guide, travelspiration, travel inspiration, travel blog, travel writing, travel recommendations, travel tips, travel planning, travel diary, travel bucket list, travel blogging, Europe, Ireland, Dublin, Ashling Hotel, Ashling Hotel Dublin, Aviva Stadium, England, Leinster, Leinster Rugby, Leicester, Leicester Tigers, rugby, European vacation, National Museum of Ireland, London, Galway, Cork, Cobh, Guinness, Guinness beer, Guinness Storehouse, Nancy Hands, Nancy Hands Bar & Restaurant, National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts & History, Easter Rising, Irish history, Asian art, River Liffey, Albert Bender, Willy Wonka, salmon of Capistrano, Guinness Academy, Gravity Bar, Hop House 13, Cooperage Café, 1837 Bar & Brasserie, Arthur's Bar, Brewers' Dining Hall, toasties, Dudley's, Guinness beef stew, Sphynx Tattoo, Hex Girls, Axe Man, Usher's Quay, Tim Burton, Winona Ryder, Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz, The Beer Temple, Galway Bay Brewery, Dublin City Hall, European Rugby Champions Cup, Champions Cup, Elite Eight, March Madness, Wicklow Mountains, Airbnb, Blarney Stone, RMS Titanic, Titanic, Limerick, Ed Sheeran, Merlin Castle, sheela na gig, Chicago Bulls, Sam Wanamaker PlayhouseComment

Two Peas in a European Pod: One Week in Ireland & England — Day 6

You might think the experience would lose a little of its luster the second time around, at least at the margins, but waking up in perhaps the most famous city in the world for a second consecutive day was no less thrilling. The only bugaboo this time is that we didn’t have a full day in London ahead of us. It would be but a mere few hours before we needed to return to London Stansted Airport and head back to Ireland for the very final leg of our whirlwind European adventure, meaning there was no time to spare.

EuropeLogan T. HansenJune 21, 2024travel, travel advice, travel guide, travel inspiration, travelspiration, travel diary, travelogue, travel recommendations, travel ideas, travel itinerary, travel planning, travel logistics, travel blogging, travel bucket list, Europe, England, London, Ireland, Dublin, Dublin Airport, London Stansted Airport, Retromania, vintage shop, Iris Cafe, English breakfast, FARA, FARA Charity, Florence & the Machine, Florence Welch, Time Out, Upper Tachbrook, Upper Tachbrook Street, Westminster, British GQ, European vacation, Euro trip, Longmoore Street, Vogue House, Airbnb, Stansted Express, Liverpool Street Station, Tottenham Hale, National Express, Ashling Hotel, Ashling Hotel Dublin, House Baratheon, Game of Thrones, Guinness, Guinness beer, Guinness Storehouse, U2, Nancy Hands, Nancy Hands Bar & Restaurant, River LiffeyComment

Two Peas in a European Pod: One Week in Ireland & England — Day 5

Waking up in London had been an item on my travel bucket list for years — years! — and finally the day had arrived. When my alarm went off at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday, I opened my eyes and found myself in a flat — a flat! — on Longmoore Street in Westminster, with one of the most iconic cities in the world waiting just outside the door.

EuropeLogan T. HansenMay 31, 2024travel, travel ideas, travel guide, travel advice, travel inspiration, travelspiration, travel planning, travel blogging, travel diary, travelogue, travel recommendations, travel itinerary, travel bucket list, London, England, United Kingdom, Hatch 77, Westminster, Mayfair, Marylebone, Soho, Buckingham Palace, Victoria Memorial, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II, Ghosts Ghouls & Gallows Walking Tour, Big Ben, London Eye, Othello, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Longmoore Street, Airbnb, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Sir Henry Tate, Francis Bacon, J.M.W. Turner, Millbank Prison, Millbank Penitentiary, Tate St Ives, Tate Liverpool, Tate Liverpool + RIBA North, Liverpool, St Ives, Cornwall, U.K., Uber, Bankside, Swan London, Swan, panna cotta, Shakespeare, candlelight theater, Iago, Cassio, Desdemona, Patty & Bun, King's Guard, King Charles III, The Mall, The Mall London, Trafalgar Square, St. James's Park, St. James's Park Lake, BoTree Hotel, British GQ, Blue Bridge, Alice in Wonderland, Soho London, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermés, New Bond Street, Kingly Street, Cherry Bomb cocktail, old-fashionedComment

Two Peas in a European Pod: One Week in Ireland & England — Day 4

It wasn’t quite the crack of dawn, but Day 4 in Ireland certainly got off to an earlier start than any of its predecessors. Why, you ask? Well, because a mid-afternoon flight from Dublin to London was definitely going to sneak up on us faster than we would have liked — which meant we had but a few wee hours to see or do anything else in Galway before we had to hit the road, Jack, and not come back no more (no more, no more, no more…).

EuropeLogan T. HansenMay 12, 2024travel, travel guide, travel advice, travel ideas, travelspiration, travel inspiration, travel diary, travel blogging, travelogue, travel recommendations, travel itinerary, travel planning, travel bucket list, Europe, Ireland, England, London, Dublin, Galway, Dublin Airport, Tower of London, London Eye, ghost tour, River Thames, United Kingdom, U.K., Avoca House, bed and breakfast, Scooby-Doo, Ballyloughane, Ballyloughane Beach, Merlin Castle, Merlin, Merlin Park Woods, Medieval, Medieval architecture, Francis Blake, Merlyn, sheela na gig, Ryanair, London Stansted Airport, Cork, Cobh, Limerick, Toyota, Toyota Yaris, Ghosts Ghouls & Gallows Walking Tour, walking tour, TripAdvisor, tripadvisor.com, Westminster, Airbnb, Green Park, St. James's Park, Clarence House, King Charles III, Longmoore Street, Victoria Station, Victoria Coach Station, Chicago Bulls, Big Ben, Uber Boat, Uber, Red Lady, Margaret Pole, The Hung Drawn & Quartered, BrewDog, Dirty Martini - Monument, European vacationComment

Two Peas in a European Pod: One Week in Ireland & England — Day 3

Apparently not ready to leave the cozy confines of Gem’s place in any kind of a hurry, Day 3 in Ireland got off to a slow start. Once we got going, however, we began the day by heading over to the same place the previous evening had concluded: the quaint and colorful city of Cobh.

EuropeLogan T. HansenApril 30, 2024travel, travel ideas, travelspiration, travel inspiration, travel blog, travelogue, travel diary, travel advice, travel guide, travel recommendations, travel tips, travel itinerary, Europe, Ireland, Titanic, Titanic Exhibition, Limerick, Galway, Cobh, Latin Quarter, Kelly's Bar, Clint Eastwood, Cork Harbour, Great Island, RMS Titanic, Traveling Canucks, Titanic Experience, Queenstown, Atlantic Ocean, Martin Gallagher, White Star Line, Bella Italia, Cork, Avoca House, bed and breakfast, Expedia, Expedia.com, Toyota, Toyota Yaris, rental car, city centre, Grafton Street, Ed Sheeran, Ballyloughane, Ballyloughane Beach, Mutton Island, The Kings Head, The Kings Head Pub, The Claddagh, Claddagh, Irish Central, Medieval, Neil Diamond, Sweet Caroline, High Street, King Charles I, European vacationComment

Two Peas in a European Pod: One Week in Ireland & England — Day 2

As far as the day itself was concerned, we hadn’t looked up a ton of things to do or really put any kind of concrete plan in place, but one thing that was absolutely, without-a-doubt, no-ifs-ands-or-buts-about-it on the list was a visit to Blarney Castle. There, we’d have the opportunity to climb up to the parapet or rampart or battlement or whatever you want to call it and kiss the fabled Blarney Stone, which is said to bring good luck and eloquence (“the gift of gab”, so they say) to anyone who lays a wet one on it.

EuropeLogan T. HansenApril 19, 2024travel, travel guide, travel advice, travelspiration, travel inspiration, travel blog, travel blogging, travel writing, travelogue, travel diary, travel ideas, travel recommendations, travel reviews, travel itinerary, travel planning, Europe, Ireland, Cork, Cobh, Titanic, Blarney Stone, Blarney Castle, St. Colman's, St. Colman's Cathedral, Titanic Exhibition, Blarney Castle & Gardens, Airbnb, St. Anne's Church, Shandon Bells, Shandon Bells & St. Anne's Church, Ellacombe apparatus, The Bells of Shandon, Francis Sylvester Mahony, Muskerry Arms Bar and B&B, Champions League, Muskerry Arms, England, Himalayan Valley, Vietnamese Woodland, Poison Garden, Druid's Circle, Witch's Cave, Seven Sisters, Horse Graveyard, Simba, garderobe, Medieval castle, murder hole, Fern Garden, Titanic Bar & Grill, Edward Smith, Captain Smith, architectureComment

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