There’s nothing quite like waiting until the last minute to plan something out. And it doesn’t get much more last minute than when you’re sitting at the kitchen table in your Airbnb after a long night of shenanigans in the northernmost capital city in the world searching up places to be and things to see on the Google Machine less than an hour before you’re planning to hit the road.
Read MoreI don’t think it was our intention initially, but Day 2 in Iceland wound up being the longest day of the trip by far. The plan was to explore the country’s southern coast, traveling at least as far as Vík, a seafront village which exists in the shadow of a glacier called Mýrdalsjökull. The village is approximately two and a half hours east of Reykjavík, about the midway point between the capital city and Vatnajökull National Park.
Read MoreI’m not sure if Iceland was as popular as it is today when I first set my sights on it a few years ago — they actually deal with a little bit of over-tourism these days — but it was a place I wanted to visit regardless if other people were going there or not. And so, finally, here I am, on the frosty frontiers of this large island nation that sits just a few degrees south of the Arctic Circle.
Read MoreWith the largest road atlas money can buy (thanks, grandma) laid out on the kitchen counter and some fancy new highlighters in hand, I began marking points. I marked places where I knew people, drew lines connecting the dots, checked the mileage with Google Maps to make sure I wasn’t planning ridiculously long drives (I max out at about 14 hours), and started feeling giddy.
Read MoreSometimes, when picturing upstate New York, I imagine a mystical land far, far away — a place that almost isn’t even real. Perpetually second fiddle to the Big Apple, the City That Never Sleeps, the city so great they named it twice, etcetera, etcetera, you tend to just kind of forget that the state of New York has 50,000 square miles of land which are not encompassed by the five boroughs.
Read MoreI took two months to travel to 22 states, putting over 8,500 miles on my car. I went to new places with old friends and old places with new friends. Sometimes I drove 14 hours in a day, others maybe one. I listened to hours of podcasts, audio books, and A LOT of music…
Read MoreWhile haunted houses and ghost ships and corn mazes filled with chainsaw-carrying killers may be better equipped to scare your pants off, there is something to be said for ghost towns, as well.
Read MoreIn and around the state of Michigan, it’s no secret that some of the best wineries and vineyards can be found along the stretch of highway M-37 that runs all the way to the top of Traverse City’s Old Mission Peninsula. Splitting Grand Traverse Bay into its east and west arms, Old Mission has got to be one of the most scenic destinations in the entire Lower Peninsula, and its numerous vineyards only add to its charm.
Read MoreI recently returned to Michigan from a seven-week backpacking trip to Europe during which I had no trouble at all — and that wasn’t just because I got lucky. I owe every person who reviewed the hotels I stayed at, the restaurants I ate at, and every event or activity I threw myself into a big thank you, because they made my trip as seamless as possible.
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