My Top 5 Favorite National Parks
& Why I Love ThemEvery so often, I feel the need to share a post just because I want to – not because Google is going to show it to lots of people. Instead, I write stories like this one because I know that you and I share something in common: we love exploring and finding new places to call our favorites and recommend to our friends and family. After all, what is a blog if not a big megaphone to share my travel advice with (future) friends like you...
The 7 Best Things to Do in Whites City, New Mexico (& Nearby)
Whites City, New Mexico is the gateway to Carlsbad Caverns National Park – and the closest community to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. This might make you think it's well-equipped to handle tourists, perhaps like Seward (Alaska) near Kenai Fjords, Bar Harbor (Maine) near Acadia, or even tiny but growing Baker (Nevada) near Great Basin...
How to Make the Most of One Day in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
America's national parks have something for everyone. Whether you love historic sites, back-country trekking, or delving deep underground... there's a park for that! It turns out that I personally am partial to the latter: I have loved caves and caving since I was a child (along with mining and mineshafts, which is a weird thing for kids to love!). Unsurprisingly then, some of my favorite national parks have caves – and it's also unsurprising that Carlsbad Caverns National Park jumped right onto my list of personal faves since IT'S ALL CAVES...
The 10 Best Things to Do in Carlsbad, New Mexico
Located in the southeast corner of New Mexico, the town of Carlsbad is perhaps best known for the cavernous national park nearby that shares its name. Bisected by the Pecos River, this town of just 30,000 residents might not seem like it offers much other than overnight accommodation for national park travelers; in fact, there are more things to do in Carlsbad than you likely realize...
10 Days in Alaska: How to Plan Your Epic Alaska Itinerary in 2023
If there is one destination about which I receive more questions than any other, it's Alaska. At the core, everyone wants to know: how do you plan a trip to Alaska? What's the perfect Alaska itinerary? Since I started this blog, I've become a bit of an expert in Alaska trip planning and at times I publish so many stories that it seems like I'm running an Alaska travel blog! After all, I grew up in Alaska and I go back to explore my 'home' state at least once per year and twice in both 2021 and 2022...
How to Attend the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in 2023
When I moved to the Pacific Northwest from London, part of me lamented that I was even further away from the tulip fields of the Netherlands. Imagine my surprise to learn that 90 minutes north of Seattle, the fields of the Skagit Valley bloom into a quilt of technicolor tulips throughout April each year...
7 Days in Alaska: Two Alaska Week Itineraries for 2023
The absolute silence of Denali National Park. The misty spray of a waterfall running over the cliffs of Kenai Fjords. The unusual flavors of reindeer sausage topped with pineapple salsa. Alaska is a place full of experiences that you may have never had before – which is likely why you're planning a visit in 2023. It's time to have that bucket list experience...
7 Former National Parks Across the U.S. Still Worth a Visit
When most people think of national parks in the United States, they likely envision iconic sites like Yellowstone, Yosemite, or the Grand Canyon. However, there are some former national parks that have been demoted or absorbed into other parks for a variety of reasons...
Ready for a New National Park? Here are 10 Possible Spots
As you may know from reading my site at all, I'm a huge fan of the national parks system in the U.S. I, like many, believe it to be one of America's best ideas – and I love traveling with the specific intent of visiting new national parks. Heck, Mr. V and I took a honeymoon road trip to explore national parks, and I plan an annual pilgrimage to a new park with my friend Marissa...
