I may have never been backpacking, but I wasn't about to go to Kauai and miss out on Kalalau Trail, the iconic Na Pali coast experience. After all, Hawaii seems like an awfully nice place to get your feet wet (literally, it turns out!) in backcountry adventuring, so I was up to the challenge. In the months leading up to the trip, I spent hours learning about the hike, reading backpacking tips, ...
travel
Things You Might Not Expect at Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park is a small park in southern Utah, not too far from the super-popular Zion National Park. I've taken a couple trips to Zion, but finally made the extra drive out to Bryce this past fall. Friends, Bryce does not disappoint! Things you might not expect at Bryce Chilly temps The elevation at the rim of Bryce Canyon starts just under 8,000 ft and goes up to ...
Carry-On Only Packing for a Week Overseas
I’m a big believer in packing light, no matter the trip. With long trips by plane, I’m even more ruthless with my packing strategy. Besides the money saved on checked bags (for some airlines at least), you save time by not having to wait at baggage claim and stress by not having to worry about lost baggage. Plus, I love being able to quickly and easily grab my things and go. I like the feeling ...
A Foggy Ireland Photo Journal
Day 1 | Dublin I landed in Dublin around 10 am local time after a grueling 20 hours of traveling (and of course, no sleep). The first of my friends wasn't due to land until nearly 5 pm and I had a ton of time to kill. For context: my international travel experience is virtually non-existent. My trip to New Zealand last year was the first time I left North America. I'd never been to Europe ...
Glamping in Wanaka
Although I'm always up for adventure and outdoor time, there's something about camping that has always scared me off. The combination of sleeping outside on top of the logistical challenges of backpacking has always been enough to scare me off. But when I first learned that glamping (aka glamorous camping) was a thing, I was totally on board. While I was looking for unique lodging for our ...
Our New Zealand Honeymoon: The South Island
As promised, I'm back with the second half of our honeymoon adventure through New Zealand! Day 6 was our first full day on the South Island. In case you missed the first half and our NZ shenanigans, you can see what we were up to on the North Island in this post. Day 6 | St Arnaud → Haast Early the next morning, I woke up with the sun and walked down to the dock at Lake Rotoiti. ...