United States

1. Foliage Maps There are a bunch of tools and foliage maps online that you can use to find the perfect place to visit. Two of my personal favorites are the Live Fall Foliage Map and Peak Fall Foliage Map that can be found on NewEngland.com. The Live Fall Foliage Map will show you by state and ...

Although Great Sand Dunes is one of the lesser visited national parks, unique experiences and beautiful views abound in its 30 square miles of undulating dunes nestled below the Sangre de Cristo range. Read on to see what this southern Colorado park has to offer:1. The Tallest Sand Dunes in North...

Neither Nikki nor I had ever been down to Joshua Tree before. It had been a super dry winter so far, so I decided to go ahead and book a super cool little AirBnb in the desert just outside of the park. We ended up leaving home a day early, and not having booked anywhere, we were going to cross ov...

If you are anything like me you get tired of the daily grind and your immediate environment every 6-8 weeks. This is precisely why you need to have a few weekend getaways in your back pocket for your next Monday afternoon I’m-booking-a-trip-on-Expedia-right-now meltdown. Portland has everything y...

Containing some of the rawest and most rugged land in the lower 48, Canyonlands National Park, some might say, looks no different than in 1869 when Maj. John Wesley Powell first traveled through it on his Colorado River expedition. Neatly carved into three main districts, the park’s arterial hear...

It’s summertime which means the days are longer, the weather is warmer, and life is just a little more fun. This is true for most places, but we’d argue that Laguna Beach puts them to shame when it comes to covering all the most important factors of a summer spent outside. Let’s start with the mo...

In March of this year I went to Great Sand Dunes National Park on a whim. I was this close to not going but am so glad I did. I was on a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park and had gotten one solid day of exploring in before the weather turned nasty and Alex and I were chased from our backcountr...

When people think of summer in Colorado, one of the experiences most likely to put a smile on your face is backpacking. Backpacking in the mountains of Colorado is one of those activities that everyone has to experience (yes, has to). Although you will have to carry a little extra weight: the exp...

Desert playground. Outdoor mecca. Disneyland for men who shave their legs and women who don’t. These are all fair titles to give to Utah's tiny town of about 5,000 and you'll understand why after spending a weekend exploring Moab's wealth of staggering beauty and endless potential for all things ...

A new year means new resolutions, goals, and ambitions. You travel junkies out there are probably planning your 2017 trips and I know how long those bucket lists can get. Let me do you a favor....if Utah is on that list, go ahead and scratch it off. Just don't even bother. Here are the top 5 reas...

Mendenhall Glacier and Ice Caves No trip to Juneau would be complete without a visit to one of Alaska's easiest accessed glaciers, albeit this is changing quite rapidly due to the exponentially increasing rate of retreat of the glacier.  While the glacier itself can be seen from the visitor cente...

There are so many ways to experience nature and one of the best is by paddling. Kayaking and canoeing, even paddle boarding on occasion. Wisconsin is the Land of 15,000 Lakes (and 12,600 rivers and streams) and it's chock full of paddling opportunities, and its beautiful state parks make for a gr...

The Four Pass Loop is generally considered the best backpacking trip in Colorado, and has a strong argument for being one of the most stunning loops in North America. As the name implies, the loop hits four high passes -- Buckskin (12,462'), Trail Rider (12,415'), Frigid Air (12,500'), and West M...

I’ve done my fair share of traveling on the Northern American continent and I’ve never had an experience like the one I had in Silverton, Colorado. I’m a 4th year skier. So as you can imagine, the thought of skiing some of the steepest, expert, in bounds (sort of) terrain in Colorado scared me, b...

The Spark "Let's climb the Grand Teton." This simple sentence was the beginning.   The spark that convinced my best friend, Dakota, to tag along with me on my road trip from Yosemite to Michigan.  The spark that brought back a dream for me that started when I was 12.  The spark that set all the w...

Ever since losing my friend, I have been struggling to understand my grief. I've been confused, stretched way too thin, unexplainably sad, and possessed by a multitude of questions I couldn't begin to describe. After 5 transformational days in the Grand Canyon, I found some of the answers I was s...