Journal
Welcome to the full story: the complete journal of my adventures and stories of my travels, both near and far. My heart belongs on the road, seeking new knowledge and memorable moments wherever a Footprint can be left or a Freeway can take us. This is where I share my explorations and celebrate the conviction that traveling brings smiles. My style of travel is defined by intentional curiosity. I love trying new things and experiencing the local culture through the activities and cuisine they are known for, even if it pushes me slightly past my comfort zone.
You can expect a genuine, unfiltered mix of all my explorations. I love writing about everything that makes a destination special—from walking through grand National Parks and ancient international sites to simply enjoying a quick, scenic road trip close to home. I’m a slow-paced explorer, focused on soaking it all in and collecting knowledge rather than rushing the experience. Here, I share the honest recaps and practical takeaways that help you plan your own diverse adventures—including the well-tested itineraries, hotel insights, and transportation tips that make travel achievable with a busy schedule.
Whether you’re dreaming of a global escape or just need inspiration for your next weekend drive, I hope these stories motivate you to look closer at the world around you. Let’s step out together and start making new memories.
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My birthday was coming up, and instead of the usual dinner-and-cake routine, I started thinking: is there something different we could do? Something that’s been sitting on my Colorado bucket list forever, just waiting for an excuse?
I honestly don’t even remember how I landed on the answer. I think I was digging back through an old blog...
We had fun (but a little scary) UTV tour in Arizona a while back, but it was an experience that stayed on my mind. When I saw there was a Leadville UTV tour available, I knew off-roading/backroads deserved a second chance. The Leadville route was billed as family-friendly, so I was confident it would be more relaxing, with incredible high-country scenery...
Some experiences you book because they’re objectively fine-dining perfection. Others you book because they’re unique, atmospheric, and you’re willing to pay a premium for the memory. The Tennessee Pass Cookhouse, just outside Leadville, Colorado, falls firmly into the second category for us — and that distinction is the most important thing to know...
We had our sights set on a full week away. Savannah, Georgia. Nova Scotia. The Oregon Coast. We batted around all three before the flight and hotel prices talked us out of it. So instead of a week far from home, we scaled back to a three-day long weekend in Leadville; a place I’d been meaning to visit for the entire twelve years I’ve lived...
If you’ve scrolled past the ads for one of these “immersive art experiences” and wondered whether they’re actually worth your money, you’re not alone. I’ve now done two — the Titanic immersive exhibit in New York earlier this year, and most recently, the Van Gogh Immersive Experience at the Exhibition Hub Art Center...
My sister was in the middle of a big road trip and made sure to stop in Denver to see me before heading home. We signed up for a class together, caught up, and honestly spent most of the visit just resting after two weeks of her being on the go.
But on Saturday, after hitting two ARC thrift stores and grabbing lunch, we found ourselves sitting around...
There are places you visit as a child and write off entirely — dismissed somewhere between a long car ride and the desperate boredom of being twelve. For me, West Point was one of those places. My parents loaded my sister and me into the car, drove us up the Hudson Valley, and walked us through one of the most storied military institutions in American...
I was so excited when my sister told me about a Llama and Alpaca hike at Clover Brooke Farm in Pawling that she wanted to get tickets for. This is the only activity I knew about in advance. Truth be, that she was hoping to do the Baby Goat hike, but this is the one that fit into the small window of when I’d be visiting, and it still proved to...
Every trip has one stop that splits the group right down the middle. On our 3 day adventure up in Duchess and the greater Albany area, that stop was Secret Caverns. I came out of it grinning, ready to talk about the underground waterfall for the rest of the week. My niece came out of it having declared it, in no uncertain terms, the worst experience...
Not every stop on a road trip needs to be lighthearted. Titanic: An Immersive Voyage in Albany was a planned stop on a two-day road trip my sister, niece, and I took together — and it turned out to be one of the more memorable, if heavier, parts of the trip.
The Basics
Where: Titanic: An Immersive Voyage, Albany, NY (near Schenectady)
When we...
Opus 40 has been on my list for about a decade now. It’s a massive outdoor sculpture park near Saugerties, and every single time I’m in the area, I mean to finally go — and every single time, something gets in the way. This trip, the something was 100-degree heat and a whole lot of unshaded walking, which is exactly what Opus 40 requires....
I have to give my sister credit here — she remembered a bucket list item I mentioned ages ago, I wanted to sleep in a castle, and quietly built our whole overnight stop around it. As we came off the highway exit, I pointed and said, “oh look, there’s a little castle, we should drive up and see it.” My travel companions just laughed....
If you’d told me a decade ago that a Revolutionary War-era house museum would hold a 12-year-old’s attention for a full hour, I’m not sure I would’ve believed you. But that’s exactly what happened at the Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site in Albany, NY — and I’d put money on the reason having a first name and a...
Originally, my sister and her family were coming to Colorado to see me. But airfare and gas prices shot up this summer, and suddenly it made a lot more sense for me to fly to them instead.
Whenever I go “home,” it’s usually a whole lot of family time — eating, sitting around talking, playing games. And don’t get me wrong, I...
If your mental image of Kansas is entirely flat, golden wheat fields, the Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway will completely shatter that stereotype. Spanning 42 miles along U.S. Highway 160 between Medicine Lodge and Coldwater, this route drops you into an otherworldly landscape of vibrant crimson soil, deep canyons, and ancient, flat-topped mesas.
We recently...
When most people think of a road trip through Kansas, they picture endless miles of flat highways and wheat fields. But if you know exactly where to turn off the interstate, Western Kansas completely shatters that stereotype. From towering chalk pyramids rising out of the prairie to the lawless, gun-slinging history of the Old West, this region is packed...
If there is one town in the Midwest that completely embodies the lawless, gun-slinging heritage of the American Old West, it’s Dodge City, Kansas. Known in the late 1800s as the “Beautiful, Bibulous Babylon of the Frontier,” it was a bustling hub for buffalo hunters, railroad workers, and legendary lawmen like Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson.
Today,...
A Manhattan Walk from Inwood’s fields to the harbor’s edge — one perfect Friday, two pairs of tired feet
We were in New York for a wedding and had an extra three days. We knew we wanted to venture into the City, but wasn’t sure what to do. Then Justin remembered an episode of Broad City titled Stories (season 5, episode 1),...
It had been on my Colorado bucket list since it opened in September 2021, but somehow I kept forgetting about it. When my sister came to visit, we finally made it happen—a Sunday morning trip to Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station in Denver.
I’ll be honest: I had no idea what to expect. People seem to either love Meow Wolf or they don’t,...
San Francisco has a way of mixing the historic with the whimsical, the educational with the indulgent. Our weekend in the city was exactly that kind of experience—a perfect blend of San Francisco’s past and present: touring the working machinery that powers the iconic cable cars, getting lost in mirror mazes at Pier 39, sipping $16 Irish coffees...
When Justin and I decided to extend our San Francisco work trip by a day, there was one destination that immediately came to mind: Alcatraz. I’d visited the infamous island prison back when I was about 20, but Justin had never been, so we booked tickets through City Experiences, the official ferry provider for the island.
Getting There:...
Some of our earliest adventures together truly set the stage for our shared love of exploration. One of those memorable firsts was a long weekend trip in May 2016, venturing south into the unique landscapes of Colorado and New Mexico. Our itinerary was wonderfully eclectic: the hot springs of Pagosa Springs, the artistic charm of Taos, and two unforgettable...
On our recent Florida escape, I dropped Justin off for a couple of hours of seaside bliss at the Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course while I ran off for a lunch date with a friend. What started as a simple plan to squeeze in some golf turned into one of the most memorable stops of our trip—and not just because of the stunning ocean views.
The drive alone...
There’s something almost magical about driving from Key Largo to Key West along the famous Overseas Highway. In December 2025, we experienced this iconic 113-mile stretch of U.S. Route 1, and it lived up to every bit of its reputation as one of America’s most scenic drives.
In this post:
A Road Built on Dreams and Determination
The...
In late January 2025, I stumbled upon The 52 Book Club’s 2025 Reading Challenge, and on a whim, I decided to give it a try. Some years I devour books by the dozen; other years, life gets in the way and my reading habit dwindles to nearly nothing. But this year was different. After recently giving up a part-time job, I found myself with more precious...
Holiday time is all around us, but when traveling to a warmer region, I find it harder to get into the holiday spirit when I’m wearing shorts and looking at palm trees. Sometimes, the best travel moments are found serendipitously. This particular adventure started not with a detailed itinerary, but simply by driving past a sign about “Jungle...
Key West is more than just the end of U.S. 1—it’s a pocket-sized island crammed with more history, literary legends, and iconic bars than almost anywhere else in the country. Planning a full three-day escape (plus 2 travel days) here requires a good strategy, balancing the must-see historical tours with the necessary Key West traditions, like finding...
There is something truly inspiring about the diversity of our National Parks, Monuments, and Lands. From towering mountains to deep canyons, our country offers an incredible array of landscapes. Our recent trip to Key West gave us a chance to check one of the most remote and unique parks off the list: Dry Tortugas National Park.
Originally the name...
When we started planning our Key West trip, I stumbled upon the Key Lime Pie Walking Tours. At first, I was intrigued—a guided tour dedicated entirely to this iconic Florida dessert? Sign me up! But when I saw the price tag, especially after we’d already splurged on other tours, we decided to create our own DIY key lime pie crawl instead. Armed...
Nine years ago this month, Justin and I embarked on our first international trip together—an adventure that would define our shared love for exploration.
Just a few days after exploring the charming ruins of Cahal Pech in Belize, we embarked on a highly anticipated bus tour for a day visit to Tikal from San Ignacio. Our destination: the magnificent...
It was today, nine years ago, that our adventure in Belize began with a captivating dive into ancient Maya history at Cahal Pech, just a stone’s throw from San Ignacio. Cahal Pech offered a charming and intimate introduction to the Maya world that was uniquely its own.
Getting to Cahal Pech was wonderfully easy from our base in San Ignacio,...
Our a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC, about this time last year, was a chance to visit some younger friends and check out a town my sister enjoyed. Upon arrival, I was surprised with the cold weather! Despite the palm trees and sunshine, it was far colder than we expected, even in November, necessitating an emergency trip to the outlets to snag a necessary...
There’s something uniquely captivating about a crisp autumn day, especially when it’s spent exploring the rich history and stunning landscapes of Colorado’s Gold Belt. Join us as we recount a memorable day trip to Cripple Creek and Victor, where mining lore and charming small towns come alive.
Our day began under clear blue skies,...
For the last nine years, the Chase Sapphire Reserve has been my go-to credit card. It was the card that lived at the front of my wallet, the one I reached for on every dining, travel, and everyday purchases. For almost a decade, it was a constant companion that unlocked some fantastic travel perks and made my life easier. Plus, the distinctive metal...
If you are looking for the perfect blend of rich history and pristine white-sand beaches, this 7-day Southern Alabama itinerary is the ultimate guide to exploring Mobile and Gulf Shores.
For our anniversary, we decided on a week-long escape to southern Alabama, splitting our time between the historic port city of Mobile and the sandy beaches of Gulf...