Quit Your Job and Travel the World: How we did it and you can too!
We’ve hit the one-week marker on our U.S. summer road trip, and I’ve already got ambitious dreams of visiting each of the 49 states we can reach by car. Do you think we can do it? I do! But to start, here’s a photographic overview of our first week on the road. Continue reading “U.S. Road Trip Re-Cap: Week One (California, Nevada and Arizona)”
Accustomed to urban life after two weeks in Costa Rica’s central valley, Ian and I were eager for a nature adventure. We set off for Volcán Arenal, a volcano situated among a beautiful rainforest and mountain landscape, near the developing tourist town of La Fortuna.
Our hotel — booked, as usual, through Airbnb — had the best view I’ve ever seen from a hotel room. A list of nearby tourist activities included kayaking, a chocolate tour, rappeling down waterfalls… there was a full page of options. With one day allotted for adventure activities, we chose a ziplining tour. (Neither of us had ever been!) Watch the video here! Continue reading “[VIDEO & REVIEW] Sky Adventures Ziplining, Gondola & Hanging Bridges (Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica)”
Not long ago (10 months to be exact) I quit my full time job with no real back up plan. A Pepperdine grad with a marketing degree, I’d landed a job at a beachfront office 3 years prior, getting a steady paycheck working in my field. Sounds great, right? Well, not when you’ve got a nagging desire to escape and set your own rules. I bought a one-way ticket to Europe and put in my notice, with vague plans to become my own boss and do something I could be excited about. And I haven’t looked back.
After 10 months of nomadic bliss, here are 10 reasons I’ll never regret taking that leap. Continue reading “10 Reasons I’ll Never Regret Quitting My Job to Travel”
Talk about arriving in style… We made a splash in Lake Tahoe — literally, in a seaplane — on October 28, 2014, followed by a picnic lunch at Nevada Beach with Seabee pilots Pete and Lien Norman.
The above photo was taken from the rear seat of the Seabee Warbird with my Google Nexus 5. Continue reading “Shot of the Week: Water Landing in the Seabee Warbird (Lake Tahoe, USA)”
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[NOTE: This post was written prior to Burning Man 2014, but all the steps below still apply, year after year. Have a great burn, everyone.]
16 days til the man burns. That means less than two weeks to finish prepping for our week-long journey into radical self reliance and expression in the playa of Black Rock City. (If you’re not familiar with this exquisitely unique festival, read more here.)
When prepping for Burning Man, careful planning helps keep Walmart trips, Amazon orders and overall expenses to a minimum. These next two weeks we’ll be sharing our preparation process right here for your reading pleasure. Organization is key, so I’m splitting up the whole charade into easy-to-follow (but very thorough) steps. Continue reading “How to Prepare for Burning Man”
On the fourth day of our road trip through the Western U.S., we headed to Bryce Canyon. We arrived around noon and were happy to find that the ‘full’ signs had not yet been hung next to the campground names at the entrance.
Between Zion and Bryce Canyon, we stopped in Red Canyon to set up camp on day 3 of Road Trip USA: Summer 2014. After having a hard time finding camping at Zion, we pulled into Red Canyon Campground around 3pm to avoid another after-dark search for camping.
Red Canyon is located near Panguitch, Utah, in the Powell Ranger District of the expansive Dixie National Forest. With a landscape resembling a hybrid between Zion and Bryce, Red Canyon is home to red sandstone spires as well as dense sections of pine trees.
Continue reading “Arches Trail and the Milky Way at Red Canyon, Dixie National Forest, Utah”
Above: Zion Canyon from Angels Landing at sunset
Without a cloud in the sky, our second destination on Road Trip USA: Summer 2014 was hot but breathtakingly beautiful (and also quite appropriately named). Zion — or “the promised land” — is a large National Park in Utah home to the popular Zion Canyon, an expanse surrounded by sandstone and limestone formations tall enough to almost entirely shade the valley below by early afternoon. Continue reading “Zion National Park, Utah, USA”
Traveling off the beaten path? Pack this.
Whether you yourself are traveling off the beaten path or you know someone who frequently is, this may just be the best purchase you make in your life.
Continue reading “The Best Gift for the “Road Less Traveled” Traveler”
After planning a little for a LOT of exciting things to see along the way from Los Angeles, California to St. Louis, Missouri, we departed on the morning of June 17.
With a tentative route planned and a wish list of places to visit, we set out on our 2K+ mile scenic drive across half the length of the United States. Read on for the list of places we saw, and keep an eye out for posts about each place (coming soon). Continue reading “Road Trip USA”