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Tag: hiking

7 Ways to be a Good National Park Visitor

7 Ways to be a Good National Park Visitor

(AKA How to Not be an A$$ in Nature) It’s that wonderful time of year when the days are long and the sun is hot. Summer has always been my favorite season—promising road trips, camping adventures, and many hours in nature. It’s also the busiest time of year at national parks. We’ve already shared some tips for finding solitude in the parks this summer, but with rising national park visitation, comes an increased human impact on these beautiful places. Here’s…

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13 Road Trip Essentials

13 Road Trip Essentials

Not many things compare to the feeling of cruising down the open road on a hot summer day. Dark pavement glistening with heat mirages stretching out in front of you indefinitely. Soft white clouds rolling across the land. Windows down and sweet country air blowing across your sweaty back as Tom Petty blasts from the speakers. This is what summer dreams are made of friends. Pin this post for later > Road trips make for some of the best vacations….

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How to Find Solitude in the National Parks this Summer

How to Find Solitude in the National Parks this Summer

We’re taking a little break from European posts this week to talk about something really important—how to get away from people. I don’t mean you should become a hermit and live in a van down by the river…oh wait…maybe I do? Kidding aside, if you’re planning to explore the national parks this summer, you likely don’t want to spend your vacation shuffling through a mob of sweaty visitors. Instead you’ll want to find solitude in the expansive vistas, quiet trails,…

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Top Outdoor Gear List

Top Outdoor Gear List

15 of Our Favorite Things for Outdoor Adventure Since it’s time to start planning those summer adventures, an update to our outdoor gear list is in order. We also added some goodies to our van life gear recommendations and our road trip essentials guide. While a list of stuff is pretty contrary to all our talk about minimalism and letting go of things, even a minimalist needs some things. Plus we’re big proponents of thoughtful purchasing. We research the crap out…

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Utah Road Trip Itinerary – 2 Weeks in the Mighty 5 National Parks

Utah Road Trip Itinerary – 2 Weeks in the Mighty 5 National Parks

If you’re having déjà vu, (look we already picked up some French😉) you’re not alone. This two week Utah road trip itinerary is a combination of our one week eastern and western national park itineraries. We thought it’d be helpful to have all the details in one place and timeline recommendations for each destination. Plus, we’ve added more awesome things to do in each national park and new photos. If you have 2 weeks to travel around the stunning state…

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8 Incredible Things to do in Jaco, Costa Rica

8 Incredible Things to do in Jaco, Costa Rica

We recently got back from a trip to Jaco, Costa Rica. Since we started traveling last year, this is the first big “unplanned” destination we’ve visited. What I mean by “unplanned” is that just a few short months ago it wasn’t anywhere on our radar of 2018 travel destinations. Learning to Say “Yes” Last year our travels were mapped out ahead of time. We quickly discovered that we’d way overbooked and had to cut things out. Even after trimming down…

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Utah Road Trip Itinerary – 1 Week in Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks

Utah Road Trip Itinerary – 1 Week in Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks

Last month we published a one-week Utah road trip itinerary for Arches and Canyonlands. Today we’re thrilled to share a Zion and Bryce Canyon itinerary all about what to do in Utah’s western national parks. Zion is one of the most visited national parks in the U.S., for good reason. It’s a vibrant oasis of majestic cliffs, rumbling rivers, and lush vegetation in the middle of the desert. Bryce Canyon (which isn’t a canyon at all—but an amphitheater) is our…

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How to Spend a Day in Door County, Wisconsin in the Winter

How to Spend a Day in Door County, Wisconsin in the Winter

We already posted an update about our time in Wisconsin, but there’s one more outing that didn’t make it onto that list—a day-trip to Door County. This place is truly lovely any time of year and there’s so much to do that it deserves its own post. If you’re not from the Midwest and you ask a Wisconsinite where specifically they’re from, they might hold up their hand (in that retro “talk-to-the-hand” kind of way) and point to it. They’re…

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Utah National Parks Itinerary – 1 Week in Arches and Canyonlands

Utah National Parks Itinerary – 1 Week in Arches and Canyonlands

We promised more itineraries this year so we’re really excited to share this post all about Arches and Canyonlands National Parks with you! It’s the first in a series of Utah road trip itineraries focused on the National Parks. We’ve written a lot about Utah already but it’s such a remarkable place that we think everyone should visit at least once. There are glittering rivers edged with lush green trees cutting through vibrant multi-colored monoliths of rock. There are cool…

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Off-Season on Orcas Island

Off-Season on Orcas Island

This week’s post is a throwback. It’s not Thursday so let’s say it’s a Memory Monday post. That’s a thing, right? Orcas Island is part of the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington state. Visiting this region was on our PNW bucket list for years. We finally got around to it shortly before leaving on our long-term travels. We spent Christmas on Orcas Island last year and it was exactly the relaxation we needed after the busy holidays….

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