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Author: Liana Safian

Mystery and History at Shenandoah National Park

Mystery and History at Shenandoah National Park

Arriving at Shenandoah National Park felt like being transporting into an eerie, moody mystery novel. The park was socked in by thick damp fog. The kind that’s more cloud than fog. Leaving all surfaces glistening with a cold wet sheen and reducing visibility to minimal amounts. As we wound our way further up the mountains, the tree-lined road slowly appeared out of the dense white background. From the overlooks we could see only hazy outlines of tree tops below, with…

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Thinking with our Stomachs in Charleston

Thinking with our Stomachs in Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina is an old city. Old by US standards at least. In fact, it’s so old that Charleston’s founding pre-dates the United States itself. It was settled in 1670 and originally named Charles Town after England’s King Charles the II. While we didn’t have a ton of time here, we packed our days (and our stomachs) full. Charleston captivated us in a way no other city on our travels thus far has. Food Food brought us to Charleston….

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Our First Hostel and Talking to Strangers

Our First Hostel and Talking to Strangers

In New Orleans we stayed at our first hostel. Not first hostel of the trip. First hostel ever. In the past our lodging has been mostly a mix of camping, hotels, and Airbnb. Honestly, as far as US travel goes, we’d never really considered a hostel before. They were just rather off our radar. Turns out that most substantially sized US cities have at least a few different hostel options. We plan to primarily stay in hostels next year during…

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7 Tips for Traveling in Bad Weather

7 Tips for Traveling in Bad Weather

Bad weather can often turn your travel plans upside down. We’ve had our share of weather related delays and disruptions during our wanderings thus far so we thought this would be a perfect time to share a “travel tips” post. Here are a few of the things we’ve learned along the way to help make the best of bad weather, stay safe in severe weather, and enjoy your travels and adventures rain or shine. 1. Respect the local weather We’ve been known…

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Swamps, Good Eats, and Music in New Orleans

Swamps, Good Eats, and Music in New Orleans

Our first priority upon arriving in New Orleans was of the personal hygiene variety. We’d been camping without showers for about 5 days and I’ll just say it was time to clean up our act. After moving in to the India House Hostel—our home away from Stan for the week—and some deep scrubbing, we set out to explore the city and start getting our bearings. Typically our first order of business when we get to a new city or camp…

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First National Park of the Road Trip : Hot Springs, Arkansas

First National Park of the Road Trip : Hot Springs, Arkansas

Our time in Hot Springs, Arkansas began like much of the trip thus far. Torrential rains, black skies, angry clouds, and flash flood warnings. I won’t go into too much detail for fear this blog is starting to sound more like a weather report than a travel story, but it is rather unnerving to have your phone blaring emergency alerts at you every few hours. We were able to snag one of the last four sites available at Gulpha Gorge,…

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Floods, Family, and Fossils in Arkansas

Floods, Family, and Fossils in Arkansas

By the time we arrived at my uncle and aunt’s house in Arkansas the skies had cleared to a very welcome blue. The hot sunshine and cool sharp wind made it hard to decide between shorts or puffy coats. Stan had acquired a funky odor so we opened all the doors in an attempt to dry him out while we caught up with the fam. My uncle suggested that we go to Roaring River State Park. This is where we had…

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Hesitation and History in Hannibal

Hesitation and History in Hannibal

Before we get into our Hannibal, MO wanderings, I should say that we were feeling rather unprepared for our departure. Stan was all packed, but we’d never gotten around to a test trip and the blog (yes this blog) was nowhere near ready. We thought about delaying the trip another day to get the blog launched, but worried that one day would become two, which would lead to another week, and before you know it we really would be just…

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