Monthly Archives: March 2012

The Magical Mystery Tour

Posted by on March 31, 2012

Sunrise over the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina

Sunrise over the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina

Several months ago I suggested to my assistant Amy that she set up a mystery trip for me. I instructed her to contact a public relations company or tourism board for somewhere in the world and set up a trip where I would have no idea where I was going.

So, set up the trip she did and all I knew is that on March 29th I was going to start in Charleston, South Carolina and go somewhere by car. Instructions were to be given to me by Amy via Twitter.

Given what is in driving distance of Charleston I figured I would be going to South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee or Georgia.

I ended up driving up Interstate 26 to Western North Carolina and the Smoky Mountains National Park. There I stayed in the small town of Bryson City and spent Friday visiting the park. (more…)

Categories: North Carolina | 7 Comments »

The Top 10 Reasons to Travel Condensed Down Into 1

Posted by on March 27, 2012

For a while I’ve wanted to write something explaining why people should travel. Having spent a half a decade exploring the world, more and more I find myself not just traveling for my own benefit but using my platform to encourage others to travel. The problem is, to me the “why” of travel is so obvious that it is hard to put into words. It is also something very personal and different people are going to have very different reasons for traveling.

I wish I could write a top 10 list with semi-obvious bullet points about why you should travel. Maybe I could toss in points to pander to different groups and in the end have something which would generate tons of pageviews.

Honestly, I just can’t do it. I’ve done lists of my favorite things and I do occasional lists of trivia, but for something as personal and intangible as travel, I’m not sure it can or should be done.

The more I thought about the subject, the more I realized that when you cut away all the BS there was at the core one and only one reason why anyone should travel.

(more…)

Categories: Travel | 64 Comments »