Five Reasons Why You Should Be Taking Your Children to Historical Sites

1. Historical Travel Can Help History Come Alive I think it is valuable to show children where battles were fought. Gettysburg’s field of battle was only 4 acres in size. Over 7,800 soldiers died. Those are just numbers. But standing on the field and realizing how small that was, how gruesome the sight would be… …

Read more

Dealing With The Unexpected While Traveling

Over the course of the last four years, only a small fraction of the things which happen to me end up on my website. Most either don’t merit a mention or sometimes I forget to write about it. Today something happened that I didn’t think twice about when it occurred. They were simple enough events …

Read more

Visiting Erta Ale: The Hike to Hell and Back

Ethiopia is a wonderful country with pleasant temperatures and friendly people. I enjoyed the food, the people, and the sites I visited on my recent trip there. I’ll certainly be returning at some point in the future. However, every rule has an exception. The Danakil Depression, which is in the northeastern corner of the country …

Read more

Thoughts on New Zealand

Other than some obvious things like driving on the left, I’m amazed at how easy it is for an American to fit in, in New Zealand. As I was driving around the country, I could just as easily have been in any number of US states. As I’d drive around, I’d say “this is just …

Read more

In Praise of Spontaneous Travel

I am writing this in Warsaw, Poland. That in and of itself isn’t that impressive. Many people visit Poland every year. What makes this special is that up until a few days ago, I had no idea I was going to be in Poland. In fact, until yesterday, I had no idea I was going …

Read more

Something Funny Happened On The Way Around The World

When I started traveling back in 2007 I did it for same reasons everyone does: to learn, explore, discover and see all the things I’ve always wanted to see. …and for almost 5 years I’ve been doing just that. You can see from my about page all of the things I’ve crammed into the last …

Read more

731 Days Later: My 2 Year Travelversary

It was 2 years ago today, March 13, 2007, that I closed on my house, handed over the keys and began what I mark as the start of my adventure. While I didn’t technically leave the mainland United States till about a month afterward and still had many details to take care of, this date …

Read more

The Quick and Dirty Guide to American National Parks

This guide is for both Americans who are looking to explore their own country, and for those from outside of the US who are looking to make a trip to America. It is by no means an exhaustive treatment of the subject, but it should answer some of the obvious questions and give you a …

Read more

My 2014 North American Summer Road Trip

Ever since 2009, I try spend in my time in North America to take advantage of the summer months. In 2009 I did a huge road trip through the western United States. In 2010 I went east through Washington DC and up through New England to the northernmost tip of Newfoundland. In 2012 I explored …

Read more