Scenic Route Travels

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Man, is it hard to get anything done during summertime in Alaska. My house is a graveyard of abandoned projects, because who can be productive when there are hours of daylight and miles of trails waiting? In a flash, Juneau has gone from an unfamiliar dot on a map to the home I’ve been looking for. It’s like I’ve found a kindred spirit in its moody, endless wildness. Rain or shine (but… Read More

As the antithesis of morning person, it surprised me how much I loved the rise-with-the-sun rhythm of being on safari. After the first moments of pre-dawn torture before someone put a muffin in my hands and got me in the safari rover, there is nothing to wake you up faster than driving manically over small trees and through thorn-covered bushes to watch a leopard stalk its prey. By our second day in… Read More

Last month, I touched down on the African continent for the first time ever for a family trip around South Africa. We were meeting my parents a short flight away from their new home in Angola for the chance to see the big five on safari, drink our way through world-renowned vineyards, climb mountains, and enjoy Cape Town all in one trip. And it definitely didn’t disappoint. Over the weeks we spent… Read More

After a whirlwind trip through Arches National Park, it was back to I-70 for the long haul to Grand Canyon National Park. As excited as I was to see the incredible immensity of one of the largest canyons on earth, a few months ago I could only cringe at the thought of the Grand Canyon in June. The thought of the heat and crowds was panic-inducing, especially for someone who prefers her nature with a… Read More

It’s a universally-acknowledged fact that the best way to celebrate finishing four years of flashcards and late night lab reports is to get in your car and drive away from all of your responsibilities for a week. The job apps and life planning will be right there in the anxiety-inducing pile you left them in, but it’s not often that you’ll get to feel as unattached and free as after you finish… Read More

Sometimes the best travel moments are the ones you never planned for. You can spend weeks researching and making itineraries for a trip only to stumble on an incredible experience by complete chance. I had one of those moments earlier this summer with my family on our way down to southwestern Colorado for a hut to hut trip through the San Juan mountains. We finally had our gear loaded in the back… Read More

Between showing off my beautiful home state to my visiting bestie, hiking through the San Juans, and making trips to Denver, it has been an incredibly busy summer . If we weren’t hiking or swimming or climbing, we were catching up with family and friends and whipping up delicious home cooked meals. The last thing on my mind was putting up blog posts, until all of the sudden there was only a… Read More

It seems like half the people on my Instagram feed are in Iceland lately. And while I’m definitely not the slightest bit jealous, it got me thinking about the best things Iceland has to offer in the summer. If you’re headed north of 60° this summer, here are some of my favorite Icelandic adventures: 1. Explore some lava fields. I don’t care who you are, lava is the coolest thing. Awaken your inner fourth… Read More