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  • Acadia & Bar Harbor in Late October and November: A Guide to the Quiet Season

    Here's the thing nobody will tell you about Acadia in November: it's the month this island is finally yours. The tour buses are gone. The cruise ships stopped running in mid-October. Half the ...

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    Acadia & Bar Harbor in Late October and November: A Guide to the Quiet Season
  • The Ultimate Guide To White Sands National Park

    I’m just going to say it: White Sands National Park is one of the most surreal places I’ve ever visited. Standing in a sea of brilliant white gypsum dunes feels like stepping onto another planet, or ...

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    The Ultimate Guide To White Sands National Park
  • A Girls’ Trip Guide to Salem, Massachusetts

    I've had a ton of requests for this one, so here it is: my guide to planning a girls' trip to Salem, MA. And no, it doesn't have to be October. Costume witch portraits, psychic readings, a ...

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    A Girls’ Trip Guide to Salem, Massachusetts
  • Where to Eat in Salem, MA: A Foodie Guide to the Witch City (Plus October Treats)

    Most people come to Salem for the witches, and while I get it, that might leave you wondering where to eat. I lived less than an hour from Salem for seven years, and the food is a big part of why I ...

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    Where to Eat in Salem, MA: A Foodie Guide to the Witch City (Plus October Treats)

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November 10, 2026

Acadia & Bar Harbor in Late October and November: A Guide to the Quiet Season

The honest off-season guide to Bar Harbor and Acadia in November: what’s open, what just locked the door, and where the locals actually go.

November 3, 2026

The Ultimate Guide To White Sands National Park

Planning a trip to White Sands National Park in 2026? This guide covers fees, hours, missile range closures, sledding, trails, dog rules, RV tips, and where to stay, so you can make the most of New Mexico’s glittering gypsum dunes.

October 27, 2026

A Girls’ Trip Guide to Salem, Massachusetts

historic sundial in salem garden with historic house

Salem is a great girls trip in any month, not just October. Here’s where to stay as a group, the witchy experiences worth booking together, and a loose weekend game plan so nobody has to be the cruise director.

October 14, 2026

Where to Eat in Salem, MA: A Foodie Guide to the Witch City (Plus October Treats)

Salem’s food scene is good enough to plan a trip around, even without the witches. Here’s where to eat and drink in Salem, MA, from breakfast at Red’s to a nightcap by the harbor, plus the food and drink stops that only show up in October.

September 29, 2026

Fall Road Trip Packing List: What To Actually Bring

Fall road trips are my favorite kind of road trip, and I say that as someone who lives in a truck-and-trailer combo 365 days a year. The light is better, the crowds thin out by mid-week, the dogs stop overheating,…

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September 22, 2026

The Ultimate Dog Hiking Gear List For National Parks

Loki, Freya, and Caly on a Maine beach

Three dogs, 20+ National Parks, and a lot of trial and error. This is the dog hiking packing list I actually use every time we hit the trail, including the Acadia-specific add-ons that matter.

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Hi! I'm Vanessa, a 30 something, sunset chasing traveler. I'm here to inspire you to travel wherever, whenever, and with whoever you can. My Huskies, Loki and Freya are usually along for the ride. I have a soul that likes to wander, a desire to experience the unknown, and a curiousity to discover things off the beaten path. I hope you'll stick around for awhile!

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Let's be friends! I know e-mails can suck but mine won't and I promise cute pup photos too!

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Recent Posts

  • Acadia & Bar Harbor in Late October and November: A Guide to the Quiet Season
  • The Ultimate Guide To White Sands National Park
  • A Girls’ Trip Guide to Salem, Massachusetts
  • Where to Eat in Salem, MA: A Foodie Guide to the Witch City (Plus October Treats)
  • Fall Road Trip Packing List: What To Actually Bring

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I’ve been told I’m ruining places more times than I’ve been told I’m ruining places more times than I can count at this point.

I’ve thought about it a lot, because the people saying it aren’t wrong about the problem. There is a problem. But I do think they’re wrong about the fix.

I don’t gatekeep. I also don’t geotag every single place or send you to the unmarked swimming hole. Or the places that only locals know about. 

I send you to the places that were built to hold you, and then I ask you to treat them, and the people who live next to them, like you’d want your own town treated.

If you’ve ever been told you’re ruining places, I’d love to hear your thoughts…
6 weeks ago we bought a 2025 ProMaster and gave ou 6 weeks ago we bought a 2025 ProMaster and gave ourselves six weeks to make it drivable across the country. Not finished. Drivable.

This weekend is six weeks. There are more wrong cuts than right ones. I’ve tried 3 different paint colors - finished product isn’t exactly what I had in mind (unlike the baby 💩 or seafoam before the color, which I hated) The bed is in. The electrical is the plan for this weekend.

I told Brian from the start on this maiden voyage, all I need is a bed, toilet, lights and heat. All are a go - minus the lights, which are the plan this weekend. 

We pull out soon either way. This weekend is the whole ballgame. Follow @wellwornwheels for the build, the drive, and whatever breaks first.
He’ll probably hate this post. 😉 I’m gonna make it He’ll probably hate this post. 😉 I’m gonna make it anyway. He spent 21 years in the Army. I only knew him for the last stretch of it, somewhere between figuring out what comes next and realizing there was more than one answer.

What came next: a certified RV tech, a certified welder, a registered Maine sea kayak guide, a snowboard instructor in the Poconos, and a man building a van in a parking lot with a 6 week deadline he set himself. 

Happy Veterans Day to my favorite human and a huge Happy Veterans Day and thank you to all who have, are, or will serve. I’ll always appreciate you.
I’ve written a couple of posts about how good Acad I’ve written a couple of posts about how good Acadia is in late fall. This is the one about what can potentially go wrong.

Every campground closed. No shuttle. Sunset before 4 once you get into December. 

Cadillac’s summit road shut for construction two of the weeks you may want it most. 

None of these are dealbreakers. All of it is the kind of thing you want to know before you’re standing in a parking lot in the dark.

I put everything I wish someone had handed me into one brand new cheat sheet: where to sleep, what’s open, what to order, a 3-day plan, and the dog stuff. It’s ($) because it’s an 11 page cheat sheet, of everything I’ve learned.

Comment WINTER and I’ll DM you a direct link to the brand new cheat sheet.
National Bison Day was yesterday, I had this post National Bison Day was yesterday, I had this post planned, but got busy working on the van! 

By 1884 there were fewer than 400 wild bison left in the whole country, down from tens of millions. In 1902 Yellowstone’s herd was 23 animals. Today it’s around 5,000, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park has its own herds in both units, descended from animals trucked in during the 1950s and 60s.

That recovery happened because people decided it should, and then did the unglamorous work for a century. Tribal nations, ranchers, the Bronx Zoo (really), the Park Service. Every bison you see in Lamar Valley at sunrise is someone’s decision not to give up.

So the one rule: 25 yards. Not for the photo. For them. They do 35 mph and they’ve earned the space.

Where’s the first place you saw one? Mine was Yellowstone (close up) and Badlands (through binos).
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