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  • 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)
  • 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 ...

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    Fall Road Trip Packing List: What To Actually Bring

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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,…

Read More

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.

September 15, 2026

The Ultimate New England Fall Road Trip: A Six-State Foliage Loop (2026)

white church in autumn woodstock vermont

Seven autumns in New England taught me the trip most people get wrong. Here’s the six-state loop routed the way the color actually moves, with 2026 road closures, booking deadlines, and dog rules.

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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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Recent Posts

  • 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
  • The Ultimate Dog Hiking Gear List For National Parks

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We lived an hour from White Sands for almost a yea We lived an hour from White Sands for almost a year. November through January? Easily our favorite time to go.

60’s and sunny by noon. Freezing by the time you get back to the car. Dunes quiet enough to sled without an audience, and sunsets that turn the entire dunefield pink before fading into blue.

A couple things to know: the gates close 30 minutes after sunset, and the neighboring missile range can close the only road in with little notice. Check the park closures before you leave. Also, closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I’ve put together a White Sands blog post and a guide will be coming out this month with the best time to visit, trails, places to stay, and the things you really don’t want to find out after driving all the way there.

Hi, I’m Vanessa 👋 I write The Well Worn Shoes from a 40-foot travel trailer named Betty, with my husband, three dogs, and a history degree I use mostly to explain why places matter. Follow along for the places people drive past, and the reasons they shouldn’t.
Calypso is 3 today. She goes by Caly, she’s a resc Calypso is 3 today. She goes by Caly, she’s a rescue, and she has never once been told she’s a supermutt because she already knows she’s in charge.

3 years ago we had two huskies and a plan. Then @epanimalsvc put out an announcement that they were overwhelmed with dogs. So, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to go see if any dog fit into our little pack. 

…and when they brought Cal out, she was ours. 

She is a tornado with a tail and she has never once been left out of anything, because she will not allow it.

She has hiked in more national parks than most people. She has seen elk, a lot of bison, and one very large bull mule deer she had opinions about. 

She has visited at least 30 states in her 3 years on the road with us. 

Happy birthday, We love you Weeeeee!
Everyone asks me when the best time to visit Acadi Everyone asks me when the best time to visit Acadia is. Nobody seems to like my answer.

November. And May.

The in-between months. When the crowds thin, the island takes a breath, and you get to see a quieter side of Acadia that most people never stick around for.

Right now, in the first two weeks of November, the tour buses are gone. Park Loop Road feels like it’s yours. You can stand on Otter Cliff for twenty minutes, listening to the ocean without another voice breaking the quiet.

Here’s what my perfect slow day looks like in the quieter seasons:

Coffee at Choco-Latté around 7 because it’s one of the few places opening its doors that early. Shore Path without a crowd in sight. Bar Island on foot at low tide (you have about 90 minutes on either side to make it there and back). Lunch and book browsing in town. Then Seal Cove for sunset around 4:20, with lobster boats resting in the harbor and the last light slipping into Blue Hill Bay.

Grab dinner early because most kitchens close by 8. The days are shorter. Some of your favorite places are already tucked away for winter.

And somehow, that’s part of the magic.

May has its own version of this quiet. November has a little more gold and a little less daylight. Neither looks quite like the postcard, but both let you slow down long enough to see the island differently.

Sometimes the best time to visit isn’t when everything is open. It’s when you finally have room to take it all in.

Everything else you need to plan an off-season Acadia trip is in our guide. Comment FALL and I’ll send it your way.

Or comment Lobster if you’re already planning your trip for next year and I’ll send you my Cheat Sheet and guide options!
National Parks weren’t created to be kept secret. National Parks weren’t created to be kept secret. They ARE something that we were meant to protect. 🦬

Somewhere along the way, we’ve started treating sharing these places like we’re doing something wrong. Don’t post the location. Don’t share the trail. Don’t tell people about the feral horses because someone else might want to see them.

I disagree.

Theodore Roosevelt once said of Yellowstone:
“It must be kept for the benefit and enjoyment of all of us; and I hope to see a steadily increasing number of our people take advantage of its attractions.”

I think that’s worth remembering.

These places are protected so we can experience them AND so future generations can, too. Do I think good ol’ Teddy thought that we would be so far removed from nature as a society at this point? No, of course not. 

Does that mean we get to do whatever we want? Absolutely not. Respect wildlife. Follow the rules. Leave no trace. Respect closures and give these places the care they deserve.

I believe that when parks get busy, the answer is better stewardship, visitor education, and thoughtful park management. Not gatekeeping.

Somebody’s first bison sighting might be the beginning of a lifelong love of conservation.

We don’t need fewer people who love these places. We need more people who care enough to protect them.

Public lands are for the public. Let’s act like it.

*stepping off my soap box* 😉
4 weeks into the van build. The ceiling is a littl 4 weeks into the van build. The ceiling is a little bit of a situation. 😂

So far, we’ve made more wrong cuts than I’m willing to admit, questioned our life choices at least once a weekend, and are still trying to figure out how we’re supposed to drive this thing across the country this month. Progress not perfection. 

For context, we already live full-time in a 40-foot travel trailer, Betty. So naturally, we bought an empty Ram ProMaster.

Why? Because there are national forest campgrounds and state parks Betty can’t fit into, weekends we’d rather just take off, and about ten years of wanting a van. Apparently, that’s all the justification that I needed.

It’s a high-roof ProMaster, a DIY build, two millennials, three dogs, and a deadline that seemed like a great idea at the time.

The van-build chaos will be here but is also moving over to @wellwornwheels, where we’ll be sharing the good decisions, bad decisions, things we break, and whether we actually pull off this cross-country adventure.

If you’re here for the national parks and travel stories, nothing changes. If you want to watch two people attempt to build a van while living in an RV, come find us over there.
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