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  • The Complete Guide to the Best Bars in Bar Harbor, Maine

    Where To Grab A Drink Around Acadia National Park Bar Harbor is a lot of things: a gateway to Acadia, a lobster roll pilgrimage destination, and a town that somehow feels like a village, no ...

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    The Complete Guide to the Best Bars in Bar Harbor, Maine
  • The Complete Guide To Getting Out On Frenchmans Bay

    You can't come to Bar Harbor and not get out on the water. Frenchman Bay is stunning from shore, but it's absolutely breathtaking from a boat, a kayak, the deck of a four-masted schooner, and the bow ...

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    The Complete Guide To Getting Out On Frenchmans Bay
  • The Best Sunset Spots in Acadia National Park

    (And the Truth About the Ones Everyone Lists) Acadia National Park at sunset is one of the most spectacular things I've ever witnessed, and I've watched a lot of sunsets from a lot of places. The ...

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    The Best Sunset Spots in Acadia National Park
  • One Day In Acadia With Dogs: A Local’s Itinerary

    Acadia National Park on the rocky, gorgeous coast of Maine is, hands down, one of the most dog-friendly national parks in the entire United States. It's where the mountains meet the sea, where the ...

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    One Day In Acadia With Dogs: A Local’s Itinerary

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National Parks

Digital Nomad

Digital Nomad

September 28, 2021

The Stanley Hotel: Spirited Night Tour

While the Stanley Hotel in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado may be famous for its old world charm, it is also known as Stephen King’s inspiration for The Shining. King and his wife stayed the night in room 217 and The Stanley became the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in the book…

September 14, 2021

Vermont Fall Bucket List

Vermont is nothing short of spectacular during the fall season. It’s one of those states that makes you want to come back time and time again. Incredibly clean, stunningly beautiful, and friendly, there really isn’t anything about Vermont that isn’t amazing…

September 7, 2021

10 Fun Fall Festivals In Pennsylvania

The different trees in PA make it one of the best places to view foliage on the east coast (outside of New England).  But how do you choose from the massive list of festivals happening in September and October?…

August 31, 2021

The Best Dog Friendly Fall Hikes in New Hampshire

Heading to New England this fall? Is there anything better than fall in New England? Nope! The crisp air, the crunchy leaves, and all those gorgeous reds, oranges, and yellows. There is absolutely nothing better than being in the mountains in the fall…

August 24, 2021

10 Best Things to Do at Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park might be one of the coolest, strangest, most underrated places in the entire country. The name says it all, for hundreds of years the Oglala Lakota called this harsh, otherworldly landscape mako sica, “bad land,” and the French fur trappers who came through agreed, dubbing it les mauvaises terres à traverser, “bad lands to traverse.” Standing out there, you get it instantly: no water, no shade, nothing but jagged spires for miles.

August 17, 2021

The Ultimate Salem Fall Bucket List

Visiting Salem, Massachusetts in fall is on your bucket ist isn’t it? Are you planning a trip for this fall? Well, you’re in luck because Salem’s Haunted Happenings are back and better than ever in 2021 (after being canceled in 2020). Every year Haunted Happenings packs the Salem calendar with fun and spooky events…

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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

  • The Complete Guide to the Best Bars in Bar Harbor, Maine
  • The Complete Guide To Getting Out On Frenchmans Bay
  • The Best Sunset Spots in Acadia National Park
  • One Day In Acadia With Dogs: A Local’s Itinerary
  • Where To Get The Best Lobster On Mount Desert Island

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I stand by every single one of these. Mostly. 🎸 S I stand by every single one of these. Mostly. 🎸

Some of these were obvious. Some of these came to me somewhere between mile 300 and a gas station coffee that tasted like regret.

Save this for your next road trip playlist, send it to the friend who has very strong opinions about Yosemite, and prepare to argue with me in the comments.

Because apparently assigning 90s songs to National Parks is serious business.

Which one did I absolutely get wrong? 👇
I’ve been obsessed with wolves since I was a littl I’ve been obsessed with wolves since I was a little kid. Books, documentaries, terrible wolf T-shirts from gift shops, if it had a wolf on it, I wanted it.

So when a pack moved through the herd at sunrise, running, playing, completely unbothered by the crowd of humans collectively forgetting how to breathe, I cried. Right there next to the truck holding my incredibly heavy zoom lens that didn’t even get CLOSE to capturing their beauty. 

No shame. Zero dignity. Full Disney princess meets exhausted millennial.

Lamar Valley is the closest thing we’ve got to the Serengeti: bison everywhere, a moose hiding in the willows, and if the timing is right (swipe to slide 3), wolves doing the exact thing I’ve spent decades hoping to see.

This is why I occasionally betray my deeply held belief that 5 a.m. is a personal attack. Because every once in a while, an alarm clock hands you a moment your eight-year-old self would have absolutely lost her mind over.

Some mornings give you back something you’ve been waiting decades for.

📍 Lamar Valley, Yellowstone
A few million years of erosion and I’m the one who A few million years of erosion and I’m the one who feels small. Worth it.

🎵 Top 5 on my Canyonlands playlist:

	1.	Learning To Fly - Tom Petty
	2.	Counting Blue Cars - Dishwalla
	3.	Round Here - Counting Crows
	4.	Champagne Supernova - Oasis
	5.	All For You - Sister Hazel 

Best played with the windows down and nowhere to be ✌️
. 
#canyonlands #canyonlandsnationalpark #utahnationalparks #nationalparks #roadtripplaylist
One day in Rocky Mountain isn’t enough. Here’s how One day in Rocky Mountain isn’t enough. Here’s how to make it count anyway

If you’ve only got 24 hours, here’s the play:

Book first. Bear Lake Road needs its own permit, they sell out, so grab them early on recreation.gov.

Then: start before the crowds and the afternoon storms, hit the overlooks along Trail Ridge Road, do Bear Lake + Alberta Falls (if you get a permit), and break for the smoked pheasant chowder at @birdandjim in Estes Park (genuinely one of the best things I’ve eaten on the road).

End at Sprague Lake when the light goes gold.

Save this now so you’re not Googling “easy hikes Rocky Mountain” from the trailhead with one bar of service.
turns out “doing nothing” in a national park is th turns out “doing nothing” in a national park is the most I’ve ever felt like myself. 🦌
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