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July 22, 2021

How To Spend 3 Days In Asheville, North Carolina

This weird and charming city has tons of accolades including landing on “The South’s Prettiest Cities” list and “The South’s Best Food Cities” list, respectively. After visiting Asheville it’s easy to see why everyone raves about it. Not only is it a city filled with food and art, but it’s incredibly dog friendly too (bestill my heart)…

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

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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.
Most people drive right past this part of Florida Most people drive right past this part of Florida on their way to the beach. The manatees have other plans.

Wakulla Springs, about 15 miles south of Tallahassee, is one of the largest and deepest freshwater springs in the world. The water stays in the 60s year-round, making it a pretty appealing winter escape for manatees. We went in February, unsure we’d see any this far north.

Turns out, we worried for nothing.

We did both experiences: the park’s daily boat tour from the historic lodge, cruising the spring with a ranger who knows every bird, gator, and probably their extended family ($8 for adults, $5 for kids). Then, the following morning, we took kayaks out on the Wakulla River with @tnthideaway.

Just Brian and me on the river. No baiting wildlife, no crowds, just a quiet morning with manatees doing their thing beneath us. I don’t know if that’s technically therapy, but I’m counting it.

And the lodge deserves a mention of its own. Built in 1937, it’s all marble floors, an old-school soda fountain, and riverfront rooms. Creature from the Black Lagoon and the original Tarzan films were shot here, too.

This is the side of Florida I didn’t know I needed. And coming from someone who would generally rather be in a national park surrounded by snow, that’s saying something.

✨ Save this for winter 2027! Finally getting this one out of the drafts. Full blog guide coming.
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