Posts with the category ‘Travel by Land’


Not Just Another Roadside Attraction

July 8, 2023

  He has been on display for 44 years now, rockin’ a leafy little tunic. The Jolly Green Giant just off Interstate 90 at Blue Earth, Minnesota is a plant-based superhero. He is not just another roadside attraction. To figure that out, though, you’ve got to walk away from that 55-foot piece of Impossible beefcake and stroll across the parking lot to the Giant Museum and Welcome Center. I promise you, it is a bushel of fun. It is also a step back in time to a world before Whole Foods. The Giant Museum is ostensibly a look at one company’s contribution to a world… Read More…


Cross Country in a Campervan and How Americans Exercise their Freedom of Speech

August 17, 2022

  If you can tell something about a person by the car they drive, then spend a minute and you’ll discover, Tom Hinz, of Three Forks, Montana is a man with an interest in social justice, the environment, humor and bicycle riding. I was finishing up my own ride on the Headwaters Trail near Three Forks when Hinz pulled next to my campervan at the trailhead and started unloading his bike. Music by the Beatles was streaming from the open windows of his red sedan, but that wasn’t what made me turn off the ignition, grab my phone and get out to take a closer… Read More…


Travel Is Back and New Film Asks, “Can We Do it Better This Time?”

June 9, 2022

And like that, travel is booming again. No one is more surprised than me. During the height of the pandemic, I predicted it would be close to a decade before people felt comfortable packing themselves into crowded planes, trains and cruise ships. But no, with a few notable exceptions like some Asian countries, where Covid-related restrictions are still in place, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, nearly everywhere else around the world travel is rebounding, according to the United Nations World Tourism Agency. The onus is on us then, to be better travelers than we were in the past. This is not so difficult, once… Read More…


Can Your Next Vacation Make You Smarter?

August 19, 2021

Zermatt, Switzerland – It’s a no-brainer that visiting museums and historic sites can make a vacation an educational experience. But kinetic activities, say a heart-rate elevating rafting trip or a tour by bike can also make us smarter. People who immerse themselves in nature get other benefits too, including enhanced memory, cognitive function and creativity, a feeling of well-being and bonding opportunities with like-minded fellow travelers. That science backed up what I’d already believed to be true was liberating. No longer did I have to feel guilty about choosing to go snorkeling instead of an edifying but more sedentary outing like visiting a local landmark…. Read More…


Traveling With Ignorance and Uncertainty. Yes, I Bought a Campervan

July 15, 2021

It took eight months from that day in May 2020 when I first started thinking about getting an RV until I took possession of my new campervan. While that’s shy of a full gestation period, I do find myself murmuring, “Hello baby,” each time I approach it, ready for my next road trip. Yes, Ladies and Gents, I bought a campervan and it has taken possession of me. From the position of still not knowing much about this thing called #vanlife, Here are some things I have learned already. There is a lot to learn. Other RV owners are eager to help. Some are brilliant…. Read More…


It’s A Long Road to Stardom – Comedienne Makes Cross Country Walk for Selfi Documentary

May 3, 2021

    If Jessica Watkins seems a few steps ahead of everybody else, that’s because she is. Before outdoor recreation became as popular as it is now, Watkins was walking across the country. When only millions of people were vlogging rather than the 2.6 billion doing it today, Watkins was reclining in a pup tent recording thoughts both comical and poignant into a laptop camera. And before women started to convert the trauma of sexual assault from fear and shame into something more powerful, Watkins was using her own rape in standup comedy routines. And now, three years after her trek, Watkins is surely one… Read More…


Let European Ban Trigger More Responsible Travel

June 24, 2020

Would-be summer travelers to Europe will likely have to keep their plans on hold as the European Union considers a ban on international travelers from the United States, Brazil and Russia. Composed of 27 European countries from Ireland in the west to Romania in the east, the EU was scheduled to re-open its borders to international visitors next week on the first of July. New and seemingly unabated coronavirus infections in the US, Brazil and Russia appear to be prompting EU decision-makers to consider anew the risk of importing infections into Europe.  In a sign of how much has changed over the past few months,… Read More…


Postcards from the Edge of Coronavirus

March 24, 2020

It is an old tradition that travelers send postcards to loved ones back home. With the Coronavirus putting a halt to travel and creating a near-universal sense of isolation and fear, I propose the reverse. From my home in America, I am sending digital postcards to some of the people I have met on my travels. Each in their way has taught me we have much in common, no matter what country we call home. To: Doreen Sekento Kumum in Maasi Mara, Kenya Habari Doreen, Thanks once again for teaching me the very basics of stringing beads during my visit to the Karen Blixen Camp…. Read More…


Exhausted in a Gladiola Field, I Find Dutch Samaritans on a Bicycle Built For Two

September 12, 2019

  Intending no disrespect Google Maps, but could you please stop predicting how long it will take me to pedal 30 miles in Holland? I’m biking because I want to linger: see the sites, smell the roses, dig my toes into the sand on Holland’s expansive beaches all of which I CANNOT DO if I am racing across the landscape at 15 miles per hour. That said, when an expected two-and-a-half-hour ride from Rotterdam to Zeeland turned into something much longer, my energy level was so depleted that I started to worry I would not/could not make it to my hotel for the night.  Then… Read More…


In Praise of Serendipitous Travel or Seth Kugel Has It Right

November 17, 2018

It was hot as blazes, about 95 degrees, the October day I set aside to explore Muscat, Oman’s capital city.  Wiping sweat and chugging water, I ticked off just two of the city’s must-do activities before finding a shady spot to sit and consult Google Maps for my new must-do: find a beach. My 2017 trip to Oman to came to mind while reading Seth Kugel’s excellent New York Times Travel story How to Up the Spontaneity Quotient on Your Next Trip.  Like him, I firmly believe it is not the sites we see but the people we get to know on their turf that… Read More…


Enter to Win

Want to receive some free swag from Christine? Sign up for the mailing list!