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Interesting Travel

Visiting India after 8 Years: 8 Observations

In June, I got to visit India for a week. It’s been 8 years almost to the week since I was last in the country. While I didn’t see as much of the country this trip, it was interesting trying to spot what has and has not changed since my last visit.

Categories
Travel

Trips in 2022

Here’s all the trips that I took in 2022. There were lots of logistics and expenses, but I’m thankful I got to see some of the world after the pandemic calmed down.

If a link goes to a 404 page – that write-up is private :)

Categories
Travel

Trips in 2021

Here’s all the trips that I took in 2021.

Thanks to all the people behind the COVID vaccines and vaccination program, we were able to out and travel quite a bit in 2021 (though we avoided airports since the kid’s vaccine didn’t roll out until November).

Categories
Outdoors Travel

On Visiting Mojave National Preserve

I visited Mojave National Preserve on a short day trip within my business trip to Las Vegas in 2020.

I rented a car, and drove straight out of Las Vegas down Interstate 15, which goes right through the Preserve.

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Experiences Travel

Trips in 2020

Here’s all the trips that I took this past year.

Categories
Experiences Travel

Trips in 2019

Here’s all the trips that I took this year. Find more lists over at my Travel category.

Business, Family & Leisure

James Floyd SP – October 2019

St George Island – July 2019

Don Carter SP – June 2019

Smithgall Woods SP – February 2019

Camping & Hiking

Hard Labor Creek SP (Green Trail) – October 2019 – Day Hike

Rabun Bald – August 2019 – Day Hike

Great Smoky Mountains NP (Goldmine Loop) – July 2019 – Overnight

Ocmulgee National Historical Park – June 2019 – Day Hike

Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge – April 2019 – Day Hike

Dockery Lake Trail – March 2019 – Overnight

Oconee National Forest – January 2019 – Day Hike

Categories
Experiences Photos Travel

On Visiting Death Valley National Park

I visited Death Valley National Park in January 2018 as a side trip on my business trip to Las Vegas. It was completely unplanned, and was time crunched between a 10am flight arrival in Las Vegas and a 7pm business event also back in Las Vegas.

My brother gave me the idea and the push to just rent the car and go, no matter how little time that I actually had in the Park.

Categories
Experiences Travel

Trips in 2018

Here’s all the trips that I took this year. Find more lists over at my Travel category.

Business, Family & Leisure

Cloudland Canyon SP – October 2018

St George Island – July 2018

Magnolia Springs SP – July 2018

Charleston – June 2018

Indian Springs SP – March 2018

Las Vegas / Death Valley NP – January 2018

Camping & Hiking

Ellicott Rock Wilderness – November 2018 – Overnight

Congaree National Park – October 2018 – Overnight

Ellicott Rock Wilderness – October 2018 – Day Hike

Sweetwater Creek SP – August 2018 – Day Hike

Pine Mountain Wolf Den Loop – April 2018 – Day Hike

Great Smoky Mountains National Park / alt – April 2018 – Overnight

Categories
Experiences Travel

On Visiting Congaree National Park

Congaree National Park protects 30,000+ acres of bottomland forest in South Carolina. Even though it’s not in the “top tier” National Parks with Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite, and Yellowstone, it’s much bigger than other public lands (State Parks, etc) and it protects a no extremely rare ecoregion in one of the most developed areas of the country.

I was able to visit for an overnight camping trip in October 2018. We did a bit of hiking, explored the visitor center, stayed at the Bluff Campground area – and decided that we’ll definitely be back in the future with a canoe and a better understanding of the landscape.

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Travel

The Las Vegas Strip: 10+ Observations

The past few years, I’ve been able to visit Las Vegas for a business conference. On each trip, I’ve left the city to see something else, like the Hoover Dam, Death Valley, or Mojave National Preserve since most of Las Vegas’ attractions just aren’t my thing.

However, being able to see Las Vegas up close has been fascinating. Like most heavily marketed destinations, it’s not quite what I expected in person. Here are 10+ observations from visiting.

Categories
Experiences Travel

Trips in 2017

Here’s all the trips that I took this year. Find more lists over at my Travel category.

Business, Family & Leisure

FD Roosevelt SP – October 2017

St George Island – August 2017

Nicaragua – August 2017

Hard Labor Creek SP – July 2017

Savannah – May 2017

Vogel SP – February 2017

Las Vegas / Hoover Dam – January 2017

Camping & Hiking

Springer Mountain / Benton MacKaye – November 2017 – Overnight

Hard Labor Creek SP – November 2017 – Day Hike

Cheaha Wilderness – October 2017 – Day Hike

Panola Mountain – May 2017 – Overnight

Categories
Experiences Travel

On Visiting Hard Labor Creek State Park

After visiting Vogel State Park, my family and I took another mini-vacation to Hard Labor Creek State Park in July 2017.

Hard Labor Creek State Park is one of Georgia’s most historic and most well-known State Parks.

It’s well-known mainly for its golf course. The golf course is great – I’ve played several rounds there – but the park is so much more.

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Travel

Visiting Nicaragua: 10+ Observations

In August 2017, I got to visit & travel around Nicaragua for a week. Like all of Central America, it’s a lovely country with incredible landscapes, good food, and fascinating history – all within a short flight to the US.

It was the 2nd time that I’d traveled to the country (previously in 2006), so it was good to see some familiar sites along with some new ones. For this trip, I generally stayed south of Managua towards Granada rather than venturing up north like I did in 2006. Here’s a few observations from the trip.

Categories
Experiences Travel

On Visiting Vogel State Park

After an incredible long weekend at Fort Mountain State Park in October, my family decided to make staying at every Georgia State Park a goal. We opted to try Vogel State Park…in February.

Vogel State Park is one of Georgia’s oldest and most heavily used State Parks. It’s set in a beautiful valley with a creek feeding a lake. It was one of the State Parks that received upgrades from the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

It also has more cabins than almost any of the other State Parks in Georgia, especially given its size. Most of the cabins have been renovated post-2012 as part of Georgia State Park’s big renovation program.

Even though the weather wasn’t ideal, we decided to give Vogel a try in February.

Categories
Experiences Travel

On Visiting Las Vegas, Nevada

In January 2017, I visited Las Vegas for the first time. I went there on business to attend a conference. I was only there for 3 nights, but tried to see as much of the city & region as I could outside of meetings & sessions.

I flew into McCarran Airport and stayed at the Paris Las Vegas right on the Strip. During my stay, I also had the chance to visit Hoover Dam, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, a few towns in the Las Vegas area and several other casinos including the Aria and Planet Hollywood. I went to a private party in the Cosmopolitan, had a business dinner at a hyped restaurant, and walked 6 to 8 miles around the Strip.

I also did not gamble once. And I was not able to visit Downtown Las Vegas. I also did not attend a show or play cards.

Either way – here’s what I observed visiting Las Vegas.

Categories
Experiences Travel

Trips in 2016

Here’s all the trips that I took this year. Find more lists over at my Travel category.

Business, Family & Leisure

Fort Mountain SP – October 2016

St George Island – August 2016

Camping & Hiking

Black Rock Mountain – April 2016- Overnight

Categories
Travel

On Visiting India’s Big Tourist Attractions

My trip to India was spent primarily at my sister’s wedding and on the train to Delhi – but since we had the last few days in Delhi free, we got to see some of India’s Big Tourist Attractions.

India is an enormous country with more history than you could see in your lifetime. But – most of their world-famous tourist sites are all located in and around the Delhi to Agra corridor.

On our first day, we did a grand tour of Delhi’s attractions. The next day, we drove down to Agra to see the Taj and Red Fort.

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Travel

On Riding Indian Railways

When I traveled to India, we flew into Bengaluru for my sister’s wedding. But we also wanted to make our way to Delhi to see their house and do some sightseeing.

We could have simply flown. But when you only have a week in a country – what better way to see the physical country than a train?

Plus – there are few, if any, rail systems as famous as Indian Railways. They were the crown jewel of the British and India has used them to physically and symbolically tie the country together since independence.

And not only is there the romance of train travel – but Indian Railways has even more romance as the setting for a section of The Great Railway Bazaar and trains such as the Maharaja Express.

Either way – I wasn’t going to visit India without riding a train. So here’s how the experience went down.

Categories
Travel

On Traveling To India

In June 2016, I traveled to India with my parents and younger sister to attend my other younger sister’s wedding. Previously, my travels had been limited to Nicaragua, Guatemala, The Philippines plus a handful of US cities such as Chicago, Boston and New York.

So it was exciting to not only attend my sister’s wedding but also have a good excuse to visit the world’s second largest country – which also happens to be one of the world’s oldest civilizations and one of the most powerful countries in the 21st Century.

Our visit took us to Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) then to Delhi before flying back to the US. This post will cover general lessons on traveling to India while another will cover traveling on Indian Railways and yet another will look at my visit to some of India’s most famous landmarks.

Categories
Experiences Travel

Trips in 2015

Here’s all the trips that I took this year. Find more lists over at my Travel category.

Business, Family & Leisure

Chicago – September 2015

St George Island – August 2015

New York City – August 2015

India – June 2015

Camping & Hiking

Raven’s Cliff Falls – September 2015 – Overnight

Categories
Experiences Travel

Trips in 2014

Here’s all the trips that I took this year. Find more lists over at my Travel category.

Business, Family & Leisure

St George Island – August 2014

Camping & Hiking

Cooper Creek to Woody Gap – October 2014 – Overnight

Unicoi Gap to Dick’s Creek Gap – May 2014 – Overnight

Categories
Travel

On Visiting Boston, Massachusetts

During the last week of December 2014, my wife Shannon and I went to Boston, Massachusetts on a brief 5-day trip. It was my first trip to a major US city outside of my Atlanta home since my City Stereotypes post went viral last summer.

Boston is a big city for tourists, and you can find generic tourist information all over the Internet. You’ll find no shortage of people who have been to Boston who’ll tell you where to go.

I read all that information, talked to friends who had been there, and friends who live there before the trip. But here’s 11 things in no real order that still stood out to me once I got there, and makes Boston a really worthwhile visit (or home).

Categories
Travel

On Visiting Portland, Maine

During our visit to Boston, we were able to take a day trip to Portland, ME via Amtrak. It was my first time to visit Maine. Despite the cold, the snow, and the early sunset, we had a great trip (thanks in part to solid recommendations from a Boston friend).

Here’s a few observations from the trip.

Categories
Experiences Travel

Trips in 2013

Here’s all the trips that I took this year. Find more lists over at my Travel category.

Business, Family & Leisure

Boston / Portland – December 2013

St George Island – August 2013

Camping & Hiking

Springer Mountain to Cooper Gap – July 2013 – Overnight

Categories
Experiences Travel

Trips Pre-2013

Here’s all the trips that I took this year. Find more lists over at my Travel category.

Business, Family & Leisure

St George Island – August 2012

St George Island – August 2011

St George Island – August 2010

Charleston – July 2010

New York City – December 2009

St George Island – August 2009

St George Island – August 2008

Hilton Head – July 2007

Hilton Head – July 2006

Nicaragua – May 2006

The Philippines – May 2005

Guatemala – July 2004

Camping & Hiking

Tesnatee Gap to Unicoi Gap – November 2012 – Overnight

Neels Gap to Tesnatee Gap – August 2012 – Overnight

Woody Gap to Neels Gap – August 2011 – Day Hike