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Choose your own adventure travel blog
With all my planning done and the car packed with supplies, I woke up early and headed down south to run the first parks of my 121 In 21 Challenge. I would be running a mile at Mont Alto, Caledonia and Pine Grove Furnace State Parks as well as Kings Gap Environmental Education Center.
Let the adventure begin!
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The idea had already been developed: Run one mile at every Pennsylvania State Park in one year. It sounds like a very easy concept. But there was a lot to start thinking about. It included setting aside weekends for runs, packing essentials, planning overnight trips, identifying routes and gathering information on every park.
Standing surrounded by the beautiful orange, yellow and red trees in Little Buffalo State Park, a question obsessively rolled around my head. Why have I not heard of this place before?
It was my first ever trip to the 923-acre park in Perry County. My wife and I found it while taking a drive after brunch in Harrisburg. At this point -- October 2020 -- the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing and we took every chance we could to get out of the house. Little Buffalo State Park is stunning in the fall. The fall foliage reflecting off the calm lake. The views and scenery filled me with so many feelings. But the question kept nagging me: Why have I not heard of this place before. When you’re away from home traveling, you yearn for something familiar. Something you’ve known all your life. Something you know -- without a shadow a shadow of a doubt -- will be delicious.
For my lovely wife Abby, that “something” is pizza. Pizza is a safe bet. How can you mess up pizza? Luckily for myself and not so luckily for Abby, we’ve found out how horribly wrong ordering pizza in a non-pizza country can go. HAVANA, CUBA -- Centro Havana isn’t on most tourists' must-see lists when they visit Cuba.
Located adjacent to the tourist-friendly Old Havana, the Centro District shows a bit more of the raw side to the country’s capital city. Stray cats and dogs roam the streets. Most of the street lights are broken. There are few attractions to bring in tourists. The Centro District is where the Cubans working in Old Havana's tourist traps live. It was dirty, it was loud and I absolutely loved it. HAVANA, CUBA -- You can never be ready for everything you encounter when traveling. That’s half the fun.
But before you head to Havana, Cuba you should be made aware of some things most travel blogs will leave out. And I’m not talking about how there’s no internet or that you shouldn’t drink the water. I’m talking about giant, massive, important aspects that get completely glossed over by Instagram couples traveling the world on sponsorships. HAVANA, CUBA -- Old Havana is the most well-known area of Cuba’s capital city.
The country’s beautiful architecture, vibrant music and delicious food are on display in Old Havana -- known as La Habana Vieja. It‘s streets are crowded with tourists from around the world, shop keepers, souvenir sellers, street food vendors, scammers, police and everyone in between. HAVANA, CUBA -- It’s not hard to live on $15 a day while exploring Havana, Cuba. Inexpensive food, cheap drinks and an abundance of local places to stay make Havana one of the most affordable destinations.
Beautiful architecture. Stunning locations. Incredible environment.
That’s the best way for me to describe what you’ll see when you explore lighthouses in and around Portland, Maine. The lighthouses are all within a short drive from downtown Portland and offer enough variety and interesting details to make them one of your favorite travel moments. Read on to find a description and picture of each of the lighthouses along with a map to get you exploring. ICELAND -- Millions of people visiting Iceland have dreams of seeing the Northern Lights. People from all over the world come to see the spectacular light show of flowing greens and blues and purples.
But, as someone who has visited the Iceland three times, there’s something you should know before you schedule your trip or book your Northern Lights tour. |
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August 2021
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