I had always heard that the craziest roads and most aggressive drivers in Europe were to be found in Albania. Like a lot of my travels, my latest roadtrip was going to be about testing some popular assumptions. Before this roadtrip started, I have to make a confession. […]
Montenegro is a small country — smaller than the U.S. state of Connecticut — but its beauty packs a punch much larger than countries 50 times larger than this jewel of the Balkans. For years I had heard that Montenegro is one of the prettiest nations in Europe, […]
Before this summer, I had two distinct early memories of Sarajevo and Bosnia–Herzegovina. My first memories of watching the Winter Olympics were in 1984 as a child witnessing Katarina Witt and Scott Hamilton win figure skating gold medals in Sarajevo. Later during the 1990s, I remember watching CNN’s […]
It’s a city, but also a nation. It’s the only country with a hybrid flower as its national symbol. And it’s one of the wealthiest and most high-tech cities in the world. Singapore is one of the more interesting places I have visited in the last few years. […]
After a frustrating summer of awkward kayak rolling lessons in a pool, I found myself in my truck driving back to Atlanta from the north Georgia mountains. I endured and suffered through a humbling day of achieving basically no balance in my kayak. “How do you feel about […]
Here in the Valley of the Sun, I may be a bit biased, but we have some of the most fiery and jaw-dropping sunsets anywhere in the world. One thing that has been a constant in my life as a landscape photographer has been chasing sunsets. This […]
I took a bit of a break in 2019 from my blogging in between jobs. In the fall, my life took an exciting westward turn. This is how my new chapter began in the great Southwest. Before setting off on my long journey to Arizona in the truck […]
Note: I do not receive compensation or paid benefits from this blog. This blog is a labor of love and I recommend only products that I enjoy and use. A few years ago, I was careless on a trip and temporarily misplaced my Visa debit card. Because I […]
Many people around the world think of Israel and the West Bank as places of turmoil and violence, but I see them as lands of miracles. As a Christian on Easter Sunday this year, I found myself experiencing two timeless places where the greatest miracles of my religion […]
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, and it’s an appropriate time to not only pay our respects, but reflect on what happened a century ago. The Great War doesn’t receive nearly as much attention in the United States compared to the Commonwealth nations […]
What I am about to say is difficult to write. I had outrageously high expectations of Venezia, the city of canals. I had always wanted to visit La Serenissima because of its legendary Carnival and the world’s most glamorous film festival. I had seen movies such as Casino […]
One of the best opportunities of the year to see shooting stars is during the annual Perseid meteor shower that is expected to put on a phenomenal show over the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. This meteor show is always one of the best […]
My first trip to the Kingdom of Jordan took me to the iconic site at the top of the list of almost every tourist to Jordan: Ancient Petra. Near the end of my visit, a friend from New York convinced her boyfriend and me to make the arduous […]
Under the glow of red, white and blue lights under a frigid February evening, it looked a bit like something out of “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” as I stared at a semi-frozen American Falls from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Massive congealed ice mountains looked […]
Traveling to Canada’s largest city anytime soon? Watch my Top 10 summer and fall things to do in Toronto and Niagara Falls, part of the Golden Horseshoe.
While Hurricane Irma lashes the Florida Keys this weekend, it’s worth remembering an incredible history of hurricanes that have decimated the Keys over the centuries. Believe it or not, almost exactly 395 years ago, a monstrous hurricane battered the Tierra Firme flota (mainland fleet) of the Spanish Empire […]
It’s been five years since my awe-inspiring trip to Antarctica. For an adventurer and kayaker like me, Antarctica is the last untamed frontier on earth. It’s a land of icy dreams, ethereal beauty and uncharted mysteries. It’s why people dream of Antarctica and hope for a once-in-a-lifetime journey […]
For almost 30 minutes, shells of red, white and blue thundered and burst over the Detroit River between Detroit, Mich., and Windsor, Ontario. More than one million spectators stood in awe while gazing into the late June sky at one of the world’s best fireworks shows. I have […]
Sometimes the weather, sunset timing and the right camera just perfectly align. It had been a long week in the office and I decided to go up to the rooftop deck of my residence in downtown Detroit for a beer and to catch the sunset. I decided to […]
Many years ago before my very first trip to Detroit, I asked a friend from the Motor City about what was her favorite attraction in the city. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the Detroit Institute of Arts, Belle Isle Park, the Detroit RiverWalk, Comerica Park, Ford Field, Joe Lewis […]
For several years, I considered the world’s best burger to be a closed case. I have tried a burger on every continent except Antarctica and I would argue that In-N-Out Burger serves up the best hamburgers of any franchise chain in the world, and perhaps even the best […]
My phone displayed the time as 11:35 p.m. on January 15 as I counted down the final miles and I gingerly steered my rental Jeep down a snowy I-95 in southern Massachusetts. Just as the highway entered the town of Pawtucket, I suddenly saw a small blue sign […]
Exotic — it’s one word that you may hear frequently to describe Budapest. The name alone is a portmanteau — a mix of the names of two great cities, Buda and Pest. From its past connections with the Ottomans, or as former capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or being immortalized in […]
I am a huge fan of the cinema and motion pictures, but until this September, a significant wish remained unfulfilled on my travel bucket list: traveling to see a movie premiere at a major film festival. For those fans of cinema who are in the same boat, I can […]
In the wide open spaces of the American West, sometimes you will not see the most spectacular scenery from the interstate highways. The real surprises begin off smaller highways and local roads that roll through the plains, twist though the canyons or climb the ridges of timeless landscapes. That’s […]
As my car rounded each turn of Badlands Loop Road in America’s Badlands National Park, my jaw dropped and so did my driving. I couldn’t help myself for stopping at countless overlooks to take photos of the timeless landscapes of eroding canyons, crumbling spires and distinctive buttes around […]
I find it fascinating when I step into any Catholic Church around the world, there are often subtle artistic differences in the way that the Mother Mary is portrayed in paintings, tapestries and sculptures. During my recent visit to the magestic Monastery of the Basilian Fathers in Zhovkva, […]
Think about all of those travels where you venture high above ground level. Chances are, you fly above 30,000 feet to arrive at your destination. When you get there, you often climb a hill or building for a great view. I have lost count of all the spectacular […]
Almost all travelers will agree that experiencing a place through travel is much more powerful than reading about a destination or seeing it on television. In most travels, this is the great blessing: the sights, the sounds, the smells and the vividness that you take with you. But […]
I will be the first to admit that I had some preconceived notions of Ukraine before visiting recently, and they were almost all very wrong. I thought of Ukraine as the land of Chernobyl where citizens consume huge quantities of vodka, only eat borscht and wear big fur hats. It turns out […]
My eyes slightly opened to a uniformed and somewhat agitated conductor in a white shirt speaking downward to me through the half-opened door of my train’s compartment. Through my earplugs, I heard a slavic language I didn’t understand, but I did recognize body language and a few words […]
Do you like to binge watch television shows online or through NetFlix, Amazon or Hulu? Many of these online sources include mostly American, and some British and Canadian, series. But did you know there is a whole world of great television shows you might be missing? And some […]
Tuesday, March 22, was a historic and terrible day for the city of Brussels and all of Belgium, as terrorists struck Belgium’s capital. But I feel like this tragedy should not stop you from visiting this wonderful country. Today had me reflecting on the first time I visited […]
If you live in Seattle, you have several fantastic ski resorts nearby at Stevens Pass, Crystal Mountain and Snoqualmie. But if you want a truly world-class ski weekend, you must go north of the border to the biggest ski resort in the world: Whistler Blackcomb. For years I […]
There is another storm brewing on Lake Michigan, and though it’s frigid, it sure is stunning and gorgeous. I was disappointed that I left my Canon DSLR at home, but my HTC Desire Eye did a pretty good job out there in the elements. Days like this make you […]
I drove quickly to make sunset on the Oregon coast not far from the beautiful resort town of Seaside. As I took a turn off the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway, I discovered a hidden west coast jewel: Oregon’s Ecola State Park. After cruising through a lush Sitka spruce forest, the road opened […]
Have you ever seen a Fata Morgana? The phenomenon is a complex superior mirage that is seen in a narrow band right above the horizon. They are incredibly rare, and luckily, I was able to finally capture one by photograph and video. I live in a small resort town […]
I had the chance this year to explore Canada’s largest and most cosmopolitan city. I have traveled all over Canada and Ontario, but strangely, I hadn’t visited Toronto before this year. Being from a border state, what a mistake on my part! Toronto is the financial, entertainment and […]
Watch a brand new episode of Latitudes as I return to one of my favorite states in the U.S.A. Come along as I journey through #Michigan
As I walked along Toronto’s Waterfront Trail, the lush beauty of the flowers and plants in Toronto’s Music Garden completely transfixed me with their summer blooms. Toronto, one of the prettiest cities in the world, shimmers in beauty during the summertime. As I admired the flowers, I saw […]
There is no greater word to describe Cristo Redentor than iconic. The soapstone statue of Christ gracefully extends his arms atop Corcovado mountain welcoming all visitors to Rio de Janeiro below. Most people focus on taking a selfie with the statue — it’s absolutely a bucket-list photo — or […]
Ask any jet setter about what they think are the world’s prettiest cities, and it’s almost certain Rio de Janeiro will make their top five. Rio de Janeiro, “a cidade maravilhosa,” is indeed the marvelous city. No superlatives can adequately describe the city’s stunning natural beauty along the […]
Detroit, I love you. Did I just say that? When I moved to the Midwest a few years ago, I never thought I would say these words. Despite its massive financial, crime and PR problems, I believe Detroit is going to be America’s great comeback city. Good things are […]
I am an American and proud to be born in the land of the free. It’s not a citizenship I would ever relinquish. What if a new country came along that followed many of the same principles established more than 240 years ago in the U.S. Constitution? A […]
Come along with me as I tour the capital of the Czech Republic. Take in the sights and sounds of Prague, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities.
Florida’s Dry Tortugas National Park is a long way from nowhere in the Florida Keys. In fact, it’s the most remote U.S. national park in the continental states. It’s the last place piece of land before Cuba and it’s actually closer to Havana than Miami. After a 45-minute […]
America may not be perfect, but we have some great wonders and some of the best road trips in the world. Not only is the countryside extremely diverse, but we have extensive interstate freeways and scenic highways. The distances are vast and we are blessed with wide-open spaces. […]
You may have a compelling reason to cross the Atlantic more often in the next few years. Ryanair, Europe’s largest budget airline, says it is developing a plan for transatlantic service between Europe and North America for as little as US$15 each way! The Ireland-based budget airline plans […]
While I am not Irish (at least that I know of), I think there is truth to the saying that everyone wishes to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. Especially in Chicago, which has some of the largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the world. Yes, you read […]
If you fly Delta Air Lines, you have a lot to make you unhappy with the airline this year. They continue to devalue their SkyMiles® program, especially when they recently introduced a new five-tier airfare scheme, including a low-price “Basic Economy” ticket that’s the most restrictive and least […]
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