Food, Drinks, and Flights (Alaska Part 4)

One of the most important parts of the travel experience for me is experiencing local food and drinks. We were lucky that our Fairbanks friends, Andre and Margaret, had over 5 years of experience testing different restaurants and bars so that we could taste the best. I should note up front that I’ve only eaten … Read more

Snow, Ice, and Hot Springs (Alaska Part 2)

One of the primary reasons we decided to visit Alaska in February is that it’s a great time to see the aurora borealis (which I’ll discuss later this week). However, February is traditionally a very cold month in Alaska, so we packed layer upon layer to stay warm. Fortunately, we were very lucky: Temperatures rarely … Read more

Have You Met a Reindeer? (Alaska Part 1)

Two years ago, we were days away from taking a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska to see some friends before we realized that the coronavirus was spreading far too quickly to safely justify travel. Fortunately, with vaccinations, boosters, and masking guidelines, we felt safe enough to take a calculated risk and make the trip this year. … Read more

Have You Flown During the Pandemic?

On September 17, I entered an airport (and then an airplane) for the first time in 2 years. The St. Louis airport wasn’t particularly crowded–we made our way through security within 10 minutes of arriving–but we were suddenly indoors around thousands of people, which was quite new to us. I wore two masks: A heavy-duty … Read more

Bears in Yosemite

A few days into our Yosemite trip, a few of us were enjoying breakfast in the dining room of our rental house when I looked up to see a bear wandering by the window. It took me a second to register what I was seeing before I said, “Hey, Alex, there’s a live bear outside.” … Read more

Have You Visited Yosemite? (My Thoughts)

In early September of 2020, we were ready to fly to Yosemite National Park for Megan’s brother’s wedding. Unfortunately, wildfires closed the park at the last minute, resulting in the entire wedding (which was fortunately small) shifting to Garden of the Gods in Colorado. Eric and Alex were able to postpone lodging, catering, and everything … Read more

What’s Your Favorite National Forest?

After largely being confined to our home and St. Louis in general for the last 15 months, Megan and I had the itch to travel somewhere. Anywhere, really. We had recently seen friends travel to the Grand Canyon, so that jumped up the list, and we’d also heard great things about Olympic National Park in … Read more

Pet Please #160: Stumbling Upon Fellow Travelers You’ve Already Met

Megan and I had a Netflix movie night this weekend, and one of the movies we watched was Ibiza. It’s a series of vignettes about three Americans having adventures in Spain. The movie perfectly captured one of my favorite things about traveling: It’s normal to meet or notice a number of other tourists when you’re … Read more