| Destinations Near and Far |
Lots of people are taking vacations closer to home these days, so while GoNOMAD continues to offer features about lots of exotic destinations all over the world, we're also increasing the number of stories about destinations in the good old USA.
Editor Max Hartshorne writes about the Jersey Shore, where his family has been vacationing for many years. Associate Editor Stephen Hartshorne takes a whirlwind tour of the Texas Gulf Coast, where he finds all kinds of family fun, and Shady Hartshorne and Laurie Ellis write about Huntsville Alabama, the first installment of a four-part series on Alabama cities.
Esha Samajpati admires one of the wild ponies on
the Maryland side of Assateague Island. Photo by
Pinaki
Chakraborty |
Maggie Freleng goes cruising, bicycling, dining and ziplining in Burlington, Vermont, Louisa Preston rides the high desert in Surprise Valley, California and GoNOMAD Senior Writer Kelly Westhoff catches a four-pound walleye in Minnesota's Leech Lake.
Esha Samajpati visits the wild ponies on Assateague Island in Maryland and Steve Flahive goes rafting on the Poudre River in Colorado.
And of course, we still feature far-flung destinations. Senior Travel Editor Kent St. John visits three idyllic islands in Queensland, Australia, Michael Space and his family go on an adventure in the Amazon jungle and Ed Burleigh organizes a horsepacking expedition in Xinjiang, China to watch the solar eclipse.
Steven Bochenek visits the amazing prehistoric stone dwellings on Scotland's Orkney Islands, Mark Campbell goes hiking in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile and Nicholas Gilman writes a comprehensive guide to dining in Havana.
All in all it's just another month of top-notch travel writing on GoNOMAD.
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New stories recently published on GoNOMAD:
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Touring the Real Panama: Wildlife, Beaches and Tribal Villages
On a visit to Panama, it's hard to know where to start. Because of its central location, the country is host to more species of plants and wildlife than anywhere else in the world. The country also boasts one of the man-made wonders of the world, the Panama Canal. But what may be Panama's greatest attraction is the opportunity to visit the villages of ancient peoples who have lived in America for centuries, at one with nature, long before the arrival of Europeans. |
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Australia: Visting Three Queenland Islands
Queensland has always been a targeted place on my must-see list, and it didn’t disappoint. Flying by small planes offered unparallel vistas of ocean and reef. Snorkeling opened up my eyes while huge blue clams and bounties of tropical fish passed by as if I had followed Alice into the rabbit hole, a wonderland indeed. I discovered three islands that were totally different from each other in every way but for the sheer delight they offer. |
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The New Jersey Coast: Finding the Twilight Down the Shore
Twilight down the shore is a feeling, and an experience that’s been a part of my family’s life for three generations. It begins at the end of a long day at the beach, where lots of swimming and sun has left you sun bleached and tanned. It transitions with an outdoor shower and a change of clothes that feel smooth on your body and a relief from your wet bathing suit. It culminates as one enters the porch or the deck, surrounded by friends and family with a cocktail and a sense that all is well with the world... |
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Houston's Art Car Parade: A Celebration of Individuality
The Houston Art Car Parade was started by The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, an organization founded by Houston Postman Jeff McKissack to make art more accessible to the community. The first parade in 1988, with 40 cars, drew about 2,000 people. Now there are more than 250 cars in the parade and it draws about 250,000 people from all over the world and forms the nucleus of The Orange Show's Art Car Weekend, known as "Houston's best party." |
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Assateague Island and Ocean City, Maryland: Summer Fun with Wild Ponies
While on the trail, we spotted a herd of ponies grazing on a jutting piece of land, few feet away from us. Beautiful creatures with a glossy coat and long eye-lashes, they grazed peacefully. Their diet mostly consists of marsh and dune grasses. Petting or feeding is strictly prohibited. Imagine my delight when we came out of the sandy dunes and marshy grassland and saw that some of the ponies had ventured out on the paved roads... |
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Huntsville, Alabama: The Rocket City
We started our road trip in Huntsville, the Rocket City. It got that name when German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun moved there in 1950 to work on the American space program. He eventually created the Saturn V rocket that took Americans to the moon, and Huntsville has been a central part of NASA’s space exploration ever since. Many defense and aerospace technology companies have offices here and the city boasts more PhDs per capita than any other American city... |
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Chile's Torres del Paine National Park: Glacier Watching and Spectacular Scenery
Along with many others I was staring at three towers of vertical granite that soar above a glacial lake, willing the sun to hurry up and rise now and for the fog to stay away. One minute, the spires were a uniform dark grey. The next the tip of the tallest had turned orange, then gold. Soon all three pinnacles were striped gold and dark grey. The whole show lasted less than five minutes, but it was unlike anything I have seen before or since. |
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Fishing Minnesota's Leech Lake: Finding My Inner Fisherwoman
I raised the pole above my shoulder, flipped my wrist and let the line soar out over the water until it landed with a plop. Our guide nodded, satisfied. I was satisfied too. It hadn’t been a perfect cast, but it hadn’t been a novice one either. “We’re going for walleye,” he instructed. “They’re smart. Tricky. They’re predators and they play with their food, nibble, test it to see it real or if it’s bait. You have to keep your minnow swimming, make it look like it’s a real little fish down there.” |
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Havana Dining: Eating Cuban at the Source
“You don’t go to Cuba to eat,” just about everybody had warned me. “There’s nothing… NOTHING!” admonished my friend Ruth, who gives food tours of Mexico. Well, it turns out it’s not true. I’d been to Cuba once, ten years ago, and my culinary memories are dim. As a food writer and restaurant critic, my recent return trip was an eye (and heart) opening experience. Havana is the most beautiful city in Latin-America, essentially untouched since the revolution of 1959... |
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Watching the Eclipse in Xinjiang, China
The capital city, Urumqi, was buzzing with the usual array of excited astronomers, dedicated eclipse-hunters and curious tourists. While thousands of people then flocked to Hami to a purpose-built viewing area, my friend Alex had organised a horse-trek in the Koktokay National Park. Our guide, Dilshat, was a young Uyghur man who spoke excellent English. Everything started badly. At the entrance to the national park Chinese officials told us that foreigners were not permitted to enter... |
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Scotland's Orkney Islands: Pondering Ancient Feats of Architectural Genius
Chres Village School and Orphanage had clean rooms, kind staff, and a patient, diligent director named Phat Fiphon. The orphanage was started by his father and relies mostly on donations, volunteers, and sponsors. When we arrived, approximately 40 children lived at the orphanage with more coming from other homes to attend the free classes offered in English, Chinese, Khmer, science, and geography. After the tour, Nicole and I offered to teach English classes, which Phat (or “Fi”) enthusiastically accepted... |
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Family Fun: The Texas Gulf Coast Has It All
I had so much fun on my trip to the Texas Gulf Coast, it's hard to know where to begin. As associate editor of GoNOMAD, I've become something of an expert on fun, and the Gulf Coast has it all, especially for families: wildlife, outdoor recreation, the best fishing in the world, environmental education, history, architecture, drama, music... And art of all kinds: fine art, pop art, found art, performance art, you name it. Lots of cool museums that get people -- especially kids -- excited about art... |
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Visiting Normandy: Ancient Cities, Fine Food and Friendly People
The town of Villedieu-les-Poeles has been famous as metalworking mecca for 900 years. It began because in this part of town, the land was not owned by the king, and thus not subject to taxes. So artisans like bellmakers and copper forges thrived. The Fonderie de Cloches Cornille Havard is where teenagers begin apprenticeships and end up as seasoned bellmakers. Our timing was perfect -- we arrived just before they would be doing their weekly casting... |
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Providencia, Colombia: A Guide for 'Making Lazy'
There is not a great deal to do on the 22 by 2 kilometer isleta. Unlike Púcon, Chile or Buenos Aires there is little pressure to do, do, do. In fact, the locals have a nigh religious devotion to “hacer pereza” (literally, “to make lazy”). They are not necessarily lazy people; they simply know how to hit the pause button. On the island, there is so much to breathe in (starting with pure air): the seven-colored waters, the dry tropical landscape, the soft eastern breezes... |
More Recently Posted Travel Articles
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Cowgirls & Mustangs: Riding the High Desert in Surprise Valley
Romeo and I followed the trail on the moon colored sand. We maneuvered around silver balls of sagebrush, a rattlesnake, horned lizards and a herd of wild mustangs. This was a day’s experience on a cowgirl ride in the high desert of Surprise Valley, California. Surprise Valley, located in the northeast corner of California, is a prehistoric lake bordered by the Warner Mountains, on the west and by the Hayes Range on the east... |
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Burlington, Vermont: Cruising, Bicycling, Dining and Ziplining
After settling into our gorgeous room, we headed out to Burlington to see the Lake Champlain Waterfront Festival, at the historic Church Street Marketplace. The festival celebrates the 400th year anniversary of French explorer Samuel de Champlain’s travels to the lake that now bears his name. Despite the ominous clouds, the festival and parade went on as planned. The people of Burlington do love their lake, and why not? Lake Champlain is a striking and stimulating place... |
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Manu National Park: A Family Adventure in the Peruvian Amazon
Our first day was a nine-hour drive over a nearly 14,000 foot Andean pass, then a descent into the Manu National Park cloud forest. This is a peculiar high-elevation ecosystem unique to the tropics where precipitation comes primarily in the form of clouds, or fog, that drape the landscape. We were fortunate that it was a rare clear day, and saw many birds such as the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (Peru‘s national bird), as well as a set of puma tracks... |
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Fort Collins, Colorado: Rafting The Poudre
The Cache La Poudre is Colorado’s only National Wild and Scenic river, and it begins at the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park, flowing north and east along the Roosevelt National Forest, and eventually passes through Fort Collins. The river, which owes its name to French-Canadian trappers who hid gunpowder in the river-valley during the raging blizzards of the early 1800s, is an absolutely prime candidate for travelers looking to go rafting on vacation... |
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