Yosemite National Park is one of the most popular national parks in the US, with visitors flocking to Yosemite Valley to see the massive granite faces draped with ethereal waterfalls dropping hundreds of feet in swirls of frothy mist. It’s often possible to escape the crowds by hiking a mile or two beyond the lookout …
The idea of being able to stay in a kasbah (castle) in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco was a temptation I couldn’t resist. I booked a stay at the Kasbah du Toubkal under the shadow of Mt. Toubkal in Imlil before I even knew how or when we would get there. I thought that …
Backpacking Hetch Hetchy to Rancheria Falls is a great way to kick off a summer backpacking season in Yosemite National Park. It’s best hiked in the spring when temperatures are reasonable but not so early that snowmelt creates dangerous conditions in streams that cascade into Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Another good time to hike here is …
As tempting as it is to disconnect when we travel, it’s impossible to do if work is involved and difficut to do when traveling for pleasure. If you want to navigate using Google Maps, understand the language with Google Translate or take a photo with your smart phone, you’ll need to power one or more …
On a whim, we threw in a three-day tour to a Berber camp in the Sahara Desert in Morocco. On a five-week trip of independent travel, you wouldn’t think that the happiest surprise be the only tour we took, but that’s what happened. My husband and I were traveling through Spain, Portugal, and Morocco planning …
Peru has an abundance of cultural riches, starting with the crown jewel of the Inca empire, Machu Picchu. Add Cusco, the historic capital of the Incas, the blue waters of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable body in the world, and the vast Amazon jungle and it’s no wonder that Peru’s treasures of the forgotten north …
My husband and I usually travel independently and, despite decades of international travel, had never been to the African continent. When planning a road trip to Portugal and western Spain, my eyes kept sliding south to Morocco. The more I looked at the map, the more I wanted to at least dip a toe into …
Traveling from Southern Spain to Morocco by ferry was one of the shortest connections we had in five weeks of travel through Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, but seemed to take the longest to sort out the options. Now that I’ve done it, I can see that many websites and blogs didn’t have accurate or up-to-date …
When planning my travel budget, there is something that makes me balk at spending hundreds of dollars on data and communications. Verizon’s $10 per day Travel Pass sounded reasonable for brief trips but I gulped when I calculated $350 for a five-week trip recently. That would be $350 for me and $350 for my husband, …
Morocco stole my heart. I was on a five-week journey with my husband, Steve, touring Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. The European part was all enjoyable, but when I arrived in Tangier (Tanger in French), something changed. I felt more alive, my senses blazing with the sights, smells, flavors, and ambiance of the place. My introduction …