I’ve seen some wild things in my years of chasing experiences across North America — northern lights flickering over Iceland, bioluminescent bays glowing in Puerto Rico, a meteor shower from the floor of Death Valley. But nothing, and I mean nothing, prepared me for the night I sat on a damp log in the Tennessee … Read more
There’s something about standing at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Adams Street in downtown Chicago, staring at that green “Begin Route 66” sign, that makes your chest tighten a little. I’ve driven a lot of highways in my life — coast to coast, border to border — but this one hits different. This year, … Read more
I’ve been to Chicago more times than I can count, and every single visit teaches me something new about this city. But nothing has me more excited than what’s happening right now. On June 19, 2026 — Juneteenth — the Obama Presidential Center officially opens its doors to the public in Hyde Park, and it’s … Read more
Every summer, millions of Americans flock to the same stretch of coastline. Myrtle Beach. Ocean City. Virginia Beach. The Outer Banks bottleneck. I’ve done them all, and I’ll be honest — there’s a reason they’re popular. But there’s also a point where popularity becomes its own punishment, where you spend more time looking for parking … Read more
There’s a stretch of highway in the American South where the air changes. Somewhere around mile forty on US-17, between Charleston and Savannah, the Spanish moss thickens, the marsh grass turns impossibly green, and you realize you’ve entered a part of the country that doesn’t need to try hard to be beautiful. It just is. … Read more
There’s a window every year — usually sometime in mid-to-late May — when the mountains wake up. Snow that’s been accumulating since November starts melting in earnest, and every creek, stream, and drainage swells into something thunderous. If you’ve ever stood at the base of a waterfall during peak spring runoff, you know the feeling: … Read more
I showed up at Glacier National Park on a Tuesday in late June expecting the kind of elbow-to-elbow madness I’d experienced at Yellowstone the summer before. What I found instead was a place so vast, so absurdly layered with mountain ranges and glacial valleys, that the crowds thinned out the moment I stepped past the … Read more
I’ll be honest — I rolled into Sedona expecting crystals, tourists, and overpriced smoothies. What I found instead was a high-desert landscape so absurdly beautiful that I_extended my trip by three days and still didn’t want to leave. The red rocks around Sedona don’t just sit there looking pretty; they shift color by the minute, … Read more
I showed up in Taos on a Tuesday afternoon in late June, windows down, the Rio Grande Gorge stretching out to my left like the earth had cracked open just for the drama of it all. My plan was simple: two nights, maybe three. I stayed five. That’s the thing about Taos — it doesn’t … Read more
I’ve chased swimming holes across more states than I care to count, and I’ll tell you this: nothing — and I mean nothing — beats the feeling of finding that perfect natural pool on a scorching July afternoon when the asphalt is soft and your car’s A/C gave up two hours ago. Hotel pools are … Read more