Carlsbad Caverns is an absolute must-see for anyone visiting Southwestern USA. Located in the Guadalupe Mountains in New Mexico, this fabulous cavern is an unforgettable scenery through one of the largest “chambers” in the world, the Big Room. What makes Carlsbad Caverns a fun place to visit is the self-guided tour; it is indeed possible to take a (long) hike without a ranger inside the cavern. This allows visitors to explore the cavern at their own pace – unlike in Mammoth Cave National Park. Continue reading “Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Hiking Big Room Trail”
Hiking Alkali Flat Trail at White Sands National Park
A few years ago, a French couple did not survive the famous Alkali Flat trail at White Sands National Monument. Their child did. They were dangerously unprepared, bringing only two small bottles of water with them on the 5-mile trail. Continue reading “Hiking Alkali Flat Trail at White Sands National Park”
Inside Sedona’s Vortex
Sedona is one of these mythical places that only true explorers have heard about outside of the US. Sedona, it’s the secret version of Grand Canyon, the place where all of the universe’s energies connect, the place with so much warm daylight and positive forces that you will feel like you can’t ever leave, just as if you were absorbed by it. Continue reading “Inside Sedona’s Vortex”
Los Angeles Digital Nomadic Style
During the time when we arrived in Los Angeles following Highway 1, I was freelancing for a French company. I needed to get work done three days a week with professional phone calls starting at 6 in the morning to match the European time zone. It was very hard, but it was a good deal considering I could still travel and keep making good money at the same time. For a few weeks in December 2017, we camped outside of L.A between Thursday and Monday, and rented Airbnbs in Los Angeles and around from Monday evening to Thursday morning. Continue reading “Los Angeles Digital Nomadic Style”
All The Joshua Trees
Joshua Tree National Park is a park in California dedicated to the beautiful, delicate Joshua Tree and the Mojave Desert. If you’re like all sorts of cacti, and boulders, you’re in for a treat. We stayed 4 days in Joshua Tree Park (camping in the BLM north of the park) and took four really great hikes. Continue reading “All The Joshua Trees”
Hiking Napa & Point Reyes National Seashore, California
Still catching up on Fall 2017’s adventures! Back in September, we had the chance to visit a friend of ours working in Napa, California. We took a hike in Point Reyes National Seashore during one of the most important seasons of the year: the mating season for tule elks. Tule elks, unlike some other species, are native from this region and mate during the fall. Continue reading “Hiking Napa & Point Reyes National Seashore, California”
Backpacking For The First Time in Grand Teton National Park
We love hiking and this is what we do when we’re not working or chilling, but we usually only do long 10-15-mile day hikes. In Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming), we raised the bar and spent two days hiking with one night in the wilderness! One tiny night seems like nothing, but for us it was kind of a big deal —last time I had trekked over several days was in 2003 in Peru with a group and donkeys carrying my stuff (it’s cheating), and Henri had just never done anything like this. We were lucky to try this in some of America’s most beautiful mountains with the best mentors in the world. Continue reading “Backpacking For The First Time in Grand Teton National Park”
“UP” & Down: our beautiful struggle in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
So we went all the way to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP, pronounced Yoopee) and traveled along the shores of Lake Superior on the US side. Continue reading ““UP” & Down: our beautiful struggle in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula”
Climbing a Giant Dune In The Rain – Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan
We have one “people traveling in a van” problem that does not have a solution: rain. It has been raining SO MUCH since we started our road trip along Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. See, our van is actually a car which is a great house when it’s sunny, but miserable if it rains for more than a day. Stuff gets easily wet, it doesn’t ever get dry, we are stuck inside our super small van. Continue reading “Climbing a Giant Dune In The Rain – Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan”
Grand Avenue Tour at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
Last week, Henri and I took the Grand Avenue Tour at Mammoth Cave National Park, KY. Mammoth Cave National Park hosts the longest cave system in the world by far, with 400 miles of trails and passages. With such a huge underworld to discover, it is not a surprise that dozens of tours are proposed from very short & easy to very long & strenuous. Here is a review with pictures of the Grand Avenue Tour. Continue reading “Grand Avenue Tour at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky”