Autumn is here. Well, not here, exactly. It was arriving, and here it is already leaving. Unlike its epilogue, winter, with fall there is no static moment where it settles in to stay. Rather, it is the story itself: changing, moving, rising and sighing. Yet for all of its dynamism, it is a quiet season. Amid the bursts of color and sudden shocks of frost are the hushed reminders to not only pause, but stop and…
Read MorePassing Storms & Sunrises
In 2015, I hiked over 800 on the Appalachian Trail. While that didn’t technically make me a thru-hiker, for those two and a half months I lived just like one. It helped that I spent my days with them - people who had started in Georgia and were making their way up to Maine. My section had begun in West Virginia, so I missed out on the entire southern half of the trail. When thru-hikers would reminisce about their early days on the trail, they would often wax lyrical about the famed Smokies…
Read MoreTinker Cliffs // Troutville, VA
I don’t know about you, but this pandemic has exacerbated the wanderlust that I usually end up feeling this time of year. Most summers I travel someplace completely new to me, and obviously this has not been possible to do. It seems everyone else is feeling the itch, too. And so, we go outside.
Read MoreThe Dead Zone // Pocahontas County, WV
It’s ironic to me that we call places with no cell service “dead zones.” Oftentimes, these places are rural or wild areas far away from blocks upon blocks of concrete, steel, and consumerism. If it’s a place full of nature, how can we call that place “dead” when in fact, more species can thrive there than in any city? If it’s a rural neighborhood, could we consider the fact that existing with less might make more room for life?
Read MoreTouching the Sky
I had been missing New England so much, especially the White Mountains. I missed the sweet scent of evergreens tall and dense, lining the pulpy earth with their needles. I missed the special quiet that comes with breaking treeline and entering the alpine zone. I missed trails that will simultaneously break your heart with…
Read MoreMontana Blue
I’d always wanted to visit Montana. No photograph, no film can do its glory justice. I’d write poems about what it would feel like to steep myself in its endless skies and ragged mountain ranges. My Dad would tell me stories of a hunting trip he had out there decades ago, and he would always end the narrative with “…and that’s why they call it Big Sky Country.” Well, this summer I finally got my chance to
Read MoreSunset Hike // Sharp Top, VA
I’d wanted to hike to the top of Sharp Top Mountain for a long time. Friends would rave to me about its 360-degree views and easy accessibility off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Let’s just say that Sharp Top made me feel very welcome.
Read MoreA Pilgrimage with My Father
We stopped at Wednesday Lake on the afternoon of our first day. The water was deep, dark, and refreshingly cool under the beating sun. As we swam, my father let out a huge sigh of relief. We were blissfully weightless after carrying forty-five pounds on our backs for…
Read MoreSunrise Hike // McAfee Knob, VA
I’m 25, and I’ll admit it - I’m still afraid of the dark. Especially hiking in the dark. There’s something that makes me uneasy about how the woods are so big, and yet full of endless hiding places for creatures. But despite these fears, I knew I wanted to hike to McAfee Knob to see the sunrise because…
Read MoreRoad Tripping through California and Oregon
Kian wanted to travel one more time before starting his second year of medical school - he just didn’t know where. We talked about Michigan, Colorado, Yellowstone National Park. Somewhere within driving distance to cut costs. And then Kian’s brother Cameron offered to let us borrow his car for two weeks, and our minds were instantly made up: we were going to California.
Read MoreA Taste of Ireland
Our first day in Dublin just happened to be the Women’s Mini Marathon, a race in which over 41,000 women participated. Men ran in the race too, many of them dressed up as women with terrible wigs and hilarious dresses. After the race, the pubs were full with…
Read MoreFloyd
We ditched our electronics and wandered an hour south of Roanoke where cell service is scant and warm welcomes abound.
Read MoreAnnapolis - From the Archives
As an artistic outlet of mine, photography has taken me outside of my comfort zone more times than I can count. What surprised me, though, is how it can also serve as a refuge from the stress of putting myself out there...
Read MoreAn Afternoon in Roanoke
Yesterday I did some exploring in my new city, and I found myself getting lost in various labyrinths of old things. I passed through rows and rows of...
Read MoreFinding Peace in Iceland
Things I did not know about Iceland before traveling there:
- The population is less than 350,000
- "King beds" are really just two twins pushed together, with a separate comforter for each side
- Sheep roam absolutely everywhere...
Looking for Nostalgia in Nova Scotia
Earlier this year I read The Lobster Coast by Colin Woodard. Besides learning a ton of maritime history about my lovely home state as well as discovering just how interesting lobsters really are, I read quite a bit about Maine’s relationship with its neighbors like Massachusetts and Nova Scotia. One particular quote Woodard included about Nova Scotia that I couldn’t get out of my head was said by Richard Barringer, a professor at the Edmund Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine:
Read MoreTest Driving a Lifestyle
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live a completely different life from what you have today? Daydreaming about waking up in a new place with a new routine?
What if you could test drive that other life?
Lately I have been completely obsessed with #vanlife. Seeing something new every day, overcoming the challenges that inevitably arise while constantly traveling, meeting strangers who prove time and again that humans are inherently good, living simply...I don't know when, but someday I'll do it for real.
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