Denali National Park is Alaska’s most popular land attraction, though it’s almost impossible to experience everything the park has to offer in just one day. Most visitors choose to stay 3 or 4 nights, we chose to stay for 5, though when you find yourself wanting to spend multiple nights in Alaska’s wild interior, the question then becomes, where do you stay?
Alaska.org advised that “90% of visitors choose a Denali hotel near the park entrance because it’s convenient, less expensive, offers a variety of lodges from luxurious to rustic, is near the national park visitor center, and is within easy access to transportation and interpretive bus trips along Denali Park Road and a variety of recreational activities and Denali excursions.”
Sound enough logic for us! We as such checked into The Lodge at Denali Park Village.
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Many people visit Toronto and automatically flock to popular tourist destinations like the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario, or make their priorities a ride to the top of the CN tower, and a visit the Eaton Centre for some shopping. These visitors usually end their sightseeing there, and without further exploration leave with the impression that Toronto was nothing special.
Well I’m here to break the news – if you’ve departed Toronto believing the city is nothing special, you haven’t yet discovered what the city is all about. You failed to actually travel here. Your loss!
The following attractions and locations are bound to make you fall in love with Toronto, the top destinations within the city that tourists should be squeezing into their visit for a real taste of what Toronto is all about.
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As we began our trek through the wilderness of Denali National Park we knew we were not alone. Fresh footprints marked our trail, and the chew marks on the wooden sign which noted our location at Sable Pass were quite obviously the jaw imprints of a grizzly.
Though far from being afraid, we had actually come for the bears, attempting to track them by their prints and scat which led from right outside our camp deep into the backcountry throughout the park.
These are our top tips on being bear aware, and our favorite photos from our recent trip to Alaska.
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They’re the inspiring couple from Latvia who quit their jobs, sold everything they owned and took off to India with little more than a bike. For 5 months they cycled the country from end to end, accumulating phenomenal experiences with each of the 5,300 kilometers they went. Though this was in October 2013, and they have continued to travel full time ever since.
Kaspars and Una have spent the last two years living and working between destinations across Europe and Asia, with the ultimate goal of exploring every corner of the planet before returning home. They travel slowly to truly immerse themselves into each new culture and place, and keep their costs low by volunteering in exchange for food and board.
Because why not quit your office job, give away everything you own and travel indefinitely if you don’t want to return home? Seriously, why not!! That’s exactly this one inspiring couple’s story.
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This job made me realize that the world was much smaller and more accessible than I ever knew. Holland America took me all over the Caribbean, around both the Mediterranean and Baltic seas, to Egypt, Greenland, Russia, and everywhere in between! I even managed to travel on my own in between contracts, requesting extensions on flights that were already paid for by Holland America.
Eventually, despite the lure of new places and having made so many great friends, I knew I couldn’t keep doing this forever. Youth staff on a cruise ship was a young person’s job and I was ready to focus on starting a photography career. With this goal in mind, I decided to end my career in cruising, a task that is easier said than done. Ask any former crew member and they will agree!
It was once I stopped, of course, that an irresistible opportunity practically fell in my lap. It was another contract, though this one was different. It would last 6 months, taking me from South America to the Mediterranean, by way of Antarctica!
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Named after Queen Victoria and meaning victory or triumph, this beautiful city in British Columbia is most definitely aptly named.
With a climate that seems like a tropical paradise by Canadian standards it is no wonder that foreign visitors and native Canadians alike blow into Victoria like Maple leaves in a wind storm.
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Vancouver Island and its beautiful city of Victoria would be our introduction to Canada as we made our Pacific Coast Voyage from San Diego to Anchorage. We had heard so many wonderful things about the Garden City that we had to make time for a stop on our itinerary. The city is sprinkled with beautifully landscaped parks, a lively and entertaining harbor, abundant history, and great weather. Even after just a few short hours we were already captivated by its charm.
It isn’t always easy for a destination to live up to its hype, however Victoria is one of a very few which did not disappoint. What we weren’t expecting however was the delightful introduction to Delta Hotels & Resorts which is based in Canada from coast to coast.
We were not expecting such a young and modern feel from Victoria after having heard so much of its long history and old world charm, however Delta Victoria brings the city up to date with every modern convenience that is a must in today’s day and age.
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With over 100 years of history and a guestbook which includes the names of Kings, Queens, Emperors, and much of the Hollywood Elite, the Fairmont Empress in Victoria B.C. reigns over the city like the mightiest of any Monarch. With it’s famous green ivy walls symbolic of Vancouver Island’s rugged wilderness that surrounds the city, you are greeted with pure royal elegance once you step through its doors.
I have always dreamed of what it would be like to be Queen. Which little girl hasn’t. I would switch lives with Kate Middleton in a heartbeat, and I live vicariously through the decadent lives of the world’s most famous royals through various shows which grace the small screen.
I have taken my fair share of castle tours, Windsor, Buckingham, Neuschwanstein, and although these give you a glimpse of how the royal families have lived and continue to live, they fall short of giving you the feeling of being treated as a royal. Enter the Fairmont Empress.
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With no guide and absolutely no reservations, we hiked onto a body of solid ice which flowed like a river under its own weight through one of Alaska’s most spectacular glacial valleys. We trekked past beautiful crevasses and startingly blue ice. When we had a steady foot hold we whipped out the camera to snap a shot of the breathtaking Chugach mountains.
There’s climbing a mountain, and then there’s climbing an ICE mountain. But there was no need to strap on our crampons – we were wearing Jambu.
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Denali National Park and Preserve is where spectacular scenery reigns, and all you need to do to see it is to travel the 92-mile Denali Park Road.
Alaska’s most well known national park, hundreds of people see sights that will stay with them the rest of their lives, and the view of the tundra over Sable Pass as we began a 12 mile hike back to camp is most certainly a sight which will stay with us for ours.
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Seven Years In Tibet is a 1997 film which chronicles the true story of Harrer (Brad Pitt) who became friends with the Dalai Lama at the time of China’s takeover of Tibet.
Despite a fairly woeful attempt at an Austrian accent, Brad Pitt’s interactions with the curious Dalai Lama are fantastic – it’s a seven-year personality transformation condensed into 140 minutes, and is captured perfectly, right down to the Dalai Lama’s eager curiosity still sharp at an old age.
There is no better story which highlights conquering the parts of our personality that make us arrogant and self-centered, and no better way to achieve this than setting sights on the highest mountains in the world. And what better place to learn such important lessons than that of the Himalayas – the home to the Dalai Lama.
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It’s something we take for granted far too often – traveling to a foreign land and expecting our English will be understood. And while most of the time it’s easy enough to get by, knowing what, how, and when to say a phrase in a foreign language can sometimes prove necessary when you find yourself in an emergency situation which may not be possible to resolve in English.
Unfortunately, travelers do suffer injury or illness on occasions, and it’s in these situations where it is important to be able to communicate the need for medical assistance before a condition becomes unbearable.
Hopefully you won’t have to use these, though it’s always better to travel prepared. The following are important health and medical phrases you should know in every language…well, the language of the destination you’re traveling through at least! Translate them before you go and write them down to keep with you on your trip.
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It’s a no brainer that technology has become pervasive in our every day life. At a basic level, most travelers use it to book their flight or hotel reservations through sites like Kayak or TripAdvisor, and almost everyone now carries a smartphone…even as it would seem, my tuk tuk driver in Laos who spent more time using his iPhone than watching the actual road!
The following are technology tools and services which will greatly enhance your next adventure.
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In an age where there are a stealth of technology powering our daily lives, it’s essential for our sanity to find the ability and the time to unplug. And unplugging the laptop to retire to a chair with your iPad in hand doesn’t count. Nor does switching off the phone to then reach for the TV.
Unplugging completely means convenient access to hot mineral-spring pools and massage therapists instead of WiFi. Or waking up to the sound of waterfalls splashing through moss-softened gorges instead of the stressful vibrations of your phone. It means spending time hiking, fishing, or kayaking as a replacement for your televisions, radios and cells – all modern distractions which would otherwise take away from the deep, clear, glacier-carved lake right outside your door. With limited internet, television and telephones, the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State is the ideal place to ditch the electronics and connect with the natural environment instead.
After having returned from the Olympic Peninsular completely rejuvenated and refreshed, we have put together this complete guide to an unplugged vacation in Olympic National Park; where to stay, where to go, and what to do.
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You’ve seen your friends travel the world, and return home having done all of the cliche things that tourists do. They’ve snapped selfies holding up against the Leaning Tower of Pisa, can list almost every Australian bar across Asia and Europe, and probably got by without learning a single phrase in a foreign tongue. And while that’s all fine for them, you want to seek out unique experiences.
You want to return home with photos which are different from the shot everyone else has, and see the world through they eyes of a local. You want to replace the generic, mass produced holiday that your peers seem content with and seek out a more unique, personal experience, while maybe even supporting the community that inspired you to book your trip.
Fortunately, with all of the new technology, apps and start-ups which are around today, it’s becoming easier and easier to connect with locals in order to ensure a fully immerisve experience abroad. Ventoura is one such app.
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Seattle may be known as the Emerald City, though on our recent trip through Washington, we found Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco to be like Emerald City in itself.
A luxury boutique recognized by Fodor’s as a Top 100 Hotel in the World, we stepped into a vibrant new world; chandeliers hanging from a grand lobby, plush furniture throughout, and colorful, bold design offering a playful escape from outside.
And, just as Emerald City was at the center of the Land of Oz, so too is Hotel Monaco just steps from downtown. The perfect gateway to everything Seattle has to offer.
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She is a girl who dreamed of traveling the world, though like so many of us, instead chose to conform to society’s conventions and concepts of reality and found security in the 9-to-5 grind. Though miserable with a career and life that wasn’t really the reality of her dreams, she was too scared to leave that security behind and make the jump to seek out change. That is until she started meeting with others who had made that leap and had broken out from society’s carefully crafted mold.
Nowadays Aileen Adalid is a lifestyle traveler who has worked incredibly hard to establish an online business which enables her to travel the globe. She broke all of society’s conventions to go after the life she truly loved, and now seeks to inspire others to do the same.
She wants people to know that the dreams you have are really possible…and people are living theirs every day! Reality is, after-all, highly negotiable, and can be molded to suit your desired way of life.
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It’s a tough decision every time you go to pack; choosing which pair of shoes to sacrifice and leave in the wardrobe behind. You need your pair of hiking boots, as bulky as they are, and a good pair of sneakers are a must, but then you also have to consider footwear for the beach, something you can wear to dress up and then something to also dress down, perhaps a set of flats, a set of sandals, and, if you’re planning on hitting up the clubs, maybe even a sneaky pair of high heels.
What you end up looking at laid out on the floor are 8 pairs of shoes for one trip. Good luck fitting them all into one bag! And this, my dear female traveler, is why every single one of you needs a pair of Slinks. Your packing problems solved without sacrificing your desire to travel with multiple pairs of shoes…because one pair of sandals is never enough!
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Leaving Guatemala at the end of January 2015 was a tough decision, as I really loved it there, though after spending a week at Lake Atitlan with my now girlfriend Claudia I was so head over heels that, before she left towards Belize, we agreed that we would meet again in Mexico, a couple weeks down the road.
Though we would eventually meet, it would be one hellish journey for me. And, after having been locked up in an Egyptian prison on a previous journey abroad, my standards for an experience to reach “hellish” are far from a soft cry.
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He broke his back on a pleasure cruise through the Amazon; she was fire twirling in Thailand when she set herself alight. One traveler lost his vision on a river cruise of the Rhine, and another found herself receiving stitches after an Asian air-conditioning unit decided to attack.
It’s important to remember that we’re not invincible while traveling abroad, and the stupidest thing you can ever do is to think it will never happen to you. Though the following war stories from the road are not to dissuade you from traveling abroad, as life can catch you anywhere, including from the comfort of home. On the contrary, the hope is that after reading you’ll understand the importance of never traveling without insurance, and if the need for such while traveling doesn’t hit home after this we don’t know what will!
The following are war stories from the road – the best, the worst and the most embarrassing injuries travelers have sustained abroad.
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After having walked the length of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as well as downing our yearly limit of fine wines in Napa Valley, it was time to say goodbye to California and continue north into Oregon.
Travelling north along the famed Highway 101 towards Portland, we passed through many small coastal towns including Eureka, Crescent City, and Bandon, all of which offer decent accommodation for an overnight stop while passing through.
Though there is one stop however which is an absolute must before hitting the rush of the big city; the hidden gem that is Gleneden Beach, Oregon; two hours southwest of Portland. With lush pine forests and stunning beaches littered with beautiful agates and driftwood instead of trash, it is pure nature at its best.
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A sticky attraction which sits in Post Alley under Pike Market Place, the Market Theater Gum Wall in Seattle is a brick alleyway wall covered in a colorful mosaic composed completely of used gum.
One of the most offbeat attractions in the US, parts of the wall are covered several inches thick, 15 feet high for 50 feet. It was named one of the germiest tourist destinations on Earth by TripAdvisor in 2009, second to Ireland’s Blarney Stone.
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I’m told that the pioneers who made it to Oregon didn’t do things by the book, and as we were pleased to find, neither did Kimpton when creating the vision for Portland’s Hotel Vintage.
With graffiti-inspired cork art, a lobby that doubles as an urban tasting room, and a game room for adults, Hotel Vintage promises an absolutely wild stay. Keeping things weird, yet luxe, this is a pioneering kind of place, a trailblazer in the world of boutique hotels in a historic building downtown.
Here are 9 reasons to book an absolutely wild stay; though you won’t need much convincing past #1.
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As a traveler, the best way to get to know India is to board a train. Only train travel offers the combination of unique cultural insight into Indian culture coupled with incredible natural scenery; the ability to witness the landscape of a country whose scenery is diverse and continually changing.
The following is a complete guide to navigating Indian Railways for the international traveler – important guidelines to help you as you pack off for an interesting journey.
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There are many different ways to travel, however for those looking to achieve full cultural immersion; that is to discover new cultures and impact and interact with local communities along the way, it is essential to dedicate quality time to each destination, more-so than you would in an average trip.
It’s all about prioritizing quality time v counting countries when it comes to travel: you learn so much more about the culture and history of a destination this way, and taking the time to speak to local people is better than any guidebook or destination guide you will find, as no-one knows a country better than the people who have lived their whole life there.
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