[Channels Islands National Park – Anacapa Island, March 29, 2018] The five islands that make up Channel Islands national park sit just off the coast of Ventura, CA. They had been on my list for a long time, but their proximity meant that I prioritized other national parks before them. With a four-day weekend for Easter looming with no solid travel plans, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to explore my… Read More
[Last Updated Nov 2023] One of the most useful things I picked up from Rick Steve’s Italy guidebook during my trip to Italy in 2015 was how valuable museum passes are. Museum passes are also sometimes known as “city cards”, e.g. the Firenze card for Florence. They give you either free or reduced-price entry at a pre-determined list of museums for a specified amount of time (usually two or three days). The… Read More
If you came here from my post on 3 reasons to use a guidebook, thanks for reading! And if you just got here and are wondering why you should even use a guidebook in the first place, read this first. I am somewhat of a guidebook novice myself, having started using them only in the past couple of years. I hope to expand this section with future trips. I’ll go over how… Read More
I just finished planning an 8-day national park excursion in Washington state in July. Planning trips is not everyone’s favorite activity, but I love it. I like learning about my destination and figuring out what I want to see and how to organize it. I guess it soothes my type A tendencies. You might be surprised to learn that in this information age, I find guidebooks an amazing resource. But I didn’t… Read More