Editor’s note: like Sam, I have been to Utah’s Mighty Five. However, I haven’t had many opportunities to explore the rest of the natural beauty of the state. This is a place I’d never heard of, and am grateful to be able to add to a future itinerary. For more of Sam Spector’s writing, click…
Editor’s note: Like Sam, I also visited Savannah and Charleston in a single trip. However, my opinions are a bit skewed since I had a beautiful day in Savannah and nothing but rain in Charleston. Regardless, both are great, and it is wonderful to have these articles back to back from Sam Spector. For more…
In April of 2019, just a couple days after returning to Los Angeles from my three month trip to France, I drove about an hour north from LA to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, just outside the city of Lancaster. This was my first time seeing the phenomenon known as the superbloom, where after a…
Some places just stick with you. They are so unexpectedly wonderful that they become a part of you, a part of your soul. Such is the case for me with Calaveras County in Northern California. After making my first trip to this small rural county that stretches from the foothills to the Sierra Nevada mountains,…
Early morning in a grove of giant sequoias is magical. Just a short distance off of California Highway 4, the sounds of the modern world fade rapidly as I meander down the North Grove trail, leaving me with the chirping of birds and the trickling of water. When I stop, that’s all I can hear,…
“Beautiful.” “Majestic.” “Stunning.” Feedback from those enjoying a spectacular Saturday on the mountain is incredibly positive. “Great runs.” “Family friendly.” “No waits for lifts.” Smiles on the faces of patrons glowing pink in the cold tell the rest of the story. “There’s just something different about Bear Valley.” These are actual quotations from random people…
Editor’s note: I’ve been to Croatia twice, but never managed to visit Plitvice Lakes, although like Sam, I find it hauntingly beautiful from photos. For more of Sam Spector’s adventures, click here to visit his index page. Have you ever seen a picture and it inspired you to travel somewhere new? Back in 2011, I…
Editor’s note: the FOMO is real with this one. Not only is Peru a destination right at the top of my travel wish list, but this specific trip was taken by my two best and oldest friends, Ari and Dan. For more of Dan’s incredible adventurous travel stories, click here to visit his index page.…
Editor’s note: As The Royal Tour grows, and more destinations want to work with me, it is impossible to find time to go everywhere myself. After meeting the amazing staff of Visit Las Cruces at a convention, I suggested they might want to work with our writer Tamara, who is a bit closer, being based…
This is not what a desert in California is supposed to look like. The thought creeps into my head for the hundredth time, and I’m barely halfway up the Pisgah Crater. My drive here, only two miles from Interstate 40 and Route 66, just east of Newberry Springs and about thirty minutes from Barstow, went…