The California Gold Rush changed the country forever. 300,000 people came from across the US and every corner of the world to strike it rich. Dozens of towns sprang up overnight in what was once the backwaters of Mexico, sparsely populated with Native Americans. While the 1849 Gold Rush had terrible consequences for the indigenous…
I grew up just 50 miles south of Ventura County, California and have so many fond memories of this retreat from LA…Mission San Buenaventura was my 4th-grade project, Oxnard was our spot for strawberry picking, Ventura Beach is where I had my 17th birthday party, Camarillo Outlets got me decked out for prom, and the…
Regularly voted one of the most liveable, happiest, and greenest cities in the USA, Madison is the kind of place we wanted to stop and stay for a while. As a capital city and university town, it has a balance of sophistication and fun. Take all those cosmopolitan offerings and surround them with 5 lakes…
Don’t let the title “Loneliest Road in America” fool you. Nevada’s Highway 50 has been a major thoroughfare since the Pony Express connected the West. And when mail by horse faded with the dawn of the telegraph and automobile, the route blazed a new trail as the first transcontinental highway, from New York to San…
With the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi, millions of acres of pristine wilderness, and the epic Glacier National Park, Western Montana doesn’t have to do much to impress its visitors. But with that kind of beauty and friendly locals who want to share it, Glacier Country has become one of our favorite…
Not many people talk about the wonders of a Saskatchewan road trip, but clearly, they didn’t get very far off the Trans-Canada Highway. We started our Saskatchewan road trip from the far north of the province because we knew it had vast boreal forests, glacial lakes, and some of the world’s oldest rock formations. Working…
Over the past decade, we’ve visited Memphis 16 times to hang with our family and explore the city. When my sister Kate & brother-in-law Will moved here from Los Angeles, everyone was a little skeptical. “Isn’t that the deep south?” “What’s there besides Graceland,” people scoffed.” Grind City is totally misunderstood by outsiders, and even…
Tennessee! Not only is this state home to The Great Smoky Mountains, their famed whiskey, and the birthplace of country music, blues, & rock n’ roll, but it’s also home to the majority of Anne’s family! With aunts, uncles, and cousins on one side of the state and our siblings and nieces on the other,…
Nasty mountains, extreme athletes, street artists, inspiring speakers, and awesome bands…where can you get all that in one epic weekend? The GoPro Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado! This is the country’s premier festival of modern mountain culture. This June, upwards of 4,000 athletes took over Vail to compete across 11 different disciplines—rock climbing, biking, running,…
As a California girl, I grew up taking family road trips to San Diego County…but never to Oceanside. It was known as a military town and a little rough around the edges, but WOW times have changed! Today, Oceanside, CA is a designated “Main Street America City” and 1 of California’s 14 Cultural Districts for…
As a couple that gave up pretty much everything (house, job, community, most possessions, etc.) to follow a dream, we are always on the lookout for our tribe. We scoured the globe for badass traveling duos to share their favorite place and piece of advice in our book Ultimate Journeys for Two. We’ve made a…