Photo: Iceland Tourism
Iceland is a bold country for bold people. It’s for travelers who want to dive directly into nature, party until the sun comes up (even when it never goes down), and dine on some of the sea’s most freaky creatures.
The Land of Fire and Ice is a place that continues to wow its visitors whether it’s their first visit or their fiftieth. However, these six insane things to do in Iceland are ones that most visitors, even the most seasoned Iceland travelers, have never done.
In honor of the United States’s National Park Services 100th anniversary on August 25th, Exodus Travels asked me to write about one of my most unique National Park experiences.
I’ve been to my share of national parks. (I also have some great photos from Glacier National Park here).
It was easy to choose what to write about. My winter visit to Yellowstone National Park was one of the most unique outdoors experiences I’ve had.
Yellowstone National Park receives far fewer visitors in the winter than in the summer. I guess that kind of makes sense. The snow makes it less accessible and most families take their vacations in the summer.
“I need to run into the house for a minute.” Jim told me. “Wait here with the yak.”
There were two Tibetan yak in the pen. An adult and a child. The adult was sauntering slowly toward me.
“Is it safe?” I asked, as the yak approach at the speed of a riding lawn mower in low gear.
“He’s charging you right now,” said Jim with a chuckle and then headed off toward the house with the long strides of a man who walks many miles each day.
You don’t need to buy a pricey plane ticket — or even had a passport — to visit an island paradise. Galveston Island, Texas is home to 32 miles of beautiful beaches, rich 19th-century history, world-class attractions, and refreshing ocean waters. The barrier island, surrounded by Texas’ West Bay and the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, is one of America’s best kept secrets, and it’s only 50 miles southeast of Houston.
“Your wetsuit has some holes in it.” Jacob Kelly told me. “So it’s going to be a little colder for you.”
It was May and we were standing on the banks of the Kananaskis River in the mountains between Calgary and Banff, Canada. The day before it had been snowing. I had finished photographing the surfers for Tourism Calgary and was about to try river surfing in the barely-above-freezing water.
That was not what I wanted to hear.
As I drove down Highway 93 from Canada to my photography assignment for the Chamber of Commerce in a city I’d visited once or twice as a child, I had no idea how many awesome things to do in Kalispell I was about to discover.
If you look at a map, Kalispell, MT, is a dot just south of the Canadian border that sits at the junction of two squiggly yellow lines (highways) that wind through enormous swathes of green (national parks) and splotches of blue (lakes). Notable points of interest on the map have names like Lonepine, Lost Trail, and West Glacier.
It’s almost like the people who named these places were trying to make it sound as desolate as possible.
That’s my kind of place.
Image by Milko Valnev via Trover
The “Windy City” is known less for its summer gusts than its glistening skyscrapers, picturesque views of Lake Michigan, and outdoor attractions that are best enjoyed in the year’s warmest months. It’s time to look toward the Midwest’s favorite city for an action-packed, summer getaway that will place you in the city and steps away from the sand.