So how was your trip? Travel Podcast

This place is awesome. That's really all. I get into details from my two trips to Rainier this summer. Everything from hiking, swimming holes, sledding in August, glaciers, lost Asian hikers, and why Mt Rainier is worth more than a "maybe we'll get to it if we have a free day in Seattle" destination.

So what was downtown Portland really like? We lived just a handful of blocks from the center of Portland protests, news coverage, and everything else all summer. Here's our story presented without bias or agenda. Enjoy!

So what was Portland actually like this summer? We lived about a 5 minute walk from ground zero of the Portland protests and stories all summer. This is our story...give her a listen if you want a boots on the ground report of living there with our 4 and 6 year old kids.  *Note - got a little fired up and dropped an f-bomb or two while telling a story. Just in case the kids are in the car, there is your warning.

On the list of Arizona destinations, Tucson probably gets overlooked. I run through a short trip to Tucson and talk food, Saguaro National Park, Mount Lemmon, hiking, U of Arizona campus, seeing slices of meteorites, and the general feel and vibe of what I'd consider a sneaky good town. 

You can't have a travel podcast and not do a Paris episode. It took us around 60 episodes to get there, but we finally got it done. We talk to Brian and Courtney Marsh, who have been to Paris 6 times, which, oddly enough, includes a trip to get married there. We get into museums, culture, food, crowds, the lure of Paris, best places to get a drink, mistakes that American tourists make, why we think Parisians are welcoming and hospitable, the best cities to add on to a trip to Paris, how the French are better at living and pace of life than Americans, and a whole lot more from this iconic city that I believe lives up to the hype. Enjoy!

I spent a few days in Sedona in early February, so let's talk about it. I talk in circles and touch on outdoor activities, hikes, food, beer, old people, midwesterners, recreational drugs/dispensaries, vortexes, caves that make you more fertile, and why you'll either never want to leave or will get bored quickly. Enjoy!

This one‘s a 23 minute sprint. I just got back from a short trip to Sedona, so let's talk about it. I talk in circles and touch on outdoor activities, hikes, food, beer, old people, midwesterners, recreational drugs, vortexes, caves that make you more fertile, and why you'll either never want to leave or get bored quickly. Enjoy! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We talk to Emily Thiagaraj - @travelingthiagaraj on instagram - about her goal to take her daughter to 100 countries before she turns 18, the 44 countries that Emily has visited, and why it is important to create a global perspective when raising kids. At the 14:45 mark, we shift to Mexico City and why it is such a sneaky good destination. We get into details and recommendations of the incredible food scene, the best cup of coffee she's ever had, museums, the plethora of green spaces and parks that Mexico City has to offer, art, history, why you should never drive there, what makes it a destination that she and her family would consider moving to, chats with locals, pyramids, mountains, and a few other thoughts that may surprise you about the 2nd largest city in the Western Hemisphere (Sao Paulo is #1 in case you were wondering).

We talk to Andres Maclean (andresmaclean.com and @theboliviantraveler on instagram), who is a full time travel and adventure photographer that happens to call Bolivia home. We talk culture, destinations, how Bolivia looks like another planet, beautiful landscapes, people, music, food, and how to best plan an itinerary around flying into Bolivia's two largest cities, La Paz and Santa Cruz. Enjoy! Links from this episode: singani63.com chufly.com andresmaclean.com

We talk to Tina Albin, who moved from a town of 600 people in Minnesota to Zhuhai, China and has stayed for close to 8 years. In her time there, she has traveled to 17 provinces and several nearby countries. We get into adjusting to life with 1.4 billion new friends, culture, why most westerners forget and overlook all that China has to offer, the vast differences between different regions, the fact that China has over 100 cities with a population over 1M (the US has 14), mega cities, deserts, mountains, beauty, and why it's a place that you need to visit. Enjoy!

The year is over and we're gonna talk about it. We talk best food and drink, best days, best overall trip, best moments, disappointments, best experiences with our kids, the most beautiful things that we saw this year, and some other nonsensical things that we got into in 2019. I hope it's helpful and maybe gives you a few ideas to try. Enjoy!

We talk to Suzanne Solomon of glutenfreedestinations.com about life as a traveler after a Celiac diagnosis in 2013. We get into her story, routines, packing, planning, why Ireland should have a Celiac Visa, and all sorts of stories from her extensive travel. Destinations discussed at varying lengths and detail include Helsinki, St. Petersburg (Russia, not Florida), Ireland, Japan, Slovenia, Croatia, New York City (where she calls home), Los Angeles, Louisville, and Montana. If you or someone you know is hesitant to travel due to Celiac or a gluten sensitivity, this will be informative, encouraging, and practical. Enjoy! Gluten Free Travel Food for your Suitcase! Moon Cheese Country Archer beef jerky Epic beef, chicken, pork, lamb and turkey bars Bakery on Main gluten free granola Kind granola bars Annie’s gluten free granola bars Annie’s gluten free mac and cheese Mama instant rice vermicelli rice noodles Lotus Foods Rice Ramen Terra chips From the Ground Up cauliflower crackers Canyon Bakehouse bread Bionaturae GF pasta San-j gluten free soy sauce packets Gluten Free Meister instant ramen

We (Laura) took the kids to Disney! And I am a negative loser of a husband and father that only wants to complain about how much it costs. If you want to hear us have that argument for 33 minutes, give this one a listen. We do get into some park details, but that's not what this episode is about. Enjoy!

Big Bend National Park is one of the least visited National Parks in the lower 48 with about 350,000 annual visitors. That is both a shame and completely understandable. This place is remote, hard to get to, SO beautiful, raw, unique, and worth going to. There is a long list of reasons to go and reasons not to; I'd contend that most of those reasons are right. Give this one a listen and see if it's worth the trek to Southwest Texas to see one of the more impressive places that the US has to offer - both in terms of the landscape and the insane night sky. 

We talk to Nick Mock of TripPossible (mytrippossible.com) about his recent trip to Seattle, the small towns and islands just across the sound, and hiking and exploring Olympic National Park. It's one of the few places where you can walk past a Fortune 10 company's world headquarters, eat at a James Beard award winning restaurant, and then take a short drive to a rainforest, mountain views, and/or see salmon jumping up a waterfall. As a destination, Seattle and the surrounding area has something for everyone. Give this one a listen and I'd venture to guess that Seattle will be in consideration for your next trip. Enjoy!

So how do we help pay for travel? I drive strangers around on Friday and Saturday evenings. It is further evidence that truth is stranger than fiction. These are my travel related, inspiring, crazy, and sad stories from about 400 trips. Enjoy!

We talk to Bryon of gocaving.com - @cavemanstew on Instagram - about all things caves and why you need to explore the world of caving and spelunking. Listen and you'll hear some cool stories, learn a few things, and probably get on cavern.com to start searching caves in your area. Enjoy! This episode is brought to you by  Anchor - anchor.fm The Extremities Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/extremities/id1467292185

We're talking about our recent family trip to Southern California. We get into beaches, playgrounds, sea cave kayaking, trying to not die while sea cave kayaking, Channel Islands National Park (and half of our group got a little seasick on the boat out), eating, shopping, hiking, Danish Festivals, something called Ostrichland, Santa Barbara county wine, why we don't like LA, cereal milk ice cream, and all sorts of other shenanigans and memories. Enjoy!

We talk to Heather Shaivitz, who runs the travel blog myfriendscallmejulie.com about her recent family trip to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe. They flew into San Francisco, did 4 days there, rented a car, drove to Lake Tahoe, and spent a few days there as well. If you're thinking about a good city/outdoors combination trip, you may need to give this trip a hard look. Enjoy!

Based on the inspiration of a previous episode, we did a family trip here (plus Grand Staircase and Escalante National Monument). Here's our account and 2 cents. Enjoy.