United States of America

Lake Las Vegas is located about 30 minutes east of Las Vegas, just outside the suburb of Henderson. This is a resort community planned around a manmade lake. There are a few resorts, golf courses, many homes, and a waterfront […]

Las Vegas is a city unlike any other! While it’s known for its casinos, the city offers so much more for everyone. Whether you’re interested in the elite food scene, spectacular shows, elevated themed hotels, pool parties or clubs for […]

Valley of Fire is Nevada’s oldest and largest state park and is located only an hour from Las Vegas! I’ve wanted to visit this park for as long as I can remember. While in town for a conference in November, […]

Montana is one of my favorite states and is very popular for outdoor lovers. I spent eight incredible days in Montana in August 2025. While you can see a lot in eight days, you most likely can’t see the whole […]

The beautiful town of Missoula is a must-see stop on your Montana trip! We were attending our friends’ wedding in the area in August 2025, so we spent the last few days of our trip here. This area is amazing […]

Glacier National Park is located in northwestern Montana, along the Canadian border. This is one of my all-time favorite parks and I was lucky enough to visit for my second time in August 2025.  The park is quite big, and […]

I visited Glacier National Park for my second time in August 2025. This is one of my favorite national parks ever! It is named for its 25+ glaciers. The park is nicknamed the “Crown of the Continent” and it is […]

Yellowstone National Park is huge! It spans over 2.2 million acres in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. I’d recommend spending two or three days here if you can, but if you only have one (long) day, it is possible to see […]

The Yellowstone area is one of the most beautiful and unique natural places in the United States and home to the oldest national park in the world! Yellowstone sits on a massive supervolcano, which powers thousands of hydrothermal features. You’ll […]

Panama City Beach is located along the Gulf Coast in Florida’s panhandle. The area is known for its white-sand beaches and turquoise waters. There are tons of activities for people of all ages! Located about five hours from Atlanta, I’ve […]

The charming waterfront city of Baltimore is the perfect destination for a day or weekend! While in Baltimore for a wedding in July, Mike and I got to do some exploring around the town. These are my recommendations for an […]

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is best known for its role in the Civil War, where the Battle of Gettysburg took place in 1863. This was the bloodiest battle in the war and was a turning point for the Union. Today, the Gettysburg […]

Miami is one of the top bachelorette destinations in the US. It’s the perfect spot to celebrate with your girls! I was here for my friend Angelena’s bachelorette weekend in April. I thought it was the perfect time to visit […]

Haywood County is one of my favorite places. I’ve been visiting this area for a long time, and my husband Mike and I got married there in 2024. Located in the heart of the Smoky Mountains in western North Carolina, […]

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the perfect day trip destination if you are staying in the Cherokee or Gatlinburg areas. This is the most visited national park in the United States, with over 12 million visitors in 2024. The […]

The adorable town of Breckenridge is located in the mountains of Colorado. It’s known for its world-class skiing and snowboarding, but is worth a visit in the summer too! While Mike and I were visiting our good friends Dustin and […]

Savannah is one of my favorite cities in the south and is an easy weekend trip from Atlanta. The city is the oldest in Georgia, founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe. It was one of the only towns left standing […]

Route 1 (AKA the Pacific Highway) is a coastal highway that covers a good portion of the state of California. The road is 656 miles long and runs from the Los Angeles area to northern California. It’s known for its […]

I spent a week in Monterey, California for a work conference in August 2024. I ended up having a couple days worth of free time while the conference was not in session.  The conference was at Asilomar Hotel, in Pacific […]

I visited Omaha, Nebraska with Mike in September 2022 for my cousin’s wedding. While we spent about a day doing wedding-related activities, we also spent a day exploring the city. These are my recommendations for things to do in the […]

I had my bachelorette weekend with nine of my closest friends in Blue Ridge, Georgia in early March! I love Blue Ridge: it’s located in the north Georgia mountains and there is no shortage of things to do. Most of […]

This section of the Appalachian Trail leads to one of the best views of North Carolina’s mountains. My friend Ashley and I (and my pup Ollie!) hiked to Siler Bald and camped on the top of the mountain. It was […]

I spent six days doing a Utah Road Trip in October 2022 with my friend Ashley. We had an awesome time and saw so much!! Utah is one of my favorite states after this trip. It’s so diverse and there […]

At the end of our Utah road trip, we explored the Great Salt Lake area. This lake (originally known as Lake Bonneville) once covered almost a quarter of the state of Utah. Several thousand years ago, the lake was almost […]

The fourth day of our Utah road trip was mostly spent around the Capitol Reef area. We started our morning in Monument Valley and left shortly after sunrise to begin the four hour drive to Capitol Reef National Park. If […]

Monument Valley had been on my bucket list for as long as I could remember. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is located on the Navajo Nation Reservation. When I think of the wild west, this is what it looks like.  […]

On our recent Utah road trip in October 2022, my friend Ashley and I spent two action-packed days in the Moab area. We camped in Dead Horse Point State Park, visited two national parks, and more!  Thursday After flying into […]

After nine days on three different islands of Hawaii, I’m already dreaming about visiting again one day. We spent three days in Oahu, two days in Kauai, and three days on the Big Island. Here are 30 of my favorite […]

I had wished to visit Hawaii for as long as I can remember. However, I’d always put it on the backburner, as there were more international destinations I had ranked higher on my priority list. In early 2022, with Covid-19 […]

Our last stop on our Hawaii trip was the Big Island. The flight from Kauai ended up being delayed a bit, so we didn’t arrive until 7pm. We were very hungry and tired, so instead of going out to eat […]

Our trip to Hawaii started with three awesome days in Oahu. Our next stop was Kauai! Kauai is nicknamed “the Garden Isle” due to its lush tropical rainforests. This is Hawaii’s oldest island and the least populated out of the […]

I just got back from the most magical nine-day trip to Hawaii with my boyfriend Mike! This was my first trip to the Aloha State, and it did not disappoint. Since I had never been before, I wanted to see […]

Palm Springs is the perfect location for a girls’ getaway. Located in the desert of southern California, it’s an amazing oasis to escape to. I traveled here with my friend Kelsey for my 30th birthday in December. We flew into […]

Joshua Tree is a popular national park in southern California, near Palm Springs. It is known for and named after its Joshua trees that look like they’re straight out of a Dr. Seuss book. However, I had no idea of […]

Mount Rainier is one of my favorite national parks. Pictures just can’t capture how epic the mountain is. I love how you can see it from so far away because of how massive it is. This trip would allow us to […]

Seattle is a beautiful city surrounded by mountains and bodies of water. What’s not to love? My boyfriend Mike and I spent about five days in Washington at the end of September, with two of those days in Seattle. This […]

I traveled to Wyoming in August with one of my best friends to visit Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. I thought this was the perfect amount of time here to see a good amount of sights! Itinerary […]

On our Tetons road trip, we spent about a day in the town of Jackson. This was a great place to fly in and out of, because of its close proximity to both Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. These […]

I recently spent several days in the Teton mountain range and three of those days were in Grand Teton National Park. I thought this was the perfect amount of time to see everything we wanted. Our first full day was […]

Delta Lake is a beautiful bright-blue alpine lake that sits at about 9000 feet in elevation in Grand Teton National Park. The hike to Delta Lake is about 8.3 miles round trip. Hikers will make a moderate to strenuous 2400 […]

My‌ ‌friend‌ ‌Ashley‌ ‌and‌ ‌I‌ ‌recently‌ ‌spent‌ ‌five‌ ‌days‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌Jackson‌ ‌Hole‌ ‌area‌ ‌in‌ ‌Wyoming.‌ ‌One‌ ‌of‌ ‌those‌ ‌days‌ ‌was‌ ‌spent‌ ‌in‌ ‌Yellowstone‌ ‌National‌ ‌Park, the oldest national park (designated as such in 1872!).‌ ‌We‌ ‌flew‌ ‌into‌ ‌Jackson‌ ‌Hole‌ ‌on‌ […]

The drive from Crater Lake to Portland takes about 4.5 hours. On our way to Crater Lake, we drove on the less scenic route, going through Eugene. On our way back to Portland, we decided to take the route east […]

The main goal of my trip to Oregon with my dad was to visit Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is about 4.5 hours south of Portland. It is located in the middle of nowhere. I’ve never felt so isolated […]

My dad and I just got back from a long weekend in Oregon. While we were there, we spent about a day in Portland. This is what we did! Pine State Biscuits We started our morning with breakfast at Pine […]

Carvers Gap The Grassy Ridge Bald hike starts from Carvers Gap, a popular trailhead along the Appalachian Trail. Carvers Gap is near the border of North Carolina and Tennessee, about 1.5 hours north of Asheville. There is a fairly large […]

I am so excited to share this post from my extensive research over the many years I’ve lived in Georgia. I’ve completed just about every popular trail in the Georgia mountains and these 11 are my absolute favorite hikes in […]

In November, I spent three days in Arizona with two of my friends, Ashley and Kelsey. While we were in the Sedona area, Kelsey really wanted to check out Horseshoe Bend. It is located on the east rim of the […]

On my recent trip to Arizona, we based ourselves in Sedona for two nights. While we spent one of our days in Flagstaff and Horseshoe Bend, I would say we collectively spent about a day and a half in Sedona. […]

While we were in Sedona, we did two hikes. Devil’s Bridge and Cathedral Rock are two of the most popular hikes in the area, and for good reason! Both were really cool, but I felt like Devil’s Bridge was a […]

I recently got back from a short three-day trip to Arizona. On this trip, two of my girlfriends and I flew into Phoenix, and then made our way to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Scottsdale is a suburb of Phoenix […]

Alaska is one of my favorite states I have been to. It was always on my bucket list, but with the pandemic restricting us from leaving the country and finding cheap flights, we thought this was the perfect time to […]

Denali is unlike any other national park I’ve been to. The park encompasses 6 million acres of land in central Alaska and holds the tallest mountain in North America. This is the second biggest national park in America, second to […]

The drive from Anchorage to Denali National Park takes about four hours if you are driving straight through. While we did drive straight there on the way to Denali, we left ourselves a day to explore the area on the […]

We spent the majority of our eight-day trip to Alaska in the Kenai Peninsula. This area is very easy to get to by car from Anchorage. I’ve included everything we did in the peninsula, including activities and restaurants we ate […]

This was an amazing hike to the largest icefield entirely within the US! Harding Icefield is composed of 40 glaciers and spans over 1100 square miles. While you can see Exit Glacier from the drive in and other easier trails […]

I spent eight days in Alaska over the first week in September. We were originally planning on going to Italy this fall but with the pandemic, we had to change our plans. When I found extremely cheap flights from Atlanta […]

The logistics are the most important part of planning a trip in my eyes. How much money will you need? Where will you go exactly? How much time will you spend in each place? How will you get there? These […]

The last park on our Washington trip was Olympic National Park. We camped in Enumclaw, WA Saturday night, and drove to Olympic Sunday morning. Our first stop was in Port Angeles, about a 2.5 hour’s drive from Enumclaw. We stopped […]

The third day of our Washington trip was a long one! We left North Cascades National Park first thing in the morning and stopped in Seattle for lunch and to visit a few friends. From there, we drove south a […]

After six months not traveling due to the covid pandemic, I got a sweet reminder of what it felt like to be exploring new places in August 2020. I traveled to Washington state with three friends for an epic hiking […]

I recently completed a 9-mile backpacking trip in southwestern North Carolina with three friends. The hike to Black Balsam Knob is one of the prettiest and most scenic hikes I’ve done, and I was so happy we were backpacking overnight […]

Atlanta is about a 1.5-2 hour’s drive to the Appalachian Mountains. While that’s an easy day or weekend trip to get to some of the best hikes in the Southeast, sometimes it’s necessary to stay closer to the city. While […]

I recently spent a weekend in Houston with my best friend from childhood, Emily. We got in late Friday night and hung out at our Airbnb and caught up. We stayed at an Airbnb in the Montrose neighborhood and loved […]

I spent three days in California the third weekend of July with six friends. We spent the majority of that time in Sequoia National Park. This was my first time in the park and I was blown away! Itinerary Day […]

We left Sequoia National Park around 11:30 am on Sunday. We had a 4.5 hour drive back to LA, with nothing planned for the day. Our flight wasn’t until 10:30 pm, so we had about half a day to spare. […]

The Lakes Trail is a strenuous, long hike in Sequoia National Park. It is located near the Lodgepole Campground, which is where we were staying. The trail goes to one scenic overlook and three alpine lakes. The entire trail to […]

I just got back from spending two full days in Sequoia National Park with six friends. Sequoia is about 5 hours northeast of Los Angeles. Once in the park, we set up our tents and campsite at Lodgepole Campground. Then […]

In honor of our Independence Day, I’ve put together my favorite pictures around the United States that I’ve taken. Our country really is so diverse! For my American friends, enjoy our holiday! Discover more from Young Wayfarer Subscribe to get […]

I was in Minneapolis last month for a conference and I had one free day to explore the city. Read further to see what I did! Shop on Nicollet Mall Nicollet Mall is in the center of downtown. It’s a […]

During my week in Colorado this spring, we didn’t actually spend much time in Denver. Instead, we spent our time hiking and exploring a few little towns west of Denver. Our home base was in Evergreen. Evergreen Evergreen is about […]

The Red Rocks Amphitheater is located in Morrison, Colorado, in the suburbs of Denver. The amphitheater is the only naturally perfectly acoustic amphitheater in the world. Anyone can go in and check out the amphitheater, and they have several trails […]

I recently spent a week in the suburbs of Denver. The first half of the week was in Evergreen. Evergreen is about 30 miles west of Denver, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. On our first day there, we […]

San Antonio is a charming city with a good number of things to do. While your weekend will be filled with activities, it’s easy to hit the highlights in just a couple days. Friday Night Dinner at Boudro’s Texas Bistro […]

My friends and I recently spent a weekend in a cabin near Asheville, NC. Our Friday night and Sunday morning were spent hanging out at the cabin, but on Saturday we had a full day of activities. Hike Bearwallow Mountain […]

The 12 months, 12 hikes challenge continued this year! This is my third year doing it. I usually try to go once a month, but with as many weddings I went to in the spring, I had to double up […]

It was our last full day in Glacier National Park, and my feet were sore and blistered. I was ready to see more of the park though! We left our campsite in St. Mary’s Campground around 8:30 am and headed […]

On our third day in Glacier, we had planned on hiking the Grinnell Glacier trail back in Many Glacier (where we were the previous day). However, there was still a major snow hazard about halfway through the trail. The group […]

Cracker Lake was one of the coolest hikes I’ve ever done. But don’t underestimate it! If you hike all the way to the end of the lake, it is about 15 miles round trip. I loved this trail because the […]

I just got back from a six-day trip to Glacier National Park in Montana! We flew into Kalispell and camped all week at St. Mary Campground. Getting There Our group of 7 was coming in from all over the country. […]

I spent a week in Maine for work in mid-March. I knew it would be cold, but I didn’t know there would be a blizzard while I was there! We got over 20 inches of snow in two days. It […]

My friend Rachel is getting married, so to celebrate her bachelorette party, we went to Asheville, North Carolina! There were 15 of us, so we rented a large cabin in Montreat, about 20 minutes outside of Asheville. Friday The first […]

I enjoyed my 12 months, 12 hikes challenge so much in 2016 that I was excited to do it again in 2017! January:  Appalachian Trail – Unicoi Gap to Indian Grave Gap | 5.1 miles, difficult, 100 miles northeast of […]

My friend Joncel and I decided to have a sightseeing and shopping weekend in New York. I hadn’t been there in several years, so I wanted to see a lot that I either hadn’t seen before, or had forgotten about. […]

Austin, Texas is such a fun and interesting city. This was my first trip and definitely won’t be my last! My friend Rasha lives here and is in grad school at UT. I was so glad I had her to […]

I recently visited my parents at their home in Charlotte for a weekend. As much as I love Charlotte, we really wanted to get out of town and experience some nature. This was a very spontaneous trip and we planned […]

I spent four days in Arizona, Utah and Nevada over Memorial Day Weekend with three friends and we had an amazing time! The goal of this post is to tell you all of the logistics and things I learned in […]

Las Vegas was our starting and ending point for our southwestern adventure. We spent two evenings here, and of course had plenty to do. These are the five things we did with our time! Walk through the casinos We stayed […]

It was the last day of our southwestern adventure, and while I was bummed to go back home that evening, I was also ready for a decent night’s sleep in my own bed. We had been running on very little […]

I woke up this morning so excited to get to Zion National Park and hike Angels Landing. I’d heard so many amazing things and was eager to get going. (If you missed my previous posts, you can read about our […]

In case you missed my previous post, I recently traveled to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, and Zion with my friends Rachel, Ashley, and Jessie over Memorial Day Weekend. The previous day, we visited the Grand Canyon. On […]

In order to get through my massive USA bucket list, I try to go on at least one domestic trip per year. This year, my trip was eventful (and exhausting), getting through 3 national parks and 3 states in only […]

My friends Kaitlyn and Brian were living in Salt Lake City last January, so I made the trip to visit them. We coordinated it so I was there while the Sundance Film Festival was going on in Park City. Sundance […]

Zapata Falls On the second morning of our road trip in Colorado, my cousin Sydney and I left the Great Sand Dunes campgrounds and headed to Zapata Falls. This waterfall hike is really close to the sand dunes. You can […]

I graduated college in May 2015 and decided to travel for the next month. My cousin Sydney lives in Denver, and we had talked about doing a road trip around Colorado for months. We decided now was the time. I […]

My friend Rachel and I LOVE to hike, so when she made it her 2016 New Year’s resolution to do a hike a month for the year, I agreed to join her! You may think “how hard is it to […]

We left the house around 6am and headed straight for Yosemite. Rachel and I had a 1pm train to catch, and there were still a few things we wanted to see! The weather today was much more cooperative, luckily. We […]

We were thankful we weren’t camping in Yosemite this morning, as it was pouring and thunder storming when we got up. I was really bummed. We had planned a long hike on the Four Mile + Panorama trail, since this […]

Everyone told us that a three-day Yosemite trip was crazy. And they were right. But I live for crazy! San Francisco Rachel and I flew to San Francisco from Atlanta Friday night and stayed at the Hotel Fusion, near Union […]