My Favorite Travel Photos

Photography has come to be the backbone of my blog. Of course the writing is important, but it seems like the bulk of each of my posts is made up of pictures! When I first started blogging, I never would have imagined that photos would become so vital to my blog; I thought my main focus would be writing. But alas, I’ve come to love photography and can’t imagine the direction my blog would have gone without it!

Since I have no travel planned for the near future, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite pictures that I’ve taken on past trips. I’ve written posts on many of these places, and many of these pictures have appeared on my blog. However, there are a few

Central Park and The Met

Central Park. What a quintessential New York experience. Our first full day in New York, after a college visit in the morning, we took the subway straight to Central Park to wander through its trails and trees and eventually made our way to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, more commonly know as the Met, (conveniently located right on the edge of Central Park). I don’t know how anyone would survive living in New York without Central Park; it’s such a breath of fresh air. You’d think it would be an oasis away from the city, and it is, for the most part. But the city noises and skyscrapers peeking out over the trees are always there to remind you that you are, in fact, still in one of the biggest cities in the world.

The North Shore

For Minnesotans, like me, the North Shore refers to the stretch of land bordering Lake Superior in northern Minnesota. It’s one of my favorite areas in all of Minnesota. Lots of nature, but also home to Duluth, a beautiful city right on Lake Superior’s coast. For those who don’t know, Lake Superior is one of the Great Lakes. It’s so vast that it seems like an ocean sometimes; you can’t see straight across it, and instead the water reaches to the horizon. My family loves to travel up here to visit Duluth, or go skiing or camping.

Duluth is so perfect because it combines metropolitan life with nature and beautiful scenery of Lake Superior’s shore. Duluth is also major port city, so it has picturesque

Sakatah Lake State Park

We had originally planned to camp up north, but storm warnings steered our trip south, and so two nights in Sakatah Lake State Park were reserved. Driving through the park, the road was lined with trees and trees upon trees making up a giant forest. The forest bordered Sakatah River, and the state park itself was the forest area that bordered a bulge in the Sakatah river more formally known as Sakatah Lake. When we made it to our campsite, we were literally surrounded by forest. It was awesome.

To Camp, or Not to Camp

As the weekend fast approaches, so does our annual cousin camping trip. Every year, we go camping up north with my cousins for a few nights, and even though I know some people find the idea of camping completely appalling, I love it. That’s not to say that there aren’t some things about camping that maybe aren’t the best. I want to share some of my camping experiences, both the good and the bad, to show why I think camping is worth all not so great things that come with it.

I think most of the bad things about camping are more obvious than the good things, and that’s maybe why some people steer clear of it, because they only see the bad. At most campsites, the nearest bathroom can be up to a five minute walk away, that is if you’re lucky enough to be near more than a port-a-potty. And sometimes, taking a shower requires taking a drive into the nearest town. A few summers ago, we camped at Glacier

Umbria and Tuscany: A Photo Diary

We spent about a week in Umbria, where we enjoyed Umbria’s beautiful landscapes and had a great deal of relaxing. Not to mention the couple of trips we took into nearby Tuscany to visit Florence and experience Tuscany’s splendor.

A Typical Day in Umbria

We’ve been in Umbria for a week now and it’s been amazing. We’re just about to leave for Venice but I want to share a little bit more about Umbria first. Our days have fallen into something of routine, at least the days we aren’t trekking off to Florence or Rome for the day (yes, we did take a train back to Rome for a day this week).

Unwinding in Umbria

After a week in Rome, some time in the countryside is just what I needed. Not that I didn’t absolutely love Rome, but after so much time in the city, it’s so refreshing to open your shutters each morning to the smell of morning dew, the sound of the birds and the warmth of the sun. The next leg of our Italy trip has taken me to Umbria, a region neighboring Tuscany, with landscapes very similar to Tuscany’s rolling hills. The past two days have been filled with hikes through Umbria’s forests, books in lawn chairs and visits to small towns glued to the hills as if by magic. The pictures below sum it up pretty well.

I’m really thankful that we were able to add this little piece of nature to our trip because there’s something about nature that’s so grounding. Being surrounded by nature here in