writer | editor | photographer
I was speaking with an older friend the other night about traveling, specifically, traveling solo. She said she’s never traveled alone and didn’t have it in her to do so. She’s “too old” to start now, she said with a laugh. To be honest, her words about herself made me feel sad inside.
Read MoreWhen I look up and see the world at the end of the road focused on its daily pattern, I feel disconnected, as if I should be in it too. I’m not of retirement age after all. Of all the questions I have about returning to the 9-to-5, maybe the one I should ask is, “Do I want to return to that world?”
Read MoreWow, this is New York. I was a definite tourist, looking up at all the stately buildings, contemporary and historic.
Well, hello world! Haha, I’m actually writing this for myself since this site has been pretty dormant over the last couple of years. Well, I’m getting back on the horse. Reving up the engine. Attempting to restart my blog writing and bring life back to this site. This is the first of what I hope will be the start of some daily writing or image sharing.
Getting back onto the website, I just happened to read my intro about “map in hand” and that I had never used GPS for road trips EVER…I was really kind of proud of that fact. But after years of going “old school,” I was forced to finally give in to using a map app in preparation for driving around New York last September with mom, who is no navigator. I even got a new iPhone 8 Plus because I knew my Galaxy Samsung 4 would never be able to keep up (so make that two things I thought I wouldn’t do—use a GPS and get an iPhone).
I tried a few apps and finally settled onto HERE WeGo because it seemed easy to use. I downloaded maps of New York, Pennsylvania and Ontario. The most critical part of the trip and the main reason I got the app, was to navigate our way from JFK after picking up the rental car, to a point in between Niagara Falls and New York (I broke up the six-hour drive into 3-hour drives over two days).
I swear, I would NOT have been able to use a paper map on that drive. Looking at the interconnecting roadways, I knew I’d be happy once we got out of New York since I was most worried about having to drive through the city. There were way too many freeway interchanges, turns and roads nearly every mile or less that I had to follow just to get out of New York. The drivers, I can deal with, but navigating the roads would have been so much more nerve wracking. I also made quite a few wrong turns, but the map always redirected me back to the route. The verbal directions to “turn left” or “turn right in 100 feet” became very comforting and I couldn’t have been more relieved. Turns out the app provides users with options on recommended routes, so we totally avoided having to drive through the city. And even that was still crazy hectic!
HERE WeGo works like most other map apps (I’m guessing) though I did notice that one or two times it took us off the freeway then back onto it for no reason. Strange. There was no construction or no accident that backed up traffic. Luckily, the off and on ramps were within sight of each other; that’s how I knew it was a strange anomaly. I liked the verbal cues, being able to see portions of the route on the screen and how it changed it for night driving.
The phone and the app worked seamlessly together, and made driving from Point A to Point B something I didn’t have to worry or feel hesitant about. Picking up dinner? Where’s the nearest grocery store? Want to visit Watkins Glen? Need to get to a pharmacy? No worries. I had the app and used it every single time to get around.
I have to add that my eyesight has undergone some changes as well, so listening for the directions vs reading the map was a huge plus.
I won’t say I’ll never go old school again; it’s always good to have an actual map, just in case. But it was really nice to leave the route directing to “someone” else and not have the paper map on the steering wheel for those quick route changes. Count me as a convert.
If you have any questions about road tripping, New York or Niagara Falls, just ask! I’ll help if I can.
Let me know of any map apps you prefer and why. This won’t be my last road trip, and I’m open to trying out new apps!
I returned to Rotorua for a couple of days to experience a few activities that included Skyline Rotorua, as well as just to relax.
Read MoreMy solo trip to New Zealand took place in August 2013, so, yes, this post is pretty late. Regardless, I wanted to document my travels, so here 'tis.
Hawaii's summer is New Zealand's winter, but with an incredible deal on a roundtrip airfare, I really could not pass it up and would brave the cold—it really wasn't that cold, was it?
Read MoreAn unfamiliar two-lane road is always an open invitation. Who wants to take the quickest route back to Rotorua? Not me.
Read MoreI did two other shorter walks while in Tongariro National Park: Mounds Walk and Tawhai Falls Walk. They were more like quick jaunts than anything else, but nice just the same. Both are located on the side of State Highway 48 headed toward Whakapapa Village before the Whakapapa Visitor Centre.
Read MoreNew Zealand has nine Great Walks, but I'm not tramping on any of them. Instead, I'm off on the Taranaki Falls Walking Track, an easy loop trail located near the Whakapapa Village Visitor Centre. Come join me!
Read MoreThe goal today is to make the approximately three-hour drive from Rotorua to the park with a short break in Taupo. I head out of Rotorua on Highway 5 then hook up onto Highway 1 at Waikarei. Since road trips are my favorite mode of travel, I'm looking forward to this long drive and seeing more of the North Island.
Read MoreTokorangi Forest, known as The Redwoods, is part of the greater Whakarewarewa Forest that encompasses a total of 13,993 acres, home to native and exotic trees, and sits adjacent to the Blue and Green Lakes that can be included in a daylong hike. For a small fee, you can purchase a map illustrating the routes available at The Redwoods Gift Shop & Visitor Centre. For shorter walks, there are six walking tracks that begin just outside the visitor centre marked by sign posts with each track indicated by a different color.
Read MoreGeothermal activities are the draw at Rotorua with its geysers, mud pools and steaming lakes that stem from the Rotorua caldera on which the town sits—it's literally a hotbed of activity. What other place has a steaming pond in the middle of town? And so going thermal is where I start.
As soon as I stumble across the website for Waimangu Volcanic Valley while researching local attractions, I have to put it on my list.
Read MoreAfter two nights in busy Hamilton, I pack up my things on yet another frigid day beneath grey clouds, and head east to visit the Hobbiton Movie Tour Set near Matamata. I can't wait to see The Shire, home to Frodo Baggins, Sam, Merry and Pippin. It's where it all began, where "The Fellowship of the Ring" was forged!
Read MoreMy destination today: Waitomo, about 50 miles and 1.5 hours away from Hamilton. In Maori, "wai" means water, and "tomo" means hole or shaft. Records say Maori chief Tane Tinorau and Fred Mace, an English surveyor, extensively explored the underground cave in 1887 atop a raft using only the light of a candle. Their entry point is now where the tours exit Waitomo Glowworm Cave.
Read MoreGood morning New Zealand! I'm thrilled! I feel a zing from head to toe. I'm ready for my adventure! It's a beautiful day too, isn't it? Chilly air, blue skies. Absolutely perfect.
Read MoreNew Zealand has held the top spot on my places-to-go list for oh, I don't know how long. It all began when I saw an adventure program on the Travel Channel...
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I'm sitting on a spacious bed, comfortable and toasty warm in my motel room at Discovery Lodge in Tongariro National Park typing this on my laptop. All feels right with the world. It had rained earlier, even pelted a bit of slush because the air was so cold. But now, the clouds, though still floating above, have broken up to reveal patches of lovely blue sky and the warm rays of a setting sun. The surrounding scenery, formerly cloaked in a blue hue, is now a warm autumny orange.
Read MoreRotorua is actually the second stop on my two-week New Zealand adventure. It's now mid-August, which is their winter, and great for me! Well, not that I'm into winter sports or anything, but the factors that fell in my favor included the lowest airfare I'd ever seen for a roundtrip here—as in half of what it normally is!—lower prices for accommodations (though still average when compared to U.S. accommodations), less crowds at the attractions and just less congestion on the roads than during their high summer season.
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