Browsed by
Month: October 2022

A Final Note On Oahu And Maui: An American Polynesian Paradise That Is So Much More Than Just Beaches

A Final Note On Oahu And Maui: An American Polynesian Paradise That Is So Much More Than Just Beaches

Comments 0 Comment

Hard to believe I’m writing this over 5 months after we got back from our epic Hawaii trip… AND an even more epic (although much shorter) adventures in Iceland, but it’s been a really packed few months for us here. Thinking back on our time in Hawaii, there’s a part of me that really really wishes we had been able to go to the Big Island. Without a trip to Maona Kea and Maona Loa, I can’t really give a…

Read More Read More

A Final Note On Iceland: Europe With A Wild And Fantastical Twist

A Final Note On Iceland: Europe With A Wild And Fantastical Twist

Comments 0 Comment

Something I was not expecting about visiting Iceland was just how European it would be. This might seem obvious, since it’s similar culturally to Norway, Sweden and the rest of the Nordic countries. But I’ve never actually been to any of those places, even though I’ve been to much of Europe. And Iceland is… you know… an island… kind of in the middle of nowhere, with wide stretches that are nearly uninhabited and extremely wild. Not the typical European experience!…

Read More Read More

I Found The Real Mount Doom – It Isn’t Where You Think It Is

I Found The Real Mount Doom – It Isn’t Where You Think It Is

Comments 1 comment

Do you know where Mount Doom is? You probably don’t. In the books Mount Doom is obviously in Mordor, which is – thankfully – not a real place. In the films, Mount Doom is an amalgamation of Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand. Ariel and I actually got to visit the film location during our somewhat ill-fated Tongariro Alpine Crossing adventure way way back in 2017. Little did we know at the time, but while this location was…

Read More Read More

Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross And Northern Lights
Review: Don’t Rent A Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross With Europcar In Iceland

Review: Don’t Rent A Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross With Europcar In Iceland

Comments 0 Comment

In addition to our literal “adventures are not all pony rides in May-sunshine” experiences on this trip in which we dealt with incessant rain, we had another rather disappointing component of our trip. That was that our car, a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, was… pretty terrible! While it wasn’t as literally underivable as the Tezzari Zero Ariel and I dealt with in Bermuda a few years ago, this “SUV” was definitely below average. But it was really the (lack of) service…

Read More Read More