But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. –Samwise Gamgee, The Two Towers (movie version) Well, the last few months have been… not very conducive to travel, especially not with a toddler. Like billions of people all over the world, 2020 is not going the way we’d planned. Originally we were going to take a big family…
As the sun sets on another decade, I thought it would be good to take a minute to pause and reflect on this incredibly transformative time in my life. Decades are usually not really a thing when you get right down to it. If you look back on nearly every decade, their defining characteristic almost never takes place in the first year. Sometimes it doesn’t even take place within the decade at all! The 2000’s didn’t really “start” until 9/11….
Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy…
So we are now well into our fourth full day of being on our first trip with Jacob. Unlike most of our other journeys, being that we’re…you know…literally carrying a little micro guy with us who isn’t exactly fit for endless car rides or traversing Mordorian volcanoes, we decided that on this journey we would take it easy. After embarking from JFK airport, we landed in Montego Bay, Jamaica. From there, we were taken via shuttle to our base of…
One of the highlights of our trip to Middle Earth (I mean New Zealand) was definitely our tour of Hobbiton. If you’re reading this, then it’s pretty likely that you already know that when Peter Jackson rebuilt the the Shire for The Hobbit films, it was done in a way that was intended to be permanent. If you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings – even if you only read the books – this is really a…
As the days go down in the West, behind the hills and into shadow, I’m going to be reflecting (i.e. catching up) on some of Ariel and mine favorite travel memories from our adventures. I figured I’d start with what is probably our favorite hike together of all time, finding the filming location for Edoras from the Two Towers. Right off the bat, know that you do NOT need to be a Lord of the Rings nerd to appreciate this…