By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate I’ve just returned from the Adventure Travel Show, and am delighted to report that the travel industry is roaring back with a vengeance. Airlines are ramping up flights, training and hiring pilots, and upgrading infrastructure to keep up with the demand. Twenty-five new ships for leisure travelers will […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Isabella Bird was a Victorian-age explorer whose time has come again! The best-loved travel writer of her day wrote effusively about her travels in Estes Park in A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains. Three books about her were published in 2021, including my historical novel Embrace of […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Just 34 miles up sweeping I 70 from Denver lies Evergreen, a popular stop for folks wanting to breathe deeply of crisp, pine-scented air. Forward-thinking Denver elders forged out huge open spaces for hikers and bikers in this area. A myriad of trail networks lace the hills surrounding […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate I love this interview with Brett Wilson at The Rocky Mountain Channel podcast. I felt relaxed and welcome. He wanted to know what prompted me to follow in the hoofprints of the indomitable Isabella Bird from pristine Hawai’i to untamed Colorado in 1873. We talked about how Isabella […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Isabella Lucy Bird was a Victorian Age adventurer who endured tremendous hardships in her explorations of the Rockies in 1873. She became the best-loved travel writer of her time, and was the first woman inducted into the Scottish Royal Geographical Society. In my book Embrace of the Wild, […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Each day, thousands traverse the narrow road that hugs the coast of Southeast Maui to the village of Hana, one of last remnants of old Hawai’i. It is a miracle that the over fifty one-lane bridges, many of which are over a hundred years old, don’t collapse beneath […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate As temperatures begin to soar, I dream of the rivers I have known and loved. Tension mounts as I hear the rumble of rapids roiling ahead. Sitting up straight, tucking a foot beneath the pontoon of the rubber raft, taking a secure position for the white water to […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Ventura is a beach town with a laid-back vibe that is the gateway to some great adventures. About an hour north of Los Angeles spectacular day trips in the Channel Islands National Park are waiting for you. Turn up at the Island Packer dock in Ventura Harbor at […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate The only thing certain about travel in 2022 is that it is uncertain. People are chomping at the bit to travel again but need to remain flexible. Flight schedules are still in a state of flux, car rentals are at historical highs, and Covid-19 guidelines in various countries […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Winter on the Central Coasts means fewer tourists and plentiful wildlife. Birds and marine mammals gather there in chaotic profusion from December to February. Every year, hundreds of birders flock to the sleepy fishing town of Morro Bay on California’s Central Coast to take part in the Audubon […]
