By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate It seems everyone I know has been to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks in the Red Rock Country of Utah. It was high time for me to experience the soaring ramparts with majestic views, the splendor of sculptured slot canyons, and the magic of hoodoos millions of years […]
By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate I love travel narratives. These are a few of my favorite travel books sure to whet your wanderlust. These are not typical guidebooks, they represent well-written travel literature. Travels in a Thin Country by Sara Wheeler Sara travels in a way that I would love to do, but just don’t have the […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate About an hour north of Los Angeles a spectacular day trip to the Island of Santa Cruz awaits you. Turn up at the Island Packer dock in Ventura Harbor about 9 AM with a lunch in your backpack and leave your worries behind. After an hour-long cruise across […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate I hiked the half mile around Malibu Lagoon to what is famously known as Surf Riders Beach, aka “Buns Galore” Beach. Barefoot surfers joined me on the shade-less path carrying their boards tucked under their arm or over their heads. Unzipped wet suits, folded down on slim waists […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate I have been migrating from Los Angles to Haines, the prettiest little town in Southeast Alaska, for the last 40 years. Like the arctic tern in its epic 25,000- mile round trip journey and the salmon’s primordial yearning to return to the clear waters of its birth, I […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Krista Burleigh, leading my ride, dreamed of owning a ranch and spending her life sharing her love of the outdoors and horses with her guests. She and husband Bill, roamed the West to find the perfect spot. They picked the Laramie River Ranch for its isolation and endless […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Note: This is a second in Linda’s series of three articles detailing the Ultimate Safari experience with Overseas Adventure Travel, aka OATS, in the countries of Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. She notes that the fantastic images accompanying her story are courtesy of Tom Schwab. When I told friends […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate I am thrilled to be taking the “Ultimate 17-day Safari” with Overseas Adventure Travel. It promises total immersion into the African culture and a close up and personal look at creatures large and small. We will travel to conservation-minded Botswana; less-traveled Zimbabwe where I will partake of an […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate A single white sail drifts by where I lay on warm sand beneath a fringe of palm trees. Hotel guests on paddle boards and a family of locals floating like a raft of ducklings in translucent water share the unspoiled beach. St. Croix, the gentle virgin, as Cruzans […]
By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Situated halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles in sun-kissed San Luis Obispo is the Apple Farm Inn, a perfect place to shake off the road dust. The Inn is easily accessed off of Highway 101, and its steaming outdoor spa and cool pool are guaranteed to smooth […]
