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Tuesday - March 19, 2024
 

Do You Really Need Travel Insurance? Adventure Travel Writer Linda Ballou Shares Her Experiences and Advice

February 12th, 2024

By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Writer Since Covid hit our shores, travel insurance has become more important than ever. While it is true flight delays have lessened, flights are still a huge variable when you travel. Travel delays, as well as trip interruptions and cancellations, are not just frustrating and inevitable, they can be life altering. Which means that choosing to have travel insurance could not only protect your budget should you have to rebook at the last possible minute due to flight cancellations, but can also be lifesaving, should you have a health emergency outside... Read More

Book Review: Lost Angel Unleashed: You’ll Be “Gobsmacked” At Ballou’s Third Book in Her Lost Angel Travel Series

April 19th, 2023

Title: Lost Angel Unleashed: Stories from the Heart (Lost Angel Travel Series: Book Three) Author Linda Ballou Reviewed for the NABBW by Anne Holmes Lost Angel Unleashed is the third in Linda Ballou’s Lost Angel Travel Series. The first two are Lost Angel Walkabout: One Traveler’s Tales  and Lost Angel in Paradise: Outdoor Days From L.A. to the Lost Coast of California. Walkabout covers Linda’s travel writing experiences up until about 2010 and Paradise shares 32 of her favorite day trips from Malibu to Mendocino. I have now been privileged to lose myself in all three books,... Read More

Linda Ballou Shares Some of Her Favorite Santa Barbara Stops

March 22nd, 2023

By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Readers, I am working on a new book, which is very close to publication, to be called Lost Angel Unleashed: Stories From the Heart, as well as my Lost Angel Adventure Series. Today I’d like to share some of my very favorite places to visit in one of my favorite cities, Santa Barbara. I hope you will enjoy my list and will consider visiting this charming city soon. Please check out the links for more information… State Street Promenade — A Taste of Europe The heart of Downtown Santa Barbara’s entertainment and retail district... Read More

As the World Struggles It’s Way Into the New Normal, Here Are Linda Ballou’s Travel Tips for 2022

March 3rd, 2022

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 are changing by the hour. Travel expert, Peter Greenberg, suggests that you contact your travel agent, or better yet, the concierge at a hotel in the area you are planning to visit, to get up-to-date information about Covid-19 requirements. Even the World Health Organization... Read More

With the Covid “Mega Storm” In Retreat, Linda Ballou Reflects On the Silver Lining That 2020’s Year of “Hard Rain” Has Revealed

May 28th, 2021

By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Years ago, when I lived on the beach in a pole house on the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii, we loved the wild storms that would blow through, threatening to wash us away.  The wind whipped the palms wildly and scared us to pieces. But it was magical after the storm. The water would recede. It would be calm in our lagoon that was protected by a reef, and the world would be fresh and serene. Then we would run outside to find the treasures the storm had left behind. Prizes like the glass balls used in the Japanese fishing boats to ballast their... Read More

Linda Ballou Shares Her Recent ‘Wander to the Edge’ Podcast Interview with NABBW

December 14th, 2020

By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate It’s a wrap! 2020 is coming to a close. Adventure Travel Writer, Linda Ballou, shares highlights of her year in this interview with Adam Asher and Zanne Merkel on their podcast, Wander to the Edge.   Topics in our discussion included: Why I need to be on the travel edge. What it takes to write a travel book. How to make travel writing work for you. Taking time to be in nature each day Forest Bathing and Hozho Seizing opportunities opening up in the travel world. Some of my favorite daytrips on the Coast of California My latest... Read More

Castles in the Sky: Mother Nature’s Best Handiwork

April 23rd, 2019

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 in the making. I chose mid-April for my visit to cash in on wildflowers, cool temps, and waterfalls that are fed by melting snowfields and dry up in the heat of summer. Zion and Bryce are located on the western edge of the Colorado Plateau in the four corners of Utah, Arizona,... Read More

Travel-Related Books Make Great Gifts for Friends with a Wandering Eye

November 19th, 2018

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 stamina. From soggy sleeping bags, to elaborate dinners at elegant haciendas she shares the highs and lows of Chili—a country of extremes. Home to some of the highest volcanoes in the world, vast expanse of desert and tropical forests and... Read More

Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Island National Park: Power-packed outdoor days restore the soul, rejuvenate the body, and clear the mind.

June 13th, 2018

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 the channel, passengers are dropped off at Scorpion Anchorage and admonished to be back by 4 PM, or plan on spending the night on the island. Some choose to do exactly that, but most fan out on separate day hikes. Santa Cruz, the largest of all the Channel Islands, offers the most varied... Read More

Linda Ballou is Remembering Days in the “Bu” (Malibu, California)

May 13th, 2018

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 keep them half-way cool. These are real he-men if you ask me. I wear sneakers for the trek and carry supplies of water and fruit for when I get dry. At the entrance to Malibu Lagoon State Park I was snagged by a couple of gay caballeros from Italy who wanted their... Read More