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Our National Park Trips Timeline

Our Story 12 Mins Read
National Parks Travel Timeline

I officially LOVE reading lists of travels like the one we’re sharing here! Putting together our National Park trips timeline was therapeutic in a sense. In creating this, I got to see my own growth and development that has been directly shaped by the travel I have completed. Lists like this are also interesting because you get to see the logistical fit of the sites visited. I will do my best to group itineraries and link to things we may have shared on this site that can help with your own planning. A couple of other guiding thoughts: since we both work full time jobs, we usually have one “major” trip each year and several others on the periphery we like to visit as many sites as we can fit into our limited vacation days, so the pace of our trips is often pretty fast I’m only including parks that…

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3 Embarrassing Travel Stories with a Point

Our Story 10 Mins Read
Silly Hot Springs National Park

While I’ve never been a prankster, I can appreciate a good joke and take the humor in stride.  That is why I am ok with sharing 3 embarrassing travel stories with you, and the lessons that go along with them. I definitely can laugh at myself… and by hitting “publish” on this post, perhaps share a couple of laughs and pass on a tip or two that will save you a few moments of embarrassment 😊.  Note: If you make a purchase through links in this post, I may get a commission – thanks for your help! Embarrassing Travel Story #1: Congaree National Park and the Bad Day for Photos Conagree National Park is Lovely! We loved our visit to Congaree National Park in Hopkins, South Carolina.  This park is one of the less well-known National Parks and is one of the smaller of the National Parks featuring old growth…

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Inspired By…

Our Story 4 Mins Read
#NatureWritingChallenge A person who helped inspire your love of public lands. One hour. Unedited. Go!

#NatureWritingChallenge Topic: A person who helped inspire your love of public lands.  Check out the challenge here. (Note: Rules for this challenge include writing, unfiltered, on the topic for no more than one hour.  Please forgive typos and incomplete thoughts 😊) Inspiration: My love of public lands was born of a desire to get away from the daily grind for a bit and to see a new and different place.  Then the desire to travel became a discovery of a neat hobby that I could enjoy with the man that would become my husband.  We shared an excitement for researching the units of the National Park system that we could explore and collect passport stamps.  The discovery of this hobby turned into a quest to make it to each of the over 400 units managed by the National Park Service.  Then that quest developed into awe and admiration for our…

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What is “Stamp Cramp”…? (Our National Park Passport Story)

NPS Site 6 Mins Read
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Cancellation Stamps

As we start our journey with Park Trips and More, we thought that we would let you know right away what “Stamp Cramp” is, and why Jason and I have made it a part of the site. It all started with our very first National Park trip (yes, every great National Park addict story seems to begin this way)… Our first National Park trip together was to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2011. This park is consistently one of the most visited parks in the National Park Service (NPS) system. It is huge, spanning the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, and there is a ton to do there from hiking and fishing to scenic drives and historical tours. We stayed in Gatlinburg, TN, and enjoyed the charm of the town against the backdrop of unimaginable beauty! We were so excited to enter the park, but hardly knew anything…

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