National Park, Monument & Lakeshore

Fuzhou

Oct 22, 2018 to Oct 24, 2018

Unlike other cities we visited in China, our guided tour didn’t cover Fuzhou. Rather, we were there to visit our long-distance relatives. While some of the elders from our group have met them in the past, it was our first time meeting them. Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, is one of the world’s fastest […] Read more…
Hangzhou

Oct 20, 2018 to Oct 21, 2018

From Suzhou, we traveled 2 hours to Hangzhou. Hangzhou was the capital of China during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279) and it is one of China’s 7 ancient capitals (the rest are Beijing, Xian, Nanjin, Luoyang, Kaifeng and Anyang). In Hangzhou, we had the opportunity to taste and buy Longjing (Dragon Well) Tea, the most […] Read more…
Jasper National Park

Jun 24, 2018 to Jun 28, 2018

From Banff, we departed early in the morning and headed to Jasper. We stopped by at the Columbia Icefield along the way. Although the drive from Banff to the icefield took about 2.5 hours and an additional 1.5 hours to reach Jasper from the icefield, we made several wonderful stops along the Icefields Parkway, considered […] Read more…
Yoho NP & Kootenay NP

Jun 22, 2018 to Jun 23, 2018

During our 6-night stay in Banff, we spent the last 2 days covering the less visited neighboring national parks: Yoho National Park and Kootenay National Park. Although they are located in British Columbia, these 2 national parks still observe Mountain Time Zone instead of Pacific Time Zone. So, we did not gain an additional hour […] Read more…
Banff National Park

Jun 18, 2018 to Jun 21, 2018

This trip that took us more than a year to plan… has finally come to fruition. The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, recognized into the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for its “exceptional national beauty” and “striking mountain landscape” in 1984, comprises 4 national parks (Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay) and 3 provincial parks (Mt […] Read more…
Death Valley National Park

Feb 4, 2018 to Feb 10, 2018

We made a last-minute getaway to escape the Bold North’s tundra winter by visiting Death Valley National Park. Dubbed “the hottest, driest and lowest national park” in the United States with the summer temperatures often exceed 120F, we went from temperature of 1F with wind chill of -20F to 80F where we had to swap […] Read more…
Kuching

Feb 3, 2017 to Feb 8, 2017

A 6-day excursion to Kuching. The drive from Sarikei to Kuching took about 5 hours, with an additional hour to reach Permai Rainforest Resort, which is located by the seashore and at the foot of Mount Santubong. We reserved an interesting treehouse for us and a cabin for our parents. These accommodations are tucked in […] Read more…
Saguaro National Park

Apr 18, 2016 to Apr 25, 2016

While planning for an impromptu getaway to Arizona, we contemplated whether to visit Flagstaff or Tucson – both are about 2 hours drive from Phoenix – but after flipping through our national park book, we decided to head south to visit Saguaro National Park. Due to the unpredictable jet streams, we chose the hottest week […] Read more…
South Florida

Nov 27, 2015 to Dec 5, 2015

Everglades National Park is one of the national parks we always wanted to visit, but we were unsure how to do a proper sightseeing on the wetlands. This time, we decided to cover the Everglades and it turned out to be a great unique experience. Covering 1.5 million acres, the Everglades is the largest subtropical […] Read more…