Big news for the path that I’m on: it’s taking me to Ghana for the next year! I’m very excited for this opportunity to live and work abroad, particularly because it means learning and living a new culture and a new perspective.
I’ve been reading about and researching this West African nation and I’ve narrowed down a few things that have really piqued my interest and that I’m particularly looking forward to learning and experiencing more thoroughly.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
President John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 20 January 1961
When President Kennedy spoke those words, the Peace Corps was still being workshopped by a group of motivated students and the seeds of AmeriCorps were stuck back in the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps.
Service for your country was considered in the terms of the military. Even today, when people use the phrase, “served their country,” it’s pretty much exclusively employed in reference to members of the military. Attend any major league sporting event and you’ll likely hear a “salute to our service men and women.”
But the reality of service today is much more multi-faceted that simply military service, and today is right in the middle of the time of year that is meant to recognize that service, as it is the end of Peace Corps Week and the beginning of AmeriCorps Week.
Carnival. That party that happens before Lent every year, with places like Rio de Janeiro or maybe Venice coming to mind. Images of lithe, bronzed women in sparkly costumes and huge feathered headdresses or intricate masks and elaborate gowns and suits.
But the truth is that Carnival is celebrated across the Caribbean, and in a number of places around the world. While New Orleans’s Mardi Gras is perhaps the most widely known version in the United States, Ponce, Puerto Rico’s second largest city, is also known for its Carnaval, known as Carnaval Ponceño.
Most people head to Puerto Rico as their very own island getaway; sun, surf, sand, what more could you ask for. Turns out there’s another island that you could stop off at for a few days to have an island getaway from you island getaway: Vieques.
But why would you want to go out of your way to get there? Sun, surf and sand are already covered, remember? How about some of the best diving and snorkel spots, the best bioluminescent waters and beaches all to yourself.
Puerto Rico is known as La Isla del Encanto, or the “Enchanted Island.” No doubt, the beaches with crystal clear waters, gorgeous keys and small islands, and a mountainous rainforest, including El Yunque National Forest, are big parts of what makes Puerto Rico feel like an enchanted place. But I’d add the Bosque Estatal Guánica, or Guánica State Forest, to that list.
As the fading light slipped through the spectrum of golden-yellow to cool-blue, the coquís began their daily symphony, starting with just a few chips and croaks that grew to a roar as darkness filled the corners in the rainforest. This is the heart of El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rainforest that is a part of the U.S. Forest Service and one if the oldest forest reserves in the Western hemisphere.
Island Lake is the third busiest park operated by Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources. It offers several miles of hiking and biking trails, canoeing on the Huron River that runs through the park, camping, cabins and even a hot air balloon launch area. The natural landscape features various hardwood trees, open brush land and some meadows. It is in Southeastern Michigan, southeast of the I-96 and US-23 interchange.
One of my top books that I read last year was Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montgomery, a biography of the first woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail (at age 67), as well as the first woman to do so multiple times and the first person to hike it three times.
She also hiked the Oregon Trail, from Missouri to Oregon. However, despite the thousands of miles she accumulated on her Keds, her favorite stretch of trail was in her Ohio backyard: a six-mile stretch from Old Man’s Cave to Ash Cave in the Hocking Hills State.
In 1965, an annual winter hike of this stretch of trail led by Grandma Gatewood, herself, began and this year was the 51st annual hike. After reading about this celebration of this woman, relatively close to where I’m currently living, I knew I had to go.
Pinckney State Recreation Area is probably the best place in Southeastern Michigan to find long trails and a semblance of wilderness solitude. Historically, the area was home to George Reeves who operated a sawmill, gristmill, distillery and tavern in the town of Hell, which is located in the park. Today, many people enjoy the miles of trails for hiking, biking and cross-country skiing; the various lakes for canoeing, kayaking and fishing; and the campsites, cabin and yurt. Moraines, kettle lakes and swamp areas dotted with deciduous forests are characteristic of the area and provides habitat for a variety of birds and mammals. You can get to the park by taking the North Territorial exit from US-23 (which is between M-14 and I-96) and heading west about 10 miles, following the signs.
My first experience traveling solo came when I was 18-years-old, when I split from a program I was on and decided to go it alone in Australia for five weeks. The second time was on a weekend trip to Amsterdam during a 10-day class in Paris. Since then, I’ve added on Thailand, Laos, Bhutan, Cambodia, Nepal and Egypt to my list of international destinations which I have ventured to alone.
I love solo travel. I love the freedom it affords me for spontaneity and that I am able to enrich myself in ways that are important to me. I’ve also met way more people in the times that I’ve traveled alone than I ever have when I have traveled with other people. When I tell people about traveling solo, responses almost always fall on a continuum of “Aren’t you scared?” to “Isn’t that dangerous?”
I had a friend reach out to me for some assurance with traveling to a place that has been labeled “dangerous,” recently, and her response to the advice I gave was, “Have you written a blog post about that?” I realized that I hadn’t, and so here it is, my advice before embarking on solo travel – particularly to places that are often considered dangerous.