Industrial and industrious would be good words to describe the city of Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1796 on the western frontier of the early United States, it became a center of heavy industry and transportation, before entering into a decline in the early 1980’s, followed by a slow revival from the late 1990’s. Perhaps not the most obvious US city trip destination, but Cleveland certainly has plenty to see and do to warrant a few days of your time. Especially for the space historian it has a lot of cool stuff, making Cleveland a must-see. Follow me on a virtual tour to Cleveland, Ohio: Continue reading
Instawalk through smalltown America – Athens, Ohio
Thinking about the United States, most travelers will have images of skyscrapers in big cities, steep red mountains in endless desert plains, wonderful sunny beaches or lush national parks with deep canyons and luxurious mountain resorts. However, 80% of the United States consists of small towns, away from the big cities, totally off the tourist track. People live a simple, slow paced life, relatively secluded from the rest of the world, in tight-knit communities. These communities are often based around a particular industry or agriculture. Please follow me on a virtual trip to Smalltown USA: Continue reading
Save the Planet! … from asteroids
“Those Asteroids that hit this morning – those were nothing – the size of basketballs and Volkswagens. This new one we’re tracking is the size of Texas, Mr. President. It’s what we call a Global Killer… the end of mankind. Half the world will be incinerated by the heat blast… the rest will freeze to death in a nuclear winter…” This quote from the 1998 disaster movie Armageddon perfectly matched the simulation that was played as an exercise at the IAU Planetary Defense Conference in Italy a few weeks ago. Continue reading
Winterhike blog – Skarvan og Roltdalen 2015
Intense Arctic IV – Leadership Expedition Norway
Is it really climate change or just a very mild Arctic winter? When we landed at Trondheim Vaernes Airport it was six degrees and the area was free of snow. This is 63 degrees North, only a few hundred kilometers short of the Arctic Circle! The taxi driver who took us into the mountains had never experienced such a snowless and spring-like February in this area of Central Norway. Would this become a spring hike in winter? Would we be carrying our full winter expedition gear across green fields filled with flowers? Continue reading
Rotterdam Citytrip: Manhattan on the Maas
Locally referred to as ‘Manhattan on the Maas’, Rotterdam is a city in transition. Long known as a blue collar hard working port city, hosting the world’s largest port, it is rapidly evolving into the place to be in the Netherlands. Rotterdam is a city of modern architecture, modern shopping, modern food and the country’s best cityscapes. I guess there is a good reason that #instawalk010 is one of the most popular traveler hashtags of the Netherlands. Continue reading
City Trip: Two Days in Montreal
Looking for the top things to do in Montreal? Spending a few days on business and have some time to spare? Montreal is a great city for a city trip, with plenty to do for a day, and more than enough great sights for a week or longer, in any season! I visited Montreal in the height of summer, in July 2014. Or as they say in Montreal, in the height of the construction season. Like many of my readers I was in the area for business, but stayed a little longer to see the city. Continue reading
My travels in 2014
With the travel year 2015 still fully open, I can only hope it will become as great as my travels in 2014. So before I start reporting on my trips in the new year, here is a summary of my trips in 2014, with links to the blog posts to some of these trips. Sometimes it feels as if I travel too much to blog about each and every trip, so I hope I will have time to catch up on my work. Until then, please follow me around the world in 365 days: Continue reading
Vakantiebeurs 2015 in 10 selfies
With 117,000 visitors the Dutch Travel Convention Vakantiebeurs 2015 exceeded the organizers expectations (reported by nu.nl). It certainly felt crowded on some of the public days. As a travel professional and blogger this convention is my traditional start of the travel year. The convention consists of two parts: a two day professional conference and five public visitor days. Over the last years the Vakantiebeurs has slowly converted from a boring travel brochure exchange into a destination by itself. Together with my 14-year old daughter we turned our visit into a worldwide travel adventure in four hours, taking the challenge to capture the event in ten selfies. We were assisted by a selfie contest, with nine selfie spots posted at the convention floors, using the #selfievakantiebeurs hashtag. It wasn’t even easy to find all spots, but ultimately we even found one extra under water! So here we go on a virtual tour of Vakantiebeurs 2015 in 10 selfies: Continue reading
Road trip: Father and son from Washington to New York
Over the past 20 years I have taken many great American road trips, crossing over 27 states in total. But the last one was the most special. A father-son road trip with my 12 year old son in October 2014. We started our US tour in Washington DC, which I wrote about earlier here. Being a true American road trip and the first visit to the US for my son we rented a cool all-America classic car, a Ford Mustang, to take us from Washington DC to New York City and back, taking in some of the great sights in between. Continue reading
Road trip: Best of Britain in a British Roadster
A few years ago I was able to purchase a small British sportscar, of a type that I had always really liked. An 8-year old MGF convertible in British Racing Green, with a beige leather interior. Two seats, central engine, rear wheel drive (meaning I couldn’t safely drive it in winter). When owning a British car there is only one country in the world where you truly experience the classic English sportscar feeling: England! As a member of the Dutch MG club I had the opportunity to join British MG events, the most famous of which is organized every year at Silverstone, the home of British motor racing! In 2007 and 2009 I attended this MGLive event, making it into a very cool road trip from home to Silverstone and back! The best of Britain in a British roadster! Continue reading