AmazoniaBike | TravelBlog

The Swedes are ahead of the game when it comes to exploring the outdoors and taking advantage of their natural surroundings. In the northern city of Sundsvall where I’ve been staying the past few weeks, I have yet to meet a locals who don’t know how to pick their own berries and mushrooms from the surrounding forests to prepare into jams, wines, or butters in their own homes. And when I say everyone, I mean even the city-dwellers (although the younger generation may not admit it).

But it makes sense: In Sweden, all are encouraged to maximize usage of the outdoors under a common law privilege called the “right of public access,” or as the Swedes call it, “Allemansrätten.” You won’t find a “No Trespassing” sign anywhere around here: Even as a tourist I can wander from the main trail onto someone else’s property to pick blueberries, or if I’m driving the country roads I can pull over wherever I see fit to pitch a tent for the night, so long as I follow the few simple guidelines.  For example, I can only use branches lying on the ground for a fire and cannot break a live limb, and I should maintain a distance of 70 meters from any house in view – it’s really just common sense stuff.

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For many people, Southeast Asia conjures up images of ancient stone temples, vibrant colors, spicy cuisine and warm, musky rains breathing life into lotus ponds.

But imagine instead hiking for miles shin-deep in mud, fending off bloodsucking leeches and existing on a diet of tarantulas and cockroaches, while risking infection, heatstroke and malaria. Not exactly your typical camping trip. For most people, such an excursion would sound treacherous and even insane, but for young herpetologist Perry Wood Jr.  it’s simply a passionate pursuit of knowledge in the name of science.

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[The Gray family's] station wagon odyssey from sea to sea totaled 17,000 miles, counting side trips. Near the village of State Road, Delaware, the author’s family chats with a State trooper. From the July 1961 issue of National Geographic Magazine, by Ralph Gray/NGS.

Cross-country road trips are often seen as a rite of passage for young travelers. Since our September issue covers the shorter Drives of a Lifetime, we delved into the NG archives to see if an article had been written on the cross-country experience–and we struck gold. Back in 1961, Ralph Gray wrote a 60+ page article for National Geographic on his family’s road trip across the United States, from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California, along Route 40. Here’s an excerpt from the article, titled “From Sea to Shining Sea”:

Ahead of us a continent of geography and an epic of mankind awaited exploration. U.S. 40, a concrete cummerbund girding America’s sleek midriff, would be our guide.

Driving from sea to shining sea, we would rub elbows and perhaps bumpers with people in four of the most populous states–California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio–and in the second smallest, Delaware.

We would relive history in Maryland, see steel mills in West Virginia, and visit fat farms in Indiana. Missouri’s cities would rise above her rivers, and horizontal Kansas would end in vertical Colorado. From the vast emptiness of Utah and Nevada we would plunge into the anthill activity of Pacific coast cities.

U.S. Route 40 was an extension of the first federally funded national road, which led from Cumberland over the Alleghenies to Ohio; at the time, it was the only road leading over the mountains. Congress appropriated money for the project in 1806, and the highway was completed in 1852, ending in Vandalia, Illinois. It traversed 609 miles and cost $7 million. According to Gray, “when the Bureau of Public Roads set up the Federal system of numbered highways in the mid-1920′s, the National Road became a part of U.S. 40. By coincidence, this coast-to-coast route now crosses and recrosses the 40th parallel.” Today, Route 40 ends near Park City, Utah, at Interstate 80.

Have you been on a cross-country road trip? What route did you take?

Big Bear Valley is an amazing area to visit whether you’re from out of state or just a few hours away. Your mountain vacation awaits with beautiful scenery and outdoor activities for everyone.

Experience all that is available from the lake to the mountainside. Shop the village or visit the museum or take a horseback ride along the trails. Big Bear lake invites those who love mountain summers to partake of her calm, clear water.

Imagine the comfort of a cozy bed and the left over embers of a fire built the night before in the fireplace around which the family told funny stories or you and your sweetheart cuddled, as you lazily don your slippers and make your way to the kitchen for a fresh cup of coffee. Yes, I said kitchen. You see, mountain vacations don’t have to be about camping, there are several accommodation choices and renting a cabin is among these.

Big Bear offers much to see and do. From the museum and solar observatory to horseback riding and water sports, outdoor fun will be at your doorstep.

The cabin rentals in Big Bear are numerous and can be rented either lakeside or in the village. There are also cabins available mountain side, giving you a more relaxed retreat farther away from the activity of the lake and village.

For those who simply wish to enjoy the winter amusement that sits just a few hours away from the sunny beaches of California’s coast, Big Bear offers and Alpine Slide, and plenty of snow at the mountain’s base to delight sledders, tubers and snowman makers.

If you’re not into the snow, Big Bear is a buzz of mountain biking and boating during the summer. The Alpine Slide becomes a water slide and the groomed ski runs become exciting downhill mountain biking and hiking trails. The lake is simply beautiful and offers a plethora of water sports from swimming to fishing and water skiing.

If you’re considering a great vacation for the family or just with that special someone, then the mountain adventures of Big Bear await. Leave the theme parks behind and escape to nature’s back yard playground with it’s cool clear lakes, clean mountain air and relaxing atmosphere. Big Bear will bring delight and outdoor enchantment to all who visit.

To explore Urbino today takes stamina as its narrow streets wind up and down the hills, but the rewards are great visually and the feel of an old town palpable.

At night it is hard to feel like you live in these fast paced days; your pulse slows and steps shorten. In between twin humps of a hill is the Piazza della Republica; sitting at an outdoor café will certainly set the stage for a Marche mindset.

The mindset will come in handy at the nearby village of Urbania on the fast flowing Metauro River. The Castel Durante is huge and dates from the 13th century.

The name of the city was changed in 1636 when Pope Urban VIII took over the land and brought them into the Papal States.

It is however on the arcaded streets that life in a Marche village unfolds; ice cream shops and cafes are interspaced with shops carrying the local ceramic works.

If you’re in a macabre mood behind the altar of the Chiesetta dei Morti in Via Ugolina are a dozen leathery mummified corpses, one with multiple stab wounds… shades of Urbania CSI.