Watkins Glen State Park, located on the southern tip of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes, feels like something that doesn't belong.
This particular region of upstate New York is full of rolling hills as far as the eye can see as well as numerous glacier carved lakes. It is not the place where you would expect to find a 400-foot gorge. But Watkins Glen is just that, and due to its unique location at a very important moment in the Earth's history, the makings of the glen were born.
Since returning home from our long-term trip, we've been brainstorming a number of business ideas that we could pursue from home. As much as we love sharing our international travel stories here, which we plan on doing for a long time to come, we needed to do more in order to meet our income goals and achieve financial independence.
One of the ideas we had was launching a new travel blog focusing on a specific city. After researching the idea further we realized that the potential for these style of websites in the travel niche is far greater than anything we could do with this global travel blog, and Discover the Burgh was born.
Like general travel blogging, running a city blog does have its pitfalls. You have to be active in the city. A lot.
This means frequently going out to restaurants, trying every attraction there is, and spending a lot of money before you may bring that back in. It may sound a little daunting, but this one came easy to us.
We were going to do that anyway.
So other than enjoying the city you live in, why should you consider launching a city blog and why did we do it in Pittsburgh? These are the questions truly worth answering.
The Finger Lakes region of New York is not all about wine, even though Finger Lakes wineries are one of the major reasons we visted. To find out what else this amazing part of the state has to offer we spent quite a bit of time away from the vineyards to explore the nearby cities and museums.
The city of Corning, just south of Seneca Lake, is not famous for wine. This city is home to one of the largest glass producers in the country as well as one of the largest glass museums you'll ever see.
We may be raving about the wine in the Finger Lakes just like everyone else, but this particular museum truly was the highlight of our visit.
Prior to having our backpack stolen in Peru, we thought the country would be one of the more tourist friendly and safest in the region.
This opinion came to be because, as travelers, we're constantly bombarded with the fact that so many destinations around the world are considered “unsafe.” Nearby countries like Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Colombia all have this connotation blasted regularly, and not a day goes by where you hear warnings to travelers in the region. Ask any random person why they wouldn't want to visit, and odds are good the first thing they're going to say is “it isn't safe” regardless of if they know why or not.
Peru, on the other hand, is relatively quiet in this respect and seemingly gives the perception as being a destination safe for all visitors. With ad campaigns blasting left and right, the tourist board and other agencies do a very good job at making Peru the must visit destination in South America. Where so much negativity comes out from other nearby countries, Peru seems to be that shining beacon calling visitors from far away to enjoy a safe and wonderful holiday in an otherwise lesser-traveled region of the world.
Sadly, this projection is simply not true.
Peru is no better than the rest in terms of safety for both locals and visitors alike, and this disconnect is very troubling to us.