Planning Your New England Vacation: Quintessential Experiences Plus Unexpected Surprises
Advice from a New England Native on the Very Best of this Vibrant Corner of the Country Growing up in New England, we spent summers exploring every corner of the region: a visit to small-town Connecticut to see grandparents and drag a seine net through the frigid ocean searching for crabs; a few weeks at a sleepaway camp in Maine, listening fearfully to the humanlike screams of fisher cats and wondering if we dared make the journey through the woods to the bathhouse; a stint at a family campground in New...
Totally Cool Team Building Activities For Strong Teams and Workplace Happiness
[caption id="attachment_7760" align="alignright" width="207"] Microsoft built treehouse workspaces for employees (https://blogs.microsoft.com/jobs/meet-me-in-the-trees/)[/caption] We’ve all listened with fascination to tales of office reef tanks and treehouse desks, company ping-pong tournaments and daily happy hours. (Okay, maybe you hadn’t heard of treehouse desks, but now you have!) Whether you’d actually want to climb a tree as part of your daily commute, you can’t help daydreaming about what it might be like to work at one of these crazy tech companies where everyone works hard and plays hard and is staffed by totally cool people...
How to Train for a Bike Tour and Avoid SBS (Sore Butt Syndrome)
So you finally did it: you coordinated schedules, took time off from work, and booked a week-long cycling vacation in a beautiful place. So are you ready for your adventure? This may seem strange, but one of my favorite parts about epic bike trips is training for them! If you booked a Great Freedom Adventures bike tour, you’re guaranteed to be heading for some world-class cycling in a stunning locale. Bike tour training rides in the weeks leading up to your trip not only feel good, but they can mentally...
Five Things to Look for When Choosing a Bike Tour Operator and Adventure Travel Company
Don’t settle for second-best on your active travel vacation – you deserve the adventure of a lifetime! Here are some traits to look for when deciding whom to entrust with your big trip: In-Depth Knowledge Of the Region Choose a tour operator that has a thorough knowledge of the region you’ll be visiting. Ask for details about local attractions, restaurants, and terrain. The best companies will know the tour destinations inside and out. If they are helpful and informative with these details before the trip, the guides are likely to be a...
Meet Great Freedom Adventures Tour Leader Lydia
The Tour Leaders at Great Freedom Adventures are an impressively talented lot. We’d like to share a bit about them and thought we’d start with our newest leader - Lydia Glenn. It’s been GFA’s good fortune that Lydia came on board in 2017 because she brings a wide range of knowledge, a passion for all things outdoors and an excitement for sharing these things with guests. Lydia graduated at the top of her class at Boston University with a degree in Marine Science. She is fluent in English and German and...
Vacation, It’s All You Ever Needed
If you are reading this, you probably need a vacation. If you don’t believe me, please complete the brief survey below: Are your days so mired in routine that you can’t differentiate yesterday from last Thursday? Does it seem like your morning alarm always rings way too soon? Do you feel constantly anxious, exhausted and / or overwhelmed but don’t have the time to rest? Do you feel like you don’t have the time to accomplish the important things in life? Was your last vacation consisting of two consecutive days...
Enchanting Block Island: Life Lists, Rookeries and Fiddler Crabs
Thirteen miles from mainland Rhode Island sits a gem of an island - Block Island. An hour’s pleasant ferry ride will easily transport you and your bicycle there, but for native wildlife, those 13 miles make a big difference. Nearly half of the island is permanently conserved, providing habitat for many plants and animals that disappeared from the rest of southern New England decades ago. With 25 miles of walking trails, 17 miles of beaches and plentiful cycling routes, there is ample opportunity to discover the island treasures. Block Island is home...
An Idyllic Massachusetts Island through an Ecologist’s Eyes
Most of us who live anchored to a continent can easily list off a few perks to island life: plentiful white-sand beaches, unobstructed ocean vistas, dramatic sunrises, and freedom from urban noise and air pollution. If you’ve spent some time on coastal islands or peninsulas you may also remember to mention that the climate is milder, offering a pleasant respite in summer from the scorching heat of mainland towns and cities. On the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard, average highs in the summer months of July and August hover around...
On Becoming a Road Warrior
A Good Warrior Lovingly Tends to Their Steed Your bike has faced a long period of neglect in the basement this winter, and if you’re like me, you’ve probably shamefully used your fair-weather pleasure machine as an impromptu drying rack. After removing the moldering socks you thought you lost, it’s tempting to ignore the possibility that your bike may need some mechanical attention before hitting the roads. If you want to be a road warrior in 2017, it starts with a spa treatment for your noble steed. It’s best to give your bike...
The Ride of a Lifetime; Riding For a Lifeline
Your blissful slumber is shattered by your 6:30 alarm, blaring Sheryl Crow’s “All I want to do”. That seemed like a good idea on Friday, when all you wanted to do was have some fun, but now that it’s Monday morning, all you want to do is eviscerate the electronic guts of your phone and drift back into the warm sublime. But it’s Monday, and your idling consciousness is starting to pick up the pieces of where you left off yesterday, while hastily sweeping away every morsel of your subconscious fantasies....
