Margo Schmiederer

A serene center for meditation nestled within the jungle off the main road that circles around Ko Lanta. The International Center for Buddhist Meditation Ko Lanta is open daily meditation at 11:30am and 7pm, including individual sitting meditation and group walking meditation led by the monk. The space is large enough for a few people to join, but the less people the better as it is an exercise...

Spend an afternoon enjoying the many indoor and outdoor baths a Szechenyi Baths. It is an ancient Roman and Turkish tradition to bathe in thermal outdoor baths, and your ticket to Szechenyi will provide towels and access to a locker room where you can shower before and after. It's a fun way to spend an afternoon and get great pictures. You can easily get tickets online and you should as there i...

Cycle through one of the most beautiful areas of New Jersey, the Sourland Mountain Preserve area with acres of forest, wetlands, and farmland. For a shorter ride you can park at Hopewell Valley Central High School and depart from there on Pennington-Harbourton Road to Scotch Road and Bear Tavern Roads. Further north and closer to Montgomery, you can park on and depart from Ridge Road, heading n...

A beautiful paved pathway that travels 8.7 miles along beaches and historical monuments located on the Sandy Hook peninsula. The path begins at the Gateway National Recreation Area and loops around Fort Hancock, a former U.S. base that housed 12,000 soldiers at its peak during WWII. Along the way, you will catch glimpses of beaches and the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, the oldest working lighthouse in...

Get a feel for what New York was like in the 19th century at the Seaport! The Seaport boasts some of the oldest buildings and architecture in Manhattan, and the area continues to bustle today. The Seaport borders the Financial District and the East River - so there are lots of wonderful sights to take in, in addition to great shopping, eateries, and entertainment.  Parking in New York is a nigh...

Take a dip at Echo Lake in Acadia National Park! It's a small beach that's best driven to and easily park-able once you arrive. It's a refreshing stop for swimming that's right off of the beat and path. There are many campgrounds that rest upon the shores of Echo Lake if you want to be right on the water! Parking is easy - just drive as far as you can and park in a space that is not affiliated ...

The Wethersfield Estate is a beautiful estate and property located less than 2 hours north of New York City. The gardens are expansive and extremely beautiful, open to the public each day from noon to 5pm (COVID-19 hours). Additionally, there are trails for horseback rides, carriage rides, dog-walking, and hiking that are open to the public from dawn to dusk throughout the property. The estate ...

The Met Cloisters is an art museum owned by the Met that boasts religious (mostly Catholic) art from a range of time periods as the building used to function as a cloister for monks. The inside of the Cloisters museum is a castle-like building that can be visited for a small ticket fee (suggested donation).  There is an ample amount of green space that surrounds the museum that is open to the p...

Capture the beautiful barn house shop on a farm while taking in the wonderful scent of lavender. Peace Valley Lavender Farm is open during the day and sells a plethora of lavender products from soaps to eats. Pull into the driveway and park behind the barn house for free.  It's a wonderful spot for portrait photography, family photography, etc. 

Kayak on Lake Luxembourg at Core Creek Park! It's a beautiful and quiet lake with serene views of the forest and park. You can rent boats and water bikes at the park, or bring your own, and launch directly onto the lake. To access the Lake, use the entrance to Core Creek Park on Bridgetown Pike.  Afterwards, use one of the many picnic areas in the park for lunch with family or wait until the ic...

Enjoy a once in a lifetime experience dog-sledding in Quebec, an hour outside of Ottawa, with Escapade Eskimo! The guide of the tour is the owner of the business who also runs a lodge that you can stay in before and after your trip. You'll arrive at the lodge, check-in, and once ready, you'll drive a few minutes down the road to the launch point where you'll meet the guide with the dogs. You'll...

Drive 15 minutes north of Quebec City for the outdoors oasis that is Montmorency Falls, officially Parc de la Chute-Montmorency. This is a fairly large waterfall whose waters lead into the St. Lawrence River and that offers lots of different points for which you can take in your surroundings. There is even a pedestrian-only bridge that crosses over the waterfall and leads to steps that allow on...

Take a trip back in time at the Warwick Drive-In and watch a feature film on the big screen. The Drive-In shows movies just in theaters and older films with three different screens / options to chose from. The theater sells tickets for both one movie and for double features, i.e. watch two movies in one night with the double feature ticket. There are two concession stands on the site where you ...

Crawl through Budapest’s cave system in the Duna-Ipoly National Park (also referred to as Danube-Ipoly National Park). There are several companies that take groups on this expedition and depart from various locations throughout the city, or have the group meet at the caves. The tour started early in the morning and lasted for about 4 hours. It involved lots of crawling through small to very-sma...

Enjoy a wonderful view of the Seattle skyline from Dr. Jose Rizal park. Parking is easy and accessible, and the park has lots of benches for sitting and taking in the view. Walk around the park for different views of the city or take in the surrounding neighborhood, you'll most likely catch a lot of locals walking around with their dogs.  For TV fanatics, this is one of the shots of downtown s...

Running or biking on Old Mamalahoa Hwy is a treasure! The path is marked as a 'Scenic Drive' but you can park your car along the way and run, or bike through. This area is north of Hilo's downtown so you'll follow Mamalahoa Hwy north (the only highway that goes around the north side of the island) until you see a blue sign pointing east for a scenic drive. This will bring you to the start of th...

Enjoy a 2 hour horseback ride on Kohala Mountain in Waimea on the north side of the Big Island! There are several ranches in the area through which you can take a guided tour - I would recommend Paniolo Adventures, but you can look up the ranches in the Waimea / Kohala Mountain area. The ranches typically offer morning and afternoon rides, as well as sunset rides for a higher price.  On this to...

Take advantage of the abundance of snow in Northeast Ohio with snowshoeing! Only 30 minutes outside of Cleveland, the North Chagrin Reservation has snowshoe and pole rentals for use on any of its trails when there is more than 4 inches of snow on the ground. It is a beautiful hike through the snowy woods on the top of a small gorge that leads town into a creek. The trails start at 2 miles and e...

Enjoy an hour of horseback riding on Rolling Hills Ranch in Bridgeville, PA, 20 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. The ranch accommodates large groups and provides a guide for trips, who will leave the group for some time as the horses know the route so that you can enjoy the trip alone with family and friends. You will begin your ride looking at a hill and descending into a forest. In the forest, ...

There are few places as beautiful and serene as Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden! Located right in Coral Gables, near Miami, this garden boasts an extensive amount of well-groomed acres with hundreds of different tropical flowers and species of plants. When exploring the gardens, it is likely that you will come across small smoothie stands using the fruit grown right there. The gardens are als...

Honoli'i Beach Park is a favorite spot among locals for surfing, especially if you are a good surfer! Park along the street and walk down the stairs to the shower area. To the left leads to the black sand beach where surfers will leave from, but if you are just looking to hangout, you can also go to the right of the bathroom for a more spacious and grassy area. On the beach, you will find peopl...

A popular activity during the winter for many locals and tourists alike, ice-skating in Nathan Phillips Square is right of passage for any tourist visiting Toronto. It only costs money to rent skates, the ice-rink is open to the public between November and March, weather permitting. It's a wonderful attraction right in downtown, don't miss it if you're visiting Toronto! Check the website for da...

Take a multi-day kayak or canoe trip in the Delaware Water Gap! Starting at the launch area at Milford Beach, you can kayak downstream in remote waters for 12-13 miles before you reach campsites for your first night of camping on the water. The next day, you can kayak about 6-7 more miles before reaching Walpack Bend where there are ample amounts of spacious campsites along the New Jersey side ...

Bike along the path that runs parallel to the Mediterranean Sea in Ashdod. The path is along the Sderot Moshe Dayan Road, and you can enter at Reviera Beach in the south, or Oranim Beach in the north. Between these two points is 5.1km/3miles so it is an easy and flat ride for cruising along and not taking in too much of the desert sun. Be sure to stop and take pictures! Continue along the path ...