Travel

Solo-Pilgrimage in Norway: Bee Stings, Solitude, and Connection

Emma Lopez

Jul 244 min read

Solo-Pilgrimage in Norway: Bee Stings, Solitude, and Connection

My hand swells up to twice its size, oozing clear liquid, and i've never felt better. About four days prior, I was traversing the notable...

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Emma Lopez

Jun 145 min read

Kauai, Hawaii: Can a Place Change Us?

Kauai, the oldest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, is known as the “Garden Isle.” Its lush tropical rainforests and mystical mountains...

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Pacific Northwest: Traveling Through Light and Shadows

Emma Lopez

Dec 9, 20235 min read

Pacific Northwest: Traveling Through Light and Shadows

A mother and daughter sit at a countertop in a bar facing out to the quiet street. They are drinking oat milk hot chocolates. It's 9pm in...

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Yellowstone: Blood, Tears, and Unspoken Prayers

Emma Lopez

Jul 14, 20223 min read

Yellowstone: Blood, Tears, and Unspoken Prayers

I think that the traffic is because of a bison, but as I round the corner I see a woman laying in the street with a pool of blood around...

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Falling Into Gutters, Devouring Fresh Fruit, and Swooning Over Sloths in Costa Rica

Emma Lopez

May 5, 20225 min read

Falling Into Gutters, Devouring Fresh Fruit, and Swooning Over Sloths in Costa Rica

Approximately 5 minutes after leaving the hotel in Costa Rica, I fall into a gutter... hard. Costa Rica's streets are lined with gutters...

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Living and Teaching in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Emma Lopez

Mar 12, 20224 min read

Living and Teaching in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

A red shape flashes in the corner of my vision. I turn away from my students, and see a red fox lightly pitter pattering across fresh...

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Hiking Safety Tips from a Wilderness EMT

Emma Lopez

Jan 9, 20225 min read

Hiking Safety Tips from a Wilderness EMT

Some of us are super confident venturing out into the wild on our own, and others not so much. People may be dissuaded from going hiking...

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New England Suburbia vs. Western Small Town

Emma Lopez

Dec 30, 20216 min read

New England Suburbia vs. Western Small Town

On the drive back from the airport in Boston I stare out the window at all the trees zipping by out the window. On long car rides I used...

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Emma Lopez

Dec 10, 20218 min read

Blasé in Beautiful Arches

I planned to visit five national parks this week, and spend every night under the stars. I start to rethink this decision on the second...

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Hiking My Way to Sanity in Franconia, NH

Emma Lopez

Oct 12, 20216 min read

Hiking My Way to Sanity in Franconia, NH

I take deep breaths, half because of physical exertion, and half because the air is dense with the musky-sweet smell of fallen leaves. So...

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Creating and Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle Wherever You Are

Emma Lopez

Sep 12, 20214 min read

Creating and Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle Wherever You Are

It can be easy to be healthy while living in an affluent urban area where you are a stone's throw away from a juice bar and an equinox...

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Is My Life Worth a Hat? Grappling with the Value of My life

Emma Lopez

Jul 2, 20216 min read

Is My Life Worth a Hat? Grappling with the Value of My life

Never had I been forced to consider the worth of my life before my last solo-hike. I am hiking a trail called Upper Layout, a modest hike...

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A Park Ranger's Experience Visiting Yellowstone National Park in the Summer

Emma Lopez

Jun 3, 20216 min read

A Park Ranger's Experience Visiting Yellowstone National Park in the Summer

There is a Mott's fruit snack wrapper floating sadly in a bubbling thermal pool. I find myself staring at it longer than the geyser...

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Painting a Picture of Life in Lovell, Wyoming and Exploring Bighorn Canyon

Emma Lopez

May 24, 20213 min read

Painting a Picture of Life in Lovell, Wyoming and Exploring Bighorn Canyon

My nose is bleeding constantly, and it is getting harder to suck in oxygen through the scabs constantly forming in my nostrils. Now that...

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The Fate of Relationships for Young Vagabonds

Emma Lopez

Feb 26, 20214 min read

The Fate of Relationships for Young Vagabonds

As a young adult, I am on the move quite a bit. Everywhere my feet land, I am unsure if I will make this plot of earth my home, or if I...

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Emma Lopez

Jan 19, 20219 min read

Safe Solo Travel as a Female

Whenever I am at a family gathering and I reveal my plans for my next hike/travel, I am met with a mixture of concern, confusion, and...

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Connecting with Strangers During Solo Travel

Emma Lopez

Jan 13, 202110 min read

Connecting with Strangers During Solo Travel

Ever since I was a kid, my parents have always taken me with them on every trip they went on. I guess that’s a perk of being an only...

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