Sam Benson's Blog, page 2

Itty-Bitty Book Review: State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America

Packed with contemporary travel essays, State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey, is the most memorable book I've read this year. With rambling narratives reminiscent of William Least Heat Moon's Blue Highways, this giant anthology tackles all 50 states (you can skip the Washington DC interview).

Weaving together travel, politics and history, it's a tribute to the WPA travel guidebooks published in the 1930s, to which soon-to-be-famous writers such as Zola Neale Hurston, Studs Terkel and Kenneth Rexroth contributed. Published in 2008, State by State is an equally eclectic travel book. Follow along with its writers as they fly in bush planes through the Alaska wilderness, run out of gas in rural Illinois and hang around pawn shops in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Not every essay is a winner, particularly those that superficially skim over the state (Saïd Sayrafiezadeh's "South Dakota) or dismiss it with smartypants snark (Sarah Vowell's "Montana"). But most take an unstinting look at that state's real-deal character, with its beauty spots, flaws and all. Immigrant stories are among the most insightful chapters in the book.

If you haven't gotten around to joining the 50 States Club yet, plowing through State by State - it's over 600 pages long - might just spur you to hit the road.

Related links:
State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America
The WPA Guide to California in the 1930s
Itty-Bitty Book Review: Shadow of a Bear

Saving a Christmas Goose: Hawaii's Endangered State Bird, the Nene

Right now from December through April is nesting season for nēnē, the endangered Hawaiian goose. At Haleakala National Park on Maui, these birds are often seen hanging out along roadsides and in parking lots, where careless drivers may hit or run over them. The remarkably curious birds have little fear of humans and aren't able to fly away quickly. That's part of what makes these distant cousins of Canada geese such captivating mascots for Hawaii's volcanic wildernesses, and why you can easily meet them at national parks on Maui and the Big Island.

In 2012 there have been a greater than average number of nēnē who have died after being hit by motor vehicles. Earlier this month, a motorist rushing to catch the sunrise from Haleakala's volcanic summit fatally struck a breeding pair of nēnē. With a statewide population of fewer than 2000 birds, up from an all-time low of only a few dozen birds left in the early 1950s, every bird's life counts, not just for species reproduction but also genetic diversity.



So how can you help? It's easy: 

1. When you're visiting Hawaii, slow down and obey the posted speed limits in the park and other areas where nēnē live on Maui, the Big Island, Kauai, Lanai and Molokai. Drive even more carefully during rainy or foggy weather, when visibility is limited. Check around your parked car before backing up, to avoid hitting any birds that may be hiding underneath.

2. No matter how much the birds honk, waddle around and beg, do not give them any food or drink, even filtered water. Habituating wild nēnē to human handouts impairs their chances of survival.

3. Approaching the birds, even if they seem friendly and interested, can disturb their natural behavior. Always stand well back from nēnē. Park rangers advise that if a bird moves when you move, then you're too close!

If you want to help more, make a tax-deductible donation to the Adopt-a-Nene Program, run by the nonprofit Friends of Haleakala National Park.

Related links:
Haleakala National Park: Nēnē Fact Sheet [PDF]
Hawaii's National Parks Go Social: News for Hikers
Haleakala's Summit Wilderness: High Winds & Other Fascinatingly Dangerous Weather

Photo credits: Haleakala National Park (Michael Connolly Jr.)

Talk Travel Tonight with Me & Gogobot LA

Are you in the sprawling metro Los Angeles area? If so, head over to Culver City after work on Thursday night, December 6, for the next Gogobot Travel Salon LA. The theme is 'Travel on Any Budget,' so we'll talking about everything from how to save big bucks on tropical resorts and maximize frequent flier miles to penny pinching at hostels and food trucks.

This social travel event is happening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at NextSpace Los Angeles (9415 Culver Blvd., Culver City). The cover charge ($5) gets you food, drinks and time to ask Gogobot's panel of experts any travel question you want, then swap deal-finding tips with your fellow travel junkies. Buy tickets in advance online via Eventbrite. See you all there!

Related links:
Gogobot: Travel in the Know!
Gogobot Travel Salon LA: Travel on Any Budget
My Custom Travel Guides (Free!) on Gogobot

Secret Santa Cruz Mountains Vineyards

Only four times each year, boutique wineries hidden high in the Santa Cruz Mountains open their doors to curious tasters. Some of the biggest vintners - for example, Thomas Fogarty, which has foggy hilltop vineyards and pours award-winning vintages - are open year-round. But if you're seeking smaller connoisseur labels, a quarterly Passort Day event might be your only chance to taste these award-winning pinot noir and chardonnay varietals.

The next Passport Day for Santa Cruz Mountains wineries is happening Saturday, November 17. Most tasting rooms will be open from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., but call ahead to check on any you're particularly eager to visit (damn, Kathryn Kennedy isn't open to the public). For $45, you'll get a printed passport that waives your tasting fee at any participating winery. That passport is valid for tastings at any time, even months after the Passport Day, because seriously, how many can you visit in one day?

If you miss tomorrow's event, you'll have to wait until 2013 for another chance: Passport Day typically takes place on the third Saturday of January, April, July and November. If you'd rather not drive up into the mountains, chic Vinocruz wine shop in downtown Santa Cruz pours five different Santa Cruz Mountains wines every week at its mod stainless-steel tasting bar. In recent years, a handful of wineries have also opened tasting rooms in central Santa Cruz, including such major players as Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard and Bonny Doon Vineyard. They're clustered in industrial warehouses off Ingalls St., west of downtown and the UCSC campus via Hwy 1.

Related links:
Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers
Fall Travel: Sunshine on California's Coast
Coastal California: The Anti-Hotel Top 10 List

Photo credit: Sara J. Benson

Freebie Alert! US National Parks Free This Weekend & All Day Monday

In honor of Veterans Day, US national parks are waiving entry fees this weekend and during the holiday on Monday. That's right: you can visit any national park for free. So, whether you're dreaming of heading to California's Yosemite Valley or Hawaii's Haleakala volcano, you won't pay a cent. (Of course, some parks are free year-round, like Nevada's epic Great Basin out in the desert, but that's another story.)

And since the national parks are letting you in for free, why not give back by helping them out with a volunteer project? Even if you miss the public programs this weekend, you can still find an opportunity to help out near you, wherever you live, just by searching the volunteer database anytime.

What's your all-time favorite national park in the US or abroad? Tell us where we should travel next by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

Related posts:
Winter's Last Lucky Call in Yosemite Valley
Wild Weather High on Hawaii's Haleakala Volcano
Insta-guide to Rocky Mountain National Park

Photo: Rocky Mountain National Park (Sara J. Benson) 

Risks and Rewards in the Big Island's Volcanoes and Valleys

In six months of living on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, I learned to do things that even growing up in a Midwestern farm town hadn't taught me. I hauled my own trash to the dump in the back of a sputtering 1980s Volvo. I paid for water delivery when our rainwater catchment system bottomed out. I stole eggs from the backyard chickens and picked ripe, soft papaya fruit right off the plant. The Big Island brought me about as close to the pie-eyed hippie dream of living off the land as I'm likely to get.

Kilauea Iki Overlook
But what I remember most about the Big Island is its raw, lunar-looking lava landscapes. I hiked across sun-baked lava fields in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park - and almost succumbed to heat exhaustion after my water ran out, frantically finding some last-ditch relief in the shadow of an ancient Hawaiian rock wall. After dark, I scampered across ropy pahoehoe lava to a viewpoint of fiery molten lava glowing hellishly red while it oozed downhill into the ocean, sending up billowing clouds of steam. As dawn broke, I drove partway up Mauna Kea's summit road, then continued to climb steeply uphill on foot, curving around rainbow-colored cinder cones and a prehistoric, frosty green lake at eye level with the clouds. Out of breath, I reached the top of Hawaii's highest volcano, dusted with snow and marked with a cold metal USGS elevation marker and a traditional Hawaiian altar humbly made of stone and wood.


After all of that fire and ice, the Big Island's lush amphitheater valleys were a refreshingly wet and temperate escape, where waterfalls leapt over cliffs and swollen streams ran headstrong into the Pacific. I tramped from Waipiʻo Valley up the Z-shaped switchbacks of the Waimanu Trail, then rock-hopped over streams, strode past emergency helipads and slipped over kukui nuts for the final mile downhill with nothing to hold onto but tangled hau trees. The rough trail ended in abandoned Waimanu Valley, where under the light of a full moon by a rising tide, I camped alone on an eerily deserted beach. It was too easy to hallucinate the sounds of Hawaii's night marchers - the ghosts of ancient warriors - pounding their feet on dirt and making tree branches creak and rocks crash as they slipped through the forest.

View from Mauna Kea's Summit Road
Getting to know the Big Island's volcanic landscapes and timeless valleys in depth requires taking serious risks, but it pays off with huge rewards. If this sounds like your kind of adventure, check out my guide to "Exploring the Big Island's Volcanoes and Valleys," published by Lonely Planet. It was just reprinted by CNN with a bewitching gallery of images, so you can see for yourself the drama that unfolds on Hawaii's youngest - and most wildly unpredictable - island.

Related links:
Volcanoes and Valleys on the Big Island [CNN]
Exploring the Big Island's Volcanoes and Valleys [Lonely Planet]
Kauaiʻs Coast & Mountains: A Hiker's Dream [Lonely Planet]

Photo credits: Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Waipiʻo Valley & Mauna Kea (Michael Connolly Jr.)

US National Parks: The 4 Biggest Advantages of Autumn Travel

Along the Skyline Trail in Mt Rainier National Park, WAHaving worked for the National Park Service (NPS), one of the best ranger travel secrets I learned is that the best time to visit many US national parks is fall, not summer. The deserts of the Southwest are more temperate during autumn. Fall foliage is blazing with reds, golds and oranges across the country, from Appalachia's Blue Ridge Parkway to Yellowstone National Park way out West. Summer crowds have drifted out of California's lofty Sierra Nevada Mountains and the volcanic Cascades Range just inland from the West Coast. Even some of Alaska's spectacular national parks - including Denali and Kenai Fjords - are easy to access during early autumn, at least before the first snow falls.

The sweet spot for maximizing good weather but avoiding summer vacation crowds is usually right after Labor Day through the end of September or even October. Still not convinced that fall is a perfect time to visit many national parks? Here are four good reasons to time your trip after summer. 

Save more money. Rates at lodgings both inside the parks and in nearby gateway towns often drop steeply after Labor Day. Ask about off-season discounts when making reservations. Beware that some park lodges shut down in mid-September or early October, like the North Rim's Grand Canyon Lodge, Crater Lake Lodge in Oregon or Far View Lodge at Mesa Verde National Park. But a few stay open year-round, like those in Yosemite Valley.

View of Mt Rainier and Nisqually Glacier in autumn

Enjoy some solitude. On a recent backpacking trip in Kings Canyon National Park during mid-September, I only saw about 10 people each day - and this was on the park's most popular backcountry loop around Rae Lakes! In early October in Mt Rainier National Park, I was one of only four people sitting on the front porch of the National Park Inn catching sunset from the old-fashioned wicker chairs. When I've driven Yosemite's high country Tioga Rd (Hwy 120) in late October before snow closes it for the year, I've had viewpoints and day-hiking trails almost all to myself. 

Warm days, cool nights. Have you ever sweated out a national park trip during the dog days of August? Unless you're one of those wild and crazy ones who wants to experience what 120 degrees Fahrenheit feels like in Death Valley, the balmy weather of fall at at many can be a relief. Days are usually still sunny, with temperatures becoming crisper and cooler ovenight - cue your excuse to put that campfire or cabin fireplace to good use. Dress in layers, and you'll stay warm and comfy enough.
Alpenglow after sunset over Mt Rainier from Longmire, WA

Wildlife on the move. Last, fall is a great time for wildlife spotting in many national parks. Watch bears hungrily prowl before denning for the winter, elk and moose dramatically clash over mates, and a field guide's worth of birds migrating south for the winter.

Do you have a helpful travel tip for visiting US national parks during fall? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

Related links:
Fall Travel: Sunshine on California's Coast
Ghost Towns: Escaping Crowds at US National Parks
Insta-guide to Kings Canyon National Park

Photo credits: Mt Rainier National Park (Sara J. Benson)

Fall Travel: Sunshine on California's Coast

Morro Bay State Park in coastal CaliforniaYesterday as I was pedaling around my California beach town, I saw lodging signs for discount off-season rates going up on Labor Day afternoon. Summer may be over, but now is actually a better time for coastal California travel. During fall, you can save money and avoid the huge crowds of summer while still reveling in golden sunshine.  

September is often the sunniest month along California's coast from Santa Barbara, north of Los Angeles, all the way up to Oregon. The marine layer of coastal fog that sometimes lingers from 'May grey' and 'June gloom' into July and August rolls away. Ocean waters cool down even in Southern California as autumn arrives, but the beaches are usually balmy enough for lazing on the sand into late October.

Punta Gorda Lighthouse on California's Lost Coast

Autumn is great for food and wine lovers too, with coastal California even more bountiful than in spring. A short hop inland from the coast, fat clusters of grapes almost bursting with juice swell the vineyards, while apples are ripe enough to pick from valley orchards. Plan your trip around a harvest festival at biodynamic wineries and family farms.

Make lodging reservations in advance for fall travel. Even though it's off-peak season and sometimes polite bargaining is allowed for walk-in guests, you'll need to book ahead to take advantage of online promotional discounts. Getting a room reservation also ensures that you'll have a place to stay in wine regions near the coast, where harvest festivals can easily book out every room for 50 miles around. 

Bewitching coastal California towns to make your fall vacation base camp include Santa Barbara, Cayucos in San Luis Obispo County, Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula near Big Sur, and Trinidad just south of Redwood National & State Parks. For hidden coastal lodgings that are one-of-a-kind, check out my anti-hotel top 10 list for coastal California.

Related links:
10 Steps to a Perfect Day in Big Sur
Coastal California: The Anti-Hotel Top 10 List
Edible Travels: Farmers Market Finds (Even in Winter!)

Photo credits: Sara J. Benson & Michael Connolly Jr.

Hiroshima: Sorrow, Mirth & Japan's Late Summer Festivals

Sometimes one random decision can change your entire life before you even know it. In grade school, I had a choice to study French or Japanese. Mainly because I liked the look of kanji (the modified Chinese characters used in Japanese writing) and the brushes and ink of calligraphy, I started studying Japanese. Several years later, Mazda (yes, the car company - don't you remember the 1990s?) sponsored my summer living abroad as a foreign exchange student in Hiroshima, Japan.


August was the end of my time in Japan, and living in Hiroshima made that time heart-rending. My host family's grandmother was a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during WWII. Even before the bells rang out on the anniversary of the bombing on August 5, I realized that history books I'd studied back in the USA only told one interpretation of a complex global story. That story had as many shifting perspectives as a kaleidoscope: my Japanese host grandmother, who lost a child and suffered from ill health for the rest of her life after the bombing; my American great-uncle, whose boyhood friend drowned during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; Korean "comfort women," abducted from their homes and enslaved by Japanese military forces; and Japanese American citizens unjustly interned at US relocation camps. 


On August 15, just 10 days after the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, came the peak of Obon, the Japanese Buddhist festival of the dead, in which ancestors are honored not only with the cleaning of graves and household altars, but also giant community folk dances with all the carnival sideshows of street hawker stalls, candy and fireworks. Partly like Día de los Muertos in Latin America, Obon festivities can be as much a mirthful celebration of life as a somber tribute to lost souls.


Late summer in Japan also brings Tanabata, a heart-lightening Japanese star festival around the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, in July or August. According to a story adapted from Chinese legend, the stars Vega and Altair are two (literally) star-crossed lovers who are only allowed to reunited in the sky for one day each year. In Japan, the festival is celebrated by writing wishes on scraps of paper that are tied to bamboo branches, making wish trees that you'll see in homes and oddly, at shopping malls and arcades. At the festival's end, the wish trees are sent floating down rivers or burned, much like the floating lanterns set adrift during Obon.

So much bittersweetness in summer. That's the wabi-sabi flavor of memories from all of the years I've spent living, working and traveling in Japan, starting with that first serendipitous journey to Hiroshima. 

What inspired you to start traveling internationally? Feel free to share your story by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

Related links:
Mazda Scholarship: Youth for Understanding USA
Do Travel Writers Have Nine Lives? I've Used Mine.
Manzanar National Historic Site (NPS)

Photo credits: Sara J. Benson & the Imai Family

Ghost Towns: Escaping Crowds at US National Parks

August is the most crowded time to visit most western US national parks, which overflow with families taking last-ditch summer vacations before school starts. How do you escape the crush? Scattered around many iconic western national parks (or even right inside the park's boundaries) are deserted ghost towns to explore. Left over from the pioneer mining rushes of the 19th and 20th centuries, these abandoned settlements with their dusty streets and propped-up landmarks have Old West atmosphere in spades, which kids will love. 

Although you'll need a GPS and possibly a high-clearance 4WD vehicle to visit the remotest ghost towns, many are surprisingly easy to get to (paved roads! signposts!) from national parks that regularly top family summer vacation itineraries, including Yosemite, Zion and the Grand Canyon. Check out my top 5 picks for Old West ghost town hunting over on Lonely Planet. 
What are your favorite Western ghost towns? Tell us by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

Related links:Lonely Planet: Ghost Town Hunting in the American WestHiking Yosemite's Half Dome [Photo Essay]Insta-guide to Rocky Mountain National ParkInsta-guide to Kings Canyon National Park
Photo credits: Grafton, Utah (Michael Connolly Jr.)