HoneyTrek
The World's Longest Honeymoon
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Mike and Anne Howard left on their honeymoon in January 2012 and have been exploring the globe ever since. They realized life is short, the world is big, and the value of travel too great to wait until retirement, so to kick off their marriage they decided to take a trip around the world…on what has become “The World’s Longest Honeymoon.” Using Anne’s background as a national magazine editor and Mike’s as a digital marketing executive and photographer, they created HoneyTrek.com to chronicle their journey to over 50 countries and show more people how to mobilize their travel dreams. Having reviewed over 150 luxury hotels and excursions across seven continents, they know the five-star side of travel, though they also understand how to get to the heart of local culture. Having taught English in tribal Vietnam, housesat in Costa Rica, and ridden local mini-buses across East Africa, they know variety is the spice of life and travel. Their unique journey, savvy tips, and engaging blog have been acclaimed by Washington Post, Condé Nast Traveler, Los Angeles Times, Lonely Planet, CBS and more, including Microsoft Windows’ TV ad campaign. Firm believers that love and travel make the world a better place, they continue to spread this message and their know-how as Smithsonian speakers and National Geographic authors of Ultimate Journeys for Two.
To research our new book, Comfortably Wild, we spent three years, traveling 73,000 miles across 9 countries in search of the best glamping destinations in North America. Many city folk like the idea of a nature getaway, but may feel a little better knowing that top-notch restaurants, art galleries, and Pilates studios are nearby (you know, in case of emergency). Take one of the complimentary John Deere bicycles for a ride among 5,000 peach trees, and join the farm happenings—including gardening, a cooking class, or one of their multiday festivals with live music, vintage amusement rides, and crafts. For the full features on these affordable glamping getaways and more of our favorite camps around North America, check out our book Comfortably Wild: The Best Glamping Destinations in North America
Like when Europe’s border closures trapped us in Poland for seven weeks and we turned that travel disaster into an epic backwoods camper trip. We sparked up Plan B and an adventure we’d long been dreaming about…a camper trip around Eastern Europe (where very few cases existed at the time). For our grand finale, we went big and partnered with Travel Wisconsin for a multi-week road trip—in peak fall foliage, no less! This December we loaded into her Subaru (a car that hadn’t left Los Angeles County in the last year) for a 2,419-mile road trip to the five remaining national parks, plus Escalante National Monument, Monument Valley Tribal Park, and Goosenecks State Park.
For our 50th-state celebration, we went big and partnered with Travel Wisconsin for a 1,300-mile, two-week road trip around the state—in peak fall foliage, no less! This was a grand clockwise loop around the state, working our way up the Great River Road to Wisconsin’s slice of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands, carrying on through the cranberry bogs of Eagle River to the billion-year-old Rib Mountain. Wisconsin’s first state park and the western end of WI’s very own National Scenic Trail. Devil’s Lake State Park has 30 miles of trails, with the East Bluff offering the best quartzite formations like Balanced Rock and Devil’s Doorway.
Driving over the five-mile Mackinac (pronounced Mack-in-awe) Bridge that connects Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsula, with Lake Michigan and Huron colliding below, set the stage for the dramatic UP. So after a great day on the Superior side of Muskallonge Lake State Park snorkeling for colorful rocks and sunken treasure (we think we found decorative hardware from a 19th-century shipwreck!) The 200-foot sandstone cliffs that drop into Lake Superior, with splashes of colored minerals, was on the level of Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand and Ireland’s Cliffs of Moher. We boondocked at the trailhead, had breakfast at the historic Eagle Harbor, then worked our way up the backside of Brockway Mountain for the eight-mile scenic drive and panoramic views to Lake Superior and the rolling hardwood forest (said to be unreal for fall foliage.)