2TravelDads Podcast

Acadia National Park in Maine is extremely busy in the summer, but there are some beautiful overlooked parts of the park. Also, did you know that despite the potentially extreme winter conditions that sometimes roll through, Acadia NP is beautiful and OPEN in the winter? On this podcast episode we have expert and three-time Acadia Artist in Residence, Colleen Miniuk, sharing about the less visited parts of the park.

What makes this conversation even more interesting is that being an Artist in Residence thrice over, Colleen has experieces across the seasons and insights into what this particular National Parks program means for visitors. Give a listen as we chat about Acadia National Park, photography in Maine and more. I think it's fascinating to hear from somebody with a completely different sort of experience in a place I love; it broadens my perspective.

If you want to learn more about Acadia National Park or Maine in general, we have several great articles to help plan a visit to this beautiful destination:

Enjoy listening to this episode and more. And if you would like to leave questions for us for FUTURE podcast episodes, please complete our form on our website, 2TravelDads.com.

We are not cruise people, but we love to see the world from the water. We recently completed an UnCruise Adventure sailing on a small ship, the Safari Explorer and we have A LOT to say about it. Give a listen an see just what an UnCruise is and how this varies from an actual cruise. From ship size (you'll be shocked) and crew to passenger ratio (you'll be more shocked!), to the custom daily adventures, we dig into it all.

Have you ever wanted to sail to small inlets or the backside of remote islands WITHOUT lots of people? Ever thought you'd enjoy spending a week at sea learning about nature and culture while getting to know a new group of like-minded people? Excellent, then this episode is for you! UnCruise Adventures is very unique.

Read all the details about UnCruise here! - What you'll find:

What is UnCruise?

Why choose an UnCruise vs land adventures?

Why spend $6k per person on UnCruise?

What’s different about UnCruise vs mega cruise?

Our first expedition sailing was island hopping in Hawaii, but we have an Alaskan small ship sailing coming up later this year. If you have any questions about this experience or need UnCruise route/ship recommendations, let us know!

One of my favorite parts of being a blogger is getting to go out into the world and explore, capturing beautiful photographs as I go. The bulk of my job though comes in the writing and web publishing side of things. I love getting to speak with other creative professionals about what they do and why, so getting to sit down with a professional landscape photographer was eye-opening for me.

Colleen Miniuk is an award winning professional landscape photographer and author, but that wasn't always her career. Her primary job is being my friend. Kidding, but she is a marvelous person in addition to her photography skills. Digging into why Colleen transitioned from software engineering to landscape photography is a fascinating story, and hearing how her approach to capturing meaningful images has changed over time is even more interesting.

Give a listen to this podcast episode and hear from Colleen Miniuk about what it means to her to be a professional landscape photographer and why she does the work she does. If you have any questions for either myself (Rob of 2TravelDads.com) or Colleen, please reach out. Both of us are happy to share more about what we do and why we do it!

Colleen can be reached through her primary website, ColleenMiniuk.com and her advice column. For information on her publishing company, books or in-person photography workshops:

Feeling inspired after listening to Colleen talk about professional landscape photography around the USA? Check out these favorite destinations for epic landscapes and amazing imagery to inspire:

Arizona Road Trip | Acadia National Park | West Coast National Parks | The Everglades

Ireland is a popular destination for Americans to visit when they're tracing their roots, but it's also just a fun and beautiful place to visit with kids! As we dig into what makes Ireland a great place to plan a European adventure with family, you'll see that in general many of the day to day experiences in Ireland are family friendly and great to incorporate children into.

Visiting Ireland with kids doesn't have to be a stressful trip, so listen to these great tips and itinerary ideas to put together your own Irish adventure. Give a listen to the podcast episode (just below) as Keryn, our friend who runs Twist Travel Magazine, shares her favorite places to visit in Ireland with kids as well as her own cultural experiences that keep her and her family returning.

As you listen to this episode, you'll notice that Ireland with kids isn't a complex trip to plan or execute. Being a country that's quite mellow and community oriented, you'll see that many of the things that make Ireland interesting and fun are not restricted by age or interest. You can make a trip to Ireland with kids as simple and chill as you like.

In this episode:

For more travel tips for exploring the UK and Ireland, more of Europe and all around the USA and Canada, check out 2TravelDads.com!

I go to New York City every year and usually visit alone, but I'm NEVER doing that again. Doing NYC with a pre-teen is actually one of the most fun travel experiences I've had. We both really enjoyed our time together and enjoyed the city. For me, this was a brand new take on a place that I typically do not enjoy visiting. New York City with a pre-teen is fun, interesting and it's a fresh view of one of the most famous tourist cities in the world.

Below you'll find our podcast episode where Oliver (our oldest) and I chat about all the things we did, what he enjoyed most, how we got in and out of NYC and more. Getting to spend time together, just the two of us, was special, and he offered me a fun and different New York experience. Have you been to New York City with a pre-teen before? Are you going? Check out our tips and suggested itinerary for 4 days in NYC with older kids (and no, we didn't do Lower Manhattan or the Statue of Liberty on this trip).

As you're reading and listening, if you have any questions, either about our specific trip or planning your own, please leave a comment or send us a note. We're always happy to share more and help others plan awesome travel!

In this episode:

Creating a memoir is a complex task, and writing a book in general isn't for everyone. Angie Orth shares the struggles and successes of writing her own novel-style memoir and working with a major publishing house to do it. She shares the truth of it and advice for others to be successful in their own writing ventures.

Writing a book is a major undertaking (I've done it twice and have more in the works) and it's also a life dream for many. Angie Orth, our good friend and fellow traveler has completed her first major published work: Flirting with Disaster - True Travel Tales of Fear, Failure and Faith. From the creative process to finding a publisher, Angie shares her journey of sharing her first memoir.

Get Flirting with Disaster here!

So what does it take to go from having a life story to having a published hard-back book on the shelves? The path is different for every author, and indeed for every book. In this podcast episode, Angie and I discuss her road blocks in the creative process and why she used a literary agent. We dig into getting over one's own ego in writing and allowing yourself to be vulnerable, to crafting a narrative that other's can follow to conquering writing style. Flirting with Disaster is sure to speak to so many readers.

Angie has also been on 2TravelDads Podcast discussing the Bahamas. As a travel professional who's been in the business for years, she has stories of all sorts... and that makes for great books!

When I was first asked to visit Pensacola, Florida I didn't know what to expect. Being very close to the FL/AL border and very near some towns that aren't known for being very welcoming/inclusive to LGBTQ people, I wasn't sure what to expect. It turns out that Pensacola is a surprisingly welcoming, open and supportive city, and that's what we're talking about in this episode and why it's a special Florida destination.

Complete show notes here!

As a destination Pensacola, Florida is one of the few cities in the South that intentionally makes space for diversity and inclusion, both in terms of community support and tourism. Talking with our guest, Sid Williams-Heath, representing the Pensacola Little Theater and the STAMPED LGBTQ Film Festival (president), he shares insights into what the city and private citizens of Pensacola have done to turn their town into a place where everyone can feel welcome, to live or vacation.

Highlights we chat about for visiting Pensacola include:

--beach vacation ideas

--festivals in Pensacola

--the Blue Angels

--enjoying historic downtown Pensacola

Beyond this, there is much more about Pensacola and exploring western Florida on the blog. Check out Fun Pensacola Things to Do, Penasacola Beach Vacation Ideas, and Perdido Key and West Pensacola.

International family travel is quite different than traveling solo as an adult. See what you can do to make planning and executing an international trip with kids easier and something everyone will remember for all the right reasons. (podcast episode focusing on UK travel)

Not everyone grows up traveling the world. I certainly didn't, and I think it's safe to say that most of us living in the USA didn't get to venture from North America until we became adults. That's rapidly changing with our generation (gens X and Y) and we're making sure our kids have a viewpoint beyond America.

In this podcast episode we've got our friend Kate back with us. She's been a guest before, including talking about travel anxiety and how to manage that. This time we're chatting about how her family's first international trip together went. After spending two weeks in England, Scotland and a quick stop in Amsterdam, it's already clear that having an adventure across the pond has made an impression on the whole family and has changed the course of their future travels. 

The Bahamas are so close to Florida that they are many people's first taste of international travel. It's an easy destination to visit, short travel time, and it's a beautiful paradise... but most people's first visit is via a cruise ship. That doesn't have to be the case!

With more than 700 islands, on this podcast episode we dig into why the Bahamas are MORE than a cruise port with Angie Orth, travel writer and former PR rep for the destination.

Being a native Floridian, Angie has been visiting the Bahamas since she was little. She's vacationed, worked, cruised and even got married in the Bahamas, so clearly she's an expert. Give a listen as we chat about how to get to the Bahamas, which islands are best for first timers, where to plan a trip for a quiet getaway and how YOU can swim with the famous pigs of the Exumas.

Arizona is awesome for a road trip. You might not immediately think of exploring the desert as an epic destination, but if you can visit in the winter, you'll fall in love. We completed a very comprehensive road trip from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon, back through several National Monuments and Sedona, the down to Tucson and Saguaro National Park. From where to watch sunrise in Grand Canyon National Park to cactus safety in the desert, we're talking about all of it.

In this episode we talk about the value of having a solid itinerary and how to really experience Arizona for more than the Grand Canyon... but the Grand Canyon really is spectacular. Check out our full Arizona road trip plan and tips on the blog!