Results for "nomad"

Rene at Mount Rainier

Six Months a Nomad in the USA

I’m from the Midwest, or I was until I became a nomad. I’ve been traveling solo, living out of rented places and camping in my van on weekends. They used to say I was crazy; now they say I’m “living the dream.” Neither is wrong, but it took a lifetime to get here. When I was 17, I had a brief fantasy that I would get in my blue 1987 Camaro and head west without stopping until I felt like...

woman painting at an easel in a field

Explore Weir Farm: A National Park for Art

You’ve probably heard of Yellowstone and Yosemite, but did you know Weir Farm is a national park for art? Most people are familiar with the popular scenic parks, but the National Park Service manages more than 400 sites dedicated to history, people, and events. Weir National Park in Connecticut is the only national park for art dedicated to American Impressionism. It was once the home of American Impressionist J. Alden Weir. I visited the park during my two-year road trip...

The author wear a black ball cap and a purple tank top with short black shorts. She sits on a lava rock in front of a blue ocean.

6 Things Nobody Tells Solo Female Travelers

I never thought I’d count myself among solo female travelers, but there were places I wanted to go and often nobody to go with. Relationships come and go; friends have other responsibilities, lack funding, or aren’t interested in the same places. I could wait indefinitely and hope for the right circumstances to appear or find my courage and go alone. I chose the latter and it’s a decision I’ve come to love.  If I hadn’t found the courage to travel...

Solo Female Travel

  • February 4, 2024
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Hi, I’m Rene Cizio I’m a solo traveler, nomad and writer. I share travel stories, tips, and ideas that I hope will give you the inspiration to set you off on an adventure-filled story of your own. You’ll often find me participating in unique experiences and sharing thoughts on the curiosities I find along the way. The places that attract me include art, history, hiking, architecture and national parks. If you like those things too, chances are you’ll find places...

low rock wall surrounded by trees with grave markets in the background

Discovering the Secret Cemeteries in Shenandoah National Park

After three weeks of searching for cemeteries in Shenandoah National Park, I was still stunned by how much the trails could change in mere days. When I first arrived, most of the trees and bushes were nearly bare, and it was easy to find old ruins and gravestones. Now, the foliage is denser, and the forest is overtaking everything. As I hiked alongside the babbling brook in the dying light of day, parts of the path were thick with tall...

A white marble bust of Poe
landscape view down a long cell block filled with light and doors

Is it Haunted? Let’s Go Inside Eastern State Penitentiary

Some say Eastern State Penitentiary is haunted. I don’t know if that’s true but it is haunting. Strong energy lingers and clings, calling for notice as you walk past empty, ruined cells. Block after block; these small, featureless rooms now hold only impressions of those who once dwelled there, locked in perpetual isolation. There’s a heaviness in those cell blocks; though hundreds walk through them daily, an eerie silence permeates everything. Like the people who used to be locked inside,...

A wood sign with green lettering at entrance to Devil Den

Hiking Devil’s Den Preserve in Connecticut

The Devil’s Den Preserve in Connecticut is over 1,700 acres of pristine forested New England land perfect for hiking and spending time in nature. I visited the preserve during my two-year road trip as a nomad, traveling in my van, hiking, seeing historic areas, and staying in short-term rentals, and I returned several times. Also known as the Lucius Pond Ordway, the Devil’s Den Preserve is the largest protected woodland preserve in Fairfield County and one of the biggest just...

A replica model of the Titanic in a glass box.

Visit a Rare Titanic Museum and Cemetery

The Titanic museum in Halifax is home to one of the world’s most grim and riveting stories. You’ll be surprised that you don’t know the half of it. There’s much more than James Cameron depicted in “Titanic,” including a cemetery with over 150 graves of Titanic’s victims. The Titanic exhibit is part of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I stopped by while on a nearly two-year-long solo road trip around the United States, Mexico...

house porch the brick looks orange and shaped like octagon, looking north

Inside the Famous Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut

The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut, is a strange and unique place, reflective of one of America’s most beloved and extraordinary people. Samuel L. Clemens, aka Mark Twain, was born in 1835 in Hannibal, Missouri when Halley’s Comet soared by overhead. Twain, though nearly as well traveled as the comet, spent much of his life in Hartford where his cherished Gothic Victorian house is open for tours. If you’re a fan of ornate Gothic architecture or American writing, visiting...