For years I’ve thought about visiting the Big E, the largest fair in the East held in each September in West Springfield Mass. On 2014 Connecticut day I woke up and decided to head there.

On this day of leisure, I wanted to let things happen naturally and so I took a wayfaring approach with a few priorities - to be in some of my photos, exhibits and events that focused on animals, agriculture, states exhibits, the parade and musical performances.

I was stunned on how easy it was to strike...

I’ve traveled the world, but never to the Berkshires in Massachusetts and so I let a concert in Tanglewood and the Food and Wine Extravaganza be my reason to spend a weekend away.

How did I pull this off and how did it go? Here’s how I handled the key challenges on this trip and what I learned.

Challenge 1 - Hotels were on the pricey side.
I decided to try Airbnb. I found an affordable room in Pittsfield in the home of two realtors and from the description and photos provided my gut told me...

A few years ago I began a personal journey to understand how to make day trip adventures near home as exciting and as full of self discovery as my global ones.

I did this after realizing that my travel euphoria was not in full gear when I took trips near home.

I made a commitment to develop my art of DayCation and now adventures near home are some of my favorite things.  Some of my trips take considerable planning, but others I decide to let things happen organically.

My recipe for...