Norway is here

In between more current activities, I've been giving a photo tour of our trip to Morocco, Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar on my Instagram, tracked by the not too creative or lyrical #MorSpaPorGib. I'm happy to announce that trip is officially done, so it's time to move on to something new, our February 2016 trip to Norway!

The main driver for this trip was seeing the northern lights, with a side of traditional Sami culture and viking history to boot. Over our 12 day trip we took in Oslo, Tromso, Bergen, Flam, and Trondheim.

We had a fantastic time. Norway has great walkable cities, even in winter. We bundled up as needed, and enjoyed seeing the old stone churches, exploring museums, and even dining outdoors thanks to sheepskin blankets and warmers. And yes, we did see the northern lights.

Follow me @desirafu on Instagram for more, at the no more creative but a little more lyrical #DesiraInNorway

We are about to enter the last portion of our fall 2015 trip, which ends in Gibraltar. so i thought it would be a great time to finally kick off our early 2016 trip to Norway. spoiler; there are northern lights ahead. Here we are flying into Bergen, at the same time a boat was arriving. #norway #travel #wanderlust #wonderlust #wanderwoman #letsgo #adventure #europe #travelgram #womenwhotravel #tourism #ilovetravel #visitnorway #traveltheworld #explore #seetheworld #theworldupclose #neverstopexploring #traveljunkie #wander #NorwayNotEU #snow #aerial #imonaplane #beginings #scandinavia #Bergen #DesiraInNorway

A post shared by Desira Fuqua (@desirafu) on Apr 26, 2017 at 3:40pm PDT

Oh the Places I've Gone

This year, in celebration of the National Parks 100th anniversary, I've been digging through photos from the past decade, and sharing some of my favorite shots of National Parks, and other National Park Services properties that I've visited on  my Instagram. My goal is to share 100 photos, one per day. This week, I will hit the halfway point, and I'm feeling a bit blown away. I didn't realize how many of these places I've been to. I thought I would be revisiting some of my favorites, from which I have lots of photos, and in the end I will, but at the moment, I still have perhaps a dozen sites to go through. Here's hoping I can find pictures for them all.

A few years ago I also did a 100 happy days challenge, where I shared daily pictures of all the random things that made me happy. I mostly tried to stick to the small stuff, and the results were similarly surprising and satisfying. Rather than being a challenge, the more I looked, the more I saw. I had to restrain myself to one thing each day. It's pretty high on the feel good scale just to focus attention on the good, because there can be so much of it. And the more you look for these types of things, the more you see.

So, that's my current warm and fuzzy. So whether you've got a favorite National Park property or this really cool mug that always makes you smile, I invite you to share some of your favorite things in the comments below. Really, it's for your own good.

I miss #Zion. Of all the desert parks spread across Utah and Arizona, this one spoke to me and said stay. The red rock, the tunnel entrance, the riparian habitat, it feels like a secret oasis. Day 43 #100daysfor100years #findyourpark. #usa #traipse #travel. #Wanderlust #photography #photooftheday #america #getoutside #NationalPark #nps #nps100 #adventure #neverstopexploring #glorious #wonderful #outdoors #nature #zionnationalpark #oasis #shangrila #homeofmyheart #nofilter

A photo posted by Desira Fuqua (@desirafu) on Aug 12, 2016 at 5:59am PDT

The Italian Art of Steel and Glass

The 1955 Chrysler Ghia Gilda

There's a new exhibit at the Frist in Nashville: Bellissima! The Italian Automotive Renaissance, 1945–1975. It features a lot of fantastic vehicles, some with notable names like Ducati, Ferrari and Maserati attached, but even people who aren't into automotive pedigrees will love this exhibit. Simply put, these cars are cool. They're colorful; they're weird. From the sleek burnt orange of the bat mobile turned Hot Wheels 1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero, to the curling blue sting ray fins of the 1954 Alfa Romeo BAT 7 the cars are just fascinating to look at. The BATs in particular struck my fancy, concept cars with a zeal for aerodynamics that makes them look like they belong to some still distant future, rather than over 60 years in the past. I can guarantee you will find a car in this exhibit to make you grin. The show runs until October 9, so don't miss out.

P.S. Even fast and fancy Italian sports cars have their push, pull, or drag it in moments. Check out how they got these sleek rides into the exhibit here