Trails and Travel
A relaxed approach to experiencing the world
Trails and Travel is an independent travel publication authored by Sandra Friend and John Keatley. After several decades of research and writing, our approach to travel is now low-key: enjoying the outdoors, savoring authentic experiences, and educating ourselves through visits to historic sites and museums.
Between us, we've written a couple dozen travel and outdoor guides. Now retired from that hectic line of work, we're taking travel at a far more relaxing pace.
Our archives on this site stretch back before we first met in 2011. Sandra started traveling and writing about her experiences for newspapers and magazines in the mid-1990s. Members of the Society of American Travel Writers, we've visited over a dozen countries beyond our own.
Believe it or not, we met while hiking around Lake Okeechobee, the second largest lake within the borders of the United States. Soon after, we took off on the adventure of a lifetime, a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.
We didn't make it all the way but we learned a lot about ourselves and each other. Most importantly, we learned to work as a team. We've been inseparable since.
John's a lifelong cyclist and paddler who spent a full career working on the Space Shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center. He started hiking and backpacking as a Boy Scout. A hiker since she was a toddler, Sandra escaped the rat race of corporate IT to pursue her lifelong love of writing. Her full biography, bibliography, and personal essays can be found on her author website.
Journey On!
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No more worrying whether you missed something because of a pesky algorithm or news feed. We've all learned social media isn't quite so social after all, which is why we'd rather share our travels with you right here.
