This month, every morning when I wake to the pounding, clattering, and growling of machinery and men building the new house two doors down, I’ll stare at my spinning ceiling fan and ask myself, “What is my community?” July 1st, was the first day of my writing residency for the Biennial of the Americas, with PlatteForum and the Lighthouse Writers Workshop. My project is called “Homes Within, Communities Without.” I’m creating two digital video stories: one in which I explore how I experience community, and another in which a young, recently homeless woman explores how she experiences community.

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Instead of only reading about travel and adventure, how would you like to also see videos that show you fun, beautiful, unusual, relaxing, exciting places to go? I thought so. I have a new camcorder, so every now and then I’ll offer you a more active peek at my adventures. This week, my husband, Dale, and I went for a simple hike at Betasso Preserve, just outside Boulder, Colorado. The 3-minute video below will give you the highlights of the 3.2-mile Canyon Loop Trail. I always take progressively more challenging and spectacular hikes as summer progresses, so keep coming back! This is going to be fun…

HIKING BETASSO PRESERVE from Cara Lopez Lee on Vimeo.

It’s a New Year, time for your next 365-day trip around the sun, and your new opportunity to resolve on the life of adventure you’ve always wanted. Let my trek through China’s Tiger Leaping Gorge inspire you, as you consider where you might want to go, or what you might want to read, in 2010. Come with me, as we conclude our journey to The Far Reaches of Normal.

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While everyone else is napping, watching TV, or washing dishes this holiday weekend, let’s you and I sneak away, and continue Part 2 of our trek through China’s Tiger Leaping Gorge…

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We couldn’t come to Peru and skip Machu Picchu, but we’re skipping the crowded Inca Trail. We’ve found an alternate route boasting fewer trekkers, more Quechua culture, and unencumbered vistas of peaks, glaciers, and rivers: the Lares Valley Trek.

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Here’s a moody moment from my trek around the world that didn’t make it into my memoir, “They Only Eat Their Husbands.” It’s a reminder that solo travel is sometimes romantic, often lonely, but always stirring. This one takes place in America. It is a story of sand and solitude, though it didn’t start out that way.

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At this twilight hour, I don’t expect an hour of stop-and-go traffic to block my escape from the city. When did everyone decide to head to work at 6:45 a.m.? By the time I hit the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway, I’m running late for my climactic hike of the season. But morning light turns the yellow leaves of the roadside Aspens into a billion whispering promises: “Pull over for the gold rush.”

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As Dale’s ancient Acura threads the rock-bulging, water-split canyon of Highway 7, Longs Peak and Mount Meeker command our attention. Together, they’re a two-headed, snow-wrinkled king who dwarfs his surrounding Rocky Mountain courtiers. Longs (14,255 feet) is the most climbed, and most deadly, 14er in Colorado. Beginning hikers are often unprepared for the long slog and steep spots, while expert climbers sometimes make lethal missteps – falling, getting caught in snowstorms, being struck by lightning. But we’re not hiking Longs Peak.

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Tags: by Cara Lopez Lee
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