Hi, I’m Sam!
If you’ve been clicking around here for a bit, we’ve probably already met.
But if you’re new, welcome to New England Wanderlust.
I’m the writer and creator behind the screen,
and this website came to life purely because of my love for all things travel in New England.
I live in the Northeast, and I’ve been exploring this region for well over 15 years now. In this website, I share all my expert tips, itineraries, and travel guides with you, which I’ve personally created after years of experience to help you plan your perfect New England adventure.
In a short time, New England Wanderlust became a leading online resource for this region,
and has already helped so many people plan unforgettable trips to this magical place.
But don’t just take my word for it!
Here are some wonderful testimonials my lovely readers have sent me
since I’ve started this website:
“Your amazing blog helped me plan our 2 week New England trip last autumn … I’d planned a vague route then found your blog and redesigned our route to spend longer in Cape Cod & Nantucket (an absolute highlight!) and some scenic drives through Vermont. Totally invaluable and so much more helpful than any guidebook I picked up. Thanks so much!”
– Katie P.
“We wanted to let you know how much your blog lifted us up (my wife of 50+ years and I) and inspired us to go ahead and plan for our New England road trip this fall. There were lots of travel advisors and blogs, but yours stood out head and shoulders above all the rest. Your blog injected feeling, a sense of competence and comfort, along with soul. We could feel your passion through your writing. Thank you and keep up your great work.“
– Daniel F.
“I really enjoy New England Wanderlust for the creative ideas it gives me for planning a trip. Last summer I surprised my wife with a Cape Cod weekend that took us from a gorgeous inn in Sandwich, to the Great Island Trail, to an amazing dinner in Falmouth, then off to a picnic beside the Three Sisters Lighthouses the next day, and of course lots of stops and shops in between. So many ideas I would never have come up with, without your site.”
– Joseph R.
“My wife and I have never traveled to New England but wanted to see the fall foliage this year. After reading your blogs, I decided to follow your seven day itinerary with a few detours along the route … So many thanks to you for the many travel tips and guiding us to see the beautiful sights … We still enjoy sharing our trip with friends and family. I would also like to thank you for the ‘fun facts’ that gave us insight to the many points of interest along the way.”
– Steve S.
“We planned a trip to northern NH near Bethlehem and found your website before my trip. It was very helpful and got us to Littleton NH for a day which was such an awesome place! We never would have known about this adorable town. We had been all around NH many times but never up to this area so your write ups were great and fun. Thanks for helping make our trip memorable!”
– Janet N.
“I want to thank you for your help during my Vermont weekend trip in 2023. I went the weekend you advised for fall colors and it was beautiful. I was researching online for months when I came across your website which was the most helpful of all. I did many of the activities you suggested. Thanks again!”
– N. Ortiz
I’m very grateful that New England Wanderlust website is my full-time career, and I put everything I have into providing you with as much information on traveling this region as possible.
Not sure where to start?
Some of my most popular posts like my 7 Day New England Road Trip Itinerary, my PERFECT Fall Road Trip Itinerary, and my Unforgettable Boston to Bar Harbor Road Trip are great places to begin. These are the posts I think help my readers the most when they don’t know where to start.
While you’ll find lots more travel guides and inspiration for this entire region, you’ll see that I have a big focus on coastal destinations, especially Cape Cod and the islands. My favorite thing in the world is to be by the ocean, and if you throw in fresh seafood on a paper plate, an ice cream cone for dessert, and a lighthouse, well then, you’ve just made my day 😉
Some more of my popular coastal posts are:
✓ Visiting Cape Cod For The First Time
✓ Best Towns To Stay In On Cape Cod
✓ Ultimate Nantucket Day Trip Guide
✓ Ultimate Martha’s Vineyard Day Trip Guide
✓ Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard For A Day Trip?
✓ Everything You Need To Know About A Day Trip To Block Island
Ever since my very first visit to Cape Cod when I was a teenager, walking the sand dunes of the National Seashore, exploring the streets of Provincetown with my mom and sister, and being terrified to crack my first lobster claw (I still prefer lobster rolls to this day 😂), I’ve been addicted to this area of the world.
Even in my very earliest memories of visiting New England from New York, I can remember thinking and feeling how special this region truly is, and I try to show that to all my readers, every single day.
So, What’s In It For You At New England Wanderlust?
→ My knowledge and expertise: I’ve been traveling this region for over 15 years (plus my years as a kid!), so I know it well, and I’ve been to a lot of places. I live locally in Upstate New York, so most of my free time and weekends are spent exploring different areas of New England. Showcasing how beautiful it is is honestly one of my biggest passions in life.
→ Updated content. I’m not someone who’s just been to New England once or twice – I’m quite literally visiting places around this region regularly since it’s in my own backyard – and even moreso now that it’s my career. I stay up on the most current travel information, and I’m constantly exploring this region to find the latest information and destinations for you. So, with each trip I take, I go back and update information in posts if needed, and I’m always looking to share the latest tips, suggestions, and places worth your time. I don’t just publish a post and never touch it again.
→ Lots of itineraries. I’ve done quite a few road trips in this area, most of which I’ve done multiple times, and I have so much information to share about what’s worth it, and what’s not – and of course, the best routes to take. If you don’t see a particular itinerary on this site yet, I guarantee you that it’s in the works 😉
→ FREE and exclusive travel resources for you to download as quick, on-the-go references for your trips. I’ve personally created a collection of these, such printable versions of my popular itineraries, day trip guides, and more. And the best part? They’re exclusive and free for my e-mail newsletter subscribers. This is my way of saying a huge thank you for being a part of this community.
→ You won’t find any AI-generated content on my website. Everything is written by me based on my own experience and extensive research. I’m very picky about the content I put out, and have a genuine passion for keeping it authentic and valuable. I only write about destinations I’ve personally visited.
→ Photos that accurately represent the destinations I write about. A second passion of mine is photography, and while I’m not a professional, I love to snap as many photos as possible during my travels that really evoke the feeling of New England – because it truly is a feeling! While I don’t have photos of every place I’ve visited just yet (because who knew years ago that this would be my career?!), I’ve been working hard to build my image library to bring you fresh, new, and inspiring photos that accurately showcase the destinations I write about.
My Background – In Case You’re Curious 😊
I was born and raised in Upstate New York, went to college for Journalism in the Hudson Valley, lived in Chicago for five years before finally moving back to New York because my husband and I came to realize it would forever be home. And while I know that New York isn’t part of New England, I love where I live so much, and wanted to share all my favorite things to do here, too.
New York and New England, to me, have always evoked the ultimate sense of cozy, while being perfectly nestled into nature, and I can never get enough of it. I love that we have dramatic coastline and some of the most beautiful sandy beaches in the country, the most stunning fall foliage, no shortage of quaint little towns, rich history, so many parks, hiking trails, and vibrant and unique cities that just can’t be replicated. I love every bit of it.
Even as a kid, I always got so excited to get the L.L. Bean catalogs in the mail, and would spend a lot of time day dreaming about what it must be like to live in Maine, wear cozy fisherman knit sweaters, and spend my days exploring the small towns along the coast. Of course, I always pretended to like all the trendy things kids were supposed to be into at that age 😂. But for me, this feeling has always been a part of my soul. As an adult, I’m so glad I’ve embraced it, and turned it into something I’m proud of – this website.
In 2012, When my husband and I decided to make ourselves permanent Northeasters after our time in Chicago, we landed in the Albany area of Upstate NY because it’s the perfect gateway to all of New England, as well as the rest of the Empire State.
Now, we’re only a short drive away from all of the beautiful New England destinations, and we love exploring everything NYS has to offer, too – which is so much more than the city.
Since moving back to NY years ago, we wasted no time, and immediately started to explore as many places around New England as we could. We began taking road trips, fall foliage getaways, went on camping trips to Acadia National Park, visited Cape Cod more times than I can remember, found all the tiny little towns along the coast by taking detours and the scenic routes, explored rural places like New Hampshire and Vermont, and loved having city escapes in places like Boston and Portland. I’ve learned so much about traveling this area in the last 15 years – you gain a lot of expertise and insider knowledge when you spend all your free time exploring a region 😉
I began to document our trips as a hobby, to share photos with friends and family, and even shared a bit on social media. But over the years, I’d accumulated so many photos, and so much information about the area, I knew I wanted to find a better way to share it all with anyone who may be looking for it. That’s when New England Wanderlust began.
Let’s Get To Know Each Other A Bit More.
Here Are A Few More Things About Me – Do You Relate?
– I’m a hardcore introvert, and don’t like leaving my house much when I’m not traveling or hiking. Travel is really my biggest motivation for getting me to leave the house. That, and food 😉
– We have two dogs that we love. Our older pup is a maltipoo mix that we adopted while living in Chicago, and we named her Betty after the legendary Betty White. Emma is our goofy, fun-loving little Corgi. Betty doesn’t like to travel as much in her older age, but we try to take Emma with us whenever we can.
– The very first getaway my husband and I ever took together when we were young and had no money was a weekend in Vermont. We scoured websites to find an amazing deal at an inn, and it felt like such a dream when we arrived. Even though I already loved New England from my visits as a teenager, I fell in love with it all over again as an adult on this trip back in 2006 or so.
– My husband and I got married in Saratoga Springs, NY, and honeymooned in Vermont. We were living in Chicago at the time and had really started to miss New England. We wanted a true escape from city life, and we were so excited to go hiking and spend tons of time outdoors once we got to Vermont – and it rained about 90% of the entire time! Thankfully, we really needed a week of rest after our wedding, so it all worked out, but we still laugh about it to this day.
– I’ve run into a few of my readers while on trips! Not just in New England, but around the world, too!
– In 2015, we bought our first house, which is a fixer upper farmhouse from the Civil War era out in the countryside of Upstate NY. We’ve been slowly renovating it ourselves over time, and are still working on it. We also have 25 acres, a Christmas tree farm, and are working hard to get gardens established to really create a beautiful homestead.
– A few of my favorite TV shows are Frasier, Bewitched, Parks and Rec and The Wonder Years.
– It’s incredibly hard to pick a favorite destination in New England because I love each one I’ve visited for different reasons, but if I had to pick, it would be Nantucket. Cape Cod is a very, very close second. And it’s hard to beat Vermont in the fall.
– I love all the seasons – even winter. In fact, the older I get, the more I love winter. I can’t imagine living somewhere that didn’t experience all four seasons. I find that seasonal transitions always give me something to look forward to, and I still get excited for each and every one of them, every single year.
– If given the choice, I will always pick countryside destinations over cities. Even better if it’s coastal countryside.
– My husband and I travel each year for our wedding anniversary instead of exchanging gifts, and in 2021, we crossed our biggest bucket list trip off our list – we spent two and a half weeks in Italy, and it was as dreamy and perfect as we’d hoped. Our next few bucket list destinations to travel to together are Japan, London/English countryside, a coastal California road trip, France, and Australia. Since Italy, we also crossed a Pacific Northwest trip and a Greek Island adventure off our list.
– I also do a bit of solo traveling since my schedule allows a lot more flexibility, and well … my career encourages it 😂 I’ve gone to Asia for three weeks by myself, Portugal, Vancouver, California, and have taken tons of solo New England adventures. In 2024, I took an epic a solo road trip up the coast of New England and over to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island in Canada, and it was so wonderful.
– As much as I love to explore the world, I always want to come back to my home in the Northeast, and feel grounded by traveling in New England.