7 Comments
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Rhonda Rizzo's avatar

What a beautiful collection of memories you and your Mom gave yourselves and each other.

Dakota Gale's avatar

Truly a special time together! One of those trips that I'll always treasure.

Brent Hartinger's avatar

we just love love LOVE that area. Even now, very underrated.

Dakota Gale's avatar

Totally agree! It has the same kind of stunning history as the rest of Italy with it's own twist. And even in May, the perfect time to visit, it was sooo quiet compared to, say, Rome or N. Italy. Maybe I shouldn't be writing all this...

Brent Hartinger's avatar

We have that discussion ALL THE TIME. And honestly, I'm not sure either. We first visited Matera in 2018, and it's soooo different now (James Bond in the Sassi didn't help!). On one hand, I want to share. On the other hand, I DON'T WANT PLACES TO EVER CHANGE. LOL

Dakota Gale's avatar

I'm with you on that. Most places want the money that comes from tourism and will benefit from it. And with blogging, I don't think it negatively impacts a location the way social media influencers can with the virality of a Tik Tok post (e.g. the Dubai craze over pistachio chocolate).

Same in Banff. The trails have mostly been quiet except for places that are like OMG AHHHHH GET ME OUTTA HERE busy with people. If people just spread out more, things would be better. A boy can dream!

Brent Hartinger's avatar

I like to say where we are (a secret place on the beach near Port Townsend!) is Rivendell: quiet, lovely peaceful, deserted. Unfortunately, almost the entire rest of the state is Mordor! lol