The Grateful Traveler ❤️
November has a way of slowing us down. The air shifts. The days shorten. The world feels quieter, softer, more reflective. And for those of us who wander — whether by plane, train, automobile, or even impulse — it’s the perfect season to pause and look back at what the road has given us.
Travel isn’t just motion; it’s meaning. It changes the way we see ourselves, our country, and the people who share it with us. Gratitude is a holiday we should celebrate daily.
This month, I’m celebrating the places in the United States that remind us what it means to be grateful travelers — landscapes that recharge us, cities that welcome us, and hidden gems that hold quiet wonder.
Here are a few stops across America where gratitude feels especially at home to me. I hope you find stops that do the same for you!
Rolling Fog Encapsulates the Town in Minutes
Bar Harbor, Maine —
Gratitude for Stillness
There’s something about watching the fog roll off the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. It creeps in like a whisper, wrapping the town in a soft, silvery hug. I’ve truly never seen anything like it. I tried to capture it on video, but it comes so slowly and cautiously, its on you before even the camera can capture its elusive movement. Here, you’re reminded that nature doesn’t perform for applause — it simply exists, and invites you to slow down long enough to notice.
Gratitude lives in the hush of Acadia’s morning tides and the crunch of pine needles underfoot. It’s a place that teaches you to breathe deeper, look closer, and appreciate smaller moments.
Memorial Forest Walk, Anakeesta
The Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee & North Carolina — Gratitude for Renewal
The Smokies are a lesson in resilience. Millions of trees shed, grow, burn, and bloom through the centuries, and the mountains stand unchanged in their welcome. You can learn more about this process of renewal through destruction, specifically the 2016 Wildfires in Gatlinburg, on The Memorial Forest Walk at Anakeesta. The deep golds and fiery reds of November paint this story of cycles — endings that lead to beginnings.
Whether you’re walking beneath a canopy of autumn color or standing on an overlook watching the clouds drift low, it’s impossible not to feel thankful for the way nature reminds us to let go and start fresh.
New Orleans, Louisiana — Gratitude for History
Medal of Honor Wall at Mother’s. Home of the Po’ Boy and spiciest Bloody Mary I’ve ever had.
No city in America celebrates life, and death, the way New Orleans does.
The music, the people, the food, the architecture, the Second Lines — are all unmistakably New Orleans. It's an amalgamation of the cultures, creatures, and climate that shape the area from prehistoric times to the present. The sense of history in this place pulses with joy, pain, easy days and the struggles to make it. Gratitude for both sides of the coin is a way of life in The Big Easy.
Eat a beignet, listen to a jazz trio on Royal Street, catch the shimmer of the Mississippi at sunset. Let the city show you how good it feels to be fully alive and appreciate those that came before, to make it what it currently is.
Jackson, Wyoming — Gratitude for Perspective
Jackson has a way of reminding you what wild and wonderous really means. Tucked between the Tetons and wide-open Wyoming sky, it’s a place where gratitude hits you the moment you step outside. The air feels different here — crisp, clean, almost electric — as if the mountains themselves are exhaling. In November, the crowds thin, the snow starts to whisper across the peaks, and the elk return to the refuge in great, sweeping herds.
Stand in Town Square beneath the iconic antler arches or drive toward the craggy Teton peaks as the sun rises, and you’ll feel it: a deep, grounding sense of thankfulness for landscapes that make you stop, look up, and remember how extraordinary the natural world can be. These mountains will make you feel small, in the best possible way — a reminder that the world is far larger than our worries.
The cloud line really is that low in comparison to the height of the Teton peaks.
The Great State of Florida — Gratitude for Change
The Singing Tower at Bok Tower and Gardens, Lake Wales
Florida is a reminder that gratitude often arrives in unexpected forms. This long, kaleidoscopic state shifts in personality from corner to cay, impossible to define because it’s always in motion — people, cultures, and landscapes flowing in and out of its boundaries like the tides themselves. Beyond the postcard beaches and theme-park thrills most people imagine, Florida reveals oak-draped backroads, Art Deco elegance, tropical stillness, and nightlife that hums with creative energy. Gratitude here isn’t static; it adapts, expanding or softening to meet each traveler exactly where they are.
What It Means to Be a Grateful Traveler
Being a grateful traveler isn’t just about saying “thank you” for the places you go — it’s about letting them change you. It’s choosing presence over pace. Curiosity over convenience. Connection over consumption.
It’s understanding that no journey is guaranteed, and every mile is a gift.
This November, I hope you find a moment of gratitude — whether you’re road-tripping, flight-hopping, or reminiscing to, from, or at home.
And when you’re ready for your next adventure, remember: this country is a gift, waiting for you to open.
~ Safe travels
