Lesser-known ancient sites, Hipcamp’s for dog-owners, and Greg is famous in Michigan! (Saturday Selection)

Familiarize yourself with some of the lesser-known ancient sites of the world, consider adding Hipcamp’s to your tool belt if you’re a dog-owner, and let’s toast to Greg becoming famous in Michigan!

14 Lesser-Known Ancient Sites Worth Building a Trip Around

Atlas Obscura has a list of lesser-known (ie less crowded!) ancient sites worth seeing, and it made me think of some of the ancient sites we’ve seen, some of which we didn’t really know existed until we got there. These are also worth seeing, in my opinion.

1. Plovdiv, Bulgaria
   Plovdiv is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world (and the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe) with a history that goes back some 8,000 years. There are plenty of low-fuss historical sites scattered everywhere – so many in fact that we practically stumbled upon the ancient theater just in time for a traditional dance show.
2. Butrint, Albania
   The Butrint National Archeological Park is on my list because not only does it have the qualities of a beautiful park, it’s also scattered with ancient ruins that span many era. The earliest occupation is estimated around the 8th century BC, but this site has seen every cultural shift in the Mediterranean since then. Not to mention, I absolutely love Albania as a travel destination. I’ll sing the Albania praises as often as possible.
3. The Ellora Caves, Aurangabad, India
   The Ellora Caves is essentially a huge temple carved into the rock, reminiscent of the way-more-popular Petra site in Jordan. Not as old as the other sites above, it dates back to about 600 AD, but is plenty impressive just for the sheer expanse. Reserve plenty of time for this one!

Hipcamp’s “The Ruffwear Off-leash Collection”

Last weekend I had a little mini adventure (quite unlike many other adventures you’ll read about on this blog) biking and camping with my dog Maxwell and his brand new baby brother Wild Moses. Being one of the most popular camping weekends of the year, none of the state park affiliated campgrounds had availability, but luckily I was able to find something via Hipcamp. If unfamiliar, Hipcamp is a peer to peer campground platform much like Airbnb. Like Airbnb, you’ll find some standard, established campgrounds on the platform, but you’ll also find a lot of sites, cabins, campers, glamp-sites, etc that ordinary folks have set up on their own private property. The downside is, you have to do your homework, reading the full description to ensure you’re comfortable with the privacy, facilities, etc (just like with Airbnb). But the plus side for dog owners is, plenty of these spots are low-capacity or even single-capacity spots which allow you to let your dog off-leash. In fact, Hipcamp now includes an off-leash filter on their platform called “The ruffwear off-leash collection” so you can easily filter by off-leash properties.

Personally, I’m going to keep this platform in mind for other occasions too. For instance when roadtripping in popular National Park areas, sometimes even the most basic campgrounds can be very competitive, and points options tend to be more sparse (or non-existent). Plus, you could end up with something super unique, like this Conestoga Wagon near Mesa Verde National Park, or these airstream campers with little cowboy pools in Joshua Tree. Fair warning though – this is best for anyone who’s comfortable roughing it. The campground we stayed at for example felt exactly like a normal, more established campground in every way except it didn’t have a bath house or running water. (Porta-potties only.) (You didn’t think you’d be reading about accommodations with porta-potties on Frequent Miler today, did you?)

Community Highlights: Meet Greg Davis-Kean of Frequent Miler

My nieces and nephews saw me editing the podcast one week and asked “do you work for famous people?” At least in Michigan, I can assuredly say “yes I do” because our very own Greg Davis-Kean was interviewed for Voyage Michigan. This article is a fun read for anyone who doesn’t know about Greg’s origin-story in this points and miles hobby. (You can also listen to the Coffee Break episode where he discussed his origin story here.) I bet a lot of folks will be able to relate to his story, in fact.

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