Mark Aspelin is The New Mexico Travel Guy (www.newmexicotravelguy.com), a freelance travel writer and author who shares travel advice, events, photos, and stories about the amazing people he meets during his quest to visit EVERY town in his home state of New Mexico – the Land of Enchantment.
He’s the author of over 50 blog posts and articles and two highly rated books: “Profitable Conservation: Business Strategies That Boost Your Bottom Line, Protect Wildlife, and Conserve Biodiversity” and “How to Fail at Life: Lessons for the Next Generation”. He has a B.S. in Biology from the University of Notre Dame, M.S. in Biology from Creighton University, and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mark has worked with a wide variety of organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, The Coca-Cola Company, Intel Corporation, Molina Healthcare, United HealthGroup, and The International Crane Foundation, and he is a volunteer Docent at the ABQ BioPark. His articles and interviews have been featured by GreenBiz, Inside EPA, Perceptive Travel, and the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation’s Half-Earth Project. Mark is also an avid traveler who has visited over 100 countries and all 50 U.S. States and he lives in the mountains outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The experience most people have when visiting Carrizozo, New Mexico is slowing down to stop at a four-way stop sign at the intersections of Highway 54 and Highway 380, possibly filling up their gas tank at the gas station, and continuing on to their final destination. Carrizozo is generally considered to be a pit stop, not a destination. A local resident described...
Faywood is one of the many towns in New Mexico that most people have never heard of. After all, this town of 20 – 40 people isn’t exactly a booming metropolis. But if you mention “City of Rocks State Park”, you may get a few affirmative head nods, particularly from people who like camping. Many people consider City of Rocks to be one of the...
At first glance, you’d think New Mexico and Japan have very little in common, other than some good Japanese restaurants. Heck, even that may come as a surprise. Sushi in New Mexico? Yes, despite being landlocked in a high desert, we have some good sushi restaurants. You may also be surprised to learn that one of Albuquerque’s sister cities is Sasebo...
Free outdoor concerts and films each summer in Santa Fe from June through August
After a full-day of adventures in Iquitos (Peru), my son and I woke up the next morning with the realization that the most adventurous part of our trip was just beginning. We were about to face four days and three nights in the Peruvian Amazon jungle, with the goal of seeing lots of birds (my goal) and snakes (my son’s goal … unfortunately). We’d...
Iquitos, Peru was definitely a major change of scene compared to the relatively clean, laid-back streets of Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz in the Galapagos. What follows are some of the memorable experiences that my son and I had in Iquitos, in case you’re planning to visit this gateway to the Amazon. Table of ContentsThe long journey from Galapagos to Iquitos...
To follow up on my earlier post about Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos, this article will feature another one of the 13 major islands of the Galapagos: Isabela Island. I picked Isabela Island as my second Galapagos destination as I’d heard there was a good chance of seeing blue-footed boobies there. What can I say, I’m a nerd. Table of ContentsThe ferry...
This week, I focused on writing an obituary for my father, Erkki Bjorn Wilhelm Aspelin, who passed away on April 10, 2023 at the age of 81. It’s hard to summarize your dad’s life in an obituary, but here’s what I came up with. Erkki Bjorn Wilhelm Aspelin Obituary When Erkki Aspelin was born in Oulu, Finland on June 27, 1941, it’s a safe bet that he...
The next few blog posts fall into the “and beyond” portion of my New Mexico and Beyond blog. As a wildlife biology nerd, I recently made the requisite, once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. My 18-year old son is really into reptiles, and I’m into birds, so we made a great team as we explored Santa Cruz and Isabela...
Alien chases and crawls, UFO lectures, human and pet costume contests - everything you need to know about this quirky and fun event