Portland, Oregon is a city that I've wanted to visit for quite a while but just never seems to work out for a visit. However, the folks at River's Edge Hotel invited Heather and I to spend the night there on our way back home and so I figured that was kismet. While some destinations might prove to be a challenge to visit with Niki, Portland was a fantastic dog friendly getaway with great food and friendly people. In fact, my only regret is that we couldn't stay in Portland longer.

 Every so often I experience something that was completely unexpected while visiting a destination. A few months ago I got invited to come back up to Idaho and visit the Coeur D'Alene Casino to play a round at the Circling Raven Golf Club. Honestly when I think about "Indian Casinos" - a great golf course isn't typically one of the things I expect to experience. However, as things worked out I realized that I'd be passing through the area on my way home from exploring Montana so we decided to stop... and I'm very glad we did!

In the more than nine years since I created ManTripping.com, I've written a ton of posts talking about the "top mancation ideas". It's also the most frequently asked question when I talk with media about men's travel trends. Surprisingly, it's often women and my female friends who are the most interested in the answers - often because they are planning a trip for their partners and want to do something special that they will love. While mancations are by definition a male group activity, increasingly couples and friends are seeking out experiential travel instead of buying possessions. In other words, instead of a gold watch to celebrate retirement guys are celebrating with an incredible man-friendly adventure vacation.

Unfortunately though, I've never actually had quantifiable answers to provide and everything has been extremely subjective. To help solve this problem, in partnership with the men's influencer network #MenWhoBlog, I commissioned a survey based on six of the top mancation types that come up regularly on my site. Frankly though, I was a bit surprised by the results since an Alaska Cruise and Land Tour came in as the #1 pick!

As much as I enjoy a great cocktail or sipping a fine spirit, it's the people, culture, and history behind the product that I enjoy even more. I think that's generally why I haven't been as big of a vodka fan as I am passionate about Whiskey and Tequila. That changed recently though when I was invited by Khortytsa Vodka to tour Ukraine with them and learn more about the people and culture behind their vodka.

While the reality is far more complex, there's few warriors that are more iconic than the Vikings. While the days of murder and pillaging of villages are long since gone, there are many ways to still celebrate this amazing culture who's descendants today offer some great adventures for guys looking to experience the ferocious glory of being a viking warrior! 

There's nothing quite like spending the day out on the water. It's a sense of freedom that comes from the elimination of roads, an infinite horizon, and the thrill of wind in your hair. Whether you are looking for, there's fun to be had boating - from hanging out on a fishing boat, or even just peddling a boat around a pond. Boating is fun and it is something that I've enjoyed since I was a little kid.

Are you planning a hike this summer? It is a great time to head off into the mountains in search of adventure!

Before you do though, check out these amazing "extreme" hikes we collected from around the world.

I love to visit the boyhood homes of famous people, it says a lot about the person to see where they came from. In the case of Johnny Cash, a visit to his home was more than just a walk through a house but a history lesson where I learned about a very interesting period of American history where strong and determined men managed to turn swampy wasteland into incredibly fertile farmland and start a new life supporting their family and community.

It's always a little sad to see summer come to an end. But just because summer is over and the kids are back in school does not mean you can't still have great weekend vacations and quality family time. Think outside the box and take your child some place memorable. Here are six ideas for educational weekend getaways that your children will be sure to talk about for weeks to come.

It was about 6 million years ago that the island of Kauai emerged from the Pacific Ocean. It was over 1000 yeas ago that Polynesian travelers first saw this majestic island rising from the ocean waters. It was over 150 years ago that the first boat of Europeans arrived. And it was just today that our latest batch of guests arrived.

When it comes to icons of manliness, one person comes to mind more than any other - The Duke! John Wayne or Marion Robert Morrison was born on May 26, 1907 in rural Iowa and would go on to become one of the greatest movie stars in America as well as a cultural icon across virtually every other medium too.

Anyone who has ever watched a John Wayne movie deserves to visit the museum here and explore some of its artifacts as well as learn more about this legendary actor. In addition to the museum itself that just opened in 2015, you can tour the home where he was born.

This year's annual road trip is going to be a long one and we're setting off to explore virtually all of the Western States in style with Ford who has provided us with a 2017 Ford Explorer Platinum Edition. On our trip, we're going to be exploring national parks including Glacier and Yellowstone as well as fly fishing in Montana, a Def Leppard concert in Salt Lake City, and other adventures along our nearly 4,000 mile route!

Chase Guttman is an award winning travel photographer and a drone photography pioneer who has traveled the world and frankly achieved success by looking at things from a different angle. We had a chance to chat with me and learn more about how his craft and some of the awesome places he loves to visit.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of A/C Pro. All opinions are 100% mine.

For many of you, summer is synonymous with road trip season and under normal circumstances that can be a challenge to stay cool. However, I love adventure and sometimes that takes me on some pretty extreme trips as far as temperature goes. If you are like me then it makes sense to do what you can to keep your car in the best shape possible so it does what it is supposed to do for you. Just as important as a great road trip destination is ensuring that you stay cool and comfortable inside - even when temperatures outside might soar well above 100 degrees!

For many people Iowa is one of those states we've only seen from 39,000 feet as we fly over it and notice all those green fields of corn. Despite having family that had once lived there, that was about all I knew of it until I drove through the state a few years ago on my way to California. At the time I was surprised at all the cool stuff in the state but didn't have a chance to explore it more until last week when I was invited to join Travel Iowa on a quick tour.

Prior to my trip to Ukraine last week, I was extremely nervous - the question in my mind for weeks was, "how bad will Ukrainian International Airlines be?" There's no getting around the facts that this is a small national airline with fairly old aircraft and budget prices. At least in terms of flights to New York from Kiev, it is a "cheaper" way for people to go home to see family and for a handful of business people that want to avoid connections in Europe on the major carriers. If you want a cheap direct flight from New York to Kiev this is your only option and depending on which cabin you happen to have selected seats in you will have a dramatically different perspective on the flight.

Our culture has graduated from man caves to mancations, and many guys are tying in their bro travel to sports. But it's gone far beyond a double header or a weekend snagging two NASCAR series at the same track. Now it's multiple events at multiple venues, and baseball has proven to be a perfect sport for it.

I take a lot of road trips each year to explore different places. There's something exciting about exploring and seeing not just tourist destinations but all those spots in between. Unfortunately taking photos through the window of a moving car is among the most challenging shots to take but with a few quick tips, you can make sure that your shots look great!

At a certain point, the standard golf trip gets sort of boring and you start looking for a new adventures with the guys. Thankfully, in recent years airfare to Iceland has become unbelievably affordable. This has quickly transformed this once tiny and forgotten island in the North Atlantic into an exotic adventure destination that everyone can afford to visit.