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  • How to See Whales in the San Juan Islands

    January 4, 2024

    looking for how to see orcas in the san juan islands? Read this article to learn how to find orcas and whales in the San Juans

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maddymarq

guide & writer exploring the midwest🏕
📍Wisconsin Northwoods & Lake Superior
inquiries: hello@madelinemarquardt.com
↓ FREE trail guides ↓

Lake Superior magic❄️✨🌊 Safety note: everyone pic Lake Superior magic❄️✨🌊Safety note: everyone pictured is wearing a drysuit, has deep water self rescue practice and experience, and about half of the group guides sea kayaking trips here in the summer locally! This is not a beginner activity and I don’t recommend people winter paddle at all, let alone on Lake Superior, without specialized gear and training. Additionally, access to shoreline in the winter is highly depending on ice conditions. While I don’t guide kayaking trips in the winter, I do guide overnight sea kayak camping trips in the summer that you can join! If you do want to winter paddle on Lake Superior, check out @itssuchaniceday adventures up in Ontario for guided trips!📍Traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe Nation
A quick & honest look at this year as a content cr A quick & honest look at this year as a content creator👀🗺️A few takeaways:✈️ I work primarily as a travel/outddor writer and content creator, and hours are weird! It’s more computer time and less outdoor than people might realize, and hours end up being skewed long as the “fun” parts of the job take up so much time that you’re working evenings on the actual writing to catch up. (Not at all a complaint! I just think it’s good for people to know how the hours actually shake out!)🌎 local travel is underrated, and most of my favorite travel from 2025 was throughout the Great Lakes Reigon 🥾travel and guiding trips is super fun, but you get to a point where you need to schedule in breaks for yourself, and it’s really easy to burnout📚 freelancing is super fun, but I really appreciate the structure of having a part time and regular remote job in addition to freelancing, both because I like working as part of a team and because I like the structure. This is something I learned about myself after full time freelance content creation for a year or so, and I think it’s important to note that “being your own boss” isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay!🦄 I really struggle with saying no to people, and one thing I need to work on for next year is turning down projects and commitments when it’s too much for me. I just never want to disappoint anyone, but it turns out time is not infinite, and it’s better to do a good job on something you can truly commit to than a medium job on a lot of things How about you? Any big takeaways to bring into 2026?
Winter in the Midwest ✨❄️🌈 Growing up I hated the Winter in the Midwest ✨❄️🌈Growing up I hated the winter, but it turns out the cold isn’t so bad and it grows on you :) 📍Lake Superior, traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe Nation
Winter up in snow country❄️🌈 From a project with Winter up in snow country❄️🌈From a project with @visit_keweenaw 1- Andy finds a winter cave2- Andy finds a canyon3- driving downtown Houghton (boots @stegermukluks )4- ice on the lakeshore (I’m standing on a shove over rock, not over water promise) 5- @takkasaunas 6- sunrise at the breakwater7- great sand bay in winter colors (handknit vintage sweater) 8- forest river (Andy’s @daleofnorway sweater) 9- forest covered in snow 10- winter carnival 11- Andy in his orange @wintergreenely (also in photo one and like every other photo he’s in)12- skiing :)📍Traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe Nation
Midwest winters ❄️🌊🗺️>>> Ps winter kayaking shots Midwest winters ❄️🌊🗺️>>>Ps winter kayaking shots are all done by experienced local paddlers wearing drysuits trained in deep water self rescue with experience with local ice patterns. I do not recommend winter kayaking for beginners!!📍Lake Superior is the traditional home waters of the Anishinaabe Nation
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© 2025 Madeline Marquardt