A person is a lucky duck to have a birthday in October and live in New England. It’s as if the whole scene is having a rainbow confetti party in your honor!
This weekend I celebrated my thirty-first birthday in a sweet, rural, rented lake house in New Hampshire with my husband, his burly male friends, and a whole bunch of BBQ meat.
A fire crackled constantly in brick fireplace, we mushed together s’mores, and the menfolk ran races and fished fruitlessly. I had the shakes from Internet addiction withdrawal (there was hardly even cell reception, let alone WiFi), but also shook with happiness from the natural beauty all around!
Ahh yes, nature! Nature, I had shamefully forgotten about you! I’d forgotten your fresh smell and your lack of highway noise and jackhammer rat-tat-tatting! (Did I mention that in Boston we live next to a major highway which is currently under construction every night at 1am?)
So for both you and for me, reader, I set out each of those three days in New Hampshire to document the glorious setting. Stay tuned (in the free minutes I have between prepping for the fabulous Meet, Plan, Go! Career-Break Travel Conference on 10/16) for pictures to knock your socks off and send you running for the hills! (In a good way.)
Questions for you, oh Reader: What place, voyage, or moment has made YOU remember nature? What is YOUR ideal birthday destination? Are you a fan of leaf-peeping?
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Voluptous Rainbows says
Gorgeous photos. Love the leaves
Victoria Kwong says
These pictures are insanely beautiful! I can only imagine how wonderful it must be to see these views in person.
carolgrace says
These are beautiful pictures. Thank you for them. I have traveled and lived in many places and marvel at the beauty of nature in places around the globe. Never tire of seeing such wonders.
Lillie says
Yes!!!
Laurence says
Gorgeous photos. Fall is right on us in Europe as well at the moment and I’m loving the colours :D
Lillie says
Glad you are getting the rainbow glory there, too!
Sherry says
Even though I’m in a tropical area now, enjoying great weather and sunshine, I still really miss the crisp autumn air and the beautiful colors it brings. It is my favorite time of the year! And a perfect time to see that the world is indeed a beautiful place.
Lillie says
Poetic!
Victor Apoko says
Wao! Lilly its just so amazing and I have liked seeing it on the screen and it just shows the real Nature i truly believe you enjoyed your your birthday and that even as you were from such an awesome scenery you even felt like just a new born. I have loved the publication and i hope the next one will just be more than we can expect. Keep that fire burning and i cant wait to get the next edition.
Kind regardsw
Lillie says
Thanks, Victor! Plenty more nature photo articles on http://www.AroundTheWorldL.com this month!
Sam says
Beautiful photos Lillie! We’ve spent fall this year in Alaska, and as we were travelling from north to south we were lucky to see colour change in a number of different areas. It can be really beautiful, as you’ve so well shown above.
Lillie says
What a wonderful image, to be chasing the colors!
Cipri@Travelocafe says
As always, wonderful photos. Sometime I wonder how do you make it.
Lillie says
Thanks! Um, obsessive hard work and practice? :)
Mike says
These are some great pictures. I love fall.
Lillie says
:) :) :) :)
Addison S. @ Visa Hunter says
Incredible photos, Lillie. I’m sure you had a great birthday surrounded by all that natural beauty. I’ve lived overseas for a long time now but seeing these pictures makes me appreciate just what a spectacular and diverse country I hail from. Can’t wait to take a roadtrip here.
Lillie says
Did you enjoy this fall foliage article and its photos? Click https://www.aroundtheworldl.com/2012/10/11/autumn-leaves-unplugging-and-living-on-a-pond-raft/ for a NEW article involving even prettier pictures of autumn leaves, and a man living on a raft for 24 hours!
Micki says
Geez… We decided against a road trip down through New England this year and I’m regretting in now :) Beautiful shots!
Lillie says
Awww yeah, you gotta work in New England soon! It’s the best!
Adela @FourJandals says
What amazing photos, I love fall colours. The photo with the canoe is amazing.
Hogga says
Amazing colours… you weren’t kidding! That’s one great thing about the eastern US…. so many small states to travel to. Canada’s too big!
Lillie says
Ah yes, I can be super cool and hit up four states in two hours if the urge strikes! :) I do have to make it back to Canada, soon, though. I hear you have some nice leaves of your own!
wandering educators says
happy birthday! what a great way to spend it!
Lillie says
Thanks!
Caanan @ No Vacation Required says
Gorgeous. We wait all year for autumn, and are eating up every second of it. While we are on the left coast, we have had visited New England in the fall on a few occasions – those leaves are pretty hard to beat!
Lillie says
Nice! The whole time we were in New Hampshire, I was telling my husband, “We need to get a photo as cool as the No Vacation Required guys have, with the yellow leaves in the background!” We didn’t get it this time, but next weekend is a Western Mass. jaunt…
Kent @ NVR says
Our photo is pretty perfect for this post :)
Lillie says
Right?!
D.J. - The World of Deej says
Beautiful pics….I experienced real fall foliage for the first time last year (us Floridians miss out) and it blew me away. Can’t wait to experience it again…
safari in South Africa says
I love the vibrant shots! New Hampshire fall is a photographer’s paradise I believe. Thanks for sharing this!
Barbara Weibel says
Thanks for letting me be a “leaf peeper” without having to come back to the States! Gorgeous photos.
Lillie says
:) :) :) :) :)
Nicole says
Beautiful photos!
Lillie says
Gracias!
Amanda says
Wow, amazingly pretty photos! I really need to make it up to New England during the fall sometime.
Lillie says
Thanks, and yes indeed you do!
IamVagabond says
WOW! Awesome images… make one yearn for New England fall colors all over again!!!
Lillie says
Glad to incite yearning for this great part of the world. :)
Traveling Ted says
I just spent three days hiking in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, which is the closest we have in the Midwest to the beautiful fall foliage in New England. Great pictures.
Alexa says
Whoa, these are incredible pics! Makes me wanna move to New England just for fall! Answers to your questions – 1) My trip to the Galapagos was so gorgeous that I will always remember its unique beauty. Some parts of it looked unreal. 2) My ideal bday destination: Anywhere as long as I have good company. 3) And yay for leaf-peeping!
Good luck planning more of Meet Plan Go. I’ll be at the one in San Diego.
Lillie says
Glad you enjoyed the pics! Sometimes I forget that not everyone on Earth sees spectacular fall foliage, so I’m happy to share the photographic evidence. :) Cool answers to the questions, and yay for Meet, Plan, Go! across North America!
Rashaad says
Those are some amazing pictures! Especially, the fourth and fifth ones!
How was the weather there? It must not have been that cold if you were able to wear a tank top outside.
My ideal birthday location is somewhere warm with a nice beach. My birthday is six days before Christmas so for the most part, anywhere in the U.S. is cold then. As for the place that has made me remember nature the most… it would probably be the times I climbed Mount Haguro in Japan (in a relaxed setting).
Lillie says
Ooo, good answers to the questions!
The temperature was in the 60s (fleece weather) but I whipped off my jacket for fashion purposes during the photo. :)
Natasha von Geldern says
Stunning photos @Lillie!! I would love to visit New England in Fall for my birthday… maybe I should for my 40th next year?!
Lillie says
Awesome!
Just One Boomer (Suzanne) says
I’m having leaf envy, I grew up in a leafy part of Philadelphia, so I thought I knew all about pretty fall trees. But then, I was packed off to Williams College, in the Berkshire Mountains of northwestern, Massachusetts. Wow! The only downside was that a student had to be very careful crossing Routes 2 and 7 which cut through the campus, lest one be taken out by a leaf peeper who was being distracted from the road by the glorious fall foliage.
Lillie says
Ahhh love it! Especially because I’m headed to Western Mass next weekend! (Camera in tow :) )
Marco says
These pictures remind me of the forest I grew up around during my childhood. I always looked forward to the time of year when the colors of the trees began to turn with the season! Thanks for sharing. (by the way, happy belated birthday!)
Adam says
Beautiful photos, Lillie!
And happy birthday again :)
Lillie says
Thanks, Adam! Can’t wait to see you at Meet, Plan, Go!