Some people might think a pandemic a bad time to release a travel book, but not Aimee Heckel.
The travel writer, and former Reporter-Herald and Boulder Daily Camera reporter, sees it as an opportunity to show people who may not be able to travel far the special places they can visit near home.
Heckel’s book, “Colorado Day Trips,” came out May 12.
It offers ideas for short trips in Colorado.
“A lot of adventures you can do from home rather than just throwing the summer away and wasting it or being sad,” Heckel said.
Anyone can use this unusual time as a chance to explore the state in a way locals don’t always do, she said, and get to know Colorado better.
Heckel, who grew up in Loveland and currently lives in Berthoud, said she has lived in Colorado her whole live, but until she started doing travel writing she didn’t know about some of the places she tells about in the book.
Doing the research opened her eyes to some of the incredible places the state has to offer, she said.
“I began to think Colorado is the coolest place in the world,” she said.
Not every destination detailed in the book is open now, but opportunities for in-state travel are changing every day as restrictions lift and more places reopen, she noted.
Heckel organized her book with themes. Looking for hot springs, train rides, historic monuments, scenic drives or roadside attractions? Each has a chapter.
She hopes readers will pick adventures driven by their own curiosity and interests, just as she did when researching the book.
Heckel has edited and contributed to 60 books, including six with Foder’s travel books since 2013, three on Colorado and three on national parks of the West.
But those are done by a team of writers. Heckel said her new book was fun because the publisher, Adventure Publications, let her pick her topics, and she got to create a book that includes things not covered in other travel books.
“It’s allowed me to take all I’ve learned and all I’ve discovered in Colorado and pick my favorites.”
She really has visited all the places and experienced all the things described, most with her husband and daughter. “We used to travel every single weekend,” she said.
‘I get to start again’
The year started out on a high note for Heckel, who had articles published in national magazines O and Yoga Journal, but she got laid off this spring from her job at TravelBoulder.com when the pandemic hit, and she had plans for more travel writing this year that were canceled.
So she has begun focusing on editing books, which allowed for flexibility as she helped her daughter complete school from home this spring. She also is trying to get up the courage to work on a fiction book.
“It could be a great opportunity for a lot of creativity this year. I’m just trying to find the courage and fire to do that,” she said.
Heckel said she feels the pandemic and changes it has brought open up a chance to step back and evaluate life. “I’m trying to think of it as a blessing,” a chance to have a new life within the same life, she explained.
She said she hopes other people will ask themselves what opportunities they might have missed, or what is right in front of them that they can explore more.
“I get to start again. Everybody does.”
She and her family have been taking the quarantine seriously, avoiding interactions to try to protect their loved ones, but at the same time they have been making time to explore trails in Loveland, Berthoud and the Carter Lake area, and have found parks and pockets they never knew were there.
Many spots to explore
Heckel can’t pick a favorite spot in Colorado but said her work on the national parks books inspired her to visit Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado, and now her family returns there every other year.
Her family also loves the San Luis Valley. Heckel said the sand dunes get attention, but the area has much more to explore, including hot springs and quirky attractions.
She also likes Colorado Springs for a family, with attractions such as Cave of the Winds and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
Heckel said her daughter, Betty, loves Vail because it looks like a European village or a fairy tale village.
Closer to home, you can’t beat Rocky Mountain National Park, she said, for its wildlife and the chance for family-friendly adventures. “I believe it’s the best national park in the country.”
“Colorado Day Trips” is available on Amazon, as well as on Bookshop.org from Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins, Macdonald Bookshop in Estes Park or Barbed Wire Books in Longmont.
Heckel has some book signings planned later in the summer, but at this point it’s unclear whether they will happen.
But she will make time for more exploration.
“I’m not going to sit around all summer and waste it worrying and dwelling on what I can’t do. I’m going to find the way to make the absolute most out of what I can do,” she said.
Exploring near Loveland
Here are Aimee Heckel’s suggestions for places to explore close to Loveland:
- Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch, p. 65 in her book
- The Lindenmeier Site (Fort Collins), p. 55
- Johnson’s Corner, p. 24-25
- Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy, p. 103
- Emerald Lake Trail, Estes Park, p. 71
- Rocky Mountain National Park, p. 7
Exploring near Boulder
Here are Aimee Heckel’s suggestions for places to explore close to Boulder:
- The Sink, p. 117
- Shakespeare Festival, p. 24
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Earth System Research Laboratory, p. 85
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, p. 85
- Meadow Lark Farm Dinners, p. 83
- Mary Rippon Outdoor Theater, p. 24
- Frequent Flyers, p. 26
- Flagstaff House, p. 124
- Chautauqua, p. 52-53
- Carousel of Happiness, p. 112-114
- Anderson Farms, p. 102
- Dushanbe Tea House, p. 120
- Butterfly Pavilion, p. 130
- Lookout Mountain, p. 72
- Colorado Trail, p. 71