Adventure Travel, A-Frames, and All-Consuming Wanderlust

Two Michigan travel influencers share their favorite NoMi gems

By Anna Faller | Oct. 14, 2023

In a world where travel influencers inundate our social media feeds, it’s easy to envision ourselves on a faraway beach for our next vacation. Michigan, though, is its own destination, with plenty of picturesque towns, pristine scenery, and tasty eats more than worth exploring.

How do we get away in our own backyard, and where do we stay when we arrive?
Northern Express sat down with two travel influencers—Shalee Super of the Shalee Wanders blog and Moody Cabin Girl’s Gina Valente—to talk travel tips, Michigan’s hidden gems, and all things local wanderlust. Bon voyage!

Shalee Wanders | Shalee Super

Michigan native Shalee Super never stays in one place for long.

Raised in the pinprick village of Mecosta (population: just under 400), Super spent much of her adolescence looking for ways to leave her hometown. “I really wanted to go out and explore,” she explains.

At just 18, though, her budget was tight. Instead of long-haul drives or jet-setting internationally (though all of that would come later on), many of Super’s earliest ventures involved weekend getaways to the nearby Great Lakes, subsisting on only pizza and ice cream and even sleeping in her car—all in the name of her next big adventure.

As her travels expanded throughout the state, Super discovered an online demand for local recommendations and budget advice. This, she says, is when she decided to launch her travel blog, Shalee Wanders.

Established in 2014, that blog has blossomed into an online hub for Super’s boundless wanderings, which now includes 39 countries and 49 states. Her content incorporates expertly-curated guides—including one dedicated to Michigan, and notably, how to travel with cats—unique accommodation finds, and tips for the best travel bang for your buck. Over the years, she has garnered a community of 125,000 followers across the blog and social sites like TikTok and Instagram.

Wherever she wakes up, Super’s days nearly always begin by tracking down a great cup of coffee. From there, she’ll explore nearby shopping districts, landmarks, or other local activities—“It’s usually me trying something new or going somewhere I haven’t been,” she notes—before the rest of the day is spent outdoors, at the beach, or deep in the forest. Her niche (beyond the cats, of course) is adventure travel, and you’ll see photos of her on every cliff, mountain, and waterway she can find.

To cap off the evening, Super can often be found researching the best vantage point to catch the sunset. “I’m a sucker for a good view!” she adds.

Nevertheless, her home state of Michigan remains her number-one destination. “It’s my happy place,” Super says. (She’s even considered putting down permanent roots in Traverse City!)

For the outdoor adventurer, she highlights Pyramid Point as a go-to hiking spot (bring a picnic for a rustic date night), as well as Mackinac Island’s interior—which boasts over 70 miles of trail—and Empire Bluffs for its steely-bay views. In the summer months, South Manitou and Beaver islands are an oasis for uninterrupted exploring, while Mesick offers a quiet hideaway for a dose of nostalgia and spring mushroom hunting.

Super’s ideal weekend, though, involves far less action than one might expect. “My perfect Saturday night is sitting with my friends on the beach in northern Michigan,” she says. “There’s a magic to it that isn’t pretentious.”

In fact, watching others live that magic has become one of her favorite experiences. It’s happened numerous times, Super notes; both with the clients whose trips she plans, and—notably—skeptical friends.

“When we get up to Traverse City, [they’re] like, ‘this is the most beautiful town in the world!’” she says. “Hearing those reactions and getting to see them fall in love with the region firsthand are really special moments for me.”

shaleewanders.com

Moody Cabin Girl | Gina Valente

Michigan’s most aesthetic accommodations are the name of the game for Gina Valente.

She was first introduced to the short-term rental market on a trip to Iceland in 2015, where an Airbnb stay blew her mind. Back home in Michigan, Valente was surprised to discover a similar—but little-known, at the time—rental community. Suffice to say, she was immediately hooked.

“I started booking stays just for fun and would post about [the experience] on my social media pages,” she explains, which eventually led to the launch of her Moody Cabin Girl blog in 2018.

(A little context here: At the time, Valente was already a veteran of the content-creation and marketing space, as she and her sister had launched the Detroit-based food blog, Girls Gone Hungry—which is still active—several years prior.)

Inspired by the rustic vibe of the popular Instagram account MoodyGrams—and named, in part, for Valente’s tongue-in-cheek reputation as the grumpiest of her family’s four siblings—the blog aims to showcase unique accommodations and their locations to Valente’s growing audience, headlined by some 40,000 followers.

Valente, however, adheres to a strict set of criteria when searching for new rental spaces. “I’m not just trying to promote cabins for [the sake of] promotion,” she clarifies. Instead, she seeks out mom-and-pop rentals that, ideally, come with some history. “They’re not necessarily modern,” she adds. “You’ll find lots of lake houses and camp cottages—my page is very family-friendly.”

Her preferred aesthetic follows suit. Think Scandinavian-inspired structures with cozy nooks, warm lighting, and plenty of wood…bonus points if there’s nearby beach access.

In this regard, Valente notes, northern Michigan is a gold mine, and her page features gems from nearby spots like Traverse City, Gaylord, Suttons Bay, Northport, Cedar, and more.

The start of each rental experience, she tells Northern Express, always follows the same general framework. First, Valente and her group spend some time photographing the untouched space. From there, it’s all about lifestyle content, which means sampling local cuisine and planning itineraries for future visitors.

Some of Valente’s go-to Michigan spots include her family’s cottage on Spider Lake, which she loves for the outdoor recreation (and its proximity to Peegeo’s pizza), Lake Ann’s bustling brewery scene, and the lavender-scented oasis of the Secret Garden at Brys Estate Vineyard & Winery.

Further north, she highlights Harbor Springs—in particular, the annual Ice Fest, complete with steel drum band and street food—as well as Indian River, which is where she first encountered a baby deer up close. She and her sister even managed to rent the entirety of Willoughby Island (a tiny U.P. islet) all to themselves one summer weekend.

As for her dream-home destination? Valente has her sights set on the natural beauty of Grand Marais. “Small-town living is so nice, and I have a lot of nostalgic feelings about it, too,” she says.

“Michigan is so special,” she adds. “We have so many beautiful forests and flourishing communities. I love that I get to bring exposure to that.”

moodycabingirl.wordpress.com