Exploring the Vibrant Life of America’s Deserts in the Spring

Blooms, Birdsong, and Blue Waters—A Springtime Road Trip through the Southwest

By Oana Harrison

PUBLISHED in ROVA Magazine, March/April 2025 issue

The desert: dust, death, and desolation. Or at least that’s how I used to think about it before our springtime road trip to the Southwest. Eight months into a full-time RV year that my husband, David, and I had embarked upon, we headed west through Texas to New Mexico, Arizona, the California coast and back. Along the way, we discovered unique places in the Chihuahua, Sonora, Mojave, and Colorado Deserts. The Southwest offered incredible natural nuances, from shifting sand dunes to endless canyons, to lush oases and blue lakes. This landscape I’d once viewed as dead and quiet, the desert was teeming with life. And nothing prepared me for the intense orange-purple sunsets or the Technicolor desert in bloom.

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The Heart of Romania-Journeying Home for an Epic Visit

From Transylvania’s Carpathian Mountains to the Blue Danube

By Oana Harrison

Published in 2025 Mar/Apr Cityview Magazine

Underestimated. Beautiful. Complicated history. Home. That’s Romania, the beautiful country where I was born and lived until coming to the U.S. mid-90s. For 18 years, I called Knoxville and the Smokies home, while returning to my true home, the Carpathian Mountains, almost every year.

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Small Town, Big Heart: Discovering Skowhegan, Maine

A longtime friendship enhances the small-town charm of a hamlet in Maine.

By Oana Harrison

PUBLISHED in ROVA Magazine, December 2024/January 2025 issue

Often, the best travel destinations are small towns, hidden gems that make a special impression. Skowhegan, Maine was one of these destinations. We visited the New England town in the fall of 2019 and caught up with a friend while we were there. Here is the story.

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