The road on the map is a squiggly line that appears to connect with the Pig Trail Scenic Byway in the Boston Mountains of Arkansas. That darting line of indecision proves to be the rockiest of roads with no cushy marshmallows to break up the bumps. The car stops as the windows roll down. I listen to the chatter of the leaves in the wind. The sound is magically uninterrupted. Time suspends. Lately I have been struggling with travel, time and money. There never seems to be enough of these three. Travel and time collided for me on a whirlwind trip through Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Vienna, Zurich Continue Reading
Surviving the Brooklyn Bridge
“One, two, three, four,” I utter as I count the number of people hitting me on the Brooklyn Bridge. Before you get too scared, I am on the pedestrian walkway, high above the roaring traffic below. These little brushes with my fellow walkers aren’t so damaging to me physically but perhaps emotionally. I often hear the words “wonderful” and “pleasant” used to describe the journey across the Brooklyn Bridge. And as I met a teen face to face on the Brooklyn Bridge, one of those who at a crowded mall at the holidays lets oncoming pedestrian traffic move for them, we collided somewhere over the East Continue Reading
Alone in Ireland in Photos
They joked about their ex-wives as I stepped up to the ring. I was about to let two crusty old men dangle me from a 15th century castle, all to kiss a stone whose surface probably belongs in a petri dish rather than a top tourist attraction. As I let the strange man hoist me upside down, I could see the glowing green earth below from an angle unknown to me. I was alone in Ireland, doing things I would have never considered solo activities before, including putting my faith in strangers to bring me back up from my big smooch with the Blarney Stone. It would be an utter shame to miss out on Continue Reading
Let Travel Be: The Dangers of Travel Comparisons
From my balcony view, I saw eye-sore block buildings in the distance. I popped a green olive in my mouth to the whiff of nearby trees they no doubt came from before the jar. You could hear a few screaming Italian babies as the sun began to set, probably angry to leave cluttered sands for the camper van. I felt a long way from anywhere I had ever been and a long way from anywhere I really wanted to be. I had grand ideas about what some isolated, undiscovered destination would be. It was going to be my secret and ended up being a place I couldn’t wait to leave. I recently came across an Continue Reading
A Different Kind of New York: On Finding The Glamour in Small Town Travel
I’m on the street where my 95-year-old Grandmother grew up in the middle of Nebraska, a street to nowhere for most travelers. When I asked a local in town what should I see in this hamlet of York, Nebraska, she offered up the name of a restaurant called Chances R. They are known across I-80 for their classic fried chicken and mashed potatoes soaked in gravy. This is not glamorous travel. I’m not scaling the Great Wall of China or strolling Parisian streets while chomping on a baguette. Instead, I’m taking a weekend trip to the middle of nowhere, where few live and even fewer stop for a Continue Reading
Confessions of a Hotel Review Reading Addict
I have a strange addiction when it comes to travel planning. Deciding the general route is always thrilling. Securing a car rental or other means of transport has its challenges. When I finally click purchase after finding “the deal”, it is no longer a challenge. However I meet days upon days of figuring out just where I plan on resting up for the night. I obsess over the stories of strangers and their experiences at properties so much so that I start to know them by name. I find myself reading their stories of bed bugs, stolen laptops and even neighboring room murders like a page-turning Continue Reading
The Beauty of Vacation
“What brings you here,” each and every hotel concierge would ask. For the first time in a long time I could proudly say, “I’m just on vacation.” With each stop through east Texas, I obtained subtle glimpses into what vacation must be like. Rather than checking in and immediately getting to work, I had nothing but time. And that time was sweetly suspended as it only is on vacation. In essence having all that time proved I had everything. I found myself again in travel, as it should be. I was experiencing a bit of work burn out. Traveling and working is exhausting, no matter what some Continue Reading