I grew up thinking I knew the West Coast. Big Sur, the San Juans, Zion (okay, not technically West Coast, but you get the idea) the postcard spots everyone tags on Instagram. Then a friend dragged me down a gravel…
My favorite season sneaks up on me every single year. One morning I’ll step outside for coffee and catch that first hint of crispness in the air, and suddenly I’m pulling out my cozy sweaters and mentally packing my bags.…
My love affair with train travel started on a rainy Tuesday morning, three years ago, when I boarded a train with no real plan except to watch the world go by from a window seat. I remember pressing my palm…
The first time I truly fell in love with fall wasn’t in a big city or on some famous scenic highway. It was in a tiny mountain town where golden leaves drifted onto quiet sidewalks, local coffee shops smelled like…
I still remember standing on a ridge in Glacier National Park last August, watching the alpenglow spill across a lake so blue it barely looked real, and thinking: why did it take me this long to plan a trip around…
My first glimpse of a French lavender field stopped me mid-sentence on a phone call I still haven’t finished. The rows ran straight to the horizon, the air smelled like a perfume counter left out in the sun, and I…
My love affair with mountain towns started the summer I packed my car, left behind a heat wave that had my whole city wilting, and drove up into the pines just to feel a breeze again. Somewhere around 7,000 feet,…
My husband and I once drove three hours out of our way because a gas station clerk told us “the leaves are better that way.” We ended up on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere, completely lost, laughing…
My first August in Europe, I made every rookie mistake possible. I booked a non-refundable room in Santorini three days before arrival, paid double what I should have, and spent my first night wandering Fira at 1 a.m. because I…
August feels like that final golden stretch of summer the sun stays out longer, the days feel lighter, and there’s this little pressure to make every moment count before fall quietly slips in. It’s one of my favorite months for…
