Personal travel stories and narratives
StoriesJamaica didn't ease me in. It hit me with jerk smoke at the airport, bioluminescence at midnight, and a waterfall that tried to knock me off my feet.
StoriesDay 2: I swam next to a 9-meter whale shark. Day 4: I found the most beautiful crumbling building I've ever seen. Day 7: I refused to check my departure time.
StoriesRum-soaked evenings, rumba in the streets, and getting completely lost in Centro Havana — a week in Cuba as it actually happened.
StoriesMarco has lived in Florence for 40 years. He has strong opinions about how to order a bistecca, which gelato shops are fake, and why lampredotto is the real Florentine food.
StoriesSeven days. Three regions. One volcanic sunrise that made the 2AM alarm worth it. An honest account of first-time Bali.
StoriesIt was a Tuesday night on a quiet side street. The band had no name I recognized. And somehow, in a room of 40 people, I heard the best show of my year.
StoriesYuki has lived in Kyoto for 35 years. She has opinions about temple etiquette, where to actually eat, and why you should skip the most famous spots.
StoriesA decade-long resident on surviving summer, the best hike nobody does, and why Scottsdale isn't the retirement community you think it is.
StoriesAt 6:30AM, the cruise ships hadn't docked, the tourists were sleeping, and a 1,700-year-old Roman palace belonged to me and one stray cat.
StoriesRice terraces at dawn, a homestay family's rice wine, Fansipan in the clouds, and the best VND 40,000 pho of my life. Seven days in Vietnam's highlands.
StoriesI've been in the ocean a thousand times. This was the first time the ocean changed me.
Stories5.17 meters of marble perfection at the end of a long hallway. I thought I was prepared. I wasn't. Nobody is.
