Walking into a botanical garden always slows me down in ways I don’t expect. The path curves and I follow it. Something blooms that wasn’t on the map. I end…
I spent an embarrassing amount of time in school convinced that government buildings were boring by design — as if the people who built them had decided that function and…
Every July Fourth, without fail, my family argues about potato salad. Not whether to make it. It's always made. The argument is about which version is correct — mustard-based or…
I once spent an entire winter convinced I wasn't really a "hiker," more of a person who occasionally walked uphill near nice scenery and called it exercise. Then I started…
Winter always felt like a season I had to choose sides on. Snow days and hot cocoa sounded perfect, but I’d catch myself staring out a frosted window wishing I…
My idea of "treating myself" used to be a bigger hotel pillow or a free upgrade to a room with a view of the parking lot instead of the dumpster.…
Every summer of my childhood seemed to circle back to the same exact question: which creek, quarry, or spring-fed pond were we driving to next? A community pool never quite…
When I was a kid, the best part of any vacation wasn't the hotel pool or the souvenir shop — it was the drive itself. I'd press my forehead against…
I have a long, complicated history with airport food. Most of it involves a sad, overpriced sandwich, a price tag that makes me wince every single time, and absolutely no…
The first time I saw a real waterfall in Oklahoma, I couldn’t believe it. Most people picture flat plains and red dirt when they think of this state, not a…
I've never been able to fully relax at a resort where I can hear someone else's kids splashing in the pool three lounge chairs away. That's not a complaint about…
I once spent an entire afternoon in a tiny import shop outside Chicago, just reading labels I couldn't pronounce and asking the owner what everything was. I didn't buy much.…