Not everyone has the luxury of long, sprawling holidays. For most of us, travel comes in short bursts — a long weekend, a few days squeezed between commitments, a quick getaway that has to count. There’s a temptation to feel that short trips are somehow lesser, that you can’t really experience a place in just…
For years I was a chronic overpacker. Every trip began with a bulging bag stuffed with things I was sure I’d need, and ended with me hauling that bag through stations and up stairs, having worn maybe half of what I brought. The turning point came on a trip where I lugged an enormous suitcase…
There are two ways to visit a place. You can move through it as a tourist — hitting the famous sights, eating where the crowds eat, staying in the areas built for visitors, and leaving with the same photos everyone else takes. Or you can experience it more like someone who lives there, getting under…
There’s a particular kind of misery that comes from a badly planned trip. The frantic mornings, the missed connections, the arguments over what to do next, the growing sense that the holiday is happening to you rather than being enjoyed by you. I’ve had those trips, and I’ve had the other kind — the ones…
The idea of traveling alone can sit somewhere between thrilling and terrifying. On one hand, complete freedom — go where you want, when you want, answer to nobody. On the other, a quiet worry: won’t it be lonely? What if something goes wrong and there’s no one there? I asked myself all of these questions…