Getting Started with International Travel

And just like that it’s summer again. The time when vacation fever takes control and when most people start looking forward to getting away from it all. I think we were programmed as kids. That time of year when school was out and you had the freedom to do more than just go to school. […]

Years ago, I made a decision out of pure desperation. Not recklessness. Not wanderlust. I booked my first solo international trip. It changed how I approached travel forever. There are people who sit on the sidelines waiting for the perfect travel partner. Year after year, the excuses build and the trip you were so excited

A few years ago, chef and I were wandering around Osaka and stumbled into a local beer festival completely by accident. No map. No recommendation and no resort itinerary pointing us there. We simply turned down a street we hadn’t walked before and found ourselves surrounded by locals enjoying the largest selection of Japanese beers

One Saturday afternoon, after a day of exploring Monaco I made a dining decision that forever changed how I select restaurants when I travel. We approached the hostess desk at one of the most celebrated restaurants in the world, without a reservation and we got in. For context, Louis XV has three Michelin stars and

Admit it, at some point you’ve had dreams of dancing the day away at Carnival in Rio or ringing in the New Year watching the fireworks over the Sydney Harbor bridge or Taipei 101. They are all iconic. It generally happens when you are scrolling the internet and some airline is offering an unbelievable deal

It happened gradually. My travel boundaries became less blurred. Logistical nonsense that wasted my time became a nonstarter. The mere idea of sitting in “gen pop” became an annoyance. And there’s no way I was waiting in line if there was an option to skip ahead, even if it cost me more money. I started

January has a way of sneaking up on you. The holidays disappear, the days stay short, the weather turns hostile, and suddenly you’re googling ‘how to get out of a funk?’ before noon. Ah yes, the winter blues is upon you. You’re caught in the never-ending loop: work, home, screens, repeat. But while most of

The world reopened, borders dropped requirements, flights resumed and yet travel feels heavier. Not because we’ve forgotten how to travel, but because the world (and we) have changed. The version of travel people learned in their twenties no longer fits the lives they have in their forties, fifties, and beyond. The challenges with looking through hundreds

Here’s an uncomfortable truth: You can’t travel with everyone. I would wager a bet that there are very few people that intentionally started their international travel adventures going solo. The emotional side of us wants a travel partner.  It sounds reasonable. Travel feels safer, more enjoyable, more justified when it’s shared. But year after year,