A Return To The Places We Love In 2023
Mahalo from Maui, Road Trip Review, 2023 Travel Trends and so much more...
Happy New Year!
I hope everyone enjoyed a nice and relaxing holiday season, and if you’re a resolution person like I am, I wish you all the best in achieving those goals and so much more this year.
I’m writing to you from my parent’s kitchen table in Encinitas, California in the home that I grew up in, and that my parents spent the better part of the 90’s building for our family. As most angsty pre-teens do, I took living here for granted back then. Now, every time I come home, and the smell of sweet, citrusy lemon groves and my dad’s matzo brie and coffee hang in the air, I’m reminded of how fortunate I am to return to a place I love.
At this point, I’ve been out of my parent’s house and away from Southern California for just as many years as I lived here, so coming home feels equal parts familiar and foreign. I’ve been spending time rediscovering San Diego’s culinary scene, starting with Sky Deck, an incredible new restaurant collective/food hall in the Del Mar Highlands where “the vibes are always excellent, and the food is even better,” a friend from high school told me as we were making plans for our annual holiday get together.
Another memorable evening was spent at Marisi (formerly Whisknladle) in La Jolla, whose extra dry vermouth martini prepared tableside was a real treat, as were the succulant blue prawns, handmade tagliatelle and freshly baked focaccia served alfresco on their Amalfi Coast-inspired heated patio. We didn’t have room for dessert, but I have it on good authority that the Meyer lemon curd is out of this world, so we’ll be starting our meal dessert first next time.
Parker and I walked that meal off with a stroll along the water in La Jolla Cove, where resident seals have made their home. I grew up going to that beach, and it was one of the very first places I took Parker on our first trip back when we were dating. It’s a special place, and we always love paying the seals a visit when we’re out here.
Other than eating (which I’ve been doing my fair share of), I’ve mostly been luxuriating in this magical time of year The Atlantic has so brilliantly dubbed “Dead Week,” by watching movies (loved Glass Onion) and reading, you know, just for pleasure. I have so much love for Danielle Braff’s NYT piece: Babies in First Class, Which Side of The Aisle Are You On and have been living for the hundreds of passionate comments/opinions that have followed in the time since.
It’s always fun to see what my colleagues and travel tastemakers predict the future will hold at the start of the new year. If 2022 was the year of “revenge travel” which — sorry, I never did care for that term/trend, then what will 2023 have in store? I found Simone Cheri’s hot take on the rise of “Hush Trips” in the remote work digital era for Travel Noire to be especially poignant and well worth a read.
According to my colleagues at Forbes, travel has not only rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, but it seems the priority has shifted away from taking the best, biggest, bucket list [insert your own superlative here] trip in place of deeper, more intentional travel experiences. In a survey of 2,000 U.S. travelers by American Express Travel, 88% of respondents said they’re seeking out local experiences where they can learn more about a place and its culture the next time they go somewhere.
I love where these trends are headed. So, let’s go forth into the new year, bright-eyed, and resolute to travel more responsibly and with more intention in the destinations we visit. That’s one of my New Year's resolutions anyway, and if you’re reading this, and I’m glad you are, thank you for being a part of the journey.
In the meantime, here’s what else I have on tap this month.
Mahalo from Maui
A return to the places we love
I’m off to Maui this week, a place that has always held a special place in my family’s heart. We’re headed on a long overdue vacation, where we’ll be revisiting a hotel my parents took my brother and I to when we were young, and where I have some of my earliest travel memories. Like the time a resident gecko attached himself to my index finger after I stuck my hand under a grandfather clock in the lobby in a futile attempt to catch him. To be fair, I was seven, and as it turned out, he caught me. Luckily, all my fingers are still accounted for, and I can’t wait to see if that clock, and my friend the gecko is waiting for me when I return.
If you have any Maui reccos, please send them my way!
From there, I’ll be bouncing around the West Coast, chasing new adventures and stories, first in Montana for a few nights of glamping and backcountry sno-biking at The Green O which was under construction last time I visited on my last pre-pandemic press trip before the world shut down in March 2020. From there, I’m connecting for a few days in Salt Lake City just in time for The Sundance Film Festival, and oy, when I tell you I have a fun story up my sleeve for that one so please stay tuned.
I have a few international trips in the works too. In March I’m planning on going back to what is arguably my favorite country on earth, which if you know me (or follow me on Instagram) you know is Japan. This time, I’ll be leaving the bright neon lights of Tokyo behind in search of smaller villages and islands around Okinawa, Kagoshima, Kinosaki and beyond. I’m hoping to tag a few days on to explore Korea either before or after depending on how my Japlans shake out.
Rear Window
Roadtrip Review
In last month’s newsletter, Parker and I were gearing up for our cross-country road trip, and now that it’s in the rearview mirror, I’ve been reflecting on some of the places that surprised and delighted us the most. Starting with Mobile, Alabama, whose resident cat Mr. Bingley at the Haunted Book Shop and historic downtown was a fun place to stop, followed by a delightful lunch at a roadside shrimp shack in Bayou La Batre along the Mississippi Sound.
In Austin — a city I visited many years ago in my past life as a music reporter for Marquee Magazine (RIP) covering Austin City Limits — I had a chance to reconnect with an old friend and brewery owner at Texas Beer Co. who introduced me to some incredible local beers and some the best Tonkotsu I’ve had outside of Japan at Ramen Tatsu-Ya. We loved our stay at Hotel Magdalena, which has a great location right off South Congress along with one of the best spicy margaritas at their on-site restaurant Summer House on Music Lane.
Of all the places we went, a major highlight and place that surprised me in all the best ways was our drive through Fredricksburg onto West Texas, where wind-swept roads and vast desert landscapes stretched farther than the eye could see.
One of the most rewarding aspects of travel can be found in the everyday exchanges with people you meet along the way and if it wasn’t for the couple sitting across from us at dinner at The Gage Hotel in Marathon, TX, we would have never discovered Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park. And to the cowboy we met at the White Buffalo Bar who took pity on the sad state of my Stetson hat that night and insisted he could whip it back into shape right then and there on the bar: I thank you kindly sir.
Of course, travel, like life, is full of ups and downs, and while I would chalk our road trip up to a success, it was punctuated with minor blips and bumps along the way. In New Orleans, one of my all-time favorite U.S. cities, a dark magic (as my friend Mary calls it) seemed to take hold: first when my laptop — a loyal companion for many years, countless countries, and continents — finally went kaput, making it tough to meet a major end-of-year print deadline. I’m lucky to work with some of the best editors in the biz, and the story got filed, but not before rewriting the entire piece on a loaner.
The next day, my wedding ring vanished into thin air, never to be seen again. I’d be lying if I said these things didn’t put a damper on my mood/time in one of my favorite cities, but the plate of powdery beignets and a delightful neighborhood Christmas market and meal at The Elysian Bar in Marigny definitely helped lift our spirits. We left New Orleans just before a major tornado rolled into town, leaving homes and entire communities devastated across much of the southeast, putting my first-world problems into perspective. Laptops and material items can always be replaced, but boy it still stings every time I look down at my naked ring finger.
All in all, it was quite a journey. And as much as I love life on the open road, we’ll be flying back from San Diego with Ted later this month, so if you have any tips on flying with dogs, please send them my way!
Southern Soujourn
It’s officially shucking season
January is one of the best times of year in Beaufort, when backyard oyster roasts and South Carolina Restaurant Week is in full effect. Last year, I was invited to participate as a judge for the annual Beaufort Oyster Festival which was an honor and responsibility I took very seriously.
I know I’m biased about all things Beaufort, but I truly believe that this area produces some of the best seafood in the world. If you’ve never been to an oyster roast, or if you’re an oyster lover like me, Oyster Fest also happens to coincide with South Carolina Restaurant Week and is as good a time as any to visit our little slice of paradise down south to sample the bounty of the sweet, smoky, locally sourced seafood that helped put this town on the map. I’m sad to miss out on all of the oyster festivities this year, but I’m looking forward to slurping down some of these mighty mollusks with the help of my new shucker when I get back later this month.
Editors Note
Best wishes and warmest regards
I ended last month’s newsletter with my thoughts on the state of current events and layoffs in the media space. I’d love to end the inaugural post of 2023 on a slightly different tone and ask what you’re most excited about travel-wise this year? What trends are you loving, loathing, loving to loath or vice versa? I’d love to hear from you. Please subscribe, drop a comment or email me.
And thanks for reading. I’m so grateful to have you here and would love to know what you think so far! Until next month, best wishes, warmest regards, and I’ll see all you lovers in February! XOXO