“The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef; love, like being enlivened with champagne.” — Samuel Johnson I always pride myself on being a good expat. Whatever my adopted country may be at the time, I aim to become a student of its culture, soaking up the new traditions, … Read More
“I give you Chicago. It is not London and Harvard. It is not Paris and buttermilk. It is American in every chitling and sparerib. It is alive from snout to tail.” — H. L. Mencken Chicago will forever be Paris to my parents. “We’ll always have Chicago,” I imagine them saying to each other. Their … Read More
“No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference. It is that from which all date their time, and count upon what is left. It is the nativity of our common Adam.” — Charles Lamb As we move further into 2011, I wanted to not only take the time to look back on the … Read More
“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.” — Andrew Wyeth I was out driving through Suffolk with my dad this morning when we passed this snow-covered field. “I’d love a … Read More
“Emily: We can’t just throw him out in the snow. Walter: Why not? He loves the snow. He’s told me 15 times.” — From the film Elf 1. Never say never. “Does it snow where you’re from?” many British colleagues and friends asked me before I left London for home. I assured them I’m from Virginia … Read More
“And that’s the wonderful thing about family travel: it provides you with experiences that will remain locked forever in the scar tissue of your mind.” — Dave Barry My brother is a man of few words. I was reminded of this when he picked me up from the airport in Wichita, Kansas, last Friday night. … Read More
“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I’ve been known to get things wrong before, especially when it comes to travel bookings. Booking my flight home for Christmas, I purchased it so fast I didn’t realize my return journey to … Read More
“Paying attention, I learned again, is the foundation of great travel writing – and as a bonus, it deeply and resonantly enriches your everyday life as well.” — Don George It had been a week to remember. A brisk drop in temperatures preceded Britain’s earliest snowfall in nearly two decades, since November of 1993. But … Read More
“And finally Winter, with its bitin’, whinin’ wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow.” — Roy Bean Snow day. Can you think of two words with a more magical connotation? Growing up near the beach, I can remember waking up and holding my breath for a quick moment right before pulling back the … Read More
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” — G.K. Chesterton The last Thursday in November is inevitably the one day of the year where my homesickness soars to unprecedented levels. Being away for Christmas is hard, but there’s something about Thanksgiving that makes … Read More