There’s something to be said for a good first impression, and this is true of books as well as people. The first few pages — and certainly the first chapter — have crucial work to accomplish: snagging the reader’s interest, introducing them to some characters, and generally giving them a…
It’s December. Mariah Carey is haunting the radio stations; everyone and their mother is baking cookies, cakes, and pies; and people are criss-crossing the country (and the world) to be with the ones they love. It’s a good time to talk about holiday traditions. But let’s start with a brief…
As someone who loves buddy comedies to no end and is infatuated with adventure — my cat’s name is Indiana, if that tells you anything — I was utterly swept away with love for Terry Pratchett’s first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic. Its sequel, The Light Fantastic, had much…
Now that we’re in the thick of the holiday season, it’s a good time to think about gratitude. In fact, I think it’s always a good time to cultivate gratefulness, but since it’s the season for it — let’s talk about books that inspire gratitude. As readers, we can really…
On a busy travel day, it’s as Ferris Bueller says: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” But between jam-packed itineraries, bus stations, airport gates, bustling cities, long hikes, and more, it can be hard to find the…
Las Cruces can fly under the radar sometimes, but it’s a beautiful place well deserving of your travel time, whether it’s a quick weekend destination or a stop on a longer road trip. Tucked in the scenic Mesilla Valley and bounded by the impressive Organ Mountains, Las Cruces offers great…
There is something deeply human about seeing a horizon and wanting to go beyond it. We are curious creatures. We want to know what’s out there. Our fingers are always itching toward the blank edges of the map. And when we can’t go there ourselves, there are other ways to…
Tourist spots, particularly in the US, often have a lot going on: flashy sights, fine dining, entertainment, shops, the works. But what about Bodie? This California ghost town has no restaurants, no gas station, no reenactments or stage shows. The only restrooms in the park are outhouses, with flush toilets…
You can’t tell what it is from the road. Driving through a seemingly endless stretch of desert scrubland with distant purple mountains filling in the boundaries of the horizon, you notice the protective roof structure first. It looks like a UFO hovering over the desert. There’s something misshapen beneath it,…
“Anytime you want to know what it feels like to go to another planet,” says Dennis Sullivan, President of the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association, “you go to Bonneville Salt Flats.”2 He isn’t wrong. Stepping onto the 30,000-acre expanse of salt crust on the western edge of the Great Salt…