Twelve months ago, I did something mildly irresponsible with company money: I bought three of the cheapest hardshell luggage sets I could find, handed them to my research crew, and told them to travel like people who don’t care about their bags. Checked bags on budget carriers. Overstuffed shells dragged across cobblestone. One set even … Read more
The envelope sat on my desk for two weeks before I opened it. Inside: every receipt from a twelve-day assignment across Portugal and Spain, saved out of a stubborn habit my team has ribbed me about for years. My editor and I spread them across the table one Friday afternoon with a calculator and a … Read more
There’s a spreadsheet open on my desk right now with eleven rows in it, and every one of them is a suitcase. Not suitcases I own — suitcases I’m watching. Sometime around October 7 and 8, Amazon will run its fall Prime event, Prime Big Deal Days, and the weeks between now and then are … Read more
The sizer at Gate B14 in Denver has a way of settling arguments. The Frontier agent didn’t raise her voice, didn’t threaten, didn’t even sigh. She just pointed at the welded steel box bolted to the counter, the one stamped 14″ x 18″ x 8″, and waited. My nominally compliant duffel went in wheels-first and … Read more
Three backpacks. Sixty bucks total. One cross-country trip that included a delayed flight, a torrential downpour in Denver, and a zipper failure at the worst possible moment. That is the unglamorous reality behind the TikTok hype surrounding Amazon’s most viral budget travel backpacks — and I wanted to know if any of them actually deserve … Read more
There’s a stretch of late August that feels like someone handed you a VIP pass to the entire country. The families have gone home. The college kids are back on campus. And somehow — miraculously — the weather hasn’t gotten the memo that summer is ending. I stumbled into this window by accident three years … Read more
Every road trip starts the same way. You promise yourself this time will be different. You’ll eat well, save money, and avoid the fluorescent-lit trap of gas station food courts. Then hour six hits, your stomach growls, and you find yourself holding a warm chicken sandwich and a bag of chips that cost fourteen dollars. … Read more
The Game-Changing Freedom of Powering Your RV While You Drive There’s a particular kind of anxiety that strikes every RVer when you’re miles from the nearest campground, watching your battery monitor dip toward that dangerous red zone. Maybe you’ve been there— parked in some stunning dispersed camping spot, far from electrical hookups, doing the mental … Read more
I’ve spent the last three summers chasing sunscreen-stained horizons along the Gulf of Mexico, and I’m going to let you in on something the resort brochures won’t tell you: the best beach towns on this coast aren’t the ones with the high-rise condos and swim-up bars. They’re the ones where the shrimp boats still come … Read more
I spent seven days in Yellowstone last September for under $400. Not per activity — total. That included gas from Denver, campground fees, every meal, and a park pass I split with two friends. When people tell me national parks are expensive, I get it — the lodges charge resort prices, the restaurants inside park … Read more