Five Places to Follow the Harvest Moon
Five rituals for crossing into another season.
I like the equinox because it is one of the few things all of us are doing at once.
The earth tilts. The light changes. Something ripens. Something gets put away.
And humans, apparently incapable of letting a celestial event pass without food, fire, alcohol or some kind of parade, make a festival out of it.
So forget the fall-foliage checklist. (Well, we can save that for another time…)
Here are five places to notice the season actually turning.
There will be books.
There will be food.
There will be excellent places to sleep.
And somewhere in Nebraska, there will probably be a goat.
The Painter’s China
Some places make me want to write.
China makes me want to learn how to paint.
Not well.
Let's establish that immediately.
But there are landscapes that seem to require a different language. Mountains disappearing into white. Cobalt dragged across porcelain. A garden composed around the exact shape of an empty window. A thousand-year-old wall still carrying the color someone placed there by hand.
Maybe this isn't a trip about learning to paint at all.
Maybe it's about learning to look.
Here are five places I'd start.
7 Places for Traveling through the Chakras
Maybe you choose a trip because you found a cheap flight.
Maybe you choose it because you’ve been staring at photos of a particular hotel for six months.
And maybe you let your chakras pick.
Think of this less as a prescription for energetic enlightenment and more as a different kind of map: seven small American towns, seven energy centers, seven excuses to go somewhere and pay attention to what wakes up when you get there.
No spiritual proficiency required.
Where Would Anaïs Nin Go Now?
Five cities for the sensual, curious, and slightly unruly.
Anaïs Nin knew how to make a life feel like literature.
Paris. Diaries. Psychoanalysis. Artists. Affairs. Obsession. Rooms full of conversation. A relentless curiosity about what happened beneath the respectable surface of things.
So this is not a historical Anaïs Nin itinerary.
It’s an imagined one.
If Nin arrived today with a notebook, a good coat, several complicated relationships, and absolutely no intention of behaving sensibly, where might she go?
I have some ideas.
The Virgo Trip
Five places for beautiful details, slow mornings, and getting your shit together.
September is Virgo energy.
Which, depending on your relationship with astrology, means either Mercury is doing something important in the sky or you suddenly feel compelled to buy a new notebook and reorganize your entire life.
I respect both interpretations.
Virgo is associated with ritual, discernment, craft, the body, service, detail, and the quiet satisfaction of putting things where they belong.
And that makes for a very particular kind of trip.
Not ten cities in fourteen days.
Not running through an airport with one shoe in your hand.
A Virgo trip has a beautiful little hotel. A market in the morning. Something made by hand. Long walks. Good food. A book. Maybe a spa. Definitely a notebook.
Everything has a purpose, but nothing needs to be hurried.
And no, you don’t have to be a Virgo.
Maybe you just need to borrow one for a week.
Elemental Travel: Let Earth, Water, Air, or Fire Choose Your Next Trip
A Return to the Elements
Travel has long been about discovery—new landscapes, cultures, and experiences. But increasingly, travelers are seeking something deeper: a connection to the raw forces that shape our planet. Elemental travel, a rising trend in immersive, nature-driven tourism, offers a way to experience destinations through the fundamental energies of earth, water, air, and fire.
This shift is not just about adventure; it’s about reconnecting with the natural world in a visceral, meaningful way. As modern life becomes more digitized, people are yearning for tangible, grounding experiences. Elemental travel answers this call, offering journeys that tap into ancient wisdom, spiritual traditions, and the sheer power of the natural world.