Essays
Essays · January 05, 2026
Travel blogs didn’t start out broken. They began as personal, imperfect records shaped by curiosity and uncertainty. This essay looks at how travel writing gradually shifted toward lists, optimization, and authority—and what gets lost when content replaces attention. It’s not a takedown, just a case for slowing down, noticing more, and claiming less certainty.
Essays · November 24, 2025
Air travel didn’t become less civil because people stopped saying please—that happened when flying became cramped, costly, and engineered for discomfort. The Golden Age of Travel never really existed. People don’t miss hats and suits. They miss feeling like the experience was meant for them.
Essays · August 24, 2025
During a month in Harlem, I became fascinated by the neighborhood’s storefront churches. Some occupied former shops, others appeared to meet in homes, and many belonged to congregations I’d never heard of. What began as a photo safari led to a deeper story about migration, community, and the making of Harlem.
Essays · August 07, 2025
A visit to New York’s newly reopened Frick Collection comes with one unusual rule: no photography inside the galleries. For travelers used to documenting everything, that small restriction changes the entire experience, forcing a slower, more attentive way of looking—and leaving behind an oddly liberating absence in the camera roll.
Essays · July 14, 2025
Five weeks in Zaragoza revealed a city with deep history and little interest in performing it. From Roman infrastructure to royal consolidation to a 2,000-year-old miracle, Zaragoza carries serious weight lightly—offering everyday livability, quiet museums, easy access to Madrid, and a pace that makes staying feel natural.
Essays · June 09, 2025
Bilbao isn’t interested in dazzling visitors. It’s a city built to function—shaped by industry, guided by durability, and confident enough to deploy spectacle only when it matters.
Essays · May 31, 2025
Barcelona is more than the sunny postcard people imagine. It’s a city shaped by Romans, merchants, foreign monarchs, and a long memory. Beautiful, reserved, and quietly self-possessed, Barcelona takes its time. It only lets you in when it’s sure you mean it.
Essays · April 12, 2025
San Juan’s history is written in stone. The old walls, angled ramparts, and Atlantic wind tell you the city was built to guard the Caribbean long before it became part of the U.S. Today the fortifications frame a working capital—Spanish in its bones, Caribbean in its energy, American in its paperwork. The city was shaped by empire, but it’s lived in with resilience, humor, and clarity.
Essays · March 25, 2025
There are three faces to Mérida— one carved in stone, one kept in memory, and one still playing out in the streets. And all three versions layer neatly on top of each other…
Essays · July 09, 2024
Captain William Bligh. The Mutiny on the Bounty. Oh, but there’s so much more to the story. Despite being a (jerk) his entire life, he rose through the ranks of the Royal Navy, even becoming the governor of proto-Australia at one point. Talk about failing up.