New Orleans Didn’t Make Our Shortlist. It Ambushed Us.

We came to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. We did not come to buy a house. Within a week of arriving, we were sitting somewhere in the French Quarter trying to figure out how to become homeowners in a city we hadn’t planned to live in. The rental we’d booked […]

Why Food is the Only Souvenir That Truly Matters

Over 27 years of travel, we’ve bought our fair share of trinkets. We have shelves of wood carvings, decorative bowls, a collection of caps, and enough magnets to cover three refrigerators. But if you asked us to describe our favorite memories from a trip five years ago, we wouldn’t talk […]

Beyond the Pier: Navigating Shore Excursions Without the Stress

When we first started cruising, one of the biggest “culture shocks” for us was the shore excursion. Coming from a background of independent travel where we planned our day, the idea of being funneled onto a bus with 40 other people felt, frankly, a bit daunting. We worried we’d lose […]