USA

First time in New York City? Honest tips on JFK transfers, hotels, the subway, summer heat, food and attractions from my 3.5-day NYC trip.

The free places that made my New York dream feel real, from The Battery and Times Square to Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park, plus a Roosevelt Island escape.

A personal week in El Paso, Texas: more than thirty years of friendship, a Fourth of July with family, desert adventures, murals, Mexican food and the cowboy boots I had dreamed about for eighteen years.

My first trip to Las Vegas: the Strip, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Fremont Street, our real hotel stay — and why I knew almost immediately I’d come back.

Los Angeles didn’t take my heart, but Hollywood, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Griffith Observatory and Universal Studios still gave me some very good stories.

My son wanted to drive from Las Vegas to Los Angeles the sensible way. I wanted Route 66. He is a get-there person. I am a but-we’re-already-here-so-we-have-to-see-it person. He was driving, so technically he had the steering wheel. I had the itinerary. Guess who won. We took the I-15 corridor from Las Vegas toward Los…

White Sands New Mexico looks a little like someone built the perfect beach and then forgot to add the sea. Brilliant white sand. Blue sky. Mountains in the distance. And when we visited, almost nobody else was there. I remember looking around and thinking there were maybe four other cars besides ours. That made an…

I had wanted to go to the United States for as long as I can remember. Not in a “maybe one day” kind of way. America had been sitting somewhere on my travel wish list for years. Then I finally had a reason to go. A friend of mine lives in Texas. So the original plan was…

There are thousands of lists of NYC attractions online. This isn’t another one. Check CityPASS Prices & What’s Included → NYC Attractions: Empire State Building — yes, absolutely For me, the Empire State Building is still one of the New York essentials. There are newer observation decks competing for attention, but this one comes with…

New York has a funny way of turning a normal day into a walking challenge you never officially signed up for. On one of my days in the city, my phone counted 29,278 steps — 21.4 kilometres (13.3 miles). That is not a theoretical packing-list number. That is what actually happened. The shoes I wore…