Aaron and I flew to Alaska a few days before the rest of the family, and we made the most of it. This post covers the part of our Alaska cruisetour that came before the ship ever left the dock: the glass dome train to Talkeetna, the lodge at the base of Denali, and two nights in Anchorage that were nothing like what I expected. If you are trying to decide whether the land portion of an Alaska cruisetour is worth adding to your trip, this one is for you.

A long-delayed anniversary journey through Venice, the Bernina Express, Zurich, and finally Paris. If you’re dreaming of a Paris anniversary trip, this is the most personal chapter of our story.

When I was a little girl, I had an earring holder shaped like the Eiffel Tower. Decades later, my husband and I finally took the anniversary trip we had planned for our 25th — two years late, six cities, seventeen days through Italy and Paris. This is the story of the Amalfi Coast drive that stopped me in my tracks, the Rome food tour I now book for every client, the Paris photo shoot along the Seine, and the twist I never saw coming: I went for Paris — and Italy stole my heart.