We took a five-day trip to Belize to celebrate my dad’s wedding in early 2017. The wedding was held at Turtle Inn in Placencia, an intimate resort owned by Francis Ford Coppola. All of the wedding guests stayed in beachside cottages looking out onto the Pacific Ocean. We enjoyed tropical cocktails at the beachside bar, borrowed snorkeling equipment to explore the reefs right off their beach, and loved our private and spacious thatched cottage with …
Cusco, Peru
In 2012, Andrew and I traveled to Peru to hike the Inca Trail. Before starting the 4-day, 3-night hike to Machu Picchu, we spent a few days in Cusco to help acclimatize to the elevation. Cusco is situated 11,152 feet above sea level, so altitude sickness is common. Andrew was mostly fine, but I did feel short of breath and lightheaded for the first few days. We drank coca tea and stocked up on candies and …
Why We Ban Social Media on Our Vacations
Very early in our relationship, Andrew and I made a suggestion to one another: What if we banned social media while we were on vacation? No checking Facebook, no posting on Instagram, no checking emails. We wanted to spend as little time as possible looking at our phones and as much time connecting with one another and exploring the place we were visiting. The result is amazingly freeing. Some people have described doing this as …
The Inca Trail, Peru
In 2012, Andrew and I traveled to Peru to hike the Inca Trail, a 4-day, 3-night hike to Machu Picchu that takes you up and down mountain trails and to many pristine and otherwise inaccessible Incan sites along the way. We flew into Lima, then hopped a short flight to Cusco, where we stayed for a few days to help acclimatize to the altitude. Cusco is situated 11,152 feet above sea level, so altitude sickness is …
My Favorite New York City Museums
New York has an absolute wealth of museums to visit. In my 10 years living in New York, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time in many of them, so I thought this might be a good place to share some of my favorites, as well as a few I think you should skip. The Met What to see: No trip to New York is complete without a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. …
A Bachelorette in Snowshoe, WV
This January, we celebrated my friend Lexy’s bachelorette weekend at the Snowshoe ski resortin West Virginia. We rented an adorable cabin in the Treetops section of the resort. The cabin was absolutely perfect, with rustic ski decor, cute bunk rooms, and a cozy fireplace. Our first night there, we made dinner together, had a lingerie shower, and played a ton of bachelorette games created by my talented friend Jae. She delivered the most impressive game …
Our Christmas Tree & Traditions
Just like our yearly trip to Wightman’s Farm for pumpkin picking and hay rides, cutting down a Christmas tree is another holiday tradition I share with my husband, his brother, our sister-in-law and their kids. We rent a minivan and drive out to Algers Tree Farm in New Jersey, where each family chops down a Christmas tree, and we make an effort to snap a holiday picture for Christmas cards. This year’s tree just fits in …
My Favorite Books of 2017
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi The best book I read this year and the one I have recommended the most to others. This powerful book should be required reading, as it taught me so much about the black experience, both here in America and in Africa, over the past two centuries. Homegoing follows two branches of a family tree, starting in eighteenth-century Ghana. One branch of the family stays in Africa, while the other is sold into slavery …
Holiday Tradition: Kolache
When I was about 13 or 14, my parents shipped me to Youngstown, Ohio, to learn how to make kolache from my grandmother. Kolache (I say “Co-La-Chee,” but my grandmother always pronounced it “Co-Lawtch”) is the traditional family dessert that is always present at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other family events—even my wedding. My grandmother was Slovak, and learned the dessert from her mother. Our version is a nut-filled roll made with a buttery dough and …
What I’m Clicking: November
More and more I’m interested in good long-form writing. And by long form, I mean more than a two-paragraph news blurb. The market for this kind of writing has been decimated in the past decade—to write an article of any length is complete anathema to the digital reader. But part of me wants these stories now. They are interesting. They explore topics I hadn’t known I wanted to learn more about. They tell me more …
Caitlin Kenney Smith 