TRAVEL WRITING
NEWSLETTER
The France House is my travel newsletter about making a second home and a (more) creative life. It explores France and travel, art and other creativities, history and how its cultural imprints live on today, what builds and sustains a good “quality of life,” and choosing the unexpected path.
Visit the website to read previous pieces and subscribe for email updates about new ones.
SELECTED TRAVEL ESSAYS
“Matter” appears in in The Smart Set.
An essay about Avalon: searching for the mythical island in France during the pandemic, how place feeds stories and how technology can deplete them, the connection between pointillism and pixels, Roxy Music and Marie de France, and the nature of art and pilgrimage.
“Matter” is cited as distinguished in Best American Essays 2023.
“This 5,000 Year Old House” appears in River Teeth.
Set in Scotland’s Orkney Islands, this travel essay explores the calling of places, the exotic remnants of prehistoric culture, architectures of the living and the dead, and the nature of creativity.
“This 5,000 Year Old House” is cited as distinguished in Best American Essays 2021.
“Setting Stonehenge” appears in The Smart Set.
An essay about traveling to the Stone Circle for one sunrise hour. Considers imaginary histories, breakthroughs in archaeology, the nature of technology, and how the search for meaning in the Stone Age and our Silicon Age compares.
Republished in my memoir in essays, Mobile Home.
“Calling” appears in The Common.
A travel memoir set in Bukit Tinggi, West Sumatra, on the world’s largest matrilineal society. Property and businesses are passed through the female line, yet the society is devoutly Muslim.
SELECTED TRAVEL FEATURES
“Under the Spell of Quetzacoatl“: The magic mountain town of Tepoztlan has long been a festive hub of religion and mysticism.
“Zihuatanejo, Village by the Sea“: Low-rise hotels draw low-key vacationers to Zihuatanejo, a sparkling bay on the Mexican Riviera.
“How Green Is the Desert“: In western Tunisia, the oases of Tozeur and Douz defy the climate with a dazzling display of lushness.
“San Francisco for Less Gold“: An art aficionado gets her fill (and eats well too) and still comes in just under a tight budget.
“A Pompeii in Slow Motion“: The Neolithic village at Ceide Fields in County Mayo has been well-preserved, thanks to a bog that began to overwhelm it 5,000 years ago.
“A Well-Peppered Landscape“: Hot sands and hotter chilies in New Mexico: Mesilla, Las Cruces, and White Sands National Monument
“Fun Across the Board“: Santa Cruz draws thrill seekers to its roller coasters and surfers to its waves.
“Days of Wine and Enzymes “: A polenta scrub, Swedish massage and Japanese enzyme bath are highlights at three Sonoma Valley spas.
INTERVIEW
Here’s an interview I did for best-selling author Rolf Potts’s Travel Writers Series about how I first became a travel writer, how my work has evolved over time, and my advice for writers getting started—and for creative travel more broadly.
