my favorites: 8 stunning views

bixby bridge in big sur, california

bixby bridge in big sur, california

every year around this time, i start to get a bit of cabin fever.  it’s officially “busy season” for me at work, and i leave civilization for awhile and hibernate in conference rooms around the dallas metroplex.  inevitably, the travel itch comes along as i dream of warmer weather, exotic locations, and – due to lack of windows in the aforementioned conference rooms – a better view.

central california: farm to rail to sea.

central california: farm to rail to sea.

there’s no sense in fighting it, so i’ve compiled a few of my favorite views from my travels.  seeing these sights in person have produced gasps, “ah ha!” moments, a bewilderment at this crazy amazing place we call earth, and a larger-than-i’d-like-to-admit terrifying fear of heights.  enjoy the views, and please let me know some of your favorites that i’ve missed!

the view of cape town from table mountain

the view of cape town from table mountain

my husband and i traveled to south africa this past summer, and absolutely fell in love with the country.  read more about my trip to cape town (and table mountain!) here.

new york, as seen from brooklyn.

new york, my love, as seen from brooklyn. it doesn’t get better than this. period.

a year ago,during a work trip to new york, i fought the urge to stay in manhattan and crossed the river to brooklyn for the entire weekend, and was more than pleasantly surprised.  more brooklyn tidbits here.

santorini, aka my favorite place the whole entire world.

santorini, aka my favorite place the whole entire world.

ok, so santorini seems fake.  the photos that look fake?  they’re not.  the entire island looks exactly this perfect (at least, when it’s not erupting).  read more about santorini here.  spoiler alert: it will steal your heart.

barcelona, as seen from park guell

barcelona, as seen from park guell

barcelona is a city of color and life and art.  my best friend and i visited two years ago and it has stayed with me since.  if you only have a limited amount of time in europe, this is a must-see city.  you can read more about my favorites in barcelona here and here.

oregon pine trees, as seen from the window of our train, en route to seattle from los angeles

oregon pine trees, as seen from the window of our train, en route to seattle from los angeles

the amtrak from los angeles to seattle was so unique and reminiscent of bygone days that i keep dreaming of my next train trip.  read more about the adventure here.

the stunning mcway falls in big sur, california

the stunning mcway falls in big sur, california. this was one of my favorite vacations to date…must write about it soon!

travel tips: how to make the most of business travel

strolling past the floralis generica (giant silver flower that opens and closes) in buenos aires during a work trip during a break to explore.

strolling past the floralis generica (giant silver flower that opens and closes) in buenos aires during a work trip during a break to explore.

i travel a fair bit for my work; mostly domestic travel, but every now and then i get the opportunity to travel internationally.  since travel is, oh, just my favorite thing to do ever, i always want to take advantage of these trips to see new sites and experience the new place.  but that can be difficult when your primary reason is business, and not pleasure.  to help, i’ve compiled a list of things that will help add some jaunts to your business travel.

  • remember you are there to work.  it’s great that your employer is sending you to france for a week, but they probably aren’t going to like it too much if you show up late each day after staying out too late the night before exploring on your own.  remember that work is your priority when you travel for business, and that you have earned this right.  don’t screw it up by slacking off while you’re there – you may not be invited back.
  • understand your itinerary in advance.  work with your colleagues to understand how your days will be structured.  will you have a break during any days, or perhaps a dinner where you are on your own?  if so, take advantage of that time to explore on your own.  on a recent business trip to verona, we had a two-hour break before dinner.  after catching up with my emails and to-do list first (see #1), i grabbed an umbrella and headed out to explore the old part of the city on my own,  which brings me to my next tip:
a quick jaunt to the river in verona after wrapping up work for the day

a quick jaunt to the river in verona after wrapping up work for the day

  • plan ahead.  understand where you would like to visit should you have the time.  know where the sites are in relation to your hotel or office, so that you are ready for a quick jaunt should the opportunity arise.  i had mapped out the sites i wanted to see using CityMaps2Go before hand (see more on this app here), so i was able to head out immediately and not stop to plan during my precious down time.
a quick photo of verona's castle bridge while walking back from our office to our hotel

a quick photo of verona’s castle bridge while walking back from our office to our hotel

  • use your colleagues.  are you meeting with people based in that area’s office?  ask them for recommendations for excellent restaurants or parts of town.  they know the area best and will be able to point you to the best spots that aren’t necessarily on the tourist radar.  have them join you for meals to point you to the local dishes, and learn about their culture over drinks and dessert.  some of my favorite moments while traveling for work are the relationships i’ve made with colleagues and clients.
trying brazil's famous local feijoada with brazilian coworkers during a work trip to brazil last year

trying brazil’s famous local feijoada with brazilian coworkers during a work trip to brazil last year

  • try to extend your trip.  if able, see if you can add a day or two on the front or back of your trip.  if the flight cost is the same, and you’re willing to pay for the additional nights at the hotel, many employers will not mind.  i was unable to do this for my most recent trip (again, see #1!), but i was able to do this last spring when i visited argentina.  we arrived a day early and explored on our own, and were able to get a good night’s sleep prior to early meetings the following morning.
checking out the brownstones of brooklyn heights during a weekend in nyc following a work training in manhattan the previous friday

checking out the brownstones of brooklyn heights during a weekend in nyc following a work training in manhattan the previous friday

what are some of your business travel tips, or some of your favorite business trip destinations?

my jaunts: brooklyn, new york

kite day in the park in dumbo, with a great view of downtown manhattan in the background

kite day in the park in dumbo, with a great view of downtown manhattan in the background

“you know where i make my money?” the cab driver asked me as i sped to jfk, with williamsburg in the rearview mirror: “brooklyn.”

after several friends moved to brooklyn from manhattan a few years ago, i realized something must be up. after all of the years of carrie bradshaw scoffing at the idea of brooklyn, and cabs intent on never crossing that bridge, i figured it was just a place for new families escaping the manhattan crowds and artists in search of cheaper rents. while it does have a healthy dose of both, it also has – as i found on my short weekend trip a few weeks ago – action, vibrancy, and some pretty cool unique spaces.

mast brothers chocolate in williamsburg

mast brothers chocolate in williamsburg

the first thing that surprised me about brooklyn is that there are people everywhere. obviously normal in manhattan, but for some reason i didn’t expect this in brooklyn. there are also skyscrapers, fourth floor walk-ups, hole-in-the-wall restaurants and large, commercial bars. also, brooklyn is big. like, really big. like, i can’t walk across it like i can manhattan big. so where to even start? too overwhelming for one short weekend, i decided to narrow my trip to something i knew a lot about my from days in los feliz, los angeles: hipsterville. so, williamsburg it was!

a few resources i used for suggestions:

my husband and i started the trip by renting an apartment in the heart of northern williamsburg off of airbnb.com. for about half of what an area hotel would cost, we were closer to the action and had an entire apartment to ourselves. it was also really interesting to see how people live in new york. having a three bedroom house in dallas has separate issues (e.g. the need to purchase lawn equipment) than having a fourth-floor walkup in williamsburg (e.g. how to store your clothes when your unit has no closets). after leaving our things and changing clothes, we headed to spuyten duyvil’s backyard for beers and friends. when we started to want some food, we ended up at berry park, where i got a kick out of all of the skateboards parked inside.

beers in the garden at spuyten duyvil in williamsburg

beers in the garden at spuyten duyvil in williamsburg

saturday was spent reveling in the fall air (hello, city trench!) and covering a lot of ground. walking shoes were a necessity! after a delicious french-press brunch at egg (cash only, like many places in brooklyn), we took the east river ferry (it’s a boat, people) south to dumbo (district under the manhattan bridge overpass), where we strolled around checking out jane’s carousel, powerHouse books, and the loft dan humphrey grew up in before moving into the van der woodsen penthouse on the upper east side. brooklyn heights – with its brownstones, lush gardens, and great views of manhattan – is just south of dumbo, so we walked down the brooklyn heights promenade, enjoying the views of downtown new york and the crisp fall air.

the humphreys (dan, jenny, rufus - the whole bunch) lived here before moving in with the van der woodsens. if you don't know what i'm talking about, then you're not doing it right.

the humphreys (dan, jenny, rufus – the whole bunch) lived here before moving in with the van der woodsens. if you don’t know what i’m talking about, then you’re not doing it right.

after lunch at superfine, it was back up to williamsburg, where we checked out the sketchbrook project, which was one of my favorite finds of the entire trip (check out my previous post on it here), and mast brothers chocolate  (see photo  above), which i had read about in kinfolk and lived up to its reputation. i was extremely surprised and excited to find mast brothers chocolate bars being sold at poketo in little tokyo, los angeles, just one week later. a rest was in order to watch some college football (it is that time of year), at which point i saw roger sterling walk by. apparently celebrities aren’t just in la.

the baby soda jazz band playing in the delightfully intimate cafe moto

the baby soda jazz band playing in the delightfully intimate cafe moto

c’est christine mentioned great live jazz at cafe moto, and if there is one thing to know about me, it is that i like live jazz. so a few of us walked over and planted ourselves at a table next to the baby soda jazz band, where we stayed for about four hours. fantastic jazz, excellent food, wonderful company; the night could not have been better. we purchased two cds, called for encores, and had a generally merry time. would absolutely return.

baby soda jazz at cafe moto

baby soda jazz at cafe moto

with only one day left, we knew we had to cover a lot of ground. thankfully we had some friends to help. starting out with breakfast donuts at dough in bed-stuy, we savored lemon poppyseed and chocolate caramel sea salt donuts (hello, delicious), and then attempted to walk it off by crossing south into crown heights and then prospect park and park slope. the walk down eastern parkway was spectacular with leafy promenades, the botanical gardens, the brooklyn museum, the magestic brooklyn library, and finally into prospect park. the size of the buildings was completely unexpected as i did not realize just how large brooklyn was. i instantly fell in love. i can totally see why people move here and stay, and find it to have enough city while still being home at the same time. and since now the secret of brooklyn is out, you better get there fast. but you can rest assured that the cabs will be there, too.

donuts at dough in bed-stuy - with flavors that were too difficult to choose between!

donuts at dough in bed-stuy – with flavors that were too difficult to choose between!

who should go: indie music lovers, book worms, readers of kinfolk
what to read: motherless brooklyn by jonathan lethem
what to pack: comfortable flats or kicks for walking, light jackets for fall to take you from cool mornings and evenings into warm days

strolling through brooklyn heights reminded me of watching sesame street

strolling through brooklyn heights reminded me of watching sesame street

dancing in front of the majestic brooklyn public library

dancing in front of the majestic brooklyn public library

my jaunts: brooklyn, los angeles, oh my!

a beautiful day in brooklyn spent walking along the east river

a beautiful day in brooklyn spent walking along the east river

apologies for the delay in posting – there are just too many things going on! i haven’t had a chance to upload anything substantial these past couple of weeks, but there are so many places i’ve gone and things i’ve seen that i want to share. with trips to manhattan, brooklyn, and los angeles in the past several weeks, i have too much to write and not enough time to do it. in the meantime, a few things i came across during my travels that i just adore:

  • the sketchbook project in brooklyn – this is a library based in williamsburg that also roves across the country and encourages artists, writers, even YOU to sketch in a notebook, tag with themes, send back to the project, and then allow others to check out your work. you are notified each time someone checks out your book, and you can check out others’ books through random selection or by searching with key words for themes people have associated to books. so hipster, so fun.
the sketchbook project library in williamsburg, brooklyn

the sketchbook project library in williamsburg, brooklyn

  • my new book – one of my favorite things to do in new cities is check out their independent bookstores. my friend, matt, took me to powerHouse books in DUMBO (Distict Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass…seriously), brooklyn, and i purchased a copy of “a week at the airport” by alain de botton. basically, he was given access to an airport for a week, and he writes about what he saw, his adventures, and who he met. there are photos. i cannot wait to read it. problem: i still need to finish infinite jest, and i only recently made it to the halfway mark circa page 600.
powerHouse books in dumbo, brooklyn, where i purchased "a week at the airport" by alain de botton

powerHouse books in dumbo, brooklyn, where i purchased “a week at the airport” by alain de botton

  • the magic castle – when i lived in la, i thought this elusive magic castle was dumb. basically, it’s this old castle-like house where a bunch of magicians go each night and perform tricks and illusions for members (and their guests!) who adhere to a strict dress code and pay a lot for dinner. except then i heard that neil patrick harris was the president. so off we went, underdressed in business casual but overamazed at the ridiculous amount of times i kept saying “no really, how did you do that??” no photos were allowed inside, but suffice it to say that the three stories worth of narrow hallways lined with pictures to the ceiling, a piano with a ghost that plays any song you request, and tricks performed up close and even in your hand will leave you amazed…and full from the delicious meal, as well. i shall return.
red carpet at the magic castle (like my work badge?)

red carpet at the magic castle (like my work badge?)

i hope you have been just as busy and exploring new places on your own. let me know if you’ve found any i should check out! i’m looking forward to being back in town for a few weeks to have some adventures around dallas.