Travel & Adventure

"And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
- Louis Armstrong

Travel holds a unique importance because it invites you to step beyond the familiar and experience life in a more vivid, meaningful way. It challenges your assumptions, builds resilience, and encourages you to embrace uncertainty with confidence. Through new places, foods, and connections, travel awakens your senses and sparks a deeper sense of curiosity and wonder. It can be both grounding and transformative, reminding you of how vast the world is while helping you better understand your place within it. In making time to explore, you invest not just in experiences, but in personal growth and a richer, more inspired life.

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Book cover for Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Review: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Into Thin Air is a gripping and harrowing nonfiction account of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, written by journalist and climber Jon Krakauer. Blending personal memoir with investigative reporting, the book recounts one of the deadliest climbing seasons in Everest’s history, offering a detailed and deeply human look at ambition, risk, and survival at extreme altitude.

Laura Wakefield

Book cover for A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

Review: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

A Walk in the Woods is a witty, observant, and often laugh-out-loud account of one man’s attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Written by travel writer Bill Bryson, the book blends personal memoir, travelogue, and environmental commentary into an entertaining narrative about ambition, nature, and the unpredictable realities of long-distance hiking.

Laura Wakefield

Book cover for On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves

Review: On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves

As an adventure traveler myself, this speaks to me on a personal level, of following passion and living the dream. On the Hippie Trail is a vivid and reflective travel memoir that follows an overland journey from Istanbul to Kathmandu along the famous “hippie trail” of the 1970s. Written by travel writer Rick Steves, the book combines travel narrative, cultural observation, and personal reflection to show how a formative journey through Asia shaped his worldview and influence

Laura Wakefield

Book cover for Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

Review: Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

Under the Tuscan Sun is a warm, sensory-rich memoir that celebrates the pleasures of slowing down, renovating a crumbling home, and building a life rooted in place. Written by poet and travel writer Frances Mayes, the book follows her experience purchasing and restoring an old villa in the Tuscan countryside, blending travel writing, memoir, and reflections on food, landscape, and belonging.

Laura Wakefield

Book Cover for Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

Review: Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

A recurring theme in Out of Africa is the idea of belonging and displacement. Dinesen writes with deep affection for the land, yet there is also a sense of impermanence and separation. She often reflects on the tension between her European identity and her life in Africa, as well as the inevitability of change and departure. This emotional undercurrent gives the memoir a quiet melancholy that runs beneath its beauty.

Laura Wakefield

Book Cover for Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Review: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is a reflective memoir that follows a year-long journey of self-discovery across Italy, India, and Indonesia. Written after a painful divorce and a period of emotional crisis, the book traces Gilbert’s attempt to rebuild her sense of identity by seeking pleasure, spiritual discipline, and balance in different parts of the world. The author reminds me of my self on my own personal path, and I appreciated her insights.

Laura Wakefield

Tips to Avoid Overpacking

Packing light sounds like a dream—until you’re standing over your suitcase thinking, “But what if I need this?” The truth is, most of us don’t actually need as much as we think we do. Packing light isn’t about going without—it’s about being intentional so your trip feels easier, more flexible, and a lot less stressful.

Laura Wakefield

Photo of wine and snacks from Arrington Vineyard in TN

Arrington Vineyards - TN

Bring a blanket and a picnic, or purchase food and wine onsite. There is no charge to listen to the bands and wander the grounds. Parking is also free. Most weekends there are gourmet food trucks, wine tastings and picnic tables available. Date night, family fun, hanging out with friends or parties. It's all around casual good time. Gorgeous views from the lawn area, and they'll even let you stroll through the vineyard itself.

Laura Wakefield

Charming Key West, Florida

If you’re looking for the quintessential laid back island town, Key West is the place for you. The furthest south you can get in the continental US, it has romance and character to spare. Friendly locals, plenty to do and see and did I mention chickens that roam free in the street?

Laura Wakefield

Machu Picchu

As we stood looking down on the city we had worked so hard to come and see he reminded us that Macchu Picchu was just the destination. It was the journey that was everything. And it was. Thank you Peru for the memories.

Laura Wakefield