Author Archives: Amy Martin

I haven’t written here for a while—and not because I haven’t had some wonderful wanderful adventures. Or because I didn’t want to or had writer’s block or because haven’t had fantastic ideas and words swirling in my head during the cracks of my day and as I was falling asleep. I just couldn’t seem toContinue reading “Just stop. And restart.”

Four perfect places to spend a Sunday… It begins with a deliciously lazy sleep-in on a warm, blue-sky November Sunday morning. The stretch and yawn of a slow wake up with no agenda planned, no obligations to dread. Just a blissful day to do whatever you like. Or nothing at all. Or everything. 1. AContinue reading “Wandering my city: Kansas City”

Let the good times roll, New Orleans… Everyone’s a tourist looking for a little fun in New Orleans. It’s not the place to try to blend in, hold back, diet or deny yourself whatever indulgences you desire. And as soon as you figure that out, why fight it? Why not fall into the heat andContinue reading “Laissez les bon temps rouler“

There is a delicious anonymity in traveling alone; a stranger among strangers, each with a unique purpose of destination, connected only for an instant or a few hours in life’s commute from here to there. As an introvert, in general and on most occasions, I loathe the exercise of small talk. Socializing exhausts me. But put meContinue reading “Anonymous in New York”

My colleague Emily describes Las Vegas as a woman who’s trying too hard. And that, she is. Too much hot pink lipstick. Too many sparkly rings and baubles. A gaudy, cheap dress that’s too short and too tight. Too much booze and food and vice. The first time I lose I drink whiskey, the secondContinue reading “Ooh, Las Vegas (ain’t no place for a poor girl like me)”

“Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.” –Anthony Bourdain Food is, without a doubt, one of the best ways to explore a culture. This is why I’m grateful for my parents’Continue reading “Things I’ve eaten”

I recently pulled up my photos from a week in Tokyo back in 2014. Nearly all the photos were of noodles or temples. For me, that’s not a bad thing. It’s just telling about a few things I hold sacred, especially in travel: good food, history and peaceful places. The trip to Tokyo followed aContinue reading “Noodles & Temples”

Do not climb if unprepared to hike back down. Those are the parting words on a sign just before the trailhead to the Crags, Devil’s Playground and, ultimately, Pike’s Peak in Divide, Colorado. Do not climb if unprepared to hike back down. Your life depends on it. You are your own rescuer. But that isContinue reading “Hiking alone”

Sometimes I lose perspective, and life or some challenge or setback or negative feedback sends me into the Pit Of Despair. And then I remember that last summer, I climbed Pike’s Peak. I (f&#%ing) climbed Pike’s Peak. Alone. That wasn’t even the hike I was planning that day. Which, in retrospect, probably makes it aContinue reading “Hiking alone, Part II: Pike’s Peak”

Last post on hiking in Colorado. I pinkie promise. I spent a lot of time in my own head hiking Pike’s Peak. So, when I returned to the house (after a good shower, some good Rioja and something like 3 packages of Ramen noodles*) I sat down to try to wrangle some of the musingsContinue reading “Hiking alone, Part III: Colorado musings”