kelly's blog

I'm just back from a trip to the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, home to lovely beaches, including this one in Las Terrenas. Now that I'm home in chilly Seattle, I'm wishing I had stayed put, but staring at this photo warms me up a bit and allows me to daydream about my next beach adventure.

In the coming weeks, I'll be sharing my experiences and ideas for trips to the Dominican Republic. But until then, check out these old beach posts for inspiration.

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Many people, when they first stand in front of a fresco, think that they're looking at a work straight from the hand of the artist. While there is some truth to that though, what many don't realize is that there are many other hands that have worked, manipulated, and restored the painting over the years. The next time you're standing in front of a fresco, admire the genius of the artist, but also think about the many ways that the painting has survived throughout the years.

Recently, I've been going crazy at the daily announcement of yet another "hot places to travel in 2012" list. Everyone is doing them and I can't help but wonder, what purpose do they serve? Are they the work of lazy journalists who aren't quite ready to ramp up to serious work in a post-holiday coma? Or are tourism boards pleading with the powers that be to get their name front and center? It's probably a mix of things and unless you're concerned with being travel trendy, they do little to inspire your travel plans.

Not wanting to be left out of the list making phenomenon and wanting to take a jab at the list makers, I decided to join the fray. My approach, however, is a bit different. Instead of basing a list on trends, reports and press releases... I went old-school. My vintage globe, eyes closed, a spin of the wrist and a pointed finger. Did you ever play that game as a kid? I landed in the water quite a few times and on cities that don't exist anymore (hey, I said vintage globe,) but in the end came up with an eclectic list of far off places. So, I present to you my Travellious list of completely random destinations to make you think about where you might head in 2012 and beyond. Read more.

Happy New Year! We've been thinking a lot this past week about where we've been and where we want to go. It's been almost two years since we've been to Italy and we hope that 2012 takes us back there.

One unforgettable view we had on our last trip was not in Italy itself, but the hilltop country of San Marino. Above the clouds, it seems like the perfect virtual spot to dream about distant lands.

Where are you dreaming of traveling to this year? If you're dreaming of Italy, we've written a lot on the subject. Dig through our Italy archives or drop us a note if you need help making your Italy dreams come true.

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Looking up is uncomfortable, as any visitor to the Sistine Chapel can attest. (Heck, even Michelangelo complained about it when he had to paint the thing.) Try it. Tilt your head back and look at the ceiling for awhile. It hurts after awhile and as humans, we avoid things that cause discomfort.

Sometimes we are motivated to look up. Whether it's the sun in the sky or a well-designed building, something may encourage us to draw our eyes upwards. More often than not, especially when we travel, we forget to look above us. We're more concerned with what's in front and or what's coming from behind. (Or glued to our damn cell phones.) We're barraged with information, and sometimes discerning where we are is challenging enough. We often forget to peer up and see what's hovering just above us.

Artists and architects, however, have been inventing reasons for us to look up for centuries. Here are a few ceilings (both real and virtual) that prove that forgetting to look up is a bad idea.

We recently spent a crisp, fall weekend in the Columbia River Gorge, which lies on the border between Washington and Oregon. As we took in the stunning views, tasting wine and peeking behind the scenes of Maryhill Winery, we quickly realized that a winery might just be the perfect activity to discover the essence of a place. Wine, after all, is more than just crushed grapes. It is the warm sun that ripens, the earth that influences its flavors, and the many hands of the people who harvest and tinker with the grapes until it reaches the final product, a bottle of wine. And while you're at its source, you might as well take a taste. And taste we did, and as we discovered which wines suited us, we also discovered the place from which they came.

As the year winds to a close, we've been thinking a lot about where we've been this past year. Our conversations keep returning to food and these bright red crawfish called me to as the offbeat mascot of this holiday season.

One of our most salient memories from this past May was attending the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, the self-proclaimed crawfish capital of the world. It was hot, humid and not a cloud in sight. We sipped daiquiris out of necessity, tapped our feet as Zydeco music filled the air, and sat down to a basket of some of the best crawfish we'd ever tasted. All the while, creating an unforgettable travel experience.

Where has your year taken you? What's the best meal you had in your travels? And, check out this post on Louisiana cuisine if this photo leaves you hungry.

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To the uninitiated, art after 1950 can be tough to wrap your head around. Artists moved away from just a pretty picture and expanded their repertoire to include the likes of dripped paint, text on walls, boxes made of plywood or dropped the visual entirely and went conceptual. I've often overheard museum goers scoff at these works and mutter "I don't get it." or "That's not art." or, my favorite, "I could have done that." (My reply to this is criticism, by the way, is "but, you didn't.")

I appreciate that the desire to understand or "get it" is innate or perhaps pounded into our heads as schoolchildren. However, as an adult, I find pleasure in not understanding everything around me. There's a joy in looking at a work of art whose meaning is not immediately grasped or deplete of meaning entirely. I love that the artist gives us, the viewer, some of the control to allow the meaning to be what we make of it, depending on the attention we chose to give. And, I'll admit, I often let myself stop worrying about what it all means and just take pleasure in its beauty.

If you're one of these skeptics, I encourage you to not skip the modern wing on your next museum visit and take some time to acquaint yourself with some great American artists. Stop worrying about what it all means and just give yourself an afternoon of pure, unadulterated experience. But, don't take my word for it, let these five artists change your mind about the value of that art that you don't quite understand.

Not too long ago, we began our love affair with Louisiana, not in Louisiana itself, but at home in Seattle at a little food truck called Where Ya at Matt. We spent months on a diet rich in red beans, grits, fried shrimp and beignets, which made us crave it directly from its source. Luckily, a ridiculously cheap rental car deal led Austin and I to pay a visit to Louisiana this past spring. We set out on a week-long tasting adventure across the state, and while the foods that follow are now familiar friends, we imagined you might need a bit of a Cajun crash course.

I should be prepared to deal with the rain. After all, I have lived in Seattle for five years now. The thing is, in Seattle, I just deal. Getting a bit wet happens and if it's monsoon weather, I begrudgingly pull the Gortex out of the back of the closet.

Over the past year, however, I kept finding myself heading to tropical locals like Hawaii or St. Croix, where suggested packing was always a light raincoat or umbrella. I was at a loss on what to pack, as I don't even own an umbrella and a heavy raincoat was not going to take up precious cargo space for a "just in case" scenario. So, I broke down and began the hunt for the tiniest raincoat imaginable.

I discovered this Helium jacket by Outdoor Research that is lightweight, easily packed, and works perfectly in a pinch. It's quickly become one of my travel favorites.