Personal Essays

Commerce writer Paris Wilson on how trying to capture an ideal Instagram shot changed her relationship to travel—and herself.

Following an endometriosis diagnosis, writer Erika Owen lets herself fall into the rhythm of daily life on a remote Norwegian island.

A collection of stories exploring the power of travel—after freedom of movement has been taken away.

After years of debilitating, undiagnosed illness, my world shrank to the inside of my house—the sensory overload of a new city burst it open again.

The world may not always be perfectly accessible, but the human spirit's capacity for kindness knows no bounds.

“Yellowstone”-obsessed writer, Shayla Martin, ventures to Montana to get a taste of the television show's wild, wild west.

Shopping in Nigeria allowed writer Tariro Mzezewa to explore beyond the limited sizing of the States.

The writer behind a new book exploring the beloved filmmaker's oeuvre takes a look at her relationship to her favorite setting.

In the midst of a major life change, writer Avery Keatley sends herself to a remote stretch of Italian farmland.

After a career on the road, novelist Paul Theroux ponders the tricks travel plays on memory—and the ways it can make time stretch.

I try to keep her spirit with me by seeing the world, from Kerala to Singapore, as she did: full of wonder.

Four years after losing her cousin, writer Tykesha Spivey Burton returns to their favorite vacation spot.

Faced with a mastectomy, one writer throws herself a “ta-ta-tastic” swimsuit-filled beach vacation.

Writer Ella Quittner calls time out on her chaotic relationship with airport food—and goes looking for the reset button.

How a novel allowed a family to vacation again with a lost loved one.

A decade after her father's death, writer Jessica Chapel visits his homeland in search of a path forward.

Leaving Gaza as a student was a reminder of what I had lost—but it also helps our diaspora survive.

Twenty-five years after the film's release, writer Lale Arikoglu revisits the rom-com—and how it changed her childhood neighborhood for good.

Incarcerated at a facility in the Everglades, I spent years living in the shadow of Miami. Finally, I got to visit.

How three days at a destination spa helped a writer finally face the trauma of her mother’s passing.