Discover the best national and state parks for midlife travelers, breathtaking landscapes and hiking trails.
Becca and I were friends in high school in Michigan. We both got married not long after, still in Michigan, just in different places, and we kept in touch through those years. Losing Touch With an Old Friend Then life changed. I got divorced, met Tom not long after, and moved to Abilene, Texas. While … Read more
We found it the way we find most things now — by googling “hiking near St. Louis” on a Saturday morning when we didn’t quite want to waste the day. Don Robinson State Park came up. Thirty minutes away, free to visit. Neither of us had ever heard of it. By 9:30 we were on … Read more
Most plans require you to get out of your pajamas. That sounds like a joke. It isn’t. There’s something that happens between the moment you make a plan and the moment the day actually arrives. When you planned it, leaving the house sounded completely reasonable. Of course you’d go. Why wouldn’t you? And then the … Read more
Tom and I had been talking about this for a while — treating St. Louis like a city we were visiting instead of one we live in. Going back to all the places we’d tell a visitor to go. The ones we somehow stopped making time for once they got familiar. The weather last week … Read more
It’s one night. You pack a bag.Drive somewhere close.Check in. Nothing dramatic. And still — something shifts almost immediately. Your House Is Not Neutral Your house holds everything. Not just your things — your responsibility. Even when you sit down to rest, part of you is still tracking what needs doing, what’s waiting, and what … Read more
Most local weekends don’t feel like an adventure.They feel like an efficient way to manage a life. You run the errands. You grab the coffee. You take the same loop around the park. The day closes without any real distinction from the one before it. That isn’t a location problem. It’s an agency problem. You … Read more
A staycation reset doesn’t require leaving your life behind.It starts by changing how you move through the life you already have. Most people assume a reset requires distance. A trip.A break.A few days away to feel like themselves again. Travel can help. But if the only time you feel rested is when you’re hundreds of … Read more
March Favorites: Small Things That Make Spring Even Better Shop Spotlight • March Favorites March Favorites: Small Things That Make Spring Even Better Every year there’s a moment when things start opening up again. Longer evenings. Coffee outside. More walks. More reasons to leave the house. We’re also getting ready for a spring party to … Read more
What would it take to make your ordinary evenings feel like living? Most days don’t fall apart during the day. They flatten out at night. You get through work. You handle responsibilities. You eat something quick. You sit down. You scroll.And before you know it, the evening is gone — without ever really beginning. Nothing … Read more
Everyday adventure doesn’t require distance.Or time off.Or money.Or a break from real life. But the kind of adventure that actually changes how a day feels usually starts much closer than that. Adventure, at its core, isn’t about leaving your life.It’s about stepping out of autopilot. It’s the small spark that breaks routine.The moment that pulls … Read more