The Hyatt Palm Springs recently invited me to check out their hotel, and I said, “Heck yes!” Palm Springs has been at the top of my road trip list and I was so excited to see for myself what this desert oasis is all about. One of the reasons we moved to San Diego was to take advantage of the road trip possibilities. Theoretically, you can hit the beach, desert, and snow all in the same day. It’s the wild biodiversity that makes California so wonderful.
Palm Springs is known for a few things: mid-century design, antiquing, gay culture, color on color, and pool time. Almost like a movie set, the city transports you to the Sinatra era. Everything feels retro and throwback in a kind of weird, kind of cool way. But the heat is often an even more compelling draw for desert-lovers. The climate ranges from pleasant to purgatory, but on our trip, we lucked out with beautiful 85-degree weather and a cool breeze. That said, the dry heat is something this East Coaster needs to get used to. My skin is still wondering what those two days in the desert was all about.
As for our abode, the Hyatt is situated in downtown Palm Springs on the main strip known as Palm Canyon Drive, right between the uptown design district (color! mid-century!) and hotspots like the Ace Hotel and Parker Palm Springs. (There’s also one of the best sandwich places I’ve ever been to across the street, but I’ll get to that later.) It’s the only all-suite resort in the area, and that extra living room space came in handy when Eaman wanted to watch an NBA game and I…did not.
This was an amazing getaway for us. We love our Teddy, but it was good to have time as just us two, especially since we haven’t traveled anywhere together since our RTW backpacking trip in 2012! When we weren’t at the pool, we were exploring all the quirky fun and must-eats around town. Here’s a little photo diary of our trip:
This weekend I took the train up to L.A. to visit one of my best girlfriends, and since she lives on the west side, we decided to use the train station’s downtown location to explore somewhere far east of the 405. We chose Silverlake, and it was a breath of fresh air to be far away from the glitz, ritz and overall sceney vibe I’ve found in places like West Hollywood and Santa Monica.
If you find yourself in L.A., step into the cool little enclave of Silverlake for well-edited boutiques and awesome food choices. Here are some picks:
We spent most of our short time in Singapore visiting family friends, but I did manage to sneak away for a half day to explore areas beyond the ‘burbs and luxury malls. I knew I wanted to accomplish two things: eat from a famous hawker stall and find a unique place to do some people watching and window shopping. Here’s a little photo diary from the excursion:
This India trip was a whirlwind. Not only was it a short visit — we were in Bangalore for just six days — but we also had two weddings to attend. Sleep deprivation aside, it was awesome to see my grandmother and other relatives, eat authentic South Indian food and really just travel again. It had been a while by my standards.
It was also so refreshing to not shop for myself. Each India visit typically comes with days of me selecting saris and other outfits to bring back to the U.S. because the quality and prices are just so much better there. But I did all that last year. This year was all about gifts for people. And I realized, it can actually be so much more satisfying to shop for other people. I love that hunt of finding just the right thing for the right person. And I love to bargain. The U.S. really needs more haggling options beyond flea markets.
Here’s a photo diary from the trip. Post on Singapore coming at you on Wednesday.
On this day last year, I was boarding a plane in Delhi bound for New Jersey. It was the very last day of our RTW trip, and it blew my mind that the end was right there at the airport gate. Eaman and I parted ways — he was continuing on to Iran, where he would be backpacking for six weeks — while I was headed home. He kept me company at the gate, and then boarding began. Once they called my section, I started crying. And then Eaman started crying. It felt devastating to walk away from each other after everything we had been through. That said, flying home solo and having six weeks to myself gave me some perspective on what I had learned and what the trip meant to me.
Since coming back we always randomly reminisce — about that time we hitchhiked in Patagonia with a very shady Argentinian man or when our Vietnamese local bus left us behind at the border between Vietnam and Laos or every other crazy memory that inspires us to do this kind of trip again sometime soon. (When? I don’t know. For how long? Maybe six months. Where? Central Asia and Africa sound exciting.)
But the trip really wasn’t about those isolated adventures; it was about how they all came together to teach us a few lessons. I figure today, exactly one year later, is the perfect time to look back on those lessons and to see how/if I’ve taken them to heart:
I’m currently writing to you from New Jersey, after four days of family wedding festivities. There was a mehndi party, song/dance night, and blend of Jewish and Indian traditions — but I’ll get to all that on Wednesday. Today I wanted to share a peek of the half day I spent in New York City before the wedding events began.
I flew in late last Tuesday night, seriously regretting this 8 am bus to Manhattan, but I didn’t know if I’d be back East again this year and figured I’d make the most out of this trip. It was also a good way to tackle the awful 3-hour time difference head-on. In my measly eight hours, I got to see one of my best friends for lunch/ice cream, walked around the West Village on my own and met up with old co-workers, who continue to be the nicest, most caring bunch.
So what was it like to go to my old stomping grounds?
Two weeks after this, I was back in L.A. This time, I headed over with two new San Diego girlfriends, Jessica and Conni, to hit up a West Elm/Etsy event hosted by the hilarious, self-effacing and talented Emily Henderson, interior designer and star of HGTV’s Secrets From a Stylist. But what started as a visit to the event turned into a full-blown foodie girls weekend.
Now, I’m more a low-key, off-the-grid kind of traveler/diner, but every now and again, I like to splash out and try buzzed about places to see, well, what the buzz is about. This getaway was a splurge, but I took it as an opportunity to eat at some places on my Life List (a less gruesome way to say the Before I Die list), and once I got past the very L.A. crowds at these places, I could appreciate the great food and even better decor. (But I gotta say, every trendy restaurant in L.A. is obsessed with the same black stools. What gives?)
I ate. I window-shopped. I waited in line for scene-y brunch spots. And I took notes. Take a look at the 8 simple steps to a trendy, seen-to-be-seen kind of L.A. visit.
Step 1: Fancy brunch. We started the weekend not by checking into our hotel, but by settling into the beautiful interiors of Laurel Hardware, a former hardware store that’s been converted into an industrial-styled restaurant. I just about died over that wallpaper and light fixture. And then I died when I saw Rosie Perez in the restaurant because girl is awesome. And then I died over my fruit scone, which was more like a warm toasted biscuit topped with berries and clotted cream. It was delicious so long as you’re OK with dessert for breakfast. And why wouldn’t you be?
You know that movie 2 Days in Paris? Or 2 Days in New York? Well this is the photo diary of less than 24 hours in L.A. We were there this past Saturday to visit a friend I’ve known since the diaper era, and I can’t quite articulate how amazing it is to see such a good friend after going through all the newness of moving, but let’s just say, it was SO FUN. Eaman and I have also been working particularly hard lately, so it was awesome to get away and get a bit silly.
I’ve been to L.A. before and back then I ventured to a lot of neighborhoods on my own out of traveler’s/food lover’s curiosity. This time we headed to previously uncharted territory: Venice, where we walked up and down the famous Abbot Kinney Boulevard, checking out the boutiques and trying not to bore the boys in the group. We also managed to squeeze in a view of Santa Monica beach before driving out to West Hollywood for Mexican food. It was such a great change of pace to be in the thick of things again in a big city. The fashion was riskier, the crowd was more diverse and the restaurant patios were spilling over with drunk twentysomethings. Ah, just like New York — with palm trees.
Check out the rest of the snaps from my L.A. diary after the jump. It’s a lovely one-day itinerary if I do say so myself.
