Taking off my hiking boots and Smartwool socks, I step barefoot into the rushing water, telling my six-year-old son to climb up on my back. The river is cold and swift, and there’s simply no easy way to ford it. We are in a wild section of the Catskill mountains in upstate New York, and the only viable camping spot is on the other side …
A city within the city of New York, the Hudson Yards district comprises 28 acres of residential, commercial and public space developed on top of and around the MTA’s former John D. Caemmerer West Side Storage Yard—once an untrodden abyss along the river. Almost all the statistics convey the staggering scope of this endeavor, beginning with the overall vision for 30 million-square-feet of new development. …
At a Christmas Eve gala dinner in Agra, India (home of the Taj Mahal), I approached an American family that sat nearby. A part of me wanted to hear the familiar accent, another part wanted their take on the atypical holiday extravaganza we were attending. After introductions, we began to talk about our world travels and I explained that I’d just come from Bhutan. “Did …
