Travel in county Taos

It was golden hour in Williams, Arizona, and I had no place to sleep for the night.

Powder laps in the morning and performance art in the afternoon — such is the winter life in Western Massachusetts. The region’s ranging mountains and snow-covered forests create a spectacular backdrop for outdoor recreation such as skiing and snowshoeing while its small towns have long provided respite for artists. In the 19th century, painters, artisans, and writers began retreating from nearby big cities to the Berkshires and surrounding areas to find solitude and the space to create. (Take, for example, Edith Wharton, who needed space so badly she had a 35-room mansion built in Lenox called The Mount.)

“In July 2021, two years before my twins were born, my husband, Philip, and I took a road trip through the American West. Road trips are my favorite kind of trip—between Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby, I drove from Los Angeles through the South to New York using only highways and byways, never freeways, because then you just speed past everything. I always love the sense of discovery when you don't plan ahead. This time around, we had no plan beyond keeping a route in mind. I'd also run out of motels that would let me stay with all of my dogs—Kai, Teddy, Sufi, Moon, and Dunton, plus whomever we picked up along the way, as there are so many homeless dogs—so we were in our Tiffin RV. We started in Colorado and ended in the Pacific Northwest, but one of my favorite days came when we were somewhere between Santa Fe and Taos, when we had all of this drastic weather, like having four seasons in one day. It was raining so hard—a crazy summer thunderstorm. And then all of a sudden, it cleared, first with intense wind but then stillness, and as we drove we watched the heat from the road, the condensation going up, the mirages in the distance, and this big beautiful blue sky. That led us into the night—we stopped and built a bonfire and just sat by it. Sometimes we chatted about something that crossed our minds, but it was really then that we found and welcomed the endless stillness, beneath the unpolluted night skies. A moment like that is why I keep doing this.” —as told to Charlie Hobbs and Matt Ortile

In the weeks leading up to my first solo road trip, I called up a handful of experienced nomads and sought out their advice.

I barreled down New Mexico State Road 150 in a Ram ProMaster.

Fall foliage, in most parts of the United States, has reached peak status, with blazing auburn, gold and orange leaves on full display. If you’re eager to squeeze in one more leaf-peeping adventure in 2023, or you want to plan an epic fall foliage excursion for next year, why not switch up your perspective and take in the gorgeous colors from above?

In an ever-connected world, it can be hard to plan a fully unplugged getaway.

When guests drive up to Marina Riviera, a boutique hotel in Big Bear, California that opened in the autumn of 2022, they won’t see a big sign for Casetta, the parent company that founded the hotel portfolio in 2019. Nor will they see its Casetta floral logo splashed on every corner of the lobby (look closely on the bath products and robes, though, and you’ll find it).