Essay tips

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Krisztina Rakos, Barni's mom. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Is it really a vacation if you return looking worse than you did when you left? This was the question we asked ourselves during our 734-mile journey in a camper van with our 2-year-old daughter.

My husband and I got married this summer and we put most of our wedding expenses on reward credit cards, earning enough points to cover fights and hotels for our Greek honeymoon. 

Growing up in California, I saw the world in two languages: English and Español.

My first visit to Walt Disney World was when I was 4. I'm 24 now and very fortunate to have had the opportunity to take an annual weeklong vacation with my family to Disney World every year since 2004.

I've been visiting Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando with my kids for a decade, so I know how quickly little ones can become exhausted on theme-park days.

A week before our big Disneyland vacation, I started checking all the Disney groups and accounts I followed on social media. The amount of information I found was overwhelming. Some people even shared spreadsheets of what to eat at each restaurant so as not to miss anything.

"Are you guys sure you don't want to ride the roller coaster with me?" I asked my parents, my heart skipping a beat as the screams from the mega drop faded into the background.

When I tell Americans I live in Cusco, Peru, I often get a puzzled look. When I add that it's the Inca capital you fly to on your way to visit Machu Picchu, their eyes light up. It's beautiful, and I love living here, but it's far from perfect. There's been political instability and crime. But for me, Cusco has always proved worth the downsides.

I've lived in New York for more than a decade, and during a recent visit to Japan, I saw three major differences in how public spaces are utilized to the best of their potential in Tokyo.

Anyone who has planned a Walt Disney World vacation knows dining reservations can be difficult to snag at certain sought-after locales. From California Grill, perched high atop Disney's Contemporary Resort, to 'Ohana, at Disney's beautiful Polynesian Village Resort, these coveted spots are often booked up.

I'm a theme-park journalist who's been covering happenings everywhere from California's Disneyland to Missouri's Silver Dollar City for over a decade, but for several years there was one event that was a hard "no" for me: Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando.

Some people collect souvenirs while traveling. I collect dating stories. And in the past two-plus years of living in Europe, I've collected many.

The first time I was introduced to a Japanese workout routine called Radio Taiso was on a trip to Japan in 2020. Radio Taiso is translated as "radio calisthenics," and it's based on a public-radio broadcast that began in 1928 in Japan.

For six weeks, I went to about a dozen events solo. I barely made it through five minutes before getting asked where my husband, Asher, was. 

My daughters were 3 and 7 the first time I traveled alone with them. As I loaded our bags into the back of the car and headed for the airport, I wondered if I was making a big mistake. Their dad was very hands-on and helped a lot in those early parenting days, and here I was, heading off on a weeklong trip with two small children without him. What was I thinking? 

I live in Australia, while my cousin Yonatan, who is 15 years younger than me, grew up in Israel then moved to the US after college. Despite the age and cultural differences, he was always the family member I was closest to. We got along well and he always felt like a younger brother.

Burned out, stressed out, and laid off in New York City, I could feel it was my time to leave. After making the decision to go full-time freelance, I also knew it was now or never to fulfill my dream of living in Europe. 

Last summer, after a month of living alone in Medellin, Colombia, I decided I wanted to try to make local friends and booked my second month there with a roommate.

Moving abroad was freeing at first, as if I'd finally gotten out of a relationship that just wasn't working.

I have to admit that when my wife, Steph, told me we were having a date night, I didn't initially get the concept. For the better part of eight years, we've been traveling around Australia in our campervan with no itinerary and no end date. What could be more romantic than that?