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Well Hello
I’m Kate
For more than a decade and a half, I’ve helped people create a life by design through my lifestyle and travel blog.
I’m a mom of 3, a full-time romance author, and I’ve been to more than 40 countries and nearly all the states.
I’m happy you’re here.
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Latest Blog Posts
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Why Families Keep Returning to the Same Vacation Spot for 20 Years — The Psychology Is Stranger Than You’d Expect
Most families have one: the lake house, the beach town, the mountain cabin they’ve been going back to for decades. It seems like habit, but the psychology behind repeat destination loyalty runs much deeper than comfort. What’s really happening when we go back?
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Six Months Into RV Life, Here’s What Nobody on Instagram Warned Us About
The RV lifestyle looks like freedom, sunsets, and morning coffee in the mountains. After six months living it full-time, most people have a very different story to tell. Here’s what the Pinterest version leaves out.
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The Cruise Passengers Nobody Talks About — The People Who Hated It and What That Reveals
The cruise industry is built on testimonials from people who loved it. Repeat passengers, loyalty programs, 90 percent satisfaction scores — the industry’s marketing is relentlessly positive. But there is a substantial segment of people for whom the cruise experience was genuinely miserable, and their reasons are far more specific and interesting than ‘it’s not for everyone.’
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Why Some Cities Make People Feel Productive and Alive, and Others Make Them Feel Like a Tourist Even After a Week
Some cities get into you quickly. Within a few days you’re navigating with confidence, you’ve found your coffee place, you understand the rhythm. Other cities — equally famous, equally interesting — keep you at arm’s length for months. The difference isn’t about the city being unwelcoming. It’s about something more specific in how places are structured.
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What People Who Travel Full-Time With Dogs Actually Deal With — The Restrictions Nobody Posts About
The Instagram version of traveling with a dog is a golden retriever on a mountaintop. The actual version involves rejected hotels, international health certificates, airline cargo nightmares, and a two-year planning horizon for countries with strict quarantine rules. The people doing it full-time have a very specific set of opinions about what nobody told them.
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What International Tourists Are Shocked to Discover When They Visit the US for the First Time
International travelers arrive in the United States with a lifetime of American media as their reference point — and then they actually get here. The gap between what they expected and what they find generates reactions that are partly funny, partly pointed, and occasionally quite genuinely illuminating about things Americans have stopped seeing.
