My life as a medical tourist began with an odd proposal from my dentist. Ted Murray had been trying to fix a lifetime of dental errors when he paused one day – me with my messed-up mouth as wide as I could get it, him…

It’s been over seven months since I saw my granddaughters – Jane and Vera, identical twins, born five years ago. We held them within an hour of their birth, handing them around to their other grandparents, great-grandparents, and aunts in the hospital room. Even though…

I need an assistant to find an Airbnb for me. It drives me insane, looking at all the possibilities in, say, Austin, ranging from adorable tiny houses to alleged “ranches” on the edge of . . . somewhere. What does “cozy” mean? What does it…

I was just reading Poets and Writers and saw one more ad for a summer writing program touting its “internationally recognized” faculty, when it dawned on me: I, too, am internationally recognized! No, really. My husband and I were in Florence on our honeymoon, walking…

When we travel, I tend to look up every trivial thing that pops into my head. How old is Ringo Starr? Is Marianne Faithful still alive? Why was the University of Iowa so ticked off at the Stanford marching band? Could I order a tortilla…

I used to love road trips. I always stocked up on candy just before leaving, and now I’m not sure if that was a way to celebrate the trip, or to survive along the way. Whatever the mission, I knew I had to visit a…

Some people have trouble leaving home. It’s not that they don’t want to see the canals of Venice or the art museum in Des Moines. It’s just that, well, they can’t seem to get out the door without taking everything but the kitchen sink. My…