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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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These Are the Completely Mundane Things That Land American Tourists in Foreign Jails Every Year
It’s never the thing you’re worried about. It’s the prescription medication in your carry-on, the photo you took of the wrong building, or the open beer you carried out of the bar. Real Americans get arrested abroad for boring, accidental reasons every year — and most of them had no idea they were doing anything wrong. Here’s what’s actually getting tourists locked up.
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Your Hotel Room Is Quietly Making You Sick — Here’s the Filth They’re Hiding in Plain Sight
You checked into a clean-looking hotel room, slept well, and came home with a mystery illness. It wasn’t bad luck. The HVAC unit above your bed, the ice machine down the hall, and the TV remote in your hand are some of the dirtiest objects in American hospitality — and the cleaning protocols most hotels follow don’t touch them. Here’s what’s actually happening in that room.
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Road Trip Playlists Are Dead — How Serious Road Trippers Actually Use Audio on Long Drives in 2026
The 10-hour playlist was peak 2015. In 2026, serious road trippers use a layered system of podcasts, audiobooks, ambient audio, and offline downloads that adapts to attention levels, cell coverage dead zones, and the difference between mountain passes and Kansas. Here’s the actual system.
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The States With the Best State Fair Food — Ranked By What Food Critics and Locals Actually Say, Not Which Fair Is Biggest
Minnesota might have the biggest fair, but Texas fries literally everything and Iowa has been home to some of the most creative fair food for decades. Here’s the actual ranking of state fair food cultures, based on what food writers, competition winners, and locals say — not attendance numbers.
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What a Full Week in Japan Actually Costs an American in 2026 — Every Line Item From the Flight to the Last Bowl of Ramen
With the yen weak against the dollar, Japan is genuinely more affordable for Americans right now than it’s been in decades. But the total cost still surprises people. Here’s the complete line-item breakdown — flights, hotels, food, trains, and the currency math you need to understand before you go.
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The 2025 Travel ‘Dream Destinations’ on Instagram vs. What You Actually Find When You Show Up
The wisteria-draped alley in Santorini has 200 people waiting to take that exact photo. The lavender fields in Provence are harvested by late June. The Amalfi Coast town in the most-shared photos doesn’t have anywhere to park. Here’s what the algorithm doesn’t tell you.
