Three days alone in New Orleans — the French Quarter and its tangled French-Spanish-American history, a swamp full of alligators, Preservation Hall jazz, a streetcar to the Garden District, and the National WWII Museum, which turned out to be the best thing I did all weekend. Plus all the food, and practical notes for anyone planning their own trip.

Eight days in Berlin in December — half work trip, half slow discovery of a city that refuses to erase its own memory. Co-working until 9 PM, Christmas markets, the DDR Museum and the Holocaust Memorial, the East Side Gallery, and what German work culture taught me about actually logging off.

A week in Italy over Christmas — Mass at St. Peter's with the Pope on Christmas morning, the Colosseum at night with ChatGPT as a tour guide, Michelangelo's David and the Vasari Corridor in Florence, and Venice's canals, Doge's Palace, and a Vivaldi concert. The best leg of the whole European trip.