Walking through a college campus, I always smell a hint of cloves. I can't help but be surprised that people still smoke them -- I was similarly surprised to discover people smoked them at all. The first time I encountered clove cigarettes, in the first few furious days of freshman year, I thought they might …
Mr Brightside
Whenever the song by the Killers, 'Mr Brightside,' comes on, I am suddenly 18 again and waking up in my dorm room in Los Angeles as it plays on my radio alarm clock. I am not hungover – I didn't drink my freshman year – but I am exhausted from refusing to turn down any …
Cuban Ropa Vieja, for Afar
I know I didn't write all that much about Cuba, in the end, but hopefully this piece I wrote for AFAR magazine's October 2013 issue – about ropa vieja, paladares, and the Revolution – will make up for it. Oh, and if you do ever make it to Havana, be sure to have dinner at …
Unromantic Paris
Allow me to disabuse you: being broke in Paris is not romantic.When you look at your bank account and the euros in your wallet and realize you cannot make rent and still eat, there is nothing romantic about it. When you wander around the streets for hours on end in search of nowhere in particular, …
The Speech I Gave at My Grandfather’s Funeral Last Week
When I think of my grandfather, I think of his deep, melodic voice, like a chord reverberating on a bass. I can't recall him ever raising it – in my memory, he is a solid presence, a tall, strong man who didn't need to shout to make it clear that he was in charge, that …
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Shameless Self-Promotion
I just have to throw this out there into the blogosphere: I know I've been remiss about posting for the last six months (during which time I moved to New York from Paris and have slowly managed to build a life for myself), but you're going to have to forgive me. The travel site I …
Travel Plans
We have ultimately decided to stay in McLeod Ganj/Dharamsala for another week or two instead of trying to cram the entire country of Tanzania into 10 days, so this leaves me plenty of time to catch you all up on, well, all the places I haven't written about in the last several months. In order …
The Motorbike Story
So, I promised that I'd tell you guys the story about when I rented the motorbike in Bali. Here it is, though it is completely unedited and terribly long, so I apologize. The final version will be shorter and pithier. “You go slow, ok? You go slow.” “Yes, of course.” I nod enthusiastically, putting my …
On the Road Again
I know I've been remiss in my posting duties, but I've pretty much been working non-stop since the summer, so I've been cooking and going to movies less than I would like. I'm in the middle of four or five books, too, all of which I can recommend, but none of which I've finished. For …
Kate Thorman 