We Got Priced Out of L.A.

My Husband and I Did the Math and Headed to Atlanta

As a young 20-something from the backwoods of North Carolina, Los Angeles presented endless possibilities and promises. Armed with a film degree, I moved to Hollywood from Morganton, North Carolina to fulfill my dream of working in the movies. Life in the big city was an easy formula then: Make enough to cover rent, park where your sticker allowed, call your mom once in a while, and don’t get arrested. Going anywhere was as simple as picking up your keys and locking the door behind you. The most pressing issue …

More In: The Voyage Home

Saying Goodbye to Rush Hour on the 405

Teaching Yoga in Roswell, New Mexico Ain’t Glamorous. But There’s Something Magnificent About Living in a Place Where There’s Nothing to Do But Think.

Today looks like this. Up at 6 a.m. for a dog walk to beat the sunshine. Out the door by 7. See the city firemen training with weights at the …

Dancing My Rootlessness Away

Twirling and Spinning Alongside Octogenarians Made Me Question My Peripatetic Lifestyle. Then I Realized I’ve Created My Own Kind of Permanence.

Couples whirled across the floor as the band played music reminiscent of the Rat Pack days. The lights were dim, and strings of small white lights stretched like the spokes …

Rootlessness Can Be a Blessing

What I Learned From Coming ‘Home’ to Massachusetts After 19 Years Away

It’s been nearly a year since I arrived “home” in Massachusetts after being away for 19 years. But I’m not entirely certain that it really is home.

It does have an …

California on My Mind in the Shadow of the Great Wall

The Ballad of a Man Who Put Down Roots in a Chinese Village and Rediscovered the Hardscrabble California He Had Left

If my life so far could be said to have one truly transformative moment, I think it was the intense meeting in early spring 2006 in the village hall after …

I Was a Teenage Expat

I Loved America, Until I Had to Live There

England: the land of teatime, Harry Potter, and an archaic politeness more suited to novels than everyday life, all topped off with charming accents. My American family moved from the …