Amy Tara Koch is an author and journalist who has the unique pleasure of traveling the world for her job. She contributes to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, Vogue, T Magazine, The Daily Beast, Food & Wine, Conde Nast Traveler and Chicago Tribune.
You’re headed to Paris, gastro capital of the universe. You loved Hemingway’s A Movable Feast, belong to your local wine society and routinely julienne with visions of Julia Childs hacking legumes flitting through your head. You become anxious. How can you capture the culinary essence...
Summer camp used to be for children. But in recent years (maybe because of their children’s Instagram posts of water skiing and spiking volleyballs) parents decided they wanted in on the fun. Now, resorts — some luxe, others more basic — are offering more than...
Beach getaway. Road trip. Alpine holiday. City vacation. All fun, all kind of predictable. To inject wow factor into your summer vacation, why not tack on something unexpected: a train escapade—wait for it—with a sleeper cabin. You may think of a train as simply a mode...
I travel to many exotic spots. But, one of my favorite places to visit with my family is Washington DC. The city's image may be massive. But, D.C. is actually quite small which makes it easy to navigate. On a recent two night jaunt, I invited...
Lakefront. Culture. Sports. And a food scene that runs the gamut from hot dogs to haute Michelin starred cuisine. Whatever the season, the Windy City has no shortage of activities. On tap for winter? Ice skating at Millenium Park, trolley tours, museum visits and...
Piling in the car and heading out for a road trip is the most classic of family vacations. But, hang on. Why should mom and dad do all of the work? Last summer, we gave our teen and tween aged daughters the responsibility of back-end...
What was once a Podunk cowboy town has morphed into a mountainside retreat so farm-to-table, so grittily groovy, so legitimately plaid and beard enamored that it almost makes Bushwick look almost amateur. The elements- university town, burgeoning food scene, easy-to-access mountain adventures, proximity to a National Park-were...
This year, I had an affair. With Mexico. Chicago was freezing and I found the allure of the country’s aquamarine sea, juicy ceviche and rugged landscape tough to resist. In September, I hit Mexico City. I knew I would love the architecture. But it was the...
Sleek design has its place. But in Honolulu, land of Polynesian charm and turbo charged Pacific vistas, the best perches are often the ones that have been around for decades, updated but maintaining the midcentury glamour of an Elvis film. For decades, The Halekulani has reigned...
Traveling with small kids in no picnic. I spoke to U.S. News & World Report about hacks to make airline flights more tolerable. One of my favorite maxims is that, to parents, "spontaneity is the devil." This is especially translates into packing, snacks, entertainment and...
