The Blog
Like the way we think about travel?
This is where we work it out: routes and rhythms, the ethics of a cheap flight, the right way to miss a train. If it lands, Mise en Place is the same voice once a month, and the My Life in Burgundy waitlist is open.
Browse our articles…
How to Choose Your European Home Base: Neighborhoods That Work
(6 minute read)
A practical guide to choosing the right neighborhood for your Europe trip. Learn how to balance quiet nights, walkability, transit access, daily essentials, and smoother transfer days when booking hotels or apartments.
Check In, Give Back: Fairbnb.coop
(6 minute read)
How Fairbnb.coop works and whether it's worth booking: the cooperative Airbnb alternative that sends half its platform fee to a local community project you choose at checkout, with no surcharge to you and no change to what the host earns. A plain look at the model, what you get, and where it falls short.
Two-Base Europe Trips: Fewer Hotel Moves, Better Vacations
(5 minute read)
The case for a two-base trip: pick two smart home bases, connect them by fast train, fly open-jaw, and add easy day-trips, so you pack once, move less, and spend the savings on better rooms. Includes six 10-to-12-day templates (Paris and Provence, London and Paris, Rome and Florence, and more) and a simple day-by-day rhythm.
Where to Stay in London by Neighborhood (and Why It Matters)
(8 minute read)
A neighborhood-by-neighborhood guide to where to stay in London, from a family who always bases in Dalston: who each area suits, the trade-offs, and how to choose.
Call Them. They Speak English.
(6 minute read)
Find it on the app, then leave the app. Google the hotel, book on their own site, or call them, because they speak English and it is a two-minute conversation. What we put clients in instead of Airbnb, why we still sometimes end up in an Ibis, and the one platform we are still watching.
Why We Broke Up With Airbnb
(7 minute read)
A flat in London with no kitchen, a client we moved out of a beautiful beach apartment in Marseille, and the reason neither story is really the point. Why two travel planners in France route around Airbnb on principle, why abstinence isn't the argument, and where we send people instead.