Mindy Miller

Falling for Hoi An After a full day of cable cars, castles, and cloud-level views at Bà Nà Hills, we loaded back into our private bus and headed to Hoi An. Hoi An did not disappoint. If Da Nang felt vibrant and modern, Hoi An felt softer, more romantic, and almost impossibly charming. Lanterns glowed …

A mountain built from layers Some places are hard to explain because they refuse to be just one thing. Bà Nà Hills is one of them. Today, it feels part mountaintop fantasy, part theme park, part architectural fever dream. But beneath all of that is a more layered story. What now draws crowds for cable …

The Long Way to Something Special Some trips are about getting away. This one was about arriving. Vietnam had been building in our minds for a long time. Not just as a destination, but as a place already tied to people we love. Ziah, Vance’s younger brother, had moved to Da Nang, fallen in love, …

There is something uniquely humbling about riding a ski lift for the first time at 45 years old. Clipping into your skis, loading the chair, and letting it carry you all the way to the top of the mountain, with the growing awareness that there is no turning back, was more unsettling than I expected. …

Singapore impressed us. Malaysia moved us. After a few days in Singapore, we boarded the Princess Discovery and set sail toward places that meant far more than just new passport stamps. Malaysia wasn’t simply a stop on an itinerary, it was an integral part of Vance’s history. And when we pulled into port, something shifted. …

They call it a “fine city.” Our taxi driver grinned when he said it. “You know why, right?” No chewing gum imports since 1992. Fines for littering. Fines for just about everything. But after a few days in Singapore, what struck us most wasn’t the rules. It was the openness. The pride. The sense that …

There’s a certain kind of cold that doesn’t bite, it just perks you up. Logan Canyon in October held that kind of chill. Crisp. Clean. The kind that seeps through your gloves just enough to remind you you’re alive, but not enough to send you back to the car. The aspens were turning, flashes of …

We thought we were heading up for a classic early October fall hike. Golden aspens. Crisp air. Maybe a light frost dusting the grass at the lake. Instead, we walked straight into winter’s opening act. When I took my sister, her husband, and our friend Christine up to Strawberry Lake this time, the valley floor …

It starts with silence. Still forest. Quiet rock face. Just the sound of wind through pines. And then… a low rumble. The ground almost seems to vibrate as water begins rushing from the cliff wall, building from nothing into a roaring cascade in seconds. The first time you hear it, it’s almost shocking. Slightly terrifying. …

There’s something about being in the mountains that resets me. Out there, my problems shrink down to size, the air feels cleaner, the silence louder, and the views so big they stop me in my tracks. Every sense is awake, the sunshine, the smells, the sounds, even the quiet. And when a trail promises not …