These are a few of my favorite things …

I am not one of those women who packs a lot of shoes. I like to travel with one carryon bag if I can get away with it. So while I may bring along a pair of fancy heels for dinners, the shoes I like to travel and sightsee in are my Merrells. Whether it’s their sneakers or sandals, I find that I can get away with just one pair. I’ve only been disappointed with their brand once when I purchased a pair of sandals that lasted barely two years before falling apart.

My Own Private India

Joel Stein writes: Unlike some of my friends in the 1980s, I liked a lot of things about the way my town changed: far better restaurants, friends dorky enough to play Dungeons & Dragons with me, restaurant owners who didn’t card us because all white people look old. But sometime after I left, the town became a maze of charmless Indian strip malls and housing developments. Whenever I go back, I feel what people in Arizona talk about: a sense of loss and anomie and disbelief that anyone can eat food that spicy.