Louisa Rogers

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My sister gave me my first travel diary the year I turned 14, when my family took a trip to Italy. A small, yellow-lined notebook -- I still have it in my box of childhood journals. I kept lists like “Souvenirs I Bought,” “Hotels We Stayed At,” “People I Met,” “Languages I Heard,” “Menus,” “Places Of Interest,” and “Anecdotes” (foreshadowing my future w...

I used to ride my bike from Eureka to Arcata and back a couple times a week but since I no longer have a regular date in Arcata, I haven't had a chance to test the new Humboldt Bay Trail along the U.S. Highway 101 corridor. Now with this NCJ assignment, I have just the opportunity. A friend who lives in McKinleyville and I make a date to meet halfway and I hop on my bike.
Heading North
In Eureka, I speed down Waterfront Drive, past the Adorni Center and Halvorsen Park, across the gleaming met...

The worst lentils I ever ate were the ones I appreciated the most.
In the early '80s, my husband, Barry, and I joined hundreds of other North Americans and Europeans and went trekking in the Himalayas. We chose to walk the three-week Muktinath Pilgrimage trail, a windy, mountainous route along the Kali Gandaki gorge, the deepest in the world, beneath the towering Annapurna and Dhaulagiri peaks. Ultimately, we hoped to climb Thorong La, a difficult,, snow-covered pass at almost 17,800 feet, an...

Little did I know, when my husband Barry and I bought an old adobe home in the heart of Guanajuato, Mexico, back in 2005, that the city would be just as quirky and fascinating to me 16 years later as it was then. Here are nine of my private joys.
1. Exploring The Callejones (Alleys)
The town of Guanajuato is built on the slopes of a steep valley. Wherever I am, I look out at Cubist, blocky buildings piled on top of each other, the color of mango, watermelon, lemon, and kiwi. Many of the small...

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When my husband Barry and I bought a home in the UNESCO World Heritage Center of Guanajuato, Mexico, in 2005, we knew we loved the city itself but had no idea that we would fall in love with the country. We knew Mexico slightly, but in the last 16 years have explored much more, from volcanoes to villages and everything in between. It’s a fascinating, di...

Imagine wandering around in woods or streams, identifying fungi, plants, insects, wildlife — anything alive. This is what's known as citizen science: amateurs observing and documenting nature. And if you like being alone or sharing observations from a distance, it's the perfect activity during a pandemic.
Of the active citizen scientists I spoke with, all three grew up in Southern California, where they witnessed their homes changing rapidly from towns to suburbs, with housing developments an...

The French word flâneur isn't a word you hear much around here. It originally meant a 19th century male who loitered, strolled and wandered around Paris. Although born 100 years later, Henry Miller, who meandered all over Paris in the 1930s, was one. After he left France, he wrote, "There are scarcely any streets in Paris I did not get to know." I fancy myself a flâneur, too, as I wander around Eureka, usually on foot but occasionally starting by bike or car.
One afternoon, I headed out for m...

Anxious to get back to sleep? Here are research and techniques to soothe your busy mind
I glance at my watch: 1:30 a.m. Pulling the blanket up, I snuggle into my sleeping husband’s body, noticing the contrast between the cool night air and the warmth of his back.
Two minutes later, I’m asleep.
It wasn’t always so easy. I’ve been a patchy sleeper for years, even though I follow the recommendations from sleep experts to avoid caffeine after noon as well as to avoid alcohol, big meals, or intens...

Due to changing advisories, please check local travel guidelines before visiting.
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I can see it now: It’s midnight, and Rusty, Pat, and I are sitting cross-legged on the dorm room floor at Tulane, discussing Nietzsche and Sartre. By the time we drag ourselves to bed, the pack of filter-tipped Marlboros we’re sharing will be empty. Tomorrow night we’ll st...

Every time I look at the photo of my husband, Barry, lying on the sand surrounded by a pod of Galapagos fur seals, I think, “I should have been there!”
The year was 1985. Though neither Barry nor I were big earners, our expenses in Bellingham, Washington, were low, and travel didn’t cost much back then. In January of that year, we flew to Lima, Peru, with the plan to hike the Machu Picchu trail and then spend a couple of months exploring Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. I was especially excited to...

Due to changing advisories, please check local travel guidelines before visiting.
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The sauna that came with the Airbnb my husband Barry and I rented in chilly, rainy Bellingham, Washington. A view of both the cathedral and nature from the balcony of our Airbnb in Girona, Spain. The view of the ferries coming and going from the Airbnb we rented in Stromne...

Maybe you’re fully employed but love to paint. Your friends say you should be selling your watercolors; they’re that good. Maybe you’re retired but could use some extra cash. Maybe you work part-time but can’t save on your current income. Maybe you’re okay financially, but, like me, you just love to earn.
The freelance, self-employment gig economy has exploded in the last 20 years, and now everyone’s taking advantage of it. And not just from home. Wherever and whoever you are -- a retiree, a ...

Traveling seems to be in my bones. Not only was I born in a car, but my father worked for the U.S. State Department, so my family moved from country to country every few years. I met Barry, my husband, in my 20s, and 40 years later, we’re still traveling.
But we’re unusual among Americans. Many people we know traveled abroad briefly after college, and then, around age 22, stopped, except for an occasional tour or cruise in their retirement years.
This isn’t the case in other Western countries...

For the last 15 years, my husband Barry and I have lived two-thirds of the year in Eureka, on California’s North Coast, and the other third in Guanajuato, Mexico. This year we returned to Eureka in March, at the onset of COVID-19, and flew back to Guanajuato in mid-November. Here, I report on the measures underway to prevent the pandemic in both communities.
Eureka, Humboldt County, California
Eureka, the largest town in rural Humboldt County, has a population of about 30,000. Compared to man...

How living in Mexico shaped my spirituality.