Nerds Tour

10/08/2026

Hampshire day! First stop Stevenson Church where Jane spent her childhood. Then to Chawton Cottage where she wrote or edited all of her books. The cottage was owned by Jane and Cassandra’s brother, Edward Austen Knight, who was the inheritor. Next stop Chawton House, Edward’s country home. My favorite space is where it is said Jane would sit to read and watch the world. It’s a beautiful view. Tomorrow we will visit Wi******er Cathedral where Jane is buried.

10/08/2026

This post is a day late because an Austen Adventure keeps you moving. On Wednesday we went to Lacock Village, a National Trust town used for nearly all period filming in England. On a personal note: my ancestors are from here and the plaque marks my Baynard ancestor’s tomb. We ended the day back in Bath at the Thermae Spa for a twilight soak in the minerals waters of Bath. This place opened just another a year ago and I definitely recommend it. Another amazing day.

10/06/2026

Day 3 (because yesterday was really day 2) took our adventure to the English Channel town of Lyme Regis. Persuasion fans recognize that as the place where Louisa Musgrove fell while trying to flirt with Captain Wentworth. But, Lyme Regis is also the birthplace of Mary Anning, the fossil hunter. One of my favorite places on the whole country. It’s a hard place to get to without a car or a private coach.

10/04/2026

The first stop of our 2026 Austen Adventure begins with Basildon Park. So many movies and shows have been filmed here. Tomorrow is a walking tour of Bath. Happy Austen Adventure Week!

09/25/2026

In 2009 I rode the St. Charles streetcar through the Garden District in New Orleans and took this photograph. I had no guide and had read nothing beforehand, so I came home with a few pictures and no stories.

Next month I'm going back, and this time I want to know what I'm looking at.

That's where the October issue of The Curious Traveler begins. It arrives in inboxes on October 1, and inside you'll find:

— How I'm turning a work conference into a trip worth taking
— The romance of the rails, from Brief Encounter and Before Sunrise to a steam train in Brontë country
— The one rule of travel insurance worth remembering

If you'd like it in your inbox, subscribe here before it goes out: https://7ec37b2e.sibforms.com/serve/MUIFABlccvlFV0CiribgqWFkCprUo90bXEIXe-REEnQMSj9kH9OLSiPoUv6LUbabjWfAvMLx6dNBCjLxtCGEI1tJVPsXOxBS4rKOMTbkfDuLw0v1knIkawQTfsw9SWiJXioesbaD1xccwMkf30hUWvYRyKFTnrGDVAR7I2KGpn1wDmnG7uzK78E7ZAcyZQGaB3EtWHGoAJmqO6m7Vw==

08/21/2026

There's something very satisfying about making the final reservation for a trip that has been on your bucket list for decades. I did that this week when I reserved a car to drive from Heathrow to the Lake District for four days of adventuring. Decades in the making! It sometimes gets harder the longer it takes. A few years ago I saw Mt. St. Michel, a place I'd dreamed about for even longer, and it did not disappoint. What will the Lake District bring?

I am a student of literature and art, so the Lake District pops up repeatedly when you get to the 19th century, as the world looked back to nature as a reprieve from the mass industrialization and its thick fog of pollution. The poetry and paintings that came from this place are beloved respites for all eras. The Romantics arrived first, and Wordsworth never really left.

And then there's one of my fondest childhood memories — Beatrix Potter. She gave me my first paintings with Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck and the rest of her creatures. On this trip I want to learn about her as a person, to visit with this incredibly accomplished Victorian woman who defied the restrictions of her gender and thrived.

From my research I've discovered that she is yet another piece of evidence that my theory is true. Geography shapes creativity in profound ways. So, it's finally time for me to visit these places and weep. I'll be there late September into early October. I welcome recommendations.

08/06/2026

I am FINALLY doing my Lake District pilgrimage for all things Romantic. I'll be there in the beginning of October, just ahead of leading a Jane Austen tour in the south.

Please give me any and all recommendations you have for scenic drives/walks, restaurants, and sweet villages. I'll have a car so will be able to find out-of-the-way places. I can't wait to visit the world of Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. So excited!

08/03/2026

I write a monthly newsletter for people who travel with purpose, even when a destination is where it starts. It's called The Curious Traveler: something personal, a recent trip I built for a client, one thing worth booking now, and a piece of practical advice that isn't selling anything.

This month: a college tour built around the writers a student already loved, where to catch the Northern Lights in Norway before it's overrun, and five novels worth planning a trip around.

If that sounds good, subscribe here: https://7ec37b2e.sibforms.com/serve/MUIFABlccvlFV0CiribgqWFkCprUo90bXEIXe-REEnQMSj9kH9OLSiPoUv6LUbabjWfAvMLx6dNBCjLxtCGEI1tJVPsXOxBS4rKOMTbkfDuLw0v1knIkawQTfsw9SWiJXioesbaD1xccwMkf30hUWvYRyKFTnrGDVAR7I2KGpn1wDmnG7uzK78E7ZAcyZQGaB3EtWHGoAJmqO6m7Vw==

07/08/2026

07/08/2026

There's a moment entering Oxford — right when the modern city gives way to the old one — where a thousand years fall away. The colleges look nearly the same as they did when they were built: stone worn soft by centuries of scholars, narrow lanes built for foot traffic and secrets, gates that have kept things hidden since long before anyone thought to film a mystery there.

That's exactly why I built Murders Most Oxford — six nights following the complete Morse universe across three eras: Endeavour's 1960s Oxford, Morse's 1980s Oxford, and Lewis's Oxford now. You'll sit at the Morse Bar at the Randolph and order what he ordered. You'll stand in Duke Humfrey's Library at the Bodleian, unchanged since the 15th century — the same room that shows up in Morse, in Harry Potter, in Philip Pullman. There's a five-pub Morse crawl, and one full day that's entirely yours: Tolkien's Oxford, C.S. Lewis's, or Oscar Wilde's — your choice.

I've spent a lot of time in this city — it's one of my favorite places anywhere — and I've just finished pricing this tour out. It's ready to book, solo, as a couple, or as a group.

More here: nerdstour.com/curated-trips/murders-most-oxford