They Just don’t Make Vacations like they Used To

This is just one of those posts that started with a single photograph which gave me such nostalgia for an era I’ve never actually lived through, that I proceeded to compile my own imaginary photo album of the perfect 1950s vacation– all shot in 35mm kodachrome of course. It was this tiny vacation cottage that…

Exploring the Forgotten World Highway

The Forgotten World Highway stretches between the towns of Taumaranui and Stratford, on New Zealand’s North Island. A long and winding road, curving and bending through the hills, it was once the main thoroughfare for travellers. Houses along the road are few and far between. There’s the odd feral goat, and stray chicken, native and…

Soaking in the Desert Bath Tubs of a Pioneer’s Hot Spring

Just when I think I have my next American road trip all mapped out, something like this comes along and throws the whole itinerary off course! Oh yes; hundred year-old bathtubs of warm healing mineral waters with sunset views over the red desert and a banjo player serenading me as I soak– Mystic Hot Springs had me…

Conscience Letters from the Cursed Thieves of Triassic Park

In the archives of a small museum in the middle of nowhere, there are piles and piles of letters from remorseful senders dating as far back as 1938. These letters were accompanied in the mail by returned pieces of petrified wood, stolen from Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park. Believing they are cursed and condemned by the karma of ancient…

America’s Newest Ghost Town

Eagle Mountain is among the America’s best preserved ghost towns, mostly due to the fact that it’s one of the newest. In the shadows of Joshua Tree in in Riverside County, the town was founded in 1948 by Henry J. Kaiser, a.k.a, the father of modern American shipbuilding. And yet even with a great industrialist on its side, this…

Stop Everything, Check out these Miniature Mediocre Motels

Among my favourite things are mid-century American kitsch and teeny tiny stuff. Put the two together and you basically send me into overload. I’m not exactly sure why run-down vintage motels fascinate me so; perhaps that seedy glamour of America is much more appealing to a European road-tripper like me who hasn’t stayed in enough of them yet to have encountered bed bugs. But those pastel…

Hipster Camp

When I was thirteen, my mother sent me to musical theatre camp in upstate New York. That sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud but it happened. American camp culture was totally foreign to me. I remember I had never been away from my parents for more than a week, especially as much as…

No Fun Intended: The Space Age Playground Motel that Time Forgot

Earlier today on MessyNessyChic, we pulled over on the internet highway at one of the kitschiest roadside attractions on America’s East Coast, “South of the Border“. But just a little further down, on the other side of the interstate, there’s something equally surreal to make a stop for. While scouting for roadside oddities, I also stumbled across…

For Sale! A Rock n Roll Tour Wagon to Spruce up for an Epic Summer Road Trip

Looking for a DIY project you can really put your heart into? I’ve got just the thing for you! Now just hear me out. I know it might look a little rough around the edges, but this beautiful mint green baby has so much potential… You’re looking at a 1951 Tour Wagon that was customised by…

Picture Perfect LA: How to Settle into the City of Angels

You should probably know that I’m a California virgin– so this was my first visit to the city of Angels! When you arrive in such an iconic city, it can be a little overwhelming to know where to start. So for any other California virgins out there, follow me and let’s head straight to Abbot Kinney Boulevard…