For years we shot with a Canon Rebel—but we recently switched to a Canon 6D. We generally carry only one lens, our 24-105mm lens; we also have a 50mm f/1.8  fixed lens. We have an Olympus TG-3 for underwater shots. And of course, many photos are from Aron’s and my iPhones.

I use Lightroom on both accounts. You can add tags to all your images so that it’s easy to find them (also by metadata such as camera type, ISO, etc.), and no edit you make will permanently modify the original image file. I also use the VSCO app on my phone.

Here’s a Pinterest New York Map Guide I’ve put together to get you started. Many of those pins will take you to posts on the blog: We’ve written about much of what we would suggest a visitor do, and hope you will find useful tips!

Also, check out local resources like New York Magazine (especially their Dining Guide), TimeOut New York (especially for events), The New Yorker (their art listings always inspires me), or Serious Eats New York (for reviews and “best of” round-ups).

I like the spontaneity of wandering where the day takes us with the knowledge of which shop or restaurant to be sure and pop into when we pass by, so I do a lot of research ahead of time. I usually skim message boards on travel sites like Fodor’s, look for recent magazine articles from Condé Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Budget Travel, Sunset, Lucky Magazine, or old ones archived from Gourmet on Epicurious, and I bring along a guidebook (or two). I like Rick Steves (for Europe only) and Lonely Planet, in particular. Of course I also do my best to gather tips from other bloggers, and Pinterest.

Just get started! I have been incredibly lucky to gain a community of readers—many of whom Aron and I now call friends—but we started this together, writing almost a diary of our time in our new city (our first posts are often long, meandering accounts of entire weekends).

Over a few years, we found better ways to share our inspirations, memories, and explorations with others. I’d like to say that we knew what we were doing immediately, but any success we have had came with practice—practice at posting regularly and practice at taking pretty photos. (It’s been 7 years now!)

We would find, sometimes, that blogging about things we do would make us feel pressure to do interesting things. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, right? In fact, it has made life richer, and that’s the reason both of us would consider the blog a success even had we not found the incredibly generous community here.  So the first step is just to get started posting about something that genuinely interests you.

In practical terms: Choose a name. Consider setting up a self-hosted version of WordPress: A hosting account is your own reserved space on the web that houses your website and all of its files. We use Bluehost. They’re an affordable and reliable option, but there are many others. WordPress is blogging software, and it can be very basic or highly custom. Technically it’s free, but customizing it to work for you or look the way you want it to may not be.

Congratulations! I wrote up this annotated registry checklist just after Hudson was born, and try to update it regularly. If you check the family link, you’ll find various posts about my few years as a parent. I’m partial to the monthly updates I wrote throughout Hudson’s first year.

Airtravel: Tips for flying with babies and toddlers, and What to pack. Also, some healthy debate about kids on planes. And my favorite ways to entertain the kids on planes.

Road trips: Avoid them. Just kidding. (Sort of.) We try to time most long drives to when the kids are asleep, but otherwise rely a lot on audio books, music, and the IPad for Hudson, and extensive breaks for Skyler. I did a series on screen-free activities for Ford that might lend some inspiration. I also love these activity books that use water pens, these scratch pads, and these doodle pads. 

And here’s a general note about why I still think it’s all worth it in spite of some trying realities.

More tips on Family Travel.

I wish I could do more myself! Trip-planning can be stressful, but also a wonderful chance to learn about new places and be creative. I hope you’ll take a look at all of the Travel Guides and browse the travel section for inspiration. Generally I’ve included all the details I could in our travelogues, so it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to add much more.

Yes! Here it is! I’ve put all the details I can recall into the post (it was a few years ago now). And be sure to read through the comments on our Home Tour. Here is the Bali Travelogue.

Previously sponsored posts are always indicated with a disclosure statement at the bottom. Financial support for the blog and compensation for my time is really important, so I’m grateful to the brands who have made it possible for me to write and maintain Hither & Thither. That said, I have only worked with companies that are a natural fit for me and whom I’m comfortable endorsing.

In some cases, posts on this site include affiliate links for products mentioned. This means that Hither & Thither may earn a small commission on items that have been purchased through those links. The links do not affect the price of the purchase, and I only feature items and products I would genuinely link to whether or not I have an affiliate relationship.

For the time-being, all advertising is in the form of banner ads on the site.

I’m afraid I don’t trade links, but I always love learning of other sites if you would like to send a link.

That depends. I don’t publish unsolicited guest posts or third-party content, so if you’re asking for a business or brand the answer is no. But I do enjoy working with guest contributors from time to time. (Some examples are listed on my About Page.) In general, I produce all of the site’s content myself, but if you have a suggestion I’m all ears! Currently, I’m especially interested food & drink contributors, so if you have a highly visual recipe to share, please reach out!