Philippe Lazaro
OCTOBER 2016

Valencia is one of the best places to travel with kids

When my kids were two, two, and four, we took an ambitious family trip to Portugal and Spain. This was-without doubt-the most difficult set of ages for traveling. We’ve been going on international trips with kids as young as five months, but the age of two was a special challenge.

Not old enough to be potty trained, to have patience for long flights, and to keep outbursts minimal. Old enough to be very, very mobile.

Now that you know the context of our trip, let me emphasize: I am real glad we spent a week in Valencia.

Spanish culture is as laid back as it gets. That’s important to counterbalance the demand of traveling with kids. On top of that, Valencia has family-friendly infrastructure. It has plenty of playgrounds and so much good food.

Let me highlight all the reasons why Valencia is such an ideal destination. Especially with young kids. Here's what's worth checking out.

The City of Arts and Sciences

The Cidade des Artes e Ciencias alone might make Valencia worth the visit with kids.

Really? A science museum?

More like a museum of museums.

It’s a futuristic whale-shaped complex on the Turia River with several attractions. It includes:

  • An IMAX cinema and planetarium

  • Prince Felipe’s Museum of Science. It's your classic science museum, except that the whole first floor is a basketball court

  • A biosphere known as L’Umbracle

  • The Oceanografico aquarium

  • An opera house

Even if you didn’t go into any of the attractions, the bridges and courtyards around the complex are fun. Though if you made it that close, it’d be odd not to go in.

Each museum within the complex could merit a whole day’s activities. We prioritized the science museum and the aquarium for our two-day pass.

Any guesses about my kids’ favorite part?

It was the café in the lobby of the Science Museum where robot cats serve as the waiters.

A lot of other museums

Sharing a city with the mother of all science museums must be pretty tough on other exhibits around town. But there’s a huge upside! Much smaller crowds.

Valencia’s Museum of Prehistoric History is information-rich. It's also full of interactive things for kids to get their hands on. It’s also built into an old Byzantine style church, so the structure itself is of interest. You’ll want to budget a good amount of time for this one.

L’Iber – You’ll remember this one as “the toy soldier museum.” It's a massive collection of tin soldiers and other miniatures. It can capture attention and imagination for much longer than you’d expect. It feels like you’re looking at every war Spain ever fought all at once.

L’Ento – The Valencian Museum of Ethnology, but think of it more as Valencia’s pop culture museum. Grown-ups might note how art and entertainment reflect its history and politics. Kids will find several displays featuring toys and cartoons, and other familiar things.

And while this isn’t a formal museum, I gotta shout out the Casa de los Gatos. I have a little girl who loves cats. Kids who share that fondness will love the tiny decorated facades. These decorate openings in city walls that house street cats.

Siesta culture 🤝 Naptime

To me, this was the most obvious reason to visit Valencia–or at least somewhere in Spain–with young kids. Nap time is still an important part of the day. Why not head to the country that seems to have perfected the art of napping?

That said, there is a flip-side to putting your family on the Spanish schedule. While the naps are decadent, prepare for the days to stretch out longer. Dinners often kick in around 8:00 pm or later. Don’t be surprised if bedtime gets rolled back a few hours.

At home, staying on schedule seems to serve us well. But when in Spain…

The beach was immaculate

We stayed in the Malvarossa neighborhood of Valencia. That meant that we were always a mere blocks away from the beach… and we took full advantage.

It surprised me that every single day, Malvarossa Beach seemed quite empty. We seemed to have several soccer pitches worth of open sand and water all to ourselves. The sand was smooth and perfect for building things. The Mediterranean waters were the perfect temperature.

We were there in April. Maybe that helped keep the beaches empty. They seemed capable of accommodating much larger crowds.

Every 200 meters was another unique play structure. The parallel sidewalk was lined with cafés.

In the mornings, this strip of beach worked well for a 10k run.

It is most likely a lot more packed in summer.

There were playgrounds everywhere

On the beach, you couldn’t go very far without running into a playground, and you know what? That was basically true for Valencia across the board. There are play structures everywhere.

Some playgrounds are in more central parks and plazas. These typically had more complex structures and lots of families hanging out. But even in low key walkways, it seemed like the City of Valencia figured out a way to squeeze in a slide and a jungle gym. There was one right outside the supermarket which made shopping a lot easier.

One observation of these Valencian playgrounds: there is no shortage of rocking horses. Or rocking motorcycles or dolphins. Whatever designed seat they decided to put on a giant spring.

At some point I imagine a Valencian city planner got it deep in his head that them kids love rocking horses! 

There is one special playground I gotta call attention to: Gulliver’s Playground

Parque Guilliver, that is!

It’s a large structure of tunnels, staircases, climbing walls, and slides... all in the shape of Lemuel Guilliver. You know, the sailor stranded on Lilliput who is then tied up and climbed all over by the tiny Lilliputians.

Gulliver’s Playground is only one part of the Jardin del Turia. Turia is largest urban park in Valencia and a place you can visit over and over for family walks and other outings. It was built into the old riverbed of the Turia. Back in the day, it flooded, making the city rebuild. Now it also features a model train, Centro Ferroviario Camp de Turia, that the kids can hop on.

But are kids these days even up on their Gulliver lore? Seems like a forgotten fandom to me. Have they no idea who they’re climbing on?

Probably not. Even that Jack Black movie adaptation was 15 years ago. He’s the Minecraft guy now.

Nonetheless, the playground is doing its part. And it’s still fun. And some of those slides are actually pretty intense, so keep an eye out if you have very small ones.

You can leave town for a little bit…

Here are a few of my picks:

  • Xativa – A medieval city on a hill with stone walls and ancient castles. If you’ve got castle-fixated kids, this is ideal as long as they can handle the walking. Lots of little shops and cafés.

  • Ruzafa – This isn’t even a daytrip where you’d leave Valencia. But Ruzafa is Valencia’s bohemian hipster suburb. Lots of vintage shops, used bookstores, and tapas joints.

  • Albufera Natural Park – This nature park is set on the Southern Spanish Wetlands. There are boat rides and plenty of wooden walkways to explore. It’s a great escape to take a break from the city.

…or head deeper into the heart of the city.

The historic center of Valencia is actually a good spot to get lost for a little while. Large parts of it are pretty pedestrian friendly. It’s easy to grab some essential Spanish eats while walking around. Here's what's worth seeing.

  • Plaza de la Reina – is the iconic central plaza. Sometimes I enjoy just embedding myself where all the action is and taking it all in. This is that kind of place.

  • On the northern end of what I’d consider Central Valencia is Torres de Serranos. Those Gothic towers once served as the city gates. It matches my childhood impression of what a castle should look like. Two rooks from a chessboard connected by a wall.

One other very Valencian thing I wish we had the chance to do was to catch a Valencia CF match at Estadio Mestalla. My favorite La Liga squad is the one untethered from Barcelona and Madrid. While the schedule didn’t work out in our favor, we did get to bop around the fan shop in central Valencia for a bit.

Public transit is pretty fun to ride around

I have a transportation kid. As in, a young boy obsessed with vehicles and ways of getting around. Trains, buses, all that. And the public bus system of Valencia was his idea of a good time.

Valencia's buses made it easy for us to get around. Our main routes went between Malvarossa and the City Center. The bus route enabled us to discover lots of restaurants and cafés, along with a look at ordinary Valencian life.

It’s also worth noting that Valencia is an excellent bike town. If my kids were riding bikes already , we would’ve borrowed some wheels. Rent Bike Virgen is a great spot to hire a bike to pedal around Turia Gardens and other spots.

Spanish food culture

We decided to not serve meat to our kids until they could understand where it comes from. Spain made that so much easier with the hanging pig legs at every grocer for jamon iberico. One of our kids had his first animal protein on the trip. Not ham, mind you, but escargot. A snail picked right out of a pan of paella.

The must-try items are well-known. Jamon iberico. Wine. Paella. Oh, and note that paella with seafood is generally seen as a tourist play. The local stuff will have chicken, or more likely, rabbit.

I do recommend the Mercat Colon as a food hall where you can try a good number of things. Valencia happens to be the origin site for horchata. One of my favorite spots to grab one would be Orxata Daniel, located within Mercat Colon. To top it all off, I’d visit a rival horchata-maker, L’Orxateria… but for their churros y chocolate.

Other Considerations

Once again, I am so glad we made Valencia a destination. Even during these years of challenging young-kid travel. There are a few other considerations I’d keep in mind:

Timing – We did very well by visiting in April. This was possible, of course, because our kids aren’t in school. Missing three weeks in the spring is easier in preschool than the higher grades. Our reward were those wide open beaches, as well as temperatures. Spain gets hot in the summer, to the point where I wouldn't recommend it anymore.

Las Fallas – It’s Valencia’s most popular carnival, and it’s definitely a memorable thing to experience. The drawback is that unless you stuck around for a lot longer, you might not experience much else. Expect way longer lines at the museums and higher prices for everything.

Ever do Valencia? With kids? Thinking about it? Let me know below!

Best of New Zealand

Aotearoa dreaming.

Very unsurprised by how much I loved this New Zealand. Sharing some more favorites.

Kitekite Falls – The waterfall was gorgeous, and the pool below made for a great swim hole. But also, don’t overlook the walk up there. Wonderful nature walk with some fascinating vegetation.

The Shire – Probably the most touristy thing one could do in New Zealand, but still pretty chill. Loved walking through a hobbit house.

Green Dragon Tavern – They’ve got their own exclusive ales, so hopefully you don’t like it TOO much. You won’t find it elsewhere.

The TraNZalpine Rail – Scenic train ride up to Arthur’s Pass, with an onboard café and a viewing cart.

The Waitomo Glow Worm Caves – My favorite single outing in New Zealand. Absolutely breathtaking moment of wonder.

Castle Rock – Famous for being a film site in the Narnia movie, but even if it wasn’t these boulders are impressive

The Observatory Hotel – Maybe my favorite hotel? The drawing room alone was worth it.

Piha Beach – Intense waves, but a unique mix of beach and forest

Devonport – Daytrip by ferry

School is for learning, right?

Let’s rethink a few assumptions we make about school and learning.

In about 10 months, my twins will graduate from daycare.

This will free up a significant chunk of change from the family budget. For five years now, a large chunk of my paycheck has gone to a little daycare center down the freeway.

Now there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

It’ll be tempting to redirect those funds to a vacation, a bigger grocery budget, or a series of little treats. and throwback soccer jerseys, there’s a very grown up and responsible thing to do with it.

Putting it in an education savings fund for the next time we may be staring at three tuitions at once: college.

I always imagined that by the time my kids were college age, things would be different. Brand new norms around higher education.

In what way?

Haven’t got a clue.

I’ve been saving money to support them in college... OR whatever the alternative plan is to launch their independent lives.

Because that might not be college.

About 20 years ago, I paid a $16,000 tuition for UC Santa Barbara.

I can imagine how much those price tags have increased.

How much tighter the competition has gotten for those enrollment slots.

All while more and more people question the value of the degrees.

And it’s hard to blame them.

I grew up thinking of college as something that would get me better jobs, higher pay, and a better life.

The presentation seemed clear at the time. But looking back decades later, it feels like an overpromise-and-underdeliver.

It’s very common to find struggling MAs and PhDs and seven figure dropouts. I’ve also found it common to find high-earning dropouts who believe everyone should do it their way. College is a scam, isn’t it?

Many embrace a middle path of doing two years at a local community college. Later you can finish at a larger university for the same degree. I applaud the creativity and the reach beyond black and white thinking.

Still, my college years were some of my most fun. It would feel like a big shame to have to chop them in half. But the ratio of practicality-to-price tag may be tipping the scales on this one.

At this point I still have well over a decade before my kids cross this bridge. By then, the system and its norms will have evolved a few more times.

But there are some things I want those kids to consider.

The degrees are not guarantees, but they’re also not irrelevant.

Your uncle might scoff at degrees like philosophy or English. What are ya gonna do? Speak in English even more? Be a stand-up philosophizer like Mel Brooks? And to be fair, colleges don’t do themselves a favor when they promote classes that seem unserious. The very first lecture I ever sat in was a seminar on Japanese Horror Movies. (Man they make ‘em creepy!)

But there is value to having knowledge that isn’t only utilitarian. Society as a whole benefits when you have electricians who can appreciate literature. When museum curators can crunch data.

And every field is a little bit different.

For what it’s worth, I absolutely love my career. I managing communications for an international nonprofit to solve global environmental problems. My degrees? Communication, international studies, and nonprofit management.

When I was being hired for the position, I don’t doubt that this background helped me stand out in a crowded field.

I have no clue what college will look like for my kids in a decade. But there are two big ideas I hope they keep in mind.

1) If you limit learning to the classroom, you’re missing out.

I think a lot of the best learning I did during my college years happened outside of the classes.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful to know what I know from lectures on Franz Fanon. Happy to know about Hinduism. The Sykes-Picot line. Descartes. Purchasing Power Parity and Japanese horror films. But I don’t think they hold a candle to what I learned outside of classes.

Signing up for a TON of extracurricular activities right off the bat taught me how to budget my time.

Living in with roommates taught me how to be a responsible adult and not a jerk.

Dating taught me about mature relationships and respect.

Studying abroad taught me that travel is one of my favorite things in life.

Late night conversations with friends taught me a lot about God, people, and the world. Especially when those friends had way different backgrounds.

And yes, you don’t have to enroll in anything to have these learning opportunities, but…

2) The college experience can be so much more than sitting in lecture halls.

College life is a unique concentration of people around your same age that you’re doing this with.

Those connections alone are worth the cost, in my eyes. Oftentimes those connections do lead to your career. That said, I don’t want to commodify relationships. They’re great for their own sake!

Sure, maybe I’m biased. I did meet my wife in college, after all.

In college you likely live within a walking distance of your daily routine. Your community. You can walk outside, bump into somebody, and decide to study or party or whatever.

Even if college classes and degrees aren’t on your path, the environment still has a lot to offer. You can often still sign up for clubs and student groups. You can still make connections there.

Sometimes I hear people talk about school like they expect to be given knowledge. Spoonfed. Then hired.

I don’t think we should approach life this way, as passive recipients of what comes our way.

Learning is a dynamic process. We take stock of the pieces around us. We figure out how they might fit together, consider their stories, then try to make something out of them.

And maybe we have some good parties along the way.

What a Gift

“The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

–Mewtwo

I used to want to be a war correspondent doing badass frontline things. But now, I’m pretty thankful that I’m sort of the opposite of that.

I get to tell stories of peacemakers and community builders. People who spend themselves in service of those who are hurting. People who move solutions forward. People whose practices turn into culture.

What a gift.

Make 'Em Laugh: Healing the world will take some humor

Here’s a running theory of mine:

There’s a strong relationship between the social unraveling of the past decade and the disappearance of funny movies.

Think about it for a second. When did the world start to become as divided, hostile, and on-edge?

Okay… that’s a pretty loaded question.

Was it the pandemic? The rise of authoritarian movements around the world? 2016? Did the Cubs winning that World Series actually open up some portal to some dark timeline?

There’s a decent percentage of people out there who would probably respond with: what are you talking about? Things have never been better!

And if that’s you, well we probably don’t agree on much. Thanks for reading, but we’ll probably have a tough time connecting over my writing.

Another chunk of people would respond with: things have always been pretty bad for a lot of us. Privilege just has you distracted!

And if that’s you… you’re not wrong.

But still, there’s been something about these past few years that’s just… let me put it this way:

Every now and then this clip goes around from the 2012 presidential debates. One of them took place during Mitt Romney’s anniversary, and Barack Obama teases him about having to spend his anniversary with the president. It was lighthearted and a longshot from anything you expect to see on that stage any time soon.

So something’s shifted since 2012.

That shift just so happens to line up with another shift that’s taken place over the same timeframe… the fact that comedies don’t really get produced anymore.

My teen years were a great time for comedies.

The Y2K era rom-coms like Miss Congeniality and Meet the Parents were making way for Will Ferrell’s monster run of character-driven classics. That gave way to the crude but weirdly sweet Judd Apatow entries of Knocked Up, Superbad, and so on.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when these started to fade. But as the 2010s progressed, the laughs slowed way down.

When I look up best comedies of the past decade, I get entries like The Farewell and The Big Sick. Excellent movies, but not exactly true true gut-busters.

(For what it’s worth, I think the best true-comedy of the past few years was Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. It’s quiet release and elusive presence of streamers also speaks to how sidelined comedies have been.)

Now it’s like the genre doesn’t even exist anymore. Don’t people want to laugh? We still have a bunch of comedians around, don’t they wanna work?

Back in the day, it was like a third of the shelves at Blockbuster. Who saw that coming?

Well, the entirety of Blockbuster did disappear, so there’s that.

There are plenty of logistical explanations for why this happened. Comedy doesn’t translate as well as adventure to an international market. Things got expensive and studios try to play it safe. It’s hard to be funny when you can’t take risks. Streaming took over.

And sure, these all probably played a role, but the explanation that feels truest to me is: we started taking ourselves too seriously.

We forgot how to laugh at ourselves.

A few years ago, I started taking improv classes so I could make the world laugh again and fix everything that was wrong in the world.

Okay, not exactly. I did it for me.

My day job in climate activism often had me on stage talking about some pretty heavy things, and while I enjoyed the meaningful work, I realized the more lighthearted and goofy side of me wanted to get on stage too.

I loved improv back in high school and college, and as soon as I started getting back into it, I started questioning why I ever stopped. I loved my teammates. I loved the challenge.

Improv is this weird activity. Because on one hand, what you’re doing is pretty ridiculous. You’re playing silly games to warm up and create silly scenes that don’t always go the way you expected. They’re not supposed to! At the same time, all this is weirdly good for you. A lot of people note how improv gives them some confidence, interesting insights, and muscle memory for life skills that are valuable off the stage.

At the same time, it can also be a bit like a drug. When you have a real good improv performance, it’s an incredible high. You want to get to that again, keep chasing that dragon. On the other hand, not all your shows are like that. Even if you’re very good, some of your shows end up being duds, in which case, you end up wanting to get back out there again soon to chase it down.

Either way, you find that you keep coming back to the stage.

I’ve been coming back over and over for a couple of years now.

I made it on to a house team at my local theatre, which means I perform at least every other week, but often more.

I also started taking up freestyle rap improv, which is a totally different animal. Tough but fun.

And I’m happy to report that I’ve solved the world’s problems by being funny.

Okay, not exactly. But I have met some really great people. I enjoy getting together with improv friends and being silly together.

And that’s something.

What, with all this talk of loneliness epidemics and third spaces and community and isolation.

That’s something.

A funny thing happens when you have a bunch of friends in the comedy world. You catch yourself paying attention to the craft, be it standup, sketch, or improv.

You start to pick apart scenes and jokes, trying to figure out what works. You try and engineer humor. Of course, this kind of kills the joke.

But it’s like that frog you dissected in seventh grade. A sacrifice in the name of science.

We’ve been living in an unfunny era for quite a while… despite what people who leave comments with a dozen 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 emojis might think.

But I’ve realized a few things.

I’ve learned that you can’t laugh if you aren’t feeling safe.

I’ve learned that in order to share a laugh with somebody, you need to have a context that’s agreed upon. It requires some shared reality.

Safety and a shared reality are actually two things that are in short supply around the world.

A couple weeks ago, I went to see The Naked Gun in theatres. As a rare comedy in-theatres, I wanted the movie to do numbers. And it was a pretty good one. The Lonely Island and Leslie Nielsen have such distinct senses of humor, and it somehow bridged the two pretty well. A few weeks later Freakier Friday also came out.

Maybe these are safe picks for movie studios, with a built-in nostalgic audience to prevent a hard loss.

Or maybe it’s a start. A bridge back to some shared reality we can make light of.

Maybe, I’m not the only one ready to loosen up and laugh again.

At the risk of hyperbole, I think the environment that allows humor to thrive overlaps with a world I’d rather live in. A world we need to keep building.

One where we can see different points of view, to see the humor and humanity.

One where we aren’t taking ourselves too seriously. One where we aren’t punching down, knowing that ego gets in the way.

At the very least, we’ll share a few laughs.

Singapore

TAN TENG NIAH HOUSE – This house in Singapore’s Little India belonged to a Chinese businessman and incorporated an unusual style mixing Chinese and European influences with wild colors. It's appearance, history, and location make it a pretty good symbol for how multicultural Singapore really is.

Singapore’s Little India had all these little sweet shops open and around. They reminded me of the Bengali Sweet Stand in Kolkata where I discovered this little goodie called ice cream sandesh–a candied milk dessert that somehow tasted like a chilled cube of pistachio ice cream.

I had no luck finding it, and it seemed like a lot of items I saw listed or that I asked about were unavailable. The vendor often told me they were out of ingredients I didn’t even think were necessary in those items. But eventually I picked out something that was clearly in the case…

Mango Burfi.

Burfi is also a milk-based treat… a bit like fudge. The word -barf- in Hindi actually means snow. And the mango flavoring added something extra nice. This was real good, especially while walking around on a hot day.

SUPERTREE GARDEN – Never realized that the Supertree Garden in Singapore was like, an actual garden. I just thought they were replica baobabs. These structures have vertical gardens of ferns, orchids, and vines going all the way up, plus structures to collect rainwater and generate solar energy, so they mimic a lot of tree behaviors.

A Guide to Seattle | Essential Eats and Experiences

In 2001, Major League Baseball held its All-Star Game in Seattle. The Mariners were on a historic run and I was especially intrigued by this new baseball player who just showed up from Japan named Ichiro. All this also got me to start paying attention to Seattle as a city, and my early impression was, wow, what an actually cool city.

Everything about it felt new and modern for some reason, and the misty, forested backdrop added an extra layer of cool.

Decades later, and after several visits, I’ll admit, my impression hasn’t changed much. I suppose I now have a more informed taste for coffee and beer, and I can better appreciate Seattle’s counter-cultural streak. But yeah, at the heart of it, still just a cool city.

Why Seattle?

Here are a few other reasons why it’s hard to do wrong with a Seattle visit.

Culture meets nature. I am happiest in forests and mountains. But so many of my interests- from improv to baseball- call for cities. So when there’s a city with access to trails and natural spaces all around, it’s a gem. Seattle is one of the best cities that checks these boxes.

A hub AND a destination. You can go and spend a weekend in the city and be perfectly happy. OR you could use it as your entry point into Western Washington, and from there explore the Olympic Peninsula, Leavenworth, the Rainier area, or the San Juan Islands. Seattle has a lot to offer, but so do its surroundings.

Oh, and the Amtrak puts Portland and Vancouver in pretty easy access.

A hub of different cultures. Seattle has a lot of ties to different East and Southeast Asian cultures, which results in plenty of great eats and one of my favorite Chinatown areas in the States. There’s also a solid Eastern European community in the area.

The weather, actually. Maybe this isn’t a selling point for most people, but it is for me. The persistent rain and mist make every photo taken in the city that much more epic. And while it may be wet, it’s temperatures are rarely extreme.

I will note that in my first eight or so visits to Seattle, I had an odd streak of always catching sunny weather. On my last visit, however, I was poured upon for three hours during a concert in Lumen Field. So there’s that.

Where to Stay

One of the biggest drawbacks to Seattle is that accommodations tend to be unusually expensive. I’ve often opted to stay in spots like Everett or Redmond, which are a bit outside the city in order to save money. Just know that this can add quite a bit to your commute time.

That said, here are a few options for you:

CitizenM Lake Union (Lake Union OR Pioneer Square)

CitizenM is a boutique hotel chain operating in a handful of American and European cities. While they’re owned by Marriott, they specialize in affordable accommodations. The rooms tend to be sleek and well designed, but quite small, making it an ideal stay for 1-2 travelers. Their Seattle locations in South Lake Union and Pioneer Square are convenient as far as major attractions go.

Hotel Sorrento (Downtown Seattle)

This boutique hotel is perhaps a notch above CitizenM in terms of cost, but offers a very classic hotel feel for a more accessible price. At least by Seattle standards! The front courtyard seating area is often lively and adds to the experience, and it’s reasonably close to the core of downtown just on the other side of the freeway.

Coast Gateway Hotel (Burien)

I don’t recommend this place for its frills. But I have a soft spot for Burien, which is a neighborhood right by the SeaTac Airport that has several spots worth visiting. And this hotel does have larger sized rooms that can accommodate a bigger family if needed, and that’s something I’m often on the hunt for.

TreeHouse Point (Issaquah)

I had to put this on here for the experience, not exactly practical reasons! But this woodsy resort offers overnight stay in gorgeous treehouses nestled in a forest canopy and connected by suspension bridges. The site also offers a variety of wellness activities, making this more than a place to stay, but an experience in its own right.

My Top Three

1) Enjoy the view from GasWorks Park

Seattle’s got an incredible skyline, and GasWorks Park is one of my favorite spots to admire it from.

You’ll notice that absent from my list are recommendations to actually go into the Space Needle. My philosophy around iconic towers that let you go up is that the view OF the tower is typically way better than the view FROM the tower. Anyhow…

GasWorks Park actually is a converted old fuel processing plant and a lot of the old equipment is still around. Some of it has even been repurposed into play structures. The hill in the center of the park gives you a panoramic view of the bay, with the harbor below, the iconic skyline right across, and a line of trees all around.

2) Hike Rattlesnake Ledge

If you like hiking… or even if you somewhat tolerate it, going on some classic Pacific Northwest trails is a Seattle-must. While there are many trails to recommend, the one I’d probably list as most essential but doable during a short Seattle visit would be Rattlesnake Ledge.

The trail can be moderately strenuous. While it’s only four miles roundtrip, it has a pretty sharp elevation gain of about 1500 feet and numerous switchbacks. But, the view is absolutely worthwhile with stunning lookout points of Rattlesnake Lake and the surrounding mountains.

Oh, and it’s worth noting… there aren’t actually any rattlesnakes in the area.

3) Go ahead and check out Pike Place Market

I’ve left off a lot of the most major Seattle tourist attractions from this list– Starbucks, Space Needle, Pop Culture Museum… I figure most probably already know about those and can decide if that’s your thing or not. But I will say that of all the undeniably touristy things to do in major American cities, a visit to the Pike Place Market can still be pretty enjoyable regardless of how many times you’ve been to the city.

A lot of the vendors within the halls are longtime staples in the market and still have a lot to offer in terms of hidden gems and locally crafted goods.

Essential Eating Experiences

Spend some time in a coffee shop.

Is there any other city that embraces sitting in a cafe for hours romanticizing a cup of coffee? Vienna might debate it, but Seattle is at the very least on a very short list of cities marked by coffee. Yes, it is the birthplace of Starbucks, but here are some local offerings worth getting to know.

Espresso Vivace (Capitol Hill)

A true Seattle coffee institution. This spot truly feels like a classic 90's coffee shop throwback you’d sit in while waiting for friends to show up. Enjoy big mugs and cozy seats with a colorful, bold-shaped aesthetic.

Basecamp Coffee Shop (Capitol Hill)

A good option for the classic Seattle coffeeshop experience right in Capitol Hill. It’s a neighborhood classic.

Ghost Note Coffee (Capitol Hill)

The interior feels trendy in a romantic but haunting way. You can get upscale coffee with a vintage feel in an airy environment. Locally loved.

Third Culture Coffee (Bellevue)

It’s worth the trip out to Bellevue… and if you happen to be passing through, make it a point to come here. As the name implies, this café features coffee drinks from around the world, especially India and Vietnam. You don’t see Indian inspired coffee shops too often, so don’t miss this.

Narrative Coffee Roasters (Everett)

It's all the way in Downtown Everett, but as far as quality goes it’s one of the best in the Seattle area.

Enjoy food from Seattle’s large Asian-American community.

Several East and Southeast Asian diasporas have quite a presence in the Seattle area. I happen to think the Chinatown area of Downtown Seattle is one of the most enjoyable Chinatowns to explore. But all over the city you can find some great Asian eats. Here are some favorites.

Malaysian: Kedai Makan (Capitol Hill)

Malaysian cuisine remains criminally underrated most of the time. Not enough cities in the United States have a good go-to spot for Malaysian, but lucky for Seattle, Kedai Makan is a much beloved spot in Capitol Hill. Their Malaysian classics don’t really miss and their cocktails are impressive as well.

Vietnamese: Miss Pho (North Seattle) & Pho So 1 (South Seattle)

Miss Pho is located in an unsuspecting strip mall corner, but it boasts some completely memorable bowls of pho. Their incorporation of egg yolk offers an element you don’t see too frequently in Vietnamese-American restaurants, but it’s pulled off with excellence.

Meanwhile in South Seattle…

There’s no shortage of praise for Pho So 1, which is also located in an unsuspecting strip mall. They just might have a claim to the best pho and Vietnamese food in Seattle.

Dessert: Baiten (Capitol Hill)

I'm not the biggest soft serve fan, but with flavors like black sesame, yuzu, and several matcha based innovations, this place wins.

Asian-American Fusion: familyfriend (South Seattle)

Laid back Asian-fusion restaurant with great outside seating when the weather allows. Highlights include batchoy, kewpie burgers, and adobo tacos.

Get some real good ginger beer.
Rachel’s Ginger Beer

Gourmet ginger beer and ginger beer based cocktails. Rachel’s has several locations, including Pike Place, the UW area, and The Spheres.

Enjoy Moroccan cuisine–and a belly dance performance–at Marrakesh.
Marrakesh (Downtown Seattle)

Full-fledged Moroccan restaurant with occasional belly dancing performances. The commitment of the decor at this place alone is a reason to visit.

Other things to see and do in…

Downtown Seattle

Catch a Mariners or Seahawks game

Seattle sports teams often suffer from geographic isolation, but make no mistake, the Seattle fan base gets lively for their home team. Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park are neighbors, and it isn’t uncommon for both stadiums to host events at the same time making for a lively, albeit crowded time downtown.

Explore Chinatown

As mentioned earlier, Seattle has one of my favorite Chinatown neighborhoods across the United States.

You can start your exploration of Chinatown by exploring Kobe Terrace–a patch of quiet hanging just above Chinatown. Many of the community gardens are owned and maintained by longtime residents of the neighborhood. Come at the right time and you’ll be rewarded with cherry blossoms!

Seattle’s Chinatown has an abundance of good places to eat. It’s hard to go wrong. If you’re trying to break up an afternoon of quick bites, however, I recommend hopping into Kinokinuya Books. Kinokinuya is a popular Japanese book and media chain with several locations, but I love Seattle's location attached to an Asian grocery.

Hunt for your next read at Mam’s Books

Mam’s is a small boutique bookseller specializing in Asian American literature. Their curation alone is impressive and very likely to add quite a bit to your TBR list.

South Seattle

Go record shopping and grab a bite at Easy Street Records.

Given Seattle’s position in American music history, a visit to a record shop can be a core piece of a visit. I love Easy Street Records for being the essence of a classic record shop but with a working café and bar on the inside.

Capitol Hill

Carve out a block of time for Elliot Bay Book Co.

One of the bigger independent bookstores in the Pacific Northwest. Their Capitol Hill site is rather large, with two levels and several sections, so I recommend planning enough time to get lost within its many shelves.

Ballard

Get Caribbean eats over at Un Bien

Finding Caribbean food in the Pacific Northwest isn't always easy, so this place is a must. Their sandwiches come with a lot of praise.

Queen Anne

Do a bit of walking around Discovery Park

This is one of Seattle’s most popular parks, but its covered with so much green space and tree-filled areas that it rarely feels crowded. Make it all the way to the far end and you’ll get some rugged beaches with views of the Sound.

Everett

Pay a visit to the Funko headquarters

Funko Pops have taken over the world, to the point where it seems impossible for global demand for obscure recurring characters from early 2000s sitcoms to keep up with the supply. Nevertheless, Funko persists. The headquarters for the over-the-top licensing dealer is in none other than Everett, where they seem to run the town. You can browse the extensive storefront and even create your own custom Funko Pop.

Burien

Enjoy Aussie treats at the Australian Pie Co.

I love this spot for being an ideal snack location. The meat pies are just the right size for a lighter meal and very well priced. You can one off with a lamington or other Australian baked goods.

Browse the books at Page 2 Books

Here’s a beloved bookseller that feels just-the-right-size. Their curation of books across different genres makes this shop a great browsing spot.

Get coffee before your flight at Burien Press

This is a relaxed coffee shop that also offers kombucha and beer. The friendly waitstaff helps add to a relaxed vibe.

Bainbridge Island

Spend some time in Sakai Park

The Seattle area simply has some great public access parks. This is one of them, accessible via the Bainbridge Ferry featuring large wooden troll sculptures.

Pay a visit to the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Monument.

It’s of course not exactly a feel-good bit of history, but its an important one to keep in memory. A sobering but important spot to preserve the story of the affected families.

Outside Seattle

Climb Heybrook Lookout

This is another day-hike just outside of Seattle that I’m quite fond of. IIt’s a short but steep hike to a lookout tower with a great view northeast of the city. A bit of a workout, but doable in two hours

Hike the Heather Lake Trail

Here’s another hike I love, through a dense forest full of moss and secondary growth that concludes at an alpine lake with a view of Mt. Pilchuk. The hike is fairly moderate, with about 1000 feet of elevation gain and a 4.2 mile circuit.

Land Rights for Thailand's Hilltribes

The hills of Northern Thailand feel a word removed from the nightlife of Bangkok or the beach resorts of Phuket.

This area is home to ethnic minorities and hilltribes, many of whom are refugees or descendants of those who’ve had to escape conflict. Many lack Thai citizenship, which causes a whole bunch of problems for their livelihood of relying on the forest.

It’s a complex challenge, which is why I’m happy I had a chance to talk to the rights specialists of Plant With Purpose Thailand about how ecosystem restoration projects can serve as a good springboard to further land rights.