Anyone who has (or who has ever had) very young children knows that there’s a vast difference between travel and vacation. With very young children, you can travel far, wide, or luxuriously, but a vacation you will not have. Even if you go to an actual resort – even if you call it a vacation – you will not vacate responsibility.

Plenty of people find themselves in similar shoes. They can’t take a vacation because their job is too demanding, their time is too short, their resources too few, their responsibilities too vast.

But if ‘taking a vacation’ falls off of the list of expectations, and ‘traveling’ fills its place, suddenly we’re all primed for success. We can all – regardless of time, money, or responsibilities – soak up new places, people, and ways of being, and be broadened by them. We can eat strange foods, see strange art, hear strange music, and learn from them. We can venture into nature and be refreshed. We can venture into culture and be renewed.

Especially in a state with mountains like ours, beaches like ours, and culture of so many sorts filling every cranny in between – even if there’s only an afternoon to spare – we can all take a trip worth taking.

This issue is devoted to the idea that we can make that kind of travel a regular part of our lives, and that we live in the perfect place to do it. We’ve got stories about meals worth the drive; trips with children; history along the roadside; life near the coast; and a foodie’s weekend in Asheville.

It’s the perfect time of year to venture a little further afield than usual. Happy reading, and happy travels.

-Liza Roberts
Editor & General Manager
Editor@WalterMagazine.com