Checking In

Checking In

Keith Urban Talks Touring, Life in Nashville and the One Thing He Can’t Travel Without

Singer, songwriter and guitar legend Keith Urban is more than a little bit country. Raised in Brisbane, Australia, Urban found his love (and talent) for music at an early age. His parents gifted him his…
Checking In

Why Lea Michele of Glee Says “Traveling Feeds My Soul”

Lea Michele sees plenty of cities from airplanes and tour buses these days, but she doesn’t limit herself to that view. In fact, she prefers a boots-on-the-ground approach to travel. That way, she and her…
Checking In

Made in San Juan: Meet “Project Runway’s” Puerto Rican Fashion Designer Margarita Alvarez

“Project Runway” finalist Margarita Álvarez was the first Puerto Rican woman to show at New York Fashion Week. Álvarez put on a spectacular runway show, delivering signature bold, mixed prints, and a major runway statement…
Checking In

Elvira Talks Halloween, Being an LGBTQ Icon and Selling a Haunted House to Brad Pitt

Halloween is right around the corner, and who better to celebrate with than the queen of creepy herself, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. The woman behind Elvira, writer/performer Cassandra Peterson, created the iconic character in…
Checking In

Karamo Brown on How Travel Improves Self-Love

Television star, culture connoisseur, social worker—and now, #LoveTravels ambassador. As the resident culture expert on the Netflix reboot of make-over show Queer Eye, Karamo Brown works with the show’s contributors to help expand their perspective…
Checking In

Stephanie Beatriz on Feeling Welcomed and Loved in Her Travels

Stephanie Beatriz publicly came out as bisexual in 2016, then in 2017, her Brooklyn Nine-Nine character, Rosa Diaz, did the same thing on the 99th episode of the Fox series. Talk about life imitating art….
Checking In

Journalist Laura Ling on Travel and Kindness

When Laura Ling lands in a destination, it is often to help tell a complicated story, usually a story about the place or its people that few know. It’s been through her work as an…
Checking In

Interview: Aisha Tyler on Telling Stories, Staying Radical and Having a Great Cocktail

Ask Aisha Tyler what her gift is—what her superpower is—and she’ll tell you it’s the power to tell inspiring stories. “If what you can do is tell a story that makes younger people feel not…
Checking In

There are Two Sides to Dubai. Here’s the Guy to Help You Navigate Both

Cleatus George emits a contagious kind of enthusiasm, a quality befitting the Lead Navigator at the newly opened Renaissance Downtown Hotel, Dubai. Ask him anything about Dubai, and his eyes light up. It’s like he…
Checking In

Community Activist Robert Egger on How to Eat Local and Give Back When You’re in L.A.

Robert Egger never posts photos of his food on social media. As founder of L.A. Kitchen, a nonprofit organization dedicated to feeding the homeless and training them to work in the culinary arts, Egger is…
Checking In

The Times Square Ball Drop is Epic. This is the Family Behind the New Year’s Tradition.

“TEN … NINE … EIGHT… ” More than a million revelers from all corners of the globe swarm New York City to chant the countdown in unison. All eyes are on the rooftop of One…
Checking In

Imagine Dragons on Evolving Their Music and the Las Vegas You Should Know

Las Vegas is a multifaceted city, a juxtaposition of lights and shadows, very much like the evolution of Imagine Dragons music. The band’s work encapsulates the eccentricity of their hometown while weaving in some of…
Checking In

Ben Schwartz Gets Funny with the NFL for ‘Courtyard Camera’

Ben Schwartz is cracking up inside the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in Hollywood. But this isn’t your ordinary comedy show. On stage, pro football player Greg Olsen is performing a skit for an episode of…
Checking In

The Black List’s Franklin Leonard on Screenplays that Transport and the Global Future of Movies

Franklin Leonard knows a good story when he sees one, especially the stories that go untold or get overlooked. He made a list of them in 2005. This list of extraordinary screenplays looking to be…
Checking In

Grace Mitchell on Portland Food Carts and Her Bucket-List Trip with Fiona Apple

Grace Mitchell says her music can live fluidly and without borders. It’s definitely testing boundaries and speaking to her generation with the frustrated youth anthem and grunge-tinged “Kids (Ain’t All Right)” and the viral pop-rock…
Checking In

Broods Talk New Zealand House Parties and Europe’s Most Inspiring Music Cities

Broods have come a long way from their little beach town of Nelson, New Zealand where they performed with their brothers and sisters in an ABBA tribute band. The indie-pop artists with Universal Music Group…
Checking In

Joseph on Portland Music, Eats and Their Endless Family Road Trip

Oregon represents a big part of the band Joseph’s musical identity. In fact, it’s more than that; it represents family. The trio of sisters, Allie, Meegan and Natalie, got their start in and around Portland,…
Checking In

Bishop Briggs on Karaoke, Hong Kong Hiking and Packing Under the Influence

Sometimes the making of the next big thing in alternative music is a truly global thing. Take Bishop Briggs, for example. The Universal Music Group artist known for chart-climbing, soul-infused hits like “Wild Horses” and “River”…
Checking In

Lily Hevesh on Domino Design and Destruction in Hotel Suites and Other Places

Domino artist and YouTube phenom, Lily Hevesh, aka Hevesh5, at TownPlace Suites Swedesboro Philadelphia. (Photos: Nicole Gailbraith) For most artists, witnessing the destruction of their painstaking creations would cause them heartbreak. But for professional domino…
Checking In

Meet the Family That Dyes the Chicago River Green for St. Patrick’s Day

Bagpipes blare, shamrocks decorate throngs of people from head to toe, and “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” shirts abound — all in 20-degree temperatures. It’s just the typical Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, when…
Checking In

Ki Hong Lee Talks Seoul, Korean Must-Eats and the Extraordinary Privilege of Travel

Ki Hong Lee believes travel is a privilege — one the L.A.-based actor has been lucky enough to enjoy, whether he’s filming “The Maze Runner” in Baton Rouge, “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” in New York…
Checking In

Renoun Skis’ Cyrus Schnek on Shaking Up the Ski Game and Hitting the Second “Diviest” Bar in Town

Cyrus Schenck is shaking up an industry that has remained largely unchanged for 40 years. As the founder and CEO of Renoun Skis, he’s built a revolutionary ski using Hyper Dampening Technology (HDT), a technology…
Checking In

Niecy Nash Turns Up the Heat in ‘As the Fire Pit Burns’

Whether she’s making people clean up their homes on Style Network, hilariously fighting crime in Reno on Comedy Central or running from knife-wielding killers on Fox’s “Scream Queens,” Niecy Nash loves a challenge. As long…
Checking In

Ava DuVernay on Debuting a Film at an African-American History Museum and Her Love for Louisiana

Thousands of people had been anticipating the grand opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the latest museum on the National Mall, 100 years in the making. They traveled from…
Checking In

Designer Timo Weiland on New York’s Garment District

Timo Weiland is the perfect ambassador for New York’s Garment District. He’s got love for Brooklyn too. The classic clothing designer calls both places home and sources of inspiration, splitting his time between his factory…
Checking In

Wyclef on His Love for Abu Dhabi, ‘Swaggy Shoes’ and Mad Packing Skills

Wyclef performs at the grand opening of the Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel. (Photos: Sean T. Smith) When Wyclef Jean thinks of hotels, he immediately thinks of old school glamour. “I was a jazz major…
Checking In

Where DNCE Would Have Cake by the Ocean

When you meet DNCE, you totally get how they produced the infectiously fun and slightly off-kilter dance song “Cake by the Ocean.” The group consists of a Disney pop hitmaker, a Korean-born guitar player that…