Very often, I'm a klutz when I travel. I have everything neatly planned and packed on trips before I leave: my well-worn notebook (not always a Moleskin), the Nikon D-90 camera, Android (for videos and instant photographs). Before a trip, my soul often feels like an oasis. But, very much like an oasis, that feeling is short-lived, a mirage. 

Nothing really prepares me for the fast pace of travel. Very often, the pace of travel can be a blur that ebbs and flows like the Doppler Effect. From the time I wheel my suitcase out the front door and hear the click of the lock, to the time I board the plane, unplanned events transpire and throw a curveball at the most well-laid plans. Sometimes the travel experience is like playing roulette games. During my recent trip to Aruba, I was not prepared to take a taxi from the airport to the wrong hotel. Nor was I prepared to wait for the bus for an extraordinarily long 20 minutes (normally, 20 minutes would not have been long at all; but after a 5 hour long plane journey and a taxi to the wrong hotel, you're eager to soak in a tub full of Epsom salts). 

A shot from Ghost Ranch, the expansive wilderness where Georgia O'Keefe lived and painted. I'm glad I paused to take this shot

It occurs to me that during these times of experiencing the "curveballs," I must be taking diligent notes or recording my chronicles in some fashion. After all, how am I to remember them when the time comes to put pen to paper? 

I'll be honest, my memory is getting better, but it still isn't the greatest. When I'm rushing around trying to get my travel feet wet, I'm always trying to experience and understand a place. Here are some of the questions I ask myself: why is this destination popular? What exactly is the history behind the culture? How can I understand the local customs better so I can respect the citizens? Amidst the tourists doing the point and shoot dance and shouting "amazing" and "gorgeous" at every picture, how is the travel writer supposed to respond? 

Little did I know that my friend's wedding in Danvers, MA would be just adjacent to the historic town of Salem, Massachusetts. I had heard of Salem before and naturally, had always associated it with witches (not so much witchcraft), and so I was thrilled when we had the chance to spend a few hours there before the wedding. 

The literary history brimming in this town led me down memory lane: Nathaniel Hawthorne was a Salem native, and I read "The House of the Seven Gables" several times as a kid, but of course I did not even know what a "gable" was until much later on since I grew up in India — we didn't have gables, just concrete homes with corners! That's what I love so much about the maturing process: revisiting "field trip" destinations in your later years seems so much more meaningful than as a kid — because your experiences have been richer. 

Salem did not disappoint me at all. It isn't cheesy, even with the charming well-worn statue of Samantha from the popular TV series, "Bewitched" gracing the main square. The brick buildings are all fine examples of Federalist architecture. There's something so warming about brick facades and chimneys: I imagine a hot cup of cocoa and snuggling up inside to watch the beauty of a New England winter, reading Hawthorne as the world goes by. 

I was really hoping to see period costumes (there's something oddly anachronistic about seeing full-sleeved dresses, pressed aprons and fluttering white caps in the 21st century — I always expect a camera crew somewhere filming a movie!) and yes, my wishes were granted when a fife and drum parade marched briskly down Derby Street all of a sudden. A total thrill! 

It really was pretty cool to learn about the oldest organized church in the country (1629) and to SEE the actual building. The joy of going to a famous destination like Salem is the process of soaking up information like a piece of Bounty. 

Special thanks to my Tweeple Annie, who told me about the Samantha statue in Salem. She also mentioned a midnight tour that I would have gladly stayed for! Here I am, posing with hubby. 

The Salem Museum is a spacious, historic building that features the Salem trial reenactments on the second floor, twice daily except for Sunday. This is not to be confused with the popular Salem Witch Museum. The space is also available for weddings and parties and the day I was there, I was nearly bombarded by a bevy of anxious bridesmaids prepping for a wedding. Although I love Salem and the history and all, who wants to get married in a place where they burnt women at the stake for supposedly being witches? 

Historic Salem features cobblestone paths, rosy brick houses and history on every corner and gable. The clean lines and plaques make photography a pleasure. I was thrilled it was a sunny afternoon so the shadows came out beautifully in the photos. 

A delightfully odd encounter. I wasn't quite expecting this. Not sure what to make of it, but I liked the texture! 

Watching the Fife & Drum parade burst out of (seemingly) nowhere made me smile! I just love parades — they're for every kid and adult and make the location that much more memorable. Been addicted to parades ever since I heard Yankee Doodle!

All photos by Matthew Minucci. He just wanted me to make sure you all knew that. 

- Charu Suri

I've hosted several dinner parties before, but coming up with the idea and executing my first travel event was both exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. It was exciting because I genuinely wanted to share the idea of a "Scentsory Journey" through travel and fragrance with my blogger buddies, and nerve wracking because — well, I'm a perfectionist.

I need not have worried. I tapped into gracious Sue Phillips, who runs her own custom fragrance outfit called Scenterprises, to lead the bloggers through a travel journey on Bastille Day. I had attended one of Sue's events a few years ago and loved the complete immersion into the world of sight and smell. Sue imparts her deep, impartial knowledge about the history of tonka beans, saffron, and sweet-smelling tuberose. Since France is the birthplace of perfume, July 14th was a no brainer.

On the day of the event, I was running like a mad hatter to get everything in place, but I was blown away at the response: almost everyone I invited wanted to, and could attend. What more could one ask for? There was also, a surprise guest who came to the party: Susan Miller, the world renowned astrologer. She really knew her fragrance too!

So, apart from the round table setting that somewhat resembled King Arthur's "Knights of the Round Table" setting, here's what we ending up learning from our evening of sniffing, and custom blending our own scents:

Composition: A perfume is composed of three distinct notes: the top notes (first impact notes that quickly dissipate); middle notes, and base notes (also referred to as dry down).

Musk: A very common ingredient in perfumery, this commons from glandular secretions of animals including the musk deer and the distinctly aromatic civet cat. As Sue was detailing the origin of this particular ingredient, I simply had to wonder if fragrance aficionados will leave no stone unturned when it comes to discovering a new note.

Sandalwood: By far one of my most favorite notes in fragrance, truly aromatic sandalwood originates from the heart of Indian forests, and now there are several other kinds used in perfumery including sandalwood from Australia. I grew up using sandalwood for practically everything in India, from soap to face creams.

Saffron: This particularly brownish orange colored spice is used in perfumes and derived from the flower of the saffron crocus. I love the distinctly piquant aroma! When used in a fragrance, this note is outstanding.

Lavender: This note is incredibly calming, and has soothing properties. I always have a bottle of Lavender essential oils on my nightstand and when I travel. One whiff of the pure essential oils will have your nerves calm in a jiffy! With over 39 species of lavender found around the world, it is not hard to come by fields of lavender in countries including Africa, the Mediterranean, South-West Asia, Arabia, Western Iran and South-East India.

Bergamot: A very popular ingredient in fragrance, bergamot looks like a tiny orange but is inedible. A very fragrant fruit, it is almost all grown in Calabria, southern Italy, and also southern France.

The event unfolded beautifully, with Sue giving us stories of popular fragrances and notes (one of the most beloved fragrance notes is vanilla, product of the ergonomic and beautifully-shaped tonka bean), and the guests sniffing the various notes to decide which ones they would use to custom blend their own fragrance. Some loved the unmistakeably powdery yet sharp note of aldehydic, the note behind Chanel No. 5 and commonly referred to as "the most popular mistake in the fragrance world." Yet others settled for just 2-3 notes for their custom blend.

Floral notes were popular among the group, and I do have to say that Shakespeare was completely accurate when he wrote, "A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Here are some of the pictures from my first travel event, with a warm thanks to those who came!

The expert, Sue Phillips, Kirsten and I:

Kirsten Alana, Sue Phillips and I

It's almost like school: the round table:

Guests took a questionnaire so Sue could find out their scent "personality":

Aaron from Aaron's Worldwide Adventures

Cocktails, champagne, cheese and fruit tided us through the journey:

The essential oils stood like gleaming icons on the table, with their blotting strips next to them, ready to be dipped and sniffed:

There was mood lighting:

Guests sniffed and savored the notes:

Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads

Kirsten Alana of KirstenAlana.com

Lisa Egle from ChickyBus

Susan Miller from Astrology Zone and Craig Zabransky from StayAdventurous.com

Matthew Stabile from The Expeditioner, sniffing his creation, "Matt No. 5"

Some ingredients on the table

Guests took home goody bags:

Kimmie Smith of The Kitten Lounge

Bloggers caught up with their friends:

Leslie Koch of DowntownTraveler.com and Kirsten Alana

It was a lovely and enchanting evening, along the lines of a Proust novel (after all, that novelist was the first man to link fragrance to powerful memories). I had a wonderful time and sniffed some pretty creative creations!

Photographer: Matthew Minucci

Event, Goody Bag and sponsor: Hypnotiq Harmonie

- Charu Suri

I was delighted to be nominated by Billie from The SantaFeTraveler for the Seven Link Blog Project that was  originally started by TripBase; the project is a way of bringing travel bloggers together in their quest for most popular and meaningful posts, and also a way to look at others that could have performed better.

I converted my blog into a purely travel blog only eight months ago, and I'm so happy to see that it has taken a life of its own, and more importantly, become a platform to connect with other bloggers. I genuinely am HAVING A BALL doing what I do, and feel that travel is what has given me the "wind beneath my wings."

I chalked the first year of blogging to be an experiment of sorts. I wasn't sure what posts would resonate well with the community, and I also had a lot of traveling to do! But over the months the posts that have become popular include the following.

The Most Beautiful Post:

When I think of beauty, I think of the visuals. I think travel could not exist without two things, strong narrative and strong photos. I love color, so I think my most beautiful post would really be about the best sunsets I've seen in Aruba.

My Most Popular Post:

This would be a no brainer. I visited the Butterfly Farm in Aruba for the second time, and even bought a dress for the occasion. The butterflies were attracted to the colors on my dress! It was such a magical moment. To this day, my readers keep telling me how much they love the photos from that post, "An Alice in Wonderland Moment."

My Most Controversial Post:

I wrote about the "Dangers of FOMO" and the dangers of accepting press trips in general just for the sake of press trips. I get that travel bloggers like to travel for free — who wouldn't? But I also wrote about why we became writers in the first place: to get a better understanding of history and culture and to develop narrative. I wouldn't say this post was highly controversial; actually, it was met with several positive comments.

My Most Helpful Post:

I'd like to think of most of my posts as helpful, but they've been bordering more and more on the philosophical of late, which is partly my state of mind. I'm not really having an existential crisis, but I have been going deeper into topics of what matters most, so my most helpful post really has been the recap of the New York Times Travel Show where I met and bonded with a lot of my blogging buds.

A Post Whose Success Surprised Me:

Never underestimate the power of food. I was surprised that the Cupcake Crawl which I organized, and blogged about, received so much attention. Props to Matthew for taking the pictures. Several bloggers have emailed me and commented about how they wished they could have been a part of the crawl, and I've been pleasantly surprised. Dessert conquers everything.

A Post I Didn't Feel Received Enough Attention:

I was pleased with the attention that my New York Blizzard of 2010 post received, but felt it could have gotten more comments and page views because that was one crazy storm. Still, four responses and ping backs is not too shabby; I'm guessing people were too fed up by the blizzard to think about the delays and bottlenecks by the time the post was written.

The Post I am Most Proud Of:

There are so many posts that I poured my heart and soul into, but my post on "Travel & Perspective: Sometime There is No Place Like Home" really came out beautifully as a narrative and deep exercise in writing. I love the pictures. It just ended up writing itself.

Passing on the Baton:

Here are the five bloggers I am nominating for the project:

Traveling Ted

Downtown Traveler

Chickybus

Runaway Juno

Aaron's Worldwide Aventures

Please blog about your posts using the categories above and tweet them using the hashtag #My7Links. And of course, pass the love.Thank you!

- Charu Suri

Last night, the crowd that gathered on Boulevard East and the cliffs of Weehawken was overwhelming. I felt as though I was attending a rock concert: teenagers, kids, adults alike cheered and watched as the fireworks sprouted from the barges on the Hudson at 9:20 pm.

By the end of the day, my husband and I had attend a BBQ, socialized, eating way too much and delighting in the company of neighbors. This is what I love about a national holiday– it truly brings people together. There were kids wearing neon bracelets and necklaces, adults carrying deck chairs, families sprawled on blankets in the middle of the street, and dogs of every shape and size. My dog, Butterscotch, doesn't get too scared with the fireworks, unlike most I know (remember "Marley and Me"?).

The barrage-style fireworks did not disappoint. While sometimes, I feel they border on sensory overload, last night's duration and intensity were ideal. From the traditional Chrysanthemum to Beehives to Brocades, the patterns yielded a nice crop of colors from the champagne variety to the more vivid red, white and blue.

I've written previously about why I'm so lucky to live in Weehawken, and the Fourth of July is yet another reason why I'm glad to call this serene place my home. But word has definitely got out that this side of the pond has the better view, and cars were searching for parking spaces as early as 3:00pm.

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July!

- Charu Suri. Photographs by Matthew Minucci

When I was asked to participated in a Lucky Magazine opportunity with the Arts & Crafts store, Michaels, I was intrigued. As a Lucky Style Blogger, I was challenged with the task of making the ultimate jewelry "Statement Piece"– basically putting the twist on any colorful necklace, earrings, wrap bracelet, etc.

Here's what I purchased at Michaels to get me started:

A 3 in 1 Tool plier

My "Statement Piece" Necklace pendant, which is basically a lace pendant that reminded me of a period piece.

Jolee's Swarovski crystal adornments

Findings (jewelry ties, clasps and hooks)

A silver chain

STEP ONE:

My goal was to make a lace pendant slightly edgy, quirky, as though alive with Swarovski crystals that shine like flashlights. So step one was to cut the plain silver chain in half with the pliers.

STEP TWO:

I used a tie to loop the ends of the pendant to the necklace. All you need is two necklace ties which you attach to the pendant and loop and snip off with the 3 in 1 pliers. I thought it would be much harder, but it was like washing the dishes, really. Or mowing the lawn. It comes with practice.

STEP THREE:

Apply the Swarovski crystals on the necklace one by one. I followed no prescription when it came to colors and schemes. The best way to apply it, I found, was to use the Glue Stick directly on the lace pendant, and stick the crystals on one by one with a fine-toothed object (a toothpick works well).

STEP FOUR:

Here in my garden backyard with the full outfit and necklace, taken on the Fourth of July. I went with a sleeveless outfit so it could really show off the elegant necklace. I didn't wear any earrings because I couldn't find anything with a lace pattern on it. But, yes, the crystal colors do stand out.

Dress by Banana Republic.

Now dear readers, this is where you come in. Here is a coupon for you to channel your own creativity this summer and create your own statement piece.

I created this necklace because it's quite great for travel. It's light, it has just the right amount of accents on it, and it will spruce up just about any dress, elegantly.

What will your statement piece be?

- Charu Suri

The gift certificate from Michael's was sponsored; however the opinions and choices here are entirely my own.

When I had the opportunity to review the merits of a destination wedding at Turks and Caicos a few years ago, I wondered why people would get married anywhere else other than on a beach. A long time ago, I used to read a lot of literature (I'm trying to revisit that idea). I loved the literary wedding scenes: nothing along the lines of Keats' Lamia, but the stylized ones in period novels like those by Jane Austen. I was thrilled when my cousin, Anita, chose a destination wedding as her theme.

Her two ring bearers were her corgis, Izzy and Poe. I've heard many brides talk about having furry ring bearers, but I've never seen anyone actually go through with it. They were the cutest, sharpest ring bearers I've ever seen (their eyes look a tad bit beady because there were some seagulls on the beach). Carmel is a pet friendly city, and if you want ring bearers on the beach, this is your place.

Luckily, the day was bright and sunny. I couldn't imagine a worse thing than planning a meticulous beach wedding and then having it rain on your parade (although some say that's a sign of luck).

Here are my reasons why brides can should consider Carmel as a destination wedding location:

a) Every person we ran into was extremely friendly. That matters a lot if you want your wedding to be smooth and worry free. Having laid back and friendly personalities surround you on your special day is so key. Although be warned, if you have a DJ on the beach, the police will likely prevent you from turning up the volume (this happened to my cousin…which sucks, but we weren't going to argue with them on her wedding day).

b)  The quality of the beach sand is pretty good. It's not fine as triple milled powder, like the Caribbean, but it's a tad bit coarser, like brown sugar. Nevertheless, a fine place for your feet to call home.

c) The houses themselves are fit for a movie. In case you missed it, here are some colorful shots of Carmel homes, and the boutiques.

d) It is serene, and your wedding pictures will be spectacular (waves, beach, cliffs, twisted Monterey Cypress all contribute to a mystical backdrop).

Would I renew my wedding vows here? Absolutely (although there is currently a tie between Carmel and Aruba). Here are the pictures from the wedding, a day fit for the bride romantic:

The ring bearer (see what I meant by "beady eyed"?)

"On a short leash."

The adorable flower girl, Sophie.

The bridesmaids, looking as  fresh as roses.

My cousin, Anita, the bride. I want to print this picture and hang it on my wall! I absolutely love it.

Izzy & Poe.

Anita with her mom, dad, brother and her husband, Steven Felicelli.

This one was a tad distracted during the ceremony, and started barking.,,

…behold, the distractor.

I congratulate the ring bearers.

The ceremony included a love letter from Robert Browning to his beloved, Elizabeth Barret Browning, and vice versa. It was short but deep and meaningful. Truly, an event to remember.