Borrowed Luxury is for people who want the good version of a trip without pretending money is no object — the kind of travel where you splurge on the things that matter, skip the markup on the things that don’t, and still come home with the savings intact for the house, the kid, the someday.

It started from a simple frustration: most travel advice is either aspirational gloss that assumes a bottomless budget, or bare-bones backpacking that skips everything lovely. There wasn’t much for the person in the middle — the one with champagne taste, a real-life budget, and no interest in pretending to be anyone’s idea of a jet-setter.

What you’ll find here

Smart, well-researched guides: how to use points and miles without becoming a “travel hacker,” where to splurge versus skip, quiet itineraries for people who don’t make friends at the hostel bar, genuinely good (not pretentious) food, and a secondhand bookshop in every city. New England gets special attention — it’s home — alongside slower trips through Europe and Southeast Asia.

Less influencer gloss, more honest intel from someone figuring out how to travel beautifully on a normal budget — and sharing exactly how. Recommendations are vetted for the people I actually travel with: welcoming, comfortable, and quietly queer-friendly.

New here? Start with the guides — and if you’d like one thoughtful trip idea a week, Borrowed Time lands in inboxes every week.