It’s a good year to be a San Francisco sports fan. Sure, the Giants didn’t make the playoffs, but the FIFA World Cup is coming to the Bay Area this summer. Well, technically San Francisco Bay Area Stadium is in Santa Clara, but it’s totally doable to stay in the city itself, and with most of the games in the evening, you’ll have your days free to explore.

The first sign that things were different on board the giant cruise ship was that several of its passengers greeted one another by bringing their fingers together to form a heart. I had never been on a cruise before, but I could tell that the man buns and tattooed 30-somethings running around crying, “I need a hotspot!” meant this was not your grandmother’s — or even mother’s — floating holiday.

Any geologist can tell you how the Driftless was formed. It’s where flat prairie top breaks down into rolling hills, curves, and mounds that disrupt perspective across 24,000 square miles of southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. Glaciers did not rub this area smooth. So, hills and bluffs (hence its other moniker, Bluff Country) are tucked within ancient springs, rivers, and positive vibes.

Charming is never the adjective that springs to mind when people think of New York City. Yet, once I stopped rushing to simply get from point A to point B, and took to walking leisurely through the streets, I discovered something beyond the soaring skyscrapers: that the city has another side, one that’s picturesque, a bit quieter, and, yes, seriously charming. This is the New York I have always been drawn to, and the inspiration for my book.