Photo ©2018 Steve Leimberg UnSeenImages.com
W hen people ask what I write about, my short answer is, “travel, taxes and transitions.” But actually, one of the joys of being a journalist is being able to cover a wide variety of topics. My purpose, always, is to be a lighthouse in the darkness: to reveal an angle that might not be readily apparent, or to help readers approach life in new ways. In pursuit of this goal, I have contributed to many different national publications. Some of those articles have been archived — for example, on the websites of The New York Times, Morningstar and Forbes. The following list of stories, arranged by category, shows the range of my work. It also archives all the blog posts that have appeared on this website.
Book Publishing
How My Book Became A (Self-Published) Best Seller
How to Borrow E-books and Audiobooks from the Library
The Dollars and Sense of Audiobooks: What Indie Publishers Need to Know
Book Reviews
Debut Author Hits The Jackpot With Novel About Alzheimer’s
Descendants Book Author Recalls Working With Clooney
Listening To Audiobooks While You Do Something Else Is The Ultimate In Multitasking
Roz Chast Uses Dark Humor To Cope With Aging Parents
Features
An Insider’s Guide To Cate Blanchett’s Designer Outfits In Blue Jasmine
Better Vision Without Looking Your Age
Collecting: Thieves And Forgers Rush In Where Big Spenders Dare To Tread
Madeline And The Family Business
12 Ways To Beat Insomnia And Sleep Better — No Matter What’s Keeping You Awake
Waking to the Power Of Our Dream Worlds
Food and Wine
A Croatian Island Hideaway Becomes a Gourmet Holiday
Cooking in Other People’s Kitchens
Eating Like a Grape Picker in Alsace
Four Alsace Markets That Are Worth the Journey
Four Basque Markets That Are Worth the Journey
Four Périgord Markets That Are Worth the Journey
Flavors of Basque Country in a Brooklyn Kitchen
How a Visit to Basque Country Cured Me of Fish Phobia
How to Eat Like A Basque Without Breaking the Bank
In Alsace During Grape Harvest, ‘BYOB’ Means Bring a Bottle to Fill
In Alsace, Elevating a Once-Scorned Grape to a New Status
In France, Doing a Reverse Julia Child
It’s Piquillo Pepper Season. So Don’t Mess with the Roaster in Tolosa
Lessons from a Fish Sauce Entrepreneur
Making Normandy-Style Chicken on the Côte Fleurie
Mastering the Art of Eating Hanoi Street Food
Shopping for le Weekend in Paris
Sniffing Out a Restaurateur’s Cheesemonger
The Cabdrivers’ Guide to Singapore’s Best Hawker Food
The Whole Bonito on Budget Travel
Three Normandy Markets That Are Worth the Journey
Three Paris Markets That Are Worth the Journey
Three Restaurants Where the Basques Go to Celebrate
Tracing a Legendary French Cheese to Its Source in Saint-Nectaire
Where to Buy Kitchenware in France
Health Insurance
Health Insurance for Frequent Travelers
How I Sued My Health Insurance Company for a Premium Refund
Life in the Time of Covid-19
A Garden of Hope Grows in Brooklyn
Bernie’s Mittens Inspire Souvenir Sock Retread
Covid Cocooning in a French Château
DIY Face Masks Divert Friends from Covid-19 Horror
How One Couple Makes Harmony in the Time of Covid
How to Borrow E-books and Audiobooks from the Library
How to Get Your Stimulus Payment More Quickly (In Theory)
How to Lead a Paperless Financial Life
How Young Adults Can Get Retroactive Stimulus Payments
In Lieu of Travel, a Tour of Trader Joe’s French Cheese
In Luang Prabang Without Tourists, a Visionary Regroups
Mail-Ordered French Balms Take the Sting Off Travel Limits
My First Plane Trip Amid the Coronavirus
My Last Hurrah Before This Lost Year
Pandemic Drunken Noodles Take Edge Off Sobering News
Pandemic Refuge in a Basque Fishing Village
Pandemic Pursuit: A Yearbook Lost and Found
Pandemic Refuge in a Swiss Mountain Village
Pruning Books the Pandemic Makes Passé
Travel in Asia as the Coronavirus Story Swirls
When the Pandemic Shut Their Second-Act Business
Why the Coronavirus Hasn’t Made Me Cancel Plans
Why This Professor Is Writing Letters for People Feeling Blue
With Borders Closed to Contain Covid-19, Some Folks Can’t Go Home Again
Museums
A Slumber Party Where the Wild Things Are
A Visit to Paris Without Leaving Home
From a Page of French History, Lessons for Modern Times
In Paris, Four Hot Tickets Take the Chill Off Winter
Personal Essays
Changing Careers May Have Saved My Life
How My Parachute Took 75 Years to Drop in Normandy
How to Grow Your Network Without Really Trying
Neil Armstrong Dies; Two Takes On His ‘Giant Leap For Mankind’
Summer Camp And The Process Of Letting Go
The Best Travel Souvenirs Are Inexpensive, Everyday Items
When It’s Time To Part With Family Heirlooms, And Why I Gave Away Grandpa Oscar’s Violin
Why We Need Friends Of All Ages
Personal Finance
5 Last-Minute Tax Breaks to Grab Before Year-End
6 Ways the Tax Overhaul Could Hurt You
10 Things To Do When You Win The Lottery
Charity Bankruptcy Leaves Many Donors in Distress
Estate Planning as a Family Conversation
Foundations With a Limited Life
Home Office Deduction Can Skirt Limits on State and Local Taxes
How to Guesstimate Your 2018 Taxes in Three Easy Steps
How to Make Money Without A Job
Inherited IRA Rules: What You Need to Know
Inherited Savings Bonds: What You Need to Know
Loyalty Program Rules Aren’t Ironclad
The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received
You Can Get Richer Pinching Pennies Like Warren Buffett
Retirement
3 Ways the New Tax Law Can Hurt Retirees
How A Serial Entrepreneur Built A $95 Million Tax Free Roth IRA
How to Be Richer in Retirement
How to Find Purpose and Meaning Without a Job
How to Make an IRA Last Longer
The Best Foreign Retirement Havens
To Sell, or Not to Sell (Your House)
Sharing Economy
Airbnb ‘Instant Book’ Is Devastating to Older Hosts
Fed Up with Airbnb Amateurs? How to Find the Pros
How to Find the Perfect French Vacation Rental
How to Spot An Airbnb Guest Who Has Something to Hide
Seven Things Your Airbnb Host Won’t Tell You
The Seamy Side of Airbnb Reviews
What to Do if Your Vacation Turns into an Airbnb Horror Story
Travel
10 Things to Love About France in the Fall
A Croatian Odyssey Through Villages Lost in Time
A Favorite Paris Neighborhood, Above and Below Ground
A Week in Normandy for Those Who Prefer ‘D-Day Lite’
An Appointment in Bern That Wasn’t on Our Itinerary
Avoiding the Crowds on Ha Long Bay
Enjoying Besançon Out of Tempo
Four Great Rooftop Views of Paris
How To Travel Anywhere With Nothing But A Carry-On Bag
How To Visit Switzerland Without Breaking The Bank
In Bilbao, a Flavorful Mix of Modern and Medieval
In Phu Quoc, Vietnam, a Fragile Piece of Paradise
In Saint-Cyprien, the Périgord’s Past Is Present
Rather than Barneys, perhaps Bangkok
Renting Homes in Five of the Périgord’s Medieval Villages
Savoring Alsace: A Slow Traveler Goes Beyond the Façades
Six High-Altitude Vacations To Take While You Can
The Scarves That Tie Me to Places I’ve Been
Tiny Island in Unspoiled Waters
Touring Amsterdam: A Survival Guide
Two Carless Swiss Villages That Offer Something for Everyone