Welcome to the first issue of the quarterly(ish) Curious Passport newsletter! I’m Ligaya Malones, and I’ve been writing about travel and food as a freelance writer for more than a decade. 

You may have seen my work in publications like Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appetit, Lonely Planet and others. I’m still out there pitching my story ideas to editors, to be clear, and The Curious Passport newsletter is meant to be a behind-the-scenes companion to that body of work.

It’ll include anecdotes from reporting trips that didn’t make it into published articles, observations about the places I’ve recently been, notes from my home base in San Diego County and where I’m headed next. 

Thanks for following along!

Postcard from: Lodi (Central Valley, California)

Before my first visit to Lodi, the only connection I had with this Central Valley city is that I had a college roommate who grew up there.

I was surprised to learn that Lodi has an established wine scene. That’s what Visit Lodi told me when they invited me out in January to check things out first-hand. They also raved about their up-and-coming food scene. I was skeptical at first, until I was gladly proven wrong. So much so that I pitched a story to Travel + Leisure about it, which you can read here.

If we had more time and better visibility in its vineyards, I would have loved to extend our bike ride around Lodi Lake to include a spin through its country roads. That was the original plan before the weather rerouted us. Maybe next time we’ll also get to ride past the sheep we saw grazing in the vineyards on our way to the next winery or restaurant. Their presence is supposed to be a more environmentally-friendly alternative to weed management. 

I would have also loved more time to join in on a group winery tour aboard Lodi’s wine trolley. And to have enjoyed a glass of zinfandel on the lush patio of Harney Lane. My friend Shannon joined me for the long weekend, and it was here (our first winery stop of the trip), where she accidentally sent our block of cheese flying from the charcuterie board to the tasting room floor. I asked her to cut the cheese, not drop it :D 

Still Thinking About:

Wine, like museums, can come with a built-in intimidation factor. What struck me about Lodi, like other wine regions I’d visited (like San Luis Obispo), is how approachable these regions are for first-timers.

What I’m Cooking

For at least a year now, The Restaurant Dropout (TRD) has made weeknight meal planning significantly easier.

For $6 a month, TRD turns one grocery trip a week into five different meals with ingredients typically available at your nearest grocery store or in your pantry.

Recipes arrive as a weekly Friday newsletter and includes a grocery list, an ingredient prep list (think marinades, sauces, chopped produce), and recipes for each dish. I especially like the additional notes for ingredient substitutions, technique tutorials (like how to spatchcock a whole chicken, which I attempted for the first time last year), and food storage tips.

Top hits in our household (two adults, one kid) include the weeks that have featured crunchwrap supremes (the nostalgia!) and ranch chicken cutlets.

Where I’m Eating

For global restaurant guide The Infatuation, I have the deliciously fun privilege of scouting the tastiest places to eat in and around San Diego. The site is organized based on where and how you’d like to eat, whether you’re zeroing in on a specific neighborhood, or searching for an occasion, like a place that’s great for large groups or date nights.

Recently, I contributed to its list of Best Places for Sushi in San Diego, including the Carlsbad restaurant that serves an excellent nigiri tower.

One Good Read

Sometimes, the best writing about place—or all the unique, sensory and emotional details of an environment—isn’t found in the travel section. Take Pirates of the Ayahuasca by Sarah Miller, a longform piece published in n+1 magazine.

In it, the author paints an incisive picture of a journey to Peru, where Miller wonders whether the ancient plant medicine can shed light on their persistent inner darkness. Miller’s imagery is vivid, and laugh out loud funny throughout, especially in the author’s observations of the other pasajeros searching for their own healing.

Note: This is not a skimmable piece, and it took me a couple of sessions to complete it, but it was worth it.

*I may earn a small commission if you purchase through these links.