The Joy Drop: August 2026

Hi everyone,

I’m sorry this is coming a bit late—I’m writing this in the midst of packing up my flat before I fly home to New York this weekend, so I’m going to get right to the point. 

I wasn’t sure I would take a vacation this summer because I didn’t feel excited to plan a damn thing. The act of going on holiday has become its own content niche and strategy. Did you really have a great summer if you didn’t go on some fabulous Italian seaside adventure and sunbathe on a yacht sailing around the Mediterranean? 

I didn’t grow up going on vacations as a kid. If we traveled, it was to visit family, and yes, sometimes a beach was involved because our family lived in Florida. My parents were never really concerned with giving me new experiences. Then I went through that whole period where I was too terrified to get on an airplane. I watched my friends go on drunken spring break trips or study abroad. While a part of me knew I was missing out, my fears were all-consuming. Safe to say I made up for lost time in these last 12 years, though. 

I ended up having two really lovely trips at the end of August. I hit Barcelona and Costa Brava, Spain. Then a last-minute work trip took me to Algarve, Portgual last weekend.

If it weren't for friends already having a plan in place that I could just hop onto, I may not have actually left London last month. One friend had a spare room in an apartment she was renting in Barcelona, so I booked my flight for the following day. Simultaneously, I had checked in with a friend who lives in Barcelona, and she was on her way up to Costa Brava for a holiday with her daughter, so I booked myself at the same hotel and joined her after two days in Barca. Everything came together quite effortlessly—just how I like it. 

Below are a few standouts from my travels…