TRAVEL WRITING
Amanda loves to travel and write about food, design, and architecture. She has been published in the New York Times, Travel + Leisure magazine, Texas Monthly magazine, Garden & Gun magazine, PaperCity magazine, the Austin American Statesman, and many others. Select travel stories are featured below.
Sunset views from an infinity pool at Miraval Austin Resort & Spa. Photo by Wyn Myers
TRAVEL + LEISURE | AUG 2021
A Novelist & Her Spa-Sceptic Husband Visit Miraval Austin Resort & Spa
My husband, Tip, is wary of wellness vacations. He’s a geologist who carries a magnifying glass for examining rocks; he tries not to cringe when someone talks about the healing properties of quartz crystals. Tip’s perfect getaway is a dinner of ramen noodles on a camp stove followed by a night spent sleeping outdoors in a bag. To alleviate stress, he grabs an ice pick and affixes himself to the side of a deadly mountain crevasse.
I, on the other hand, am a firm believer in the powers of aromatherapy, astrology, and tarot cards. I have celestine minerals on my bedside table to help me sleep. As an overscheduled working mom, I dream of an escape where I can enjoy yoga, massage, and decadent dinners prepared by someone who is not me.
TRAVEL + LEISURE | SEPT 2021
Feeling the Love
For a much-anticipated family reunion, Amanda Eyre Ward and the women in her life decide to treat themselves at a storied (and newly renovated) SoCal resort.
TEXAS MONTHLY | MAY 2021 (cover story)
Encountering Crawfish and Wonder in Cajun Country
In my 48 years, I’ve experienced a few crystalline moments when I’ve tricked time, evaded the rules of physics, and been hit by a wave of wonder. The first time was atop the Acropolis in Athens. I no longer heard the sprawl of moped traffic or worried about which gyro place to hit for lunch. Instead, the present day disappeared. It was awesome, in both the “filled with awe” sense and the Jeff Spicoli, surfer-accented sense. I’ve chased that feeling ever since, discovering it in flashes—during a quiet moment on the Nile; with monkeys in Costa Rica; on a pontoon boat in the middle of Lake Buchanan; in the shade of Santa Elena Canyon, in Big Bend National Park. In such instants, it is as if I’m connected to something larger and am at one with those who’ve come before me—as if I’ve been given a secret portal to beauty, to a place that is tender and precious.
Photo by Tobin Davies Photography
PAPER CITY | OCT 2021
For Its 35th Year, The AIA Austin Homes Tour Goes Hybrid
On Friday, October 15, the first ever hybrid AIA Austin Homes Tour kicked off with virtual and in-person experiences. From a Clarksville stunner perched high on West 10th Street to an “Inverse House” located in Davenport Ranch, the tour was a thrilling way to consider both Austin’s historical riches and new ways architects and homeowners are playing with light, structure, sustainability, and possibility.
Photo by Jody Horton
PAPER CITY | OCT 2021
Inside the Fabulous, Fantastical World of Tiki Tatsu-Ya
I’ve been a fan of installation art since my first visit to Marfa, Texas, where I wandered through Ilya Kabakov’s otherworldly School No. 6. The experience of entering into a work of art, of interacting with a conjured world, was so magical that I’ve sought out similar experiences ever since. From Meow Wolf in Santa Fe to the tunnels connecting Kinder Building to the rest of the Museum of Fine Art in Houston (not to mention the Rothko Chapel and the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern), I’ve been awed (and sometimes freaked out) by immersive installations. But when I went to Tiki Tatsu-Ya (Austin’s newest and most fabulous bar), I enjoyed not only a work of art created by some of the city’s most innovative creatives, but an evening of fresh fish, ambient sounds, a light show, and my friend, Emily, sipping “Forbidden Grog” and “Strip and Go Naked” cocktails.
Photo by Commodore Perry Estate, Auberge Resorts Collection
PAPER CITY | APR 2021
A Taste of Opening Night at Lutie’s Garden Restaurant in Austin
“I would think I were in Los Angeles,” said my husband, “except for that I can see the HEB grocery store over the wall.”
Seated across from him on opening night of Lutie’s Garden Restaurant at the Commodore Perry Estate, Auberge Resorts Collection, all I could see was a glorious Austin sunset, rose gardens and rolling lawns, and the estate pool in the distance, surrounded by yellow-and-white striped umbrellas. I understood what he was saying — the space, designed to sumptuous, layered perfection by Ken Fulk, was more glamorous than felt normal in Austin, and the man at the table next to us was wearing a slim suit with Comme de Garçon Converse sneakers and a wool beanie.