The Island Hopper

The Island Hopper 2026 Paperback Challenge!

The Island Hopper — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 15:22:28 GMT

Paperback books on my “to read list”. Will pop one or two in my suitcase to read and trade!

One of the many things I LOVE LOVE LOVE about spending so much time with the magnificent Island Hopper community is talking about books. Abby and I are both die hard readers and we have grilled (literally) most trips about books and bookclubs, “Are you in a bookclub?” “Do you have rules?” “What are you reading?”. This inspired the start of our Vermont book club! On one of our Lucca trips, Sarah Hartigan got every person there to give her a list of all of their favorite books. She then compiled a suggested reading list for her ladies. (This Lucca group is known as the “Slimoncellos”).

I have seen women pass around books they have finished en route or while traveling with us. Our spring Swiss group shared several books. Many of the WhatsApp groups have new friends sharing great reads. I just purchased a set of historial fiction diaries based on Island Hopper Tara C.’s suggestion in the Swiss group text. I love my Leland travelers who give me fabulous suggestions (Thank you Nell, Jackie and Georgia!). Georgia was handing out books she read on their 2025 Lucca trip.

So here is my suggestion for our 2026 fall travelers. If you are so inclined, please bring a paperback book with you on your trip. If you finish it by the end of the trip, let’s pass them along to each other…arrive with one book and leave with another. Write your name in the book you bring and add your name to any which are passed on to you. We will watch the books travel through our community.

If I play my cards right, and read as I go, I will pass books through all of our five fall trips. From Maine, to Spain 1 to Spain 2, to Gstaad, to Kenya!!

Let’s do it!!

xx Tricia

The Island Hopper

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On Holiday.... HOLLAND 2027

The Island Hopper — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 04:06:42 GMT

22 Island Hoppers on an Island in Maine

The Island Hopper — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:14:09 GMT

Photo of beautiful Maine by Down East Magazine

Here is the catalog for our 2026 Island Camp in Chebeague Island.

Please note that the rooms with “shared bath” means that you will have your own room and share a hall bath with one other woman.

What the Island Hopper Team is Reading this week.

The Island Hopper — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 04:06:20 GMT

A treasured photo taken by Janet Blyberg for her flat lay photography and styling class on our 2025 Vermont trip.

Courteney

I have been bouncing between a few books on endurance sports, but I have also become engrossed in a wonderful memoir about shepherding on a 200-acre organic farm in Vermont. The Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow has been both a relaxing and captivating read, allowing me to reminisce about my own childhood in Vermont while learning about the intricate and demanding process of raising sheep.

As someone who grew up closely connected to nature, I deeply resonate with Whybrow’s commitment to being a thoughtful steward of the land through sustainable farming practices. Her blend of hard-earned wisdom, quiet reflections on nature and life, and rich, textured prose draws the reader into the demanding yet deeply rewarding work of caring for a flock of sheep while raising a family in the beautiful, rugged, and enduring landscape of Vermont.

Tricia

I am really on a reading roll. I am averaging about two books a week. To be honest, recently I have read a couple books that were...”okay” and two that I really enjoyed very much. I just finished Memorial Days by Pulitzer Prize winning, best selling author Geraldine Brooks. It is a memoir which covers the first few years after the death of her husband, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Tony Horwitz. I have been nervous to read it as I don’t like to read about deaths of loved ones but it was so highly recommended by my friend (and Island Hopper) Jackie T. I get great book recommendations from her and I am so grateful I listened to this one. I loved the honesty in the writing of this story. Geraldine is such a fantastic writer and her descriptions of her experience were just so genuine. I didn’t know before purchasing this book while on the vacation on Martha’s Vineyard that she and her family lived on my favorite island. The settling made it even more special for me. https://geraldinebrooks.com/memorial-days/

My other favorite recent book was The Lost Letters from Martha’s Vineyard. I only bought this one because of the location. I had no idea what it was about (my favorite way to start a book!) and I loved it immensely. Although I am not usually a fan of books which cover two time periods, this book did it so very perfectly. In this story a granddaughter is going through her grandmother’s attic after her death and learns that not only did her grandmother have a secret life before her family....her grandmother was an Oscar nominated actress who vanished from Hollywood sixty years before! Follow granddaughter Kit’s journey to uncover her grandmother’s secrets while she wonders if the documents in the attic were left there on purpose, so the truth would come out!

Emily

I’m in the middle of The Calamity Club! I don’t usually listen to books, however, after Tricia said the narrators on the audio book were A+ I decided to try it out and I’m so glad I did! This book is LONG (a 29 hour listen!!!) and I’m only halfway through but I can already say it is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. I love all the strong female characters and find myself laughing out loud at their wit and charm despite the heavy storyline. It’s one of those books where it is hard to choose a favorite character because they are all so good in their own right.

Summering on a Great Lake

The Island Hopper — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:20:14 GMT

An adult child of mine has just walked into the cottage and announced “Jeopardy Time!” and we all take our places. This tradition and many other moments during our stay remind me of my wonderful mother-in-law Mame. Mame drove a shinny new red caddie with the Michigan license plate “MAME”, yes, Auntie Mame kind of Mame. Mame was a hoot. I was her dealer. I brought her contraband every time I left the cottage. I dealt in candy fruit slices, and a variety of gourmet dark chocolate. I would smuggler her boxes of fine candies that she would hide in her closet and in her car. She embraced the woman who married into the family with 5 young children, she welcomed me with open arms, and loved my children dearly. Most importantly she raised the really wonderful man who I treasure dearly. (My sister-in-law would say the same about her other son!). Mame went to Vassar and married a Princeton man. She maintained wonderful friendships with college friends and understood Yankees. She spoke New England and got me. She heard me stumbling to answer questions about where the summer cottage was and showed me how to demonstrate the location on my upper left outside top pinky knuckle. I will never forget her standing (on the deck photographed below) with a smirk on her face and her hands clasped in joy as East Coast people walked into her backyard and saw Lake Michigan in all its glory. I now follow in her footsteps and enjoy the same thrill of watching people see this slice of heaven for the first time.

My husband’s childhood summer home is now owned with his siblings. They have beautifully navigated sharing this magical spot and forty four of their parents’ children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren now call this cottage their summer home. Last year our French daughter-in-law started summering here with us. She grew up in a coastal village in the south of France (where she and our son still live) and absolutely loves heading out into the lake on a paddle board. Mame would love watching this as much as I do.

Today we live in a home built in the early 1960s. The house is very much the same, a few appliances have been updated, some of the linens, and WiFi was added as adult children needed to work from the cottage. Plastic drinking cups in groovy colors, cartoon jam jar glasses, old Ducks Unlimited mugs, and a few avocado colored hand towels remain. The cottage is filled with family art. Clay tile projects from decades ago, paintings made by my father-in-law. There is a new paper crown on the fish on the mantel created by a darling first grader.

Our vacations here are a step back in time, in all of the good ways. Five o’clock cocktail hour is the family “olly olly oxen free”. Drinks are made, platters of hors d'oeuvres go out on the rudimentary table and deck chairs are pulled up. The day is recapped and future plans are created. Due to the lack of nearby restaurants, family dinners are the evening event, set at the dining room table with 1960s vinyl placements and corning ware dishes. In the old days Mame insisted dinner be done in time for the entire family to move to the TV for Jeopardy. Jeopardy still reigns supreme at the cottage but dinners have moved a little later and sometimes it is on during dinner preparation.

The goat knows all the family gossip!!

When our Yankee friends visit my husband leads the cocktail hour inspection of the troops.

Camp Heaton troops wear earned badges on their sashes and costumes and carry weapons found hanging on the cottage walls.

While the nights are the most fun time at the cottage….

I take pleasure in being one of the first ones up in the morning. The quiet before the storm and the afternoons when everyone is out adventuring are the times I like to drink my tea, read my book, and of course needlepoint!

Ramsay Gourd’s crabs which can be found at Lycette.

Squirt gun wars with little cousins.

Mini golf competitions and French daughter-in-law’s first 4th of July.

Jean Smith in the works and a Mame pillow on the chair.

Family treasures galore. An award made by the eldest sister for her little brother. One of my favorite things in the cottage.

Our summers are loved by one and all, big and small.

Let's go to France! Provence 2027!

The Island Hopper — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:41:22 GMT

The video Chris Hanson made for us about our trip can be viewed here.

The Crown on our Portfolio of Trips

The Island Hopper — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:28:52 GMT

Darlings,

Today I share with you the updated itinerary of our Kenya trip. After some feedback and a lot of thought we decided to return to our previous tried and true itinerary. We were going to add something more adventurous (camping) and decided that after our trip into the gorgeous and magical northern nomadic lands we would return to our favorite and very special safari camp before flying on to Maasai Mara. It’s a nice feeling when you know something works so well that you are going to do it again and again.

I can’t even tell you how excited I am to return to Kenya. Some of our Island Hoppers are shocked when I say our Kenya trip is “the crown on our portfolio”, they love our European trips so much and just can’t believe I would identify one as the crown. The reality is that all of our trips are absolute gems! (pun intended). It’s just that this safari is maybe one of the most magical experiences possible. I am not kidding when I tell you… I receive messages WEEKLY from a guest who was on last year’s trip telling me they can’t wait to go back. Our 2025 safari group is planning on coming to Vermont to attend the September KDEF fundraiser, hear cinematographer Chris Hanson speak and see the movie he made while we were there. They (we) are also planning on returning to Kenya together in 2027.

I had seen Out of Africa before I went to Kenya for the first time. I thought it was a very beautiful, romantic movie. I loved the clothes, the scenery and Robert Redford! But now I understand the characters and their absolute love of Kenya. I share that deep love of Kenya.

I honestly feel the most myself in Kenya. Not wife Tricia, sister Tricia, friend Tricia, or even mother Tricia. Just Tricia. It’s like I very lovingly say goodbye to everything I have ever known and just go be me for a bit of time, in the most beautiful exotic place on the planet. With minimal possessions… a few adventure outfits, toiletries and a book or two… we head out to explore the bush with our fabulous local guides. Being in nature without first world possessions is PURE MAGIC. There is a freedom I feel in Kenya I have not experienced anywhere else in the world. Riding in a safari vehicle looking at the most gorgeous scenery I feel like my most authentic and freest self… until my phone pings… and it is my friend Kura who texts from his vehicle…”follow us…I have a surprise!!” and the radios go off, and our drivers are speaking in either Swahili or their own tribal dialect and I know something is up!!! I am trying to translate as we race across the bush… everyone in anticipation of what we will find… a family of lions, a rhino, or baby elephants swimming. Over cocktails and dinner we will regale each other with stories of our incredible adventures! Talking about the leopard we found over a gourmet candlelight dinner in a safari park is the peak of luxury my friends… it is our crown. And she shines bright.

The photos in this catalog were all taken by our dear friend and professional photographer Charlotte Zacharkiw. Those of you joining us on the second fall Spain trip or the Gstaad trip (2026) will meet her there.

Our updated catalog is below.

xx Tricia

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Insider Guides to Southern Vermont!

The Island Hopper — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:59:14 GMT

Thank you to Mum Stationary for make this pretty!

Bookish Pleasures

The Island Hopper — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:27:48 GMT

Julia Reed’s Mississippi home

Hello Friends!!

We’re doing it again! Last week, I asked our Island Hopper Team what everyone is reading. We’re onto new books. Below are our current reads as well as some we have finished recently.

Amanda Brooks’ Oxfordshire home

Emily

I recently read Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. This book was ODD! I finished it about a week ago and I honestly still haven’t decided if I liked it or not. It’s about a popular ‘tradwife’ influencer and follows her family on their ranch, ‘Yesteryear’, as she curates their lifestyle for social media. I won’t give any spoilers but there is a major twist in the second half of the book. If you’re looking for a book to spark intense conversation and debate at your next book club this would be a great pick! When discussed at my book club, we couldn’t agree on the genre—Satire or Psychological Thriller. We even had one vote for Sci-Fi. We did all admit we were confused by the ‘twist’ and not one of us predicted the ending!!! Anne Hathaway is already making the movie, and I can’t wait to see how she portrays Natalie, the main character.

Diane Von Furstenberg’s Connecticut home

Courteney

I am personally reading Eat & Run by Scott Jurek who is an ultra runner. He describes how he got into running and ultra running, as well as how his childhood and early life contributed to his success. The book follows his journey as an elite runner, winning The Western States Endurance Run seven times in a row, which is arguably the most prestigious race in the United States. He also speaks about diet and the importance of how athletes fuel their bodies. I’ve been enjoying it a lot so far!

Rita Konig’s London Home

William

I am halfway through Dostoevsky by Joseph Frank. This book, an exhaustive biography of the famed Russian novelist, is definitely more of a project than a light read. This is especially true when you read the referenced books while working through it. I would describe it as “very high calorie” in all the best ways. It is very informative regarding the 19th century and Russia, two subjects I find alluring.

Bunny Mellon’s Virgina library

Tricia

While traveling for the past month I read and/or listened to six books. My favorite by far was the new Kathryn Stockett book The Calamity Club. This is the second book written by the author of The Help. I predict this will be the break out book of 2026. It was one of the best books I have encountered in years. I listened to this massive tome because I couldn’t bring myself to carry it around Europe with me. The narration is spectacular with two very distinct female southern voices. I am so hopeful that it will be made into a fabulous movie with the caliber of The Help.

While in Amsterdam Courteney and I visited an English language bookstore (which is a huge treat while traveling) and I purchased the first two Agatha Christie novels. Last night I finished the first one which is called The Mysterious Affair at Styles.This is also the introduction to Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. I thoroughly enjoyed the old school 1920’s British mystery. The older I get, and the more toxic the news, I find my gravitating towards more wholesome British mysteries on paper and on the screen, and away from anything gruesome.

Today is a new day and I plan on cracking open a new book. I have stacks and stacks of books to read. I am hoping to dive into a meaty one! Stay tuned!

Skye McAlpine’s London townhouse

xx Courteney

Summer rolls into the Country

The Island Hopper — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 20:23:41 GMT

Hello Darlings,

I have no business sitting here today writing to you. Although my to-do list is about 7 feet long, I have thrown it by the wayside to take my own advice and indulge in my own creative whims . The to-do list will be there for me on Monday morning. Today I feel like writing about the feelings of joy I have as summer rolls into Vermont.

A summer BBQ at a friend’s house with gorgeous Vermont farm veggies for the burgers.

I write to you while listening to dear Daisy, our half Cocker Spaniel and half a mix of magical large hairy beings (like Great Pyrenees) snoring on the couch. Do you think she dreams about the Vermont cheese in the kitchen and the mallards who frequent our backyard pond? My house is the most quiet it has been in months. We have been putting a sizable addition on our 900 square foot cottage in Vermont and it is almost done…so almost done that later today I will be filling up my new medicine cabinet shelves in our new bathroom. Six years ago I could not have dreamed that this would be my life.

Beautiful sights keep my driving around listening to audible books.

The last six years my husband and I have done a huge amount of real estate juggling. We sold our country dream home (some of you might remember Starlight Farm) to move our primary home to Florida. In the midst of Florida real estate transactions centered around moving from Boca Grande to Vero Beach (thus the name The Island Hopper!) we purchased a tiny cottage in Vermont. We bought the second to cheapest house on the market so that we had a little foothold here. We spent ten minutes looking at it and put a strong offer in on it to secure its purchase during a very busy real estate boom. We named it Cloud Nine Cottage and filled it with cute thrift store finds. Both Don and I wanted a little love nest to rest our heads in when we came back to our long time home of Dorset, Vermont.

And then I had a change of heart.

I love passing this on my regular walk.

When I confessed to my husband that I was having a change of heart, he admitted to me he felt the exact same way.

We both loved our little community and our friends and life in Vermont so much. We missed it and we felt too young to be living the life of a snowbird with one foot in the door and the other out. And much to our own surprise we decided to sell our beautiful home in Florida and move back to Vermont full time.

My husband (on bass) and his band friends play at a neighborhood party.

Life in Vermont is a bit hard to describe but let me take a stab at it. Take half a dose of the Diane Keaton movie Baby Boom (which was filmed in our community) and add a big dose of Stars Hollow from Gilmore girls, stir and add a good size dash of Chipping Norton (Oxfordshire, England). Our area in Southwestern Vermont is chic country and farm land. Life in the country is like a good sturdy reliable cashmere cardigan with patches on the elbows purchased at the church rummage sale. Like your favorite sweater it is of good quality and dependable but it looks better with some wear and tear. Sometimes we wear it with old blue jeans and muck boots and sometimes we wear it with grandmother’s pearls. Our tiny country town is like the tiny suburban village I grew up in in the 1970s (Bronxville, New York), everyone knows each other, you feel safe, and you are in awe of beautiful things daily. It is social. We have fabulous friends. My husband has his buddies, I have my girlfriends and we also have couple friends. It is all so so good.

Flowers in my friend Christine’s garden.

The Vermont countryside is gorgeous. Right now it is very green and very lush (thus the French named Vermont for Green Mountains.) Our Northern gardens are beginning to bloom, weeks after our southern neighbors. People are throwing open their windows and falling asleep to the sounds of the frogs. Bear sightings are a regular occurrence. (Don saw the biggest bear he has ever seen in our driveway while I was in Switzerland.) The evenings are spectacular and we gather together for cocktails and savor gorgeous valley views. Our neighboring communities have farmer’s markets on Thursday and Saturday and our village hosts ours on Sunday afternoons. Should you find yourself in need of organic freshly picked vegetables, farm cheese, grass fed meat or fresh baked bread, you can head to any one of our local farm stores to stock up. Our farmers are our friends and our children learn a great deal from the local farm family kids. I still purposefully buy from the farm stands which have employed my youngest son during his high school internships. If you want to know something about Vermont, ask a 12 year old who lives on a farm. They know everything!

When the girlfriend group chat says “Sun is out! Let’s meet for spontaneous lunch, everyone bring something, see you in 30 minutes.” New secret hideout for middle aged women was secured!

I could wax on all day about the beautiful landscape, the farmers, the gardens and the food. Even the architecture is beautiful. Each home is unique. There are no cookie cutter houses, outfits or styles in Vermont. You can embrace being yourself and doing what YOU like. The real treasure in Vermont is the people. The majority of our community are transplants, people who chose this lifestyle. I love that. We are here because many of us chose to pack up and move here. We are the country mice who love community. We know each other. We know a lot about each other! There is no bullshit. There are no pretenses. There are no airs. If there is a problem we tell each other. If there is a need we tell each other. People loan each other cars, help their neighbors, feed each other. We pass down hand me down sports equipment through families, we pass on tools we are no longer using. Normal Rockwell lived and painted here. If he was still here, we would all be dropping off our unused paint brushes at the Rockwell’s home.

All big box stores are 45 minutes away and this is how I get there!

Seven years ago I donated a trip to Dorset for an auction item at a fundraiser for the Boca Grande Medical Clinic. The winner came to Dorset, loved it so much, she moved here. She now lives about 4 blocks away from me and I love that.

With love from beautiful, beloved Vermont,

xx Tricia

MAINE ISLAND CAMP... UPDATES GALORE!

The Island Hopper — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 21:22:18 GMT

Here is the catalog for our 2026 Island Camp in Chebeague Island.

Please note that the rooms with “shared bath” means that you will have your own room and share a hall bath with one other woman.

The Island Hopper Unicorn has appeared!

The Island Hopper — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:01:13 GMT

Dispatch from Annecy, France

The Island Hopper — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:39:53 GMT

Hello Darlings,

I can’t tell you how absolutely delighted I am that you all made it to Substack from our previous newsletter. Thank you so much for coming on this exciting adventure with us! As I said in my last note, this is better for all of us. Easier on our end and so many more features on your end. You can go back and read archived posts, share with a friend, send us a note, comment on a newsletter, communicate with each other and more!

Courteney and I are currently in France. We traveled here from Holland on Monday and have spent the last few days wandering the glorious villages of Provence. I have been here several times over the past forty years and this was Courteney’s first visit to this part of France. It was wonderful to see beautiful Provence through her eyes.

We are slowly making our way to Gstaad where we will welcome our first 2027 Island Hoppers. We are in Annecy for a few days, from here we will head to stunning Vevey, and then to Gstaad. “ShhTaad,” as the Swiss call it, has become one of my favorite places. It has developed a home like feel that makes me so excited to return over and over. The Vermonter in me loves the gorgeous Alps, fresh air, farms, cow culture, and the Tyrollean design. The Bronxville girl in me loves the bougie-ness of the simple style, old world design, and the gorgeous quality of every single thing.

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While all this sounds absolutely delightful, there is a cloud hanging over my head today. The luxury business owner in me knows that best practices of branding and marketing is to keep everything in stellar shape, but the white haired 61 year old mother of 7 doesn’t give a damn and speaks her truth. My truth is I HAD A HUGE SCREW UP YESTERDAY. If anyone learns this lesson from me it is worth sharing my dirty laundry here on Substack. Courteney and I checked out of our exquisite 5 star hotel/spa in Gordes yesterday at the allotted time of noon and got in our rental car in the pouring rain to drive 4.5 hours to Annecy. Three and a half hours into our drive I received a voicemail from our hotel in Gordes. With my best intentions of packing in a very organized manner and leaving our hotel room in tip top shape…I forgot one major thing. THE SAFE!! I left behind the contents of our safe which included both of our passports, my worn, treasured Italian leather “passporto” case with my 5 year Kenya visa, an envelope of Euros and another one of Swiss Francs, and whatever else I stashed in there. The Passports, the most important documents of International Tour Directors await our return. It would take us 9 hours to do a round trip to go get them. Our presence is required in Switzerland in three days. (and yes, Courteney and I did speak at breakfast about ways to get over the Swiss border incognito!). There is one piece of this which is also a little complicated and that is the front desk of the hotel in Gordes does not have efficient English speakers. It is France, we don’t expect them to, but in a bind it complicates matters. The most fluent English speaker is one of the housekeepers. Can you imagine my calling the front desk of a five star hotel and asking to speak to the housekeeper? (Not changing topics here but I would like to note the completely underrated use of this wonderful woman’s abilities!)

If you are a Will Guidara Fan Girl like I am, you have either read or listened to this world renowned restauranteur speak about his latest book Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect. I was on the receiving end of my Will Guidara Unreasonable Hospitality moment yesterday! We arrived at our hotel in Annecy without passports, I prepared for a problem. I immediately told the woman at the front desk we had left our passports behind in Gordes and the hotel could verify this. She looked at me and said “You should speak to our concierge, he can get them!”. My hero is a man named Tony who works the concierge at our lovely lake front hotel. He has hired a French taxi driver to spare me the 9 hour round trip drive to go retrieve our treasures. Today, I learned my very best hospitality lesson of all, Unreasonable Hospitality is a dream come true, it hits when you don’t expect it, and it absolutely makes your day. I am extremely grateful to Tony and the French taxi driver and I hope to carry this feeling with me forever as we grow our wonderful hospitality business ourselves.

In the meantime I share with you some fun photos of our trip to Provence. We are so excited to launch this trip with Maggie and Nell at Leland Gal in Leland, Michigan this summer . We will be hosting our first trip to Provence in September 2027.

BIG LOVE!!

Tricia