About

In the fall of 2003 I attended my first Warren Miller extreme skiing film. It was called “Journey” and may have been the last Seattle film opening that Miller attended. Miller moderated and inspired the evening with his folksy charm.  After the film I found Miller in the theater lobby. I warmly shook his hand, and promised him that although I am not a skier or thrill-seeker of any kind, I too would go on a “Journey”.

I had not been very adventuresome. Some may have characterized me as a “Nervous Nellie.”  Heights, Ferris Wheels, fast cars, ladders: just the thought of these could cause a fearful freeze of immobility in me. But I married a classic (and I should say – moderate) risk-taker, who has forced me to reconsider my fears.  As did my meeting Warren Miller.

A few months after meeting Warren Miller I left my salaried job for a road-warrior job, facilitating seminars around the United States. With two big bags of presentation equipment and almost no experience traveling alone, I was off! It would have seemed crazy a year earlier, but now I was ready for a “Journey.” 

This opportunity to explore United States was a great match for a passion of mine, that of studying the built environment and how people create timeless, or worthless, spaces. I am a casual student of architecture and I serve on a land use commission in the city where I now live. It was a great combination for me to be able to explore the U.S. and get paid for doing it.

During the next six years I traveled to an average of three cities a month, a few of which I visited repeatedly. Whenever possible I arranged for extra time to explore, take pictures and write a journal of my observations. The Best Towns is a compilation of these observations providing a base for my on-going study of what makes a good town. Though I am not currently a road-warrior I am still a student of Best Towns and look forward to sharing this endeavor with you.

Nina Milligan