Comparing the unique shops and restaurants of cities is one of the pleasures of traveling. Kaie Wellman has made it her business to find them, photograph them and present them to readers in her series of . Kaie is a native Oregonian who attended Parsons in New York, then traveled the world, doing a stint as art director for Motown Records before landing back in Portland.

Also with us is Michael Sylvester, who has a different story about independence. Michael is publisher of fabprefab, a web resource dedicated to tracking developments in the market for modernist prefab dwellings. If you think prefab is about dreary trailers and look-alike tract housing, then think again, because prefab homes are among the most exciting being built today. Michael is also content strategist for Dwell Magazine.