Notes from the desert.
Written by the people who run the homes.
The desert doesn't tell you to bring a jacket
Eighty degrees at noon, fifty by nine. What actually goes in the suitcase for a Coachella Valley house trip in November, and why the forecast lies to you.
October 31, 2026The January lull: the valley's quietest good month
After the holiday houses empty out and before the tennis crowd arrives, January is the easiest month to get a big house and the easiest one to enjoy it.
October 25, 2026The one day your group leaves the house
Joshua Tree, the tram, and the handful of day trips worth pulling a group off the pool deck for, without losing the rest of the week to driving.
October 19, 2026The last morning, and how to get sixteen people out of a house without the scramble
Checkout day has its own logistics — luggage math, staggered flights, and the last swim. What actually makes a big group's final morning easy.
October 13, 2026Golf groups, and the house detail nobody asks about until the first tee time
Half the group tees off at seven, half doesn't golf at all. What a house actually needs to hold both halves of the trip together.
October 7, 2026The street was here before you were
Noise ordinances, trash bins, and the parking math nobody puts in the group chat. What good-neighbor etiquette actually looks like in a desert rental.
October 1, 2026Getting a big group to the desert without losing the first day to it
Flights into PSP versus the LA drive, and the rental-car math for sixteen people — what gets a group to the house relaxed instead of frazzled.
September 25, 2026The first three hours matter more than the first three days
What actually happens when a big group lands at a desert house, and the small decisions in that window that set the whole trip's tone.
September 19, 2026The holiday week is not like the rest of your calendar
Thanksgiving through New Year's fills a big desert house faster than any other stretch of the year. Here's when to actually call.
September 13, 2026The day your group splits up, and how it comes back together
A big group doesn't need to do everything together. It needs a house built for the hours when it doesn't, and a reason to reconvene.
September 7, 2026The grocery run: provisioning a big house without four more trips into town
What a group of twelve actually drinks and eats in the desert heat, and the one grocery trip that saves you the other three.
August 31, 2026October and November: the desert season the locals keep for themselves
Festival crowds gone, triple digits gone, pool still warm — why the valley's quiet months might be the best trip of the year.
August 24, 2026How to plan a sixteen-person desert trip without losing friends
The bedroom math, the parking question, and the two decisions that make or break a big group weekend in the Coachella Valley.