Switzerland: Living in Leukerbad

High above the Rhône Valley, tucked into the Valais Alps, Leukerbad is one of those places that you can't help but fall in love with. People have been coming here for centuries for the thermal baths, but it’s always been more than just a spa town. Some of my literary heroes spent time here — James Baldwin, in particular, along with Mark Twain, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Jules Verne — and knowing that made the place feel immediately familiar, even on a first visit. There’s something about the combination of altitude, heat, silence, and sheer rock walls that seems to invite thinking, writing, and the occasional life reset.

I visited Leukerbad the first time to ski in the winter, and the second time to hike in the summer. But I also went for my writing, for Leukerbad is my muse. Long walks, long soaks, fewer distractions — the kind of routine that clears your head whether you want it to or not. Days here tend to follow a simple rhythm: move your body, soak your muscles, stare at the mountains, repeat. Somewhere in that cycle, ideas have a way of percolating upwards.

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