From the farm-to-table kitchens of Kansas City's renowned culinary scene, through the sculpted hills of the Ozarks, to one of the most extraordinary cultural destinations in America, this journey traces the arc of a region reinventing itself through art, architecture, food, and whole-community wellness. Bluedot Living Travel is made for exactly this kind of place.

• 5 nights in sustainable luxury accommodations

• All meals listed at featured dinners

• Entrance fees, guides, and gratuities

• Airfare

• Travel insurance (recommended)

Begin the day at Kaw Point Park, the literal confluence of the Kansas (Kaw) and Missouri Rivers — the origin point of Kansas City itself, and the homeland of the Kaw and Osage peoples for centuries before European contact. Lewis and Clark camped here for three days in 1804; the state of Kansas and the Kanza/Kaw River both carry the name of the people who lived here. This brief, evocative stop will re-contextualizesthe rest of the journey before the group departs the city.

Continue to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, just half a mile from the InterContinental — one of the great American art museums, and one in the midst of a bold, sustainability-centered transformation. Free to all visitors, the museum houses an encyclopedic collection spanning 5,000 years of human creativity, including an outstanding permanent Native American collection. The celebrated Bloch Building, designed by Steven Holl, houses the contemporary and photography collections.

In April 2025, the Nelson-Atkins selected New York firm Weiss/Manfredi to design a major new 61,000-square-foot expansion — "A Connected Tapestry" — focused on sustainability and recentering the entire campus around its 22-acre sculpture park.

Jimmy Lee Beason II is a citizen of the Osage Nation. He writes nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and essays about contemporary native issues. Themes of his writing and public scholarship include culture, traditional worldviews, humor and reflection on living in a colonial society as a Native man. He earned his Master of Social Work degree from the University of Kansas, focusing his research on decolonization and empowerment as a way to heal and build solid cultural foundations. His Bachelor of Arts degree is in American Indian Studies from Haskell Indian Nations University, where he is a professor in the Indigenous and American Indian Studies Department.

Ann Baum is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Nelson-Atkins and chairs the development committee.

Our guest will be the museum's executive director, Julián Zugazagoitia, who joined the museum in 2010 from Museo del Barrio in New York City.

The drive south through Missouri into the Arkansas Ozarks takes approximately four hours — arriving in Eureka Springs in the evening, in time for dinner.

The historic Carthage square is walkable and worth a short stretch.

The drive south on I-49 through Joplin, then crossing into Arkansas where the road narrows and the Ozark landscape steepens considerably, is the most beautiful part of the drive.

Spend one night at the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa, perched at the highest point of the Victorian village of Eureka Springs and known throughout the region as the "symbol of hospitality" for the State of Arkansas. A member of Historic Hotels of America and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Crescent is a full-service mountaintop resort: 72 rooms with upscale suites and 4 luxury cottages, set on 15 manicured acres of gardens, hiking, biking, and walking trails. Guests have access to the heated outdoor pool, hot tub, and the New Moon Spa & Salon, which occupies the entire garden level of the hotel.

Built in 1886 as "the finest hotel west of the Mississippi," the Crescent fell into disrepair before being purchased and meticulously restored by preservationists Marty and Elise Roenigk beginning in 1997 — a six-year restoration that returned the hotel's lost fifth floor and roofline (destroyed in a 1967 fire) and brought the building back to its original grandeur. The hotel's own guiding philosophy, in the words of its founder, is that "there is no sustainability without economic sustainability" — they believe profit should be reinvested directly into preserving an irreplaceable historic landmark, rather than into outside ownership.

Experience world-class fine dining at Le Stick Nouveau. The intimate, sophisticated restaurant at 580 W. Van Buren offers unique monthly multi-course tasting menus that have earned top rankings among visitors and critics alike.

Just outside Eureka Springs, Thorncrown Chapel — designed by E. Fay Jones, Frank Lloyd Wright's most celebrated student — is one of the most beloved works of American architecture. The glass-and-wood structure rises 48 feet within the Ozark forest, as if growing from the woodland floor. It won the AIA's 25-Year Award and was named the fourth greatest building of the 20th century by the American Institute of Architects. The chapel directly prefigures the sustainable, nature-integrated architecture you'll encounter at Crystal Bridges later in the day.

Eureka Springs to Bentonville is about 39 miles, roughly a 55-minute drive via US-62 along a winding two-lane road through the Ozark hills, so some travelers report closer to 50–60 minutes depending on traffic and pace. It's a scenic drive worth enjoying.

A docent-led tour through the permanent collection visiting key names in American art — Gilbert Stuart, Winslow Homer, Georgia O'Keeffe, and more.

Continue to the Bachman-Wilson House, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's finest Usonian homes. Originally built in 1956 along the Millstone River in New Jersey, the house was threatened by repeated flooding; in 2014, Crystal Bridges acquired it, dismantled it piece by piece, transported it 1,235 miles to Arkansas, and meticulously reassembled it on the museum grounds.

The house exemplifies Wright's early green building principles: passive solar design, radiant floor heating, natural daylight through 24 clerestory windows, and a seamless interior-exterior connection. Usonian was Frank Lloyd Wright's own coinage — a contraction of "United States of North America" — his term for a distinctly American identity, distinct from "American" (which could mean anyone in the Americas) and free of the class connotations of European architecture.

A 104-room boutique hotel, contemporary art museum, cultural civic center, and celebrated restaurant under one roof, 21c sits on the northeast corner of the Bentonville town square and is connected to Crystal Bridges by a network of woodland trails. The hotel has earned a Green Key Verification (3 Keys) for its sustainability practices.

The Hive celebrates the culinary identity of what Executive Chef Micah Klasky calls the 'High South' — Arkansas, Appalachia, and the Ozark highlands, rendered with craft, seasonal sourcing, and an exceptional cocktail program. The Hive has earned six James Beard Foundation award semifinalist nominations.

Adjacent to Crystal Bridges, the Heartland Whole Health Institute, designed by Marlon Blackwell Architects, is inspired by the natural landscape of the Ozarks — a curvilinear composition of weathered brass fins and Giraffe Stone evoking the bluffs and forests nearby. The Alice L. Walton School of Medicine welcomed its inaugural class in July 2025, integrating conventional medical education with arts, humanities, and whole-health principles.

A relaxed afternoon exploring downtown Bentonville's town square, restaurants, and galleries.

At Bluedot Living Travel, we create immersive, sustainable and luxurious travel experiences that reconnect you with the planet — and with those working to protect it. Our trips invite you into conversation with local changemakers, offering unforgettable moments of inspiration, insight, and renewal in some of the world’s most breathtaking places.

These journeys are more than vacations. They're designed to restore your sense of wonder, deepen your environmental consciousness, and remind you that you’re not alone in caring about the future of our planet. Around dinner tables, on quiet walks, or during hands-on experiences, you’ll meet fellow travelers who are also seeking meaningful connection, learning, and joy.

Bluedot Living Travel began in the wake of personal loss. In early 2018, after fires, floods, and mudslides devastated her Santa Barbara community, founder Victoria Riskin felt the urgency of climate change firsthand. A writer, psychologist, and longtime human rights advocate, Vicki knew the power of storytelling — especially stories grounded in hope, action, and community.

She launched Bluedot Living, a media platform highlighting everyday people making sustainable change. From that, she created the Bluedot Institute, which brings youth into the climate conversation through writing workshops, speaker series, and retreats in remarkable ecological settings.

Soon, a new idea emerged: What if these powerful, place-based experiences weren’t just for students? What if adults could also gather in wild, stunning places to learn, connect, and act? That idea became Bluedot Living Travel.

We’d love for you to join us on a journey — one that leaves you inspired, connected, and ready to shape a better world.