Personal travel stories and narratives
StoriesKenji left a Tokyo salary job to run a guesthouse in the cedar forests. He has opinions about tourist behavior, yuba, and why winter is the real season.
StoriesTenzin has lived in McLeod Ganj for 15 years. He knows which momo stall the monks prefer, where to meditate without tourists, and what the Dalai Lama's schedule really means for visitors.
StoriesI went to see the old coral-stone houses at sunset and ended up in the deepest lanes of Jeddah's historic district with no phone signal and the scent of oud burning from every doorway.
StoriesA decade of island life distilled into the spots, secrets, and honest warnings that only a resident would share about San Juan.
StoriesDay-by-day journal from Oman's capital — including the canyon swim that terrified me and the OMR 3 biryani that redeemed everything.
StoriesAna moved from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada eleven years ago. She hasn't looked back, but she has opinions about what tourists get wrong.
StoriesWhite temples, black houses, blue shrines — one northern Thai city's obsession with monumental art is rewriting what a temple visit can be.
StoriesI turned left at the blue wall. Then right at the blue wall. Then left at another blue wall. Three hours later, I was hopelessly, wonderfully lost in Morocco's most photogenic city.
StoriesLinda left Chicago for cobblestones, $8 restaurant meals, and a life centered around art, hot springs, and the golden light of Mexico's heartland.
StoriesDay 1: pristine coral reef. Day 3: ancient Nabataean carvings. Day 5: standing in front of a $500-billion construction site. NEOM is the strangest place I've ever visited.
StoriesA Yangon resident on the pagodas that matter most, the mohinga stalls worth queuing for, and the political reality tourists need to understand.
StoriesDublin doesn't perform for you. It mutters, it drizzles, it pours a slow pint and waits. Here's how the city unfolds across one day on foot, from the Liffey at dawn to a trad session after dark.
