Rwanda: a surprisingly great destination for solo female travelers
When I visited Rwanda as a solo female traveler, I was pleasantly assured by how secure I felt, and empowered by how confidently I was able to move around this beautiful country.
In This Swedish Cabin, Stay Quiet or Get Out
You get an invitation to stay free in a secluded forest cabin. Ecstatic, you pack, follow the instructions, and arrive at the cabin. From the outside, it looks like any other cabin that promises a homey stay. But as you enter, you become conscious of your every move. You tiptoe carefully, doing your best to keep the floor from creaking. Every word comes out of your mouth hushed down to a whisper. In the kitchen, your coffee mug slips from your cold hand, heading straight for the floor. But you are quick enough to snatch it just in time — tragedy averted. The setting is almost like the Hollywood hit A Quiet Place, except you are not dodging a human-snatching monster. What you are dealing with is a decibel meter tucked into a secret corner of the cabin, listening to every sound you make. Just when you think you have made it this far and decide to call it a day, you settle into bed and let your guard down. Your partner makes a joke, and you can’t help but crack up. Oops! You hit the decibel limit and PING—a message pops up: “Your stay with Stay Quiet ends tomorrow.” Taking in nature and doing mindfulness breathing exercises. Photo: Visit Skåne A Rule That Brings Peace That was the scene that came to my mind when I heard of Stay Quiet, a 72-hour silence retreat in the forest of Skåne. But Josefine Nordgren, who works in communications and storytelling at Visit Skåne — the team behind the Stay Quiet project — told me that this is not the case for most participants. “Surprisingly, the rule doesn’t stress people out,” Josefine says. “It actually helps them go into silent mode more quickly because they don’t have to figure out how quiet they need to be. Once they settle in, most describe the experience as peaceful and grounding!” Participants learning to make fire. Photo: Visit Skåne Quietness is Treasured in Skåne Located in the southernmost region of Sweden, Skåne offers so much variety into one small area. Beech forests, long sandy beaches, dramatic coastal cliffs, rolling farmland, and quiet wetlands are all intertwined within one area. “In Skåne, silence doesn’t mean the absence of sound. It is more about the calming presence of natural sounds like wind in the trees, waves along the coast and the steady rhythm of walking through a forest,” Josefine explains. “People here value that kind of quiet because it is tied to wellbeing, reflection and the need to step away from the pressures of everyday noise.” The Map of Quietude was launched by Visit Skåne as a guide to tranquil nature spots in Skåne. It is also a blueprint that inspired the Stay Quiet project. “Our mission is to focus on how we present the region not only as a place to visit, but as a place where people can genuinely feel something,” Josefine says. Stay Quiet grew naturally out of that mission. [...]
Howling with Heritage: Experience the Rougarou Festival
The legendary Rougarou roams the wetlands of Louisiana. A normal-looking person by day but by moonlight he becomes a terrifying werewolf. The ancient legend was brought to Louisiana by the French settlers and added to by the Acadian Canadians, today known as Cajuns, who were exiled from Canada in the 1750s.
Exploring the Green Book trail and Rochester’s African-American Heritage
World Footprints goes beneath the surface of the Negro Motorist Green Book, uncovering the human stories behind a document that quietly saved lives. During segregation, travel for Black families wasn’t about freedom or leisure—it was about calculation and risk. Driving through America meant navigating Sundown Towns, racial violence, and long stretches of road where no one would come to your aid if something went wrong. The Green Book became a lifeline. It identified safe places to sleep, eat, repair a car, or simply stop without fear. It also revealed a parallel America—one built by Black entrepreneurs, homeowners, and community leaders who created sanctuary in an openly hostile landscape. Overground Railroad: Reframing the Green Book’s Legacy We explore this history with Candacy Taylor, whose book Overground Railroad reframes the Green Book as part of a larger resistance network. Taylor situates Black travel within a lineage of survival and self-determination, showing how mobility itself became an act of courage—and how these routes of safety reshaped American travel culture long before integration. and daunting proposition. Rochester, New York: Industry, Abolition, and Black Power The story then grounds itself in Rochester, a city whose influence on American history goes far beyond its skyline. Rochester rose to prominence through industrial giants like Kodak and Xerox, earning the nickname “the city of millionaires.” But wealth alone doesn’t define Rochester—its African-American history does. From its role in the abolitionist movement to the racial reckoning of the Summer of ’64, Rochester reflects America’s contradictions: innovation alongside exclusion, progress shadowed by protest. Frederick Douglass and the Making of a Freedom City Few figures loom larger in Rochester’s story than Frederick Douglass. It was here that Douglass published The North Star, using Rochester as a base for abolitionist organizing and political thought. The city’s position along the Erie Canal further amplified its role as a gateway—for commerce, ideas, and people seeking freedom. Why Rochester Matters Today Journalism professor, filmmaker, Rochester historian, and Frederick Douglass Family Initiative board member Carvin Eison brings these threads together. He places Rochester’s Black history in national context, making a compelling case that this city isn’t just a destination—it’s a lens for understanding America’s past and its unfinished work. This episode invites listeners to rethink travel, place, and memory—and to see Rochester not as a footnote, but as a key chapter in the American story. *************** Candacy Taylor is an award-winning author, photographer and cultural documentarian working on a multidisciplinary project based on the Green Book. Taylor is the author of Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America (Abrams Books). She is also the curator and content specialist for an exhibition that will be toured by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) starting in June 2020. The exhibition will travel throughout the United States for three years. Carvin Eison is a filmmaker and owner of the production company ImageWordSound, recognized internationally for creating intensely powerful films that explore racial dissonance and social discord in America culture. He received numerous accolades [...]
Tom Lee Park in Memphis: Learn, Play, and Connect Along the Mighty Mississippi River
So many places in Tom Lee Park beckon me to linger. Adirondack chairs overlook the river, hammocks are nestled in the trees, and native plants are arranged in inviting gardens. Reopened in 2023 after a $61 million redesign, this large urban park in Memphis pays tribute to local Black hero Tom Lee, who rescued 32 white passengers from the Mississippi River in 1925 when their steamship capsized.
Grand Rapids Delights Beer and Culture Vultures
In my life as a globetrotter, I have missed large swaths of my own country, including much of the upper Midwest. Grand Rapids, Michigan, gave me an opportunity to discover something new. And it was a pure delight.
Wales – The United Kingdom’s Underrated Star
Wales reminds you to unfold your days–and life–like a map, understanding we can’t always refold them the same way. In this corner of the UK, the ever-present ancient structures and modern culinary delights are a vacation in themselves. Bilingual Wales (Welsh and English) has the most castles per square mile in the world, excluding the ubiquitous castle-like churches. Its population of three million people thrives in a vastly diverse landscape the size of New Jersey. Nearly everything fun you can do here is accessible by public footpaths that explore spectacular stretches of coastline, forests, intimate villages, and the world-class city of Cardiff. This place isn’t just a feast for the eyes; it’s a land of feasts.
Gliding Through History and My Own Home on the Erie Canal
When my friend, Erik, first floated the idea of a self-piloted voyage along the Erie Canal, I did the math. From my apartment in Rochester, New York, I can drive west to the town of Spencerport in 21 minutes, 17 should the traffic lights cooperate. If heading east, I can make it to Pittsford in ten, though I usually stop at Wegmans en route, which tacks on another 30. The village of Fairport, meanwhile, requires 25 minutes behind the wheel—practically a road trip by Western New York standards.
Saturday Walks in Dili: Nature, Culture, Discovery and New Friends
It is 5:30 in the morning. Shawn leaves his home on a bike, pedaling toward a horizon painted in dusky orange, just minutes before sunrise. The only sound that awakens the silence comes from the soft clinking of the bike chain. He steers the handlebars toward a trailhead where his group of fellow walkers awaits. Every Saturday, the group meets to explore Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, on foot. A group made up of foreigners and locals, they share one thing in common: the love of being outdoors and building community. They call themselves “Dili Saturday Walkers.”
New Year’s Day Traditions: Symbolic Foods for Prosperity and Abundance
As the world bids farewell to the old year and welcomes the new with the chime of midnight on New Year's Eve, a global tapestry of hope, resolutions, and a collective fondness for age-old culinary traditions unfolds on New Year's Day. These are traditions that both me and Ian have grown up with and ones that continue to this day in the homes of my family members and ours.
