Editors’ Picks
Selections of inspiring stories from around the world.
Why I advocate for slow travel—and why you should, too
By Jessica BarrettTravel used to be slow. Granted, it was slow because there was no other way…Somewhere along the way, we got (very) lost. Read more
The World Insights Social Responsibility
Teaching Children to Appreciate Diversity
By Breana JohnsonThe best way to travel with the intent of exploring diversity is to ditch the touristy places. Sometimes, tourist attractions bring people from all over the world — the Grand Canyon or Disneyland, for example. Read more
The World Family Travel Insights The Arts Social Responsibility
The Future of Sustainable Orangutan Treks in a Post-COVID World
By Nayla AzmiAs the only primate that only can be found outside of Africa, the orangutan lures people from all over the world to see its uniqueness of being strikingly similar to human beings. Read more
Asia Social Responsibility
Women’s History Month: My Grandmother’s Malta
By Ann-Marie CahillThis may seem a little strange but Women’s History Month always has me thinking about travelling to Malta. It is the birthplace of my grandmother; my mother’s mother Read more
Europe Experiences History
How a trip to Pakistan changed my life
By Samantha SheaI first became interested in Pakistan when I was 9 years old. At the time, I was completely fascinated by all things South Asia. Read more
Asia Transformative
Traveling Insights from a deaf Traveler
Have you ever thought what it would feel like to travel the world in silence? Read more
The World Accessible Insights
Discover Black History and Culture While Traveling the USA
By Terri MarshallAs a Southern-born white woman, incorporating Black history sites into my travel plans never crossed my mind… until I married a Black man. Read more
United States Family Travel History
Experiencing the fight for freedom along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail
Explore the story of Black Americans’ fight for freedom and equality with U.S. Civil Rights Trail author Deborah Douglas. Read more
United States History
Travel Beyond Black History Month
By Ann-Marie CahillDuring February, there is an influx of travel stories for the “Best Places to Celebrate Black History Month”. It’s great and there are so many places I want to visit! However, the same list almost disappears into the ether as soon as March 1st arrives. Read more
The World Insights History Social Responsibility
Bali battles a plastic ocean while eagerly awaiting economic respite
By Bianca CaruanaAs if Bali hasn’t been suffering enough with the economic blow of COVID-19, locals are also battling a catastrophic environmental disaster as an abnormal amount of plastic washes up along popular tourist beaches Kuta & Seminyak. Read more
Asia Social Responsibility Sustainability
Experiencing the World as a Blind Traveler
Meet Dale Reardon, a blind traveler from Australia who has not let his disability limit his love for exploring the world. Read more
The World Accessible
Singing the country: Understanding the Aboriginal creation story
By SJ ArmstrongEvery inch of Australia is written in song. Read more
Oceania History Indigenous
Balancing safety and sanity as a nomadic soul during the pandemic
By Kellie PaxianBut for many of us wanderlust-filled souls, there is one major influence on our well-being that the pandemic discourages — and that is travel. Read more
The World Safety
Reminiscing on Slovenia Through the Senses
By Trixie PacisFrom the summer of 2018 to 2019, I called the charming Slovenian capital of Ljubljana my home. For those of you who have yet to experience Slovenia, it is a feast for the eyes. Read more
Europe Architecture History
Rick Steves “For the Love of Europe” and his Travel-Driven Social Ethos
Today on World Footprints, we welcome back, author and television host, Rick Steves. We enjoy a very thought-provoking discussion about a range of topics from the current pandemic and social issues to the challenging issues facing the travel industry today. Read more
Europe Social Responsibility
Mehrangarh: Rajasthan’s Fortress of the Sun
By Sugato MukherjeeTo the discerning traveler, Mehrangarh fort of Jodhpur is an intricate tapestry of half a millennium of history, intertwined with bravery and artistry. And a few dark secrets. Read more
India Architecture History
A Love Letter to the World from an American
By Terri MarshallA couple of years ago I jumped on the Ancestry DNA bandwagon to discover more about my history. The results weren’t terribly surprising. Read more
The World Insights
Revisiting the Little Rock Nine experience with Ernest Green
This event was the first experiment in school integration and came three years after the U.S, Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education landmark ruling… Read more
United States History Humanity
Spain As We Know It, Thanks to the Moors
By Bianka CramblitStrolling through the southern Spanish city of Sevilla on a sunny early spring day, the sweet smells of orange blossoms surround you as they waft through the air. These fragrant fruit trees flourish in the cobble-stoned streets and bring color to the beautiful Royal Alcázar of Seville. Read more
Spain Religious Travel History
Discovering My Home State Treasures
By Terri MarshallHaving lived in New York City for the past 13 years, I’ve fallen in love with my new city. The bright lights of Broadway, innumerable restaurants, museums of every variety, my favorite Irish pub, and the gym where I work off my indulgences are all just a subway ride away. … Read more Read more
United States Backpacking & Camping
Glacier National Park: A beautiful place with an ugly history
By Ali WundermanIt’s been a tough summer living right next to Glacier National Park. With international borders closed to U.S. travelers, Americans have set their sights on road tripping the national parks, especially in places of low population density, and by extension low COVID-19 cases. Read more
United States History Social Responsibility
What to do about Racism and Bigotry as Travelers of Conscience and Culture
By Ian FitzpatrickWith everything taking place in the world from the coronavirus pandemic, global recession, and America’s racial reckoning, even a brief escape from these problems can be an elixir for the body, mind, spirit, and soul. Read more
United States Backpacking & Camping Insights Social Responsibility
A look through the lens of a humanitarian photographer
By Jessica BarrettFrom long, uncomfortable trips to challenging accommodations, humanitarian travel isn’t typically glamorous. Massachusetts-based social documentary photographer and Capture Humanity founder Matilde Simas recently traveled to Imvepi Refugee Settlement in Uganda to explore the ways that children are exploited due to war. Read more
Africa The Arts Social Responsibility
A letter to my favourite country: We need to talk
By Kellie PaxianAs a traveller, South Africa is my favourite country in the world. I’ve been there three times over the past two years as a solo white female traveller, including January to March 2020, and I already can’t wait to go back. I consider Cape Town to be my spirit city, … Read more Read more
Africa Social Responsibility
Around the World in 16 Photos
By Tonya FitzpatrickPhotos and good storytelling inspire and engage our senses so we have curated this compelling photo essay from 16 fellow travelers who have memorable travel stories to share. Read more
The World Insights
Mexico’s street dog problem — and how travelers are part of the solution
By Jessica Barrett“Watch us come back with a dog,” I joked to my partner as we packed our things for four months on Mexico’s Pacific coast. As it turned out, it was less of a joke than I thought. Read more
Mexico Volunteer Travel Social Responsibility
In the Footsteps of Birmingham’s Civil Rights Movement (Lowell Thomas Award-Winning show)
Birmingham, Alabama is considered ground zero in the civil rights movement. In the 1950s, African-Americans of all ages in Birmingham drew a proverbial line in the sand against racial segregation. Their stories, struggles and ultimate success over Jim Crow laws is on display at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in … Read more Read more
United States Insights History
How South Korea is Painting Its Way out of Poverty
By Rose MundayOn a warm June day, the ocean breeze cools balmy Busan, South Korean’s busiest port city. As I stand overlooking Gamcheon Culture Village nestled on the coast, I shiver as I imagine what it once was: a dangerous slum, ravaged by war. Nowadays the rainbow facade of Gamcheon Culture Village … Read more Read more
Asia Architecture History The Arts
One Night in Jail: A Travel Horror Story
By Katherine BertrandImagine this: it’s your average Tuesday morning; the soft ping of your alarm has just woken you up from a blissful sleep. You yawn and as per usual, immediately turn to check your phone. Suddenly, below several work emails and app notifications, a Whatsapp message from your mother catches your … Read more Read more
Mexico Insights
Uluru: Why Climbing is Bad for Australia’s Heart
By Ann-Marie CahillOver the last few months, there has been a mad rush of tourists to the heart of Australia: Uluru. The majority of tourists are eager to see the giant rock and soak in the spiritual atmosphere of the heritage around them. Others, however, are determined to climb atop and stake … Read more Read more
Oceania Preservation
Saving a Species: Palm Oil, Orangutans, and the Leuser Ecosystem
By Jessica BarrettSix and a half million acres. That’s the size of Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem, one of the most ancient and biodiverse places ever documented and the last place on Earth where Sumatran rhinos, tigers, elephants, orangutans, and sun bears roam freely together. Read more
Asia Sustainability
The Coral Rehabilitation Project Reviving the Maldives Reefs
By Bianca CaruanaThe Maldives islands are home to more than a thousand coral reefs, vibrant ecosystems that provide a home for marine life. The coral reefs of the Maldives’ 26 atolls offer striking underwater exhibitions of colorful fish and oddly-shaped fauna to holidaymakers who visit this stunning destination. However, in recent years, … Read more Read more
Asia Volunteer Travel Preservation
Protecting Pottery and the Past
By Breana Johnson“Watch out for snakes,” my husband advises me as we make our way down the overgrown path through the wilderness of a Northern Arizona mesa. “I know, I know,” I reply, knowing that he’d be more comfortable out in front, watching for rattlers, but too excited to let him lead. … Read more Read more
United States History The Arts
A Walking Tour Highlighting a Mumbai Slum’s Innovative Industry
By Bianca CaruanaDharavi, in central Mumbai, is considered one of the largest slums in Asia, but deep within this neighborhood, below the shanty grey roofs, loosely comprised of scavenged, upcycled metal, lives a resourceful and innovative community that plays an imperative role in Mumbai’s city-wide waste management. I learned about this innovative … Read more Read more
India Off the Beaten Path Social Responsibility
Rats and Astronauts: Street Art in Oaxaca
By Eliza AmonFamed for its artistic traditions in weaving, pottery and painted wooden animal carvings known as alebrijes, the Mexican city of Oaxaca is also brimming with contemporary art. Museums and galleries dot the central area, particularly north of the Zocalo, the central plaza, but Oaxaca also has a thriving street art … Read more Read more
Mexico Off the Beaten Path The Arts
The Heidelberg Project: A Detroit Artist’s Political Protest
By Kathleen WallsAward-winning artist and sculptor Tyree Guyton started The Heidelberg Project in 1986 as a political protest after he returned to his old Detroit neighborhood, the Heidelberg area in the McDougall-Hunt Neighborhood, and found dereliction and debris. Drugs and crime made the neighborhood unsafe to walk even in the daytime. He … Read more Read more
United States The Arts Preservation
Queen of Mantas – One Woman’s Fight For a Threatened Species
By Melissa HobsonWhen Andrea Marshall began studying manta rays in Mozambique in 2003 there was so little information about the species that she was forced to recommend them as “data deficient” on the Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, the go-to authority on endangered species. A mere eight years later, in … Read more Read more
Africa Preservation
The Rise and Fall of Goldsboro, Florida: An African American Town
By Kathleen WallsMany people know the story of the African American town Rosewood from the movie about the massacre, but how many of us have heard of Goldsboro, Florida, the second black incorporated city in the United States, which also thrived and was subsequently destroyed? Boasting famous residents, like the writer Zora … Read more Read more
United States History