Insights

With over 11,000 inhabited islands of the nearly 2 million islands throughout our oceans, lakes, and seas, finding your dream destination can seem daunting. But somewhere out there is an island perfectly tailored to your desires. Whether you're a luxury seeker, a nudist, a family-oriented traveler, or someone who loves celebrity spotting, there's an island waiting for you.

The world is brimming with exciting destinations waiting to be explored by avid adventure travelers. Whether you seek cultural immersion, natural beauty, historical landmarks, extreme or soft adventures, these eight destinations should be at the top of your travel list.

Join World Footprints as we interview a friend and Knight Wallace Journalism Fellow about the challenges facing LGBTQ+ travelers and hear from a digital nomad about her life on the road. First, travel journalist, Michael Luongo, has researched and written about the role travel journalism plays in tourism development in conflict zones and urban areas under stress. Michael also has his pulse on travel issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community including the considerations that go into travelling around the world for Gay travelers. Then, if you’ve ever dreamed of a life full of travel but have never taken the plunge, you can vicariously experience the digital nomadic life through our interview with Kellie Paxian. Kellie joined us from South Africa where she’d been for the previous three months. At the time of our call she was planning to explore more of South Africa before moving on Bali. Hear how she does [...]

Modern travelers can’t imagine their lives without several things, and smartphones are certainly among them. Since you’ll undoubtedly be carrying your mobile device, no matter where you are headed, it’s good to use it to enhance your travel experience.

I, of course, was not the first to immortalize travel experiences in poetic form. According to The Cambridge History of Travel Writing, poetry is “inseparable from the experience and discursive fabric of travel.” Some of our most ancient texts, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s Odyssey are, in effect, “travel poems”—though they may be of imagined journeys and quests. 

Tim Williamson and Nieux Society see a Golden Age for the Crescent City where creators, culture and money come together for a new era in New Orleans’ post-Katrina Resurgence.

A sacred mountain for Hawaiians, it is also an Observation facility with telescopes bigger than the Hubble Space telescope.

The proud capital of Spain’s Basque region, Bilbao, is a place where culture, history, and mouthwatering gastronomy surround you. Their storied history and decades spent fighting to retain their unique culture have shaped it to be the one-of-a-kind city it is today.

From welcoming cafes to trendy boutiques, Raleigh, North Carolina is filled with thriving female-owned businesses. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re showcasing a few of Raleigh’s enterprises that make lasting global impacts.

From the new Morgan Freeman film, Invictus, to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Games, South Africa has become a lead actor on the world’s stage.  What is most striking about this beautiful nation is that the South African natural landscape is as compelling as the journey through the places shaping the country’s transformation from apartheid to a multicultural democracy.

Since 2008, when the main city George Town was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, tourists flocked to Penang to savour the food, see the sites, and indulge in ‘heritage tourism’. Every day, you can see walking tours searching for the Insta-famous street art peppered across the Heritage Zone. However, heritage tourism is a double-edged sword; what they think is cultural heritage is, in fact, a brilliant tourism campaign promoting the historic image of Penang at the cost of the locals who live it.

Do I have to sleep on the floor? Is there only one bathtub for all the guests? What's with all the different slippers? These were just some of the questions I had about staying in Japanese ryokan before a recent trip. Minshuku are similar accommodations, offering tatami mat rooms with futons, but these traditional inns are often family-run with simple amenities, like shared toilets and bathing areas. It turns out that staying in Japanese-style lodging unveiled the delightful hospitality of my hosts, introduced me to all kinds of new foods, and offered more luxury than I expected.