These days, March 17th may be best known for green beer and Kiss Me, I’m Irish tee-shirts. But this holiday actually has a long history full of pomp and ritual, dating all the way back to the original Christian feast day first observed in the early 1600s. In fact, St. Patrick’s Day got its reputation for booziness in part because…
Travelers rely on planes, trains, and automobiles to get to most of their destinations. But if you ask us, there’s no better way to familiarize yourself with a place than to see it on foot. As fun as urban adventures are, getting out in the backcountry can really give you a whole new perspective on a country. It’s also a…
It’s mid-February, which means that winter is (finally, maybe) drawing to a close — for Americans, anyway. It’s also the time we set aside to celebrate romantic relationships, to the tune of pink roses, bounteous boxes of chocolates and saccharine candy hearts. Saint Valentine’s Day has actually been celebrated for centuries as a feast day in the Christian church before…
In late 2017, I took the trip of a lifetime: eight weeks along the Mediterranean with nothing but my suitcase, my laptop, and an eye for adventure. I started out in a month in Barcelona, enjoying endless plates of Jamón Ibérico and Manchego cheese washed down with Catalonia’s plentiful red wine. Fortunately, good eats are cheap in Spain; I rarely…
Christmas will be here before you know it — and by “here,” we mean everywhere! That said, not every country celebrates this festive winter holiday the same way we do in America. For instance, although Santa’s red suit and white beard may seem completely inseparable from Christmas to us, some children await their annual gift delivery from an ancient pagan…
Newsflash: travel is awesome. (And let’s be honest, that’s not news.) But travel is also expensive. Even if you’re light on your feet, airfare alone can cost hundreds of dollars… and if you’re looking for a posh experience complete with private rooms and maybe a restaurant meal or two, it’s easy to completely eclipse your budget. There are plenty of…
As far as true-blue, all-American holidays are concerned, Thanksgiving Day is second only to the Fourth of July — though some of our favorite narratives about its historical precedent might not be entirely accurate. But whether or not the Pilgrims ate turkey or personally invited the Native Americans to come along, the holiday remains a cherished moment set aside for…
November is a pretty wonderful time to travel abroad. The big summer crowds (and sky-high summer temperatures) have calmed down a bit, and tourists may even benefit from shoulder season pricing. But being away from the States for Thanksgiving can be bittersweet for Americans. Sure, it might seem like missing out on your great uncle’s political rants is a bonus……
To modern Americans, Halloween might mean costume contests, booze-fueled evenings of dancing, or munching on enough pieces of “fun-sized” candy to stir up a decidedly unfun gastrointestinal reaction. But the tradition of Halloween is way older than the absurd “sexy” costumes and ubiquitous plastic pumpkin baskets kids fill by trick-or-treating. In fact, Halloween’s origins reach all the way back to…
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