The Reality of Antigua Guatemala: The Capital the Earthquakes Took
For over two centuries, this city—then known as Santiago de los Caballeros—served as the formidable seat of Spanish imperial power for a...
The Reality of Cusco: The Capital the Conquerors Overwrote
Cusco is a city judged twice, with the final verdict delivered by geology. It was the capital of the Inca Empire until...
The Reality of Porto: The City That Sold Its Name
Porto gave its name to one of the world's most famous products, and the product promptly moved out. The city's namesake wine...
Cheap flights to Porto: the Ryanair door to northern Portugal, the...
On one of my early trips to Portugal, I booked a flight to Lisbon and planned to spend my holiday exploring the...
The Reality of Matera: The City Italy Emptied by Law
The Sassi—the two sprawling districts of cave dwellings cut directly into the limestone ravine—are widely considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited...
The Reality of Istanbul: The City That Was Three Capitals
Some cities are preserved by geographical isolation; others survive because they were simply spared by history. Istanbul is the absolute opposite: a...
Surgut: Siberia’s Oil Capital, and Why People Actually Go
Surgut is a company town on a continental scale. There has been a settlement on this bend of the Ob river since 1594, but...
Cheap flights to Cairo: the two-airport question nobody asks, the visa you sort out...
On my first flight to Cairo, I arrived at the terminal assuming that purchasing a visa on arrival would be a simple...
The Reality of Tunis: The Medina and the Ghost of Carthage
Stand in the Tunis medina in the middle of the morning, and the city hits you all at once. The vaulted, stone-roofed...
Cheap flights to Marrakech: the budget-carrier city, why you shouldn’t route through Casablanca, and...
On my first journey to Morocco, I booked an international flight to Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, assuming that reaching the...
The Reality of Tangier: The Interzone Myth and the Working Port
Sit with a glass of sweet mint tea on a high terrace above the medina on a clear afternoon, and the coast...
Cheap flights to Johannesburg: the Southern Africa hub, the Gautrain, and a smart arrival
On my first transit through O. R. Tambo International Airport, I booked a ninety-minute layover before a connection to a domestic flight...
The Reality of Fez: Tanneries, Craft, and the Working Medina
Step through the great blue arches of Bab Boujloud and you immediately lose the daylight to the covered, narrow lanes. The amplified...
Cheap flights to Nairobi: the safari connection, the two airports, and the eTA
Here is a quick way to spike your blood pressure: land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, collect your luggage, get into a...
The Layers of Stone Town: Zanzibar’s History, Spices, and Swahili Coast
Walk through the narrow, high-walled alleys of Stone Town just as dusk begins to fall. The sharp, sweet scent of cloves mixes...
Cheap flights to Cape Town: the long-haul routing, reversed seasons, and the airport transfer
Here is a quick way to experience modern travel helplessness: stand at a checkout counter in a Cape Town café, hand over...
The Reality of Rotorua: Geothermal Power and Living Māori Culture
Walk down a quiet suburban street in Rotorua at dawn, and you might see thick white steam drifting casually from a front garden, or a boiling thermal vent neatly fenced off next to a municipal pavement. The heavy scent of sulphur—which earns...
Cheap flights to Auckland: the long haul, strict biosecurity, and the NZeTA
Here is a quick way to earn an instant, non-negotiable fine: walk off a fifteen-hour flight at Auckland Airport, feel a wet nose nudge your carry-on bag, and realize you forgot to discard the complimentary apple the flight attendant handed you before...
Cheap flights to Sydney: the long haul, the Kangaroo Route, and the airport curfew
Here is a quick way to experience pre-flight panic: stand at the check-in desk in Los Angeles, hand over your passport, and watch the agent's face go blank as they inform you that you cannot board because you do not have an...
The Reality of a Holiday in Australia: Visas, Flights and Distances
Australia has a strange place in the imagination: everyone wants to go, and almost everyone assumes they can't. It sits in the mind as the far end of the earth — impossibly distant, ruinously expensive, a trip you take once you've retired or won...
Sydney Opera House: History, Architecture and How to Visit
Some buildings are famous; a much smaller number have become shorthand for an entire country. The Sydney Opera House belongs to that second group. Designed in a Danish studio by an architect who had never set foot in Australia, it rose on a harbour...
