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Category / Off-Beat & Little Known

The Time Capsule Brooklyn Barbershop that Could

The one charm about the past, said Oscar Wilde, is just that: it’s the past. But clearly, he never met Tony Garofalo. For over half a century, Tony has been behind the wheel, or swivel chair, rather, of the little Brooklyn Barber Shop that could… Quietly sandwiched between a deli and car service shop, you…

What Happens After Dark at Amsterdam’s Mystery Manor

You’d have to be searching for something peculiar to stumble across the Mayer Manor. Luckily, it seems you and I are always in search of something peculiar. Originally a 15th century monastery, later occupied by a wealthy tobacco merchant of the 19th century, the four-storey mansion is tucked away behind a canal in the red…

The Little Provencale Hotel with More Important Art than Most Museums

Paris has the Café Flore, Venice has Harry’s Bar, New York had the Stork Club. There are some places that just had that “je ne sais quoi“, a power to lure in the world’s most fascinating people where legendary conversations, untold flirtations and scandalous altercations took place at candlelit tables in the corner by the bar. Nestled in the…

The Secret behind 575 Wandsworth Road

On a seemingly ordinary street in South London, past the concrete tower blocks, the off-licenses and chicken takeaway shops, is a strip of seemingly ordinary Victorian terrace houses. But one of these houses is not like the others. Hidden away behind the most unassuming facade, is a work of art and a place a possibilities…

Greetings from Africa’s Premier Ski Resort

Ski season is upon us, but unlike our other vacations, where we strive to find the less beaten path, challenge ourselves to try different off-grid adventures and wander across lust-worthy unknown lands, why do we always feel the need to go to the same old ski resorts that first taught us how to snow plough down the…

Buried in Sand for a Millennium: Africa’s Roman Ghost City

Got your archeologist’s cap on? Today we invite you to touch down in Algeria and explore Timgad, a lost Roman city on the edge of the Sahara desert that remained hidden beneath the sand for nearly a thousand years. Positively obscure compared to the international notoriety of Pompeii, this ancient city is nonetheless one of…

Secret Tourism: Traveling the World on a Cargo Ship

This is going to sound a little crazy to a lot of people. But to some, it might just be the adventure you’ve been searching for. Who knew? Those mesmerising 2,000 foot long freight carriers that stack 20 ton shipping containers like a game of Tetris and navigate the furthest corners of the earth delivering…

This Paradise on Earth just Stole the Number 1 Spot on my Bucket List

These must be photoshopped, I thought, when I first laid my eyes on the waves of silky sand and perfect patterns of turquoise blue. Turns out, you should never underestimate the beauty planet Earth is capable of. No mirage in the desert, this is the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in northeast Brazil, a name which so…

The Diva Who Grew Her Own Exotic Kingdom

“Don’t touch. And don’t eat what you touch unless you want to die” are the first words you’ll hear upon entering Lotusland, the exotic, 37-acre kingdom of plants tucked away in the quiet town of Montecito, California. Its roots run three owners and 135 years deep, but it’s the touch of its final, failed opera…

The Undertaker Village of Paris: Then & Now

It was a time when divorcées were only allowed to be buried at night, when the Arch of Triomphe wore a black mourning veil, and the business of death was booming in Paris. In fact, over one thousand undertakers worked together in their own veritable mini-city at the town’s edge, from coffin makers and casket…

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