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Category / Off-Beat & Little Known

The Woman who is the Mayor, Bartender, Librarian and Sole Resident of her Town

Deep in Nebraska, there’s a one-woman town called Monowi, the only officially incorporated municipality in the United States with a population of just one. Upon approaching Monowi, a green road sign stands at the town limits, proudly displaying its number of resident(s). Meet Elsie Eiler, who you can usually find busying herself in the town’s bar. When…

The Town that went Underground

In the remote South Australian desert, temperatures reach 125 °F / 51 °C – in the shade. Can you imagine the air conditioning bills? Neither could the residents of Coober Pedy, the world’s only underground town. Coober Pedy’s Chimneys / (c) Nicholas James Coober Pedy is a small mining town with a population of just under 2,000,…

One City, Five Hours: An Illustrated Off-beat Guide to Layovers

Layovers are tricky. Successfully managing your time in an unfamiliar city with just enough (but never enough) hours to kill requires some careful and thoughtful research– especially for travellers who might prefer to balance offbeat discoveries with the obligatory tourist stops. Luckily, I’ve stumbled across artist Oliver Jeffers‘ “One city, Five Hours” project, which landed him a regular spot…

An Artist Dares you to go find his Secret Swimming Pool in the Desert

If you’re in Southern California this summer and up for a challenge, here’s something that might inspire a road trip rather more surreal than a cruise down Route 66. Somewhere in the Mojave desert, a secret swimming pool is waiting for you to dip your toes into its crispy blue water; a totally free desert oasis complete…

No Summer in Europe will be Complete without a Dinner at this Sea Cave

I‘ll bet you can already hear the waves crashing up against the rocks below you and taste the salty sea on your lips as you slurp down spaghetti accompanied by a glass of cold rosé. You want to know exactly where this magical place is so you can promptly reserve your table for two with your favourite person…

Lost in Lava Land: The Church that Rose from the Ashes

Under the black jagged valley of Western Mexico, was once an indigenous village that called this place their local church. Seemingly rising from the ashes itself, the church of San Juan Parangaricutiro is the only part of the village that was not swallowed by a near decade-long volcanic eruption. (c) Juan Rolando Like something out of…

So Jeff Goldblum has been playing a little-known Weekly Jazz Night for the last 15 Years

I had a pretty weird crush on Jeff Goldblum when I was a growing up. While other girls were buying teen pop magazines whose pages were filled with blonde, noodle-haired boy bands, I was picking up cigar aficionado magazines featuring interviews with the tall, stogy-loving actor, and renting his entire filmography at the video store on weekends. But that’s just…

My Tiny Heart-Shaped Island (and yes, there’s a Hotel on it)

Today I learned that this photograph I often come across floating around the net, is not a fabrication of Photoshop. In fact, the sole purpose of this post is pretty much just to confirm that yes, such a place exists on Earth and hell yes, you can stay there– because if you’re going to stay on a dreamy…

A Backstage Tour of the Channel Tunnel

In 1858, on the prospect of building a tunnel that would link up Britain and France under the channel, the British prime minister asked, “Why shorten a distance we already find too short?” The idea was allegedly first brought to the table by Napoleon Bonaparte himself, after a French engineer, Albert Mathieu, had approached him with…

The Vintage Supercars Rotting away in a Forest (and that’s how the owner wants it)

This might be a painful sight for classic car enthusiasts. Jaguar, Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW; just a few of the iconic names whose logos you would never expect to find on vehicles in such a sorry state. But what might really shock you is that these unfortunate automobiles are not actually abandoned, and their owner is…

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