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Category / Don’t Be A Tourist

Secret Summer Cabins in the Sky for the Great American Trip

Jack Kerouac spent 63 days during the summer of 1956 as a fire lookout on Washington’s Desolation Peak. It would be the writer’s last truth-seeking adventure before he found fame with On the Road and began his demise into alcoholism and mental instability. He had been assigned to record aircraft sightings, but used the Air Force forms to…

The Third Man Guide to Vienna

Vienna is rightly regarded as one of Europe’s most elegant capital cities, resplendent with Baroque architecture and built upon centuries of the Imperial grandeur and wealth of the Hapsburg Empire. A city where visitors can spend a weekend marvelling at the Lipizzaner horses performing precise equine ballet at the Spanish Riding School before visiting the…

The Fiat King and his Forgotten Dolce Vita Island

For the world’s billionaires — from Richard Branson to Bill Gates — owning an island is one of the most extravagant ways to flaunt your wealth. But while many envision a private oasis all to themselves, the so-called “King of Italy” bought his island to build the most exclusive, state-of-the-art resort. He envisioned it as…

Test Your Sense of Direction with Star Maps and Stick Charts of Polynesian Wayfinders

In an age where we almost entirely rely on our smartphones and satellites orbiting Earth to tell us what direction to go in, imagine traversing thousands of miles of open ocean using only your senses. This is how the first people who populated the islands of the Pacific Ocean traveled, and some still do, relying…

She Was a Black Librarian Who Could Equal America’s Most Powerful Man

Today, we meet a heroine by the name of Belle da Costa Greene. Under the honey-hued lights of Manhattan’s Morgan Library, she became the guardian of the world’s greatest cultural treasures: not one but three Gutenberg bibles, illuminated manuscripts, originals by Da Vinci, Mozart, Michelangelo, and others – the list goes on (in its very own…

The Famous Red Carpet Express Train Rides Again

One of America’s most iconic train journeys of the past is making a comeback, for it is now possible on special occasions, to ride the tracks that hugs the banks of New York’s Hudson River northwards on one of the most luxurious trains to ever grace the rails – the 20th Century Limited. Thanks to…

Once Upon a Summer in Black Eden…

Today, the glory days of Idlewild feel a bit like a fever dream. Just ask any of the African American vacationers who made the pilgrimage to the Michigan resort from the 1910s-60s. “It was something that you’d never believe…stranger than fiction,” reflects one woman in Coy Davis Jr.’s documentary, Whatever Happened to Idlewild? In the midst of Jim…

Cruising with Agatha Christie on the Last Steamship of the Nile

The passage up the Blue Nile has always been both a physical experience and an allegorical tale. Thousands of years after pharaohs were ferried to the afterlife on golden barges, the steamboat began transporting mesmerised 19th century tourists past their temples in search of something otherworldly. This graceful journey up the river, passing ancient pyramids and…

Heartbreak Hides in the Walls of This Paris Mansion

Museums are usually a feast for the eyes, but rarely are they this much of a treat for the heart. Cozied up beside Paris’ Parc Monceau you’ll find just that: the opulent Musée Nissim de Camondo, a perfectly preserved mansion from 1911 that belonged to the affluent Camondo family. As stunning as the interiors and antiques are, it’s the…

Oh, Just a Decaying Soviet City in the Middle of the Sea

In the waters of the Caspian Sea, about 40 kilometers from the coast of Azerbaijan, lies an intricate network of bridges and man-made platforms which is currently home to around 2,000 people. Encompassing about 17 miles, this real-life water world is a veritable city called Neft Daşları (Neft Dashlari or Oily Rocks). It’s sole purpose…

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