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Category / Don’t Be A Tourist

Secrets of Belleville

Paris: The Birthplace of Communism explained Belleville is a neighbourhood in the East of Paris that has a vibrant multicultural community. It’s French, it’s Chinese, it’s Vietnamese, it’s Moroccan, Tunisian, it’s Jewish, it’s Muslim, it’s Christian, it’s even part hipster too. And they all co-exist here peacefully. On the main boulevard, you’ll find a hodgepodge…

Olympia Le-Tan transformed “Don’t be a Tourist” Books into Clutch Bags!

As an author and purveyor of curiosities, if there was ever a collaboration to be had, this was always it! So it is with great honour that we reveal the Olympia Le-Tan x Don’t be a Tourist Limited Edition embroidered Clutch bags, now available for curious collectors at OlympiaLeTan.com.

The Lost Art of Hotel Luggage Labels

Hotel Select, still open. If a hotel told me they would slap one of these beautiful design labels onto my luggage upon checking in, I’d probably book a room just for that reason. There’s nothing more emblematic of the golden age of travel than these scrumptious stickers that came in all shapes, sizes, colours and…

Play the New Sheriff of this Ghost Town for Sale

Cerro Gordo was “the Silver Thread to Los Angeles,” the once violent pioneer town whose grounds saw the rush of miners and cowboys mark it on the map in blood. The literal translation of its Spanish name, “Fat Hill,” helps express that unshakeable bond to good ‘ole Western greed in Nevada — even if these days, Cerro Gordo is spread rather…

There’s an Iconic Art Deco Department Store Frozen in Time inside an LA Law School

It’s a spring afternoon in 1936, as you pull up to the doorstep of 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The valet takes your car, the doorman tips his cap, and suddenly you find yourself in the belly of a 230,000-square-foot mecca of West Coast fashion. Known as “Bullocks Wilshire,” this storied California department store was…

Virtually Wander & Weave through an Enchanting Odditorium of Curiosities

It almost feels like you’ve clicked on something you shouldn’t have and suddenly, a door to internet Narnia has opened and you find yourself roaming the aisles of a huge maze of glass cabinets, overflowing with an insane amount of objects. You’ve stumbled into the cabinet of wonder that is the Pitt Rivers Museum. Indefinitely…

Housetrucks: A Traveller’s Answer to Freedom in this Strange New World?

Stay at home. Don’t travel. Social distance. These are the rules we need to abide by in order to get through this surreal pandemic bringing the world to a standstill. But what if your home was on wheels? What if you could safely stay at home while driving through national parks, desert canyons and coastal…

A Brief Compendium, or an Ode, if you will, to Celebrate Balconies

As the world stays home, we would like to opt for a new euphemism for life in quarantine: Nesting. Last week, we dove into the plushy world of retro conversation pits. Today, we’re pivoting to the glory of the balconies – which have become the world’s incidental stages at this strange time. They’re teaching us…

The Secret Swimming Pools of the Paris Catacombs

It felt like the pavements of Paris could have melted these past few days. The city’s swimming pools were overflowing with splashing bodies and escape from the heat seemed futile. But there is one place, beneath the baking pavements, where only few will venture and plunge into the cool waters of the underworld. So let’s follow them…

10 Enchanting NYC Bookstores to Support During These Surreal Times

Books aren’t fair weather friends. No matter what, we can always rely on the words of the authors we love to taste life twice (so says Anaïs Nin, who sure lived a spicy life). Now, more than ever, it’s our turn to help support the guardians of these words: our cities’ independent booksellers. We’re talking…

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