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Category / Wanderlust

Paradise Lost at the Botanist’s Mansion

For as long as I can remember, this strange and beautiful house above the sea has fascinated me — and this may be the last time I ever see it. Scheduled for complete demolition in a matter of months, it might not be the most ostentatious of old buildings, but it captured my childhood imagination.…

The Hidden Hideaways of the Istanbul Grand Bazaar

Nobody visits Istanbul without going to the Grand Bazaar right? But if like Nessy, your aim is to stay off the beaten path, finding hidden secrets in such an almighty tourist hub might seem like a bit of a challenge. But that isn’t to say they don’t exist… Inside the Grand Bazaar, what you need…

Before They Disappear: Suburbs of Australia

We see a lot of small town America lost in time, holding on to its kitschy nostalgia, refusing to upgrade, but I was given a tip off to a Flickr account documenting a place on the opposite side of the world that’s equally characterised by ghost signs, mid-century homes and a disappearing community. Photographer Warren…

Iceland’s Secret Swimming Pool in the Valley

This one wasn’t always in the guide books or on the tourist trail, but out there in the nowhere. Iceland’s oldest swimming pool, built into the mountainside in a narrow valley, has been gathering hot water trickling down from Eyjafjallajökull (I can’t pronounce it either) since it was constructed in 1923. Today it is abandoned and covered…

One of Europe’s Greatest Treasures Hides in a Sleepy French Village

Conques was never supposed to be found. Or at least, not easily. The sleepy village had been presiding over the French Midi-Pyrénées mountains since the 7th century, when a monk named Dadon decided it would make the perfect place for sacred hermitage. Not only was the valley close to a legendary Roman spring, but it…

TRAVEL P0RN: 10 Hard to Reach Places

1. Church on a Rock. In the Seventh Century, monks built a monastery on the top of a natural stone pillar outside of Chiatura, Georgia. It was used by the Stylites — Christian ascetics who lived on top of pillars to express their devotion. That sect is now extinct, but the monastery is still…

A Brief Compendium of Crazy Campers

By land or by sea, as big as a suburban house or as small as a tiki hut, nothing beats the charm of a kitschy caravan. We’ve whittled down a fresh compendium of our favourites, and if there’s one trend we’ve noticed amongst the winning lot, it’s that they bring the vacation to you. A…

They Built a Life-Sized Stunt Double of Paris

Remember when French authorities built a miniature version of Paris to save the city from Nazi bomb-fire? Well, it wouldn’t be the last time the City of Lights required a stunt double. The second time, however, was under much cheerier circumstances: the filming of the Leos Carax’s cult ’90s French film, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf. Initially, Carax…

The Abandoned Secret Cinema of the Sinai Desert

As if the auditorium had risen from the sands of the Sinai itself, an abandoned cinema lies in waiting for an audience that never came. A movie-worthy mirage, you’d be easily forgiven for not trusting your eyes upon stumbling such a surreal sight in the heat of the dusty Egyptian desert. This extraordinary outdoor cinema was…

He Spent 20 Years in the Desert Carving a Village of Dolls

Welcome to Possum Trot, California. Human population: 2. Doll population: 80. For decades, its human residents were Calvin Black and his wife Ruby, who moved out to the Mojave Desert in 1953, bought some land off of Ghost town rd. (an actual road that still exists), and proclaimed it “Possum Trot.” Over the course of…

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