Historic Geographic Locations
Should Americans Travel to the Middle East?
Today the area is often perceived as a murky and dangerous blur on the map. But how unsafe, really, is this area for tourists?
October 23, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Volcanoes: The Top Hotspots of the World
Volcanic landscapes draw countless tourists to rumbling mountains, rivers of lava and boiling geysers. Here are a few of the hottest destinations
October 19, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Four Surprising Places Where Local Wines Thrive
Almost everywhere European explorers went, vineyards grew behind them. Here are a few places tourists might never have known there was wine to taste
October 11, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Where Travelers Go to Pay Their Respects
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum is not a fun place to go, yet tourists flock here, and to
other somber sites around the world
October 09, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
The Equinox: See It for Yourself This Weekend
There are many great spots around the globe to observe the celestial phenomena, from Machu Picchu to the Yorkshire moors
September 21, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Six Things to Do and Places to See Before Climate Change Swamps the Party
Get out and view a wild polar bear and visit Tuvalu and other low-lying islands while you have a chance
September 20, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
An Unofficial Guide to the Breweries of California’s North Coast
From the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, in Boonville, to the often irreverent Lagunitas brewpub, in Petaluma, here are several breweries worth pedaling for
September 06, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
The Best Backroad Bike Rides of the California North Coast
Cycling the West Coast is easy, whether you're riding from Canada to Mexico or Portland to San Francisco. To add some spice to this predictable and popular route, I've taken to the backroads
September 04, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Lake Baikal and More of the Weirdest Lakes of the World
Set deep within the Russian subcontinent, Baikal is the deepest, oldest and most voluminous of all lakes
August 07, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
More Great Books and Where Best to Read Them
A continuation of last week's list of the author's favorite reads
July 27, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Great Books—and the Best Places to Read Them
Reading while traveling can serve as a sensory supplement to one's surrounding environment. Here's a list of some of my favorite books and where to read them
July 21, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
The Tallest, Strongest and Most Iconic Trees in the World
Its bark is fire resistant. Its fruit is edible. It scoffs at the driest droughts. It shrugs, and another decade has passed. It is the baobab tree, one of the longest-living, strangest looking plants in the world
July 05, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
The Hunt for a Bottle of Asturias Cider and the Stories of More Drinks From Northern Spain
In this part of Europe, a glass of rioja is nice, but nothing beats apple cider, a way of life
June 27, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Andorra: The Ugliest Country in Europe?
They had green mountains, trout streams and wildflowers; cliffs, meadows and waterfalls, but Andorrans made their country the least charming in all of Europe
June 14, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Where Lance Remains the King
Among the peaks, cirques and summits of the French Pyrenees, the greeting call to an American on a bike may always be "Armstrong!"
May 31, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Tasting France’s Finest Wines
Sauternes is a cute little village near Bordeaux that would likely have been just another manure-splattered cow town if dumb luck, microclimatology and royal wineries had not showered the region in fortunes
May 24, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Resistance to Nazis in a Land Riddled with Caves
We wondered if the cave's tenants cooked inside or out, if they peered down at the valley and if they wrapped all glassware and metal in cloth to prevent reflective giveaways to the Nazis below
May 22, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Free Beer in the Dordogne Valley: Come and Find It!
These beers should last for several hot summers and cold winters. Where exactly are they hidden? Here are the directions
May 18, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Off the Road in the South of France
Ernest Hemingway popularized the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Paris, but he missed out every day he wasn't walking through the forested hills of Périgord
May 11, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Great Walks of the World
The fact that people opt to walk today, in the age of the wheel and the combustion engine, tells us there is something virtuous and irresistible in the plodding of one foot forward after the other
March 06, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
