Nature

A game of chess on a fold-up travel board can break the ice between strangers in strange lands.

Holiday Gift Ideas for the Adventure Traveler

A chess set, soccer ball, bear spray and other items, even dog food, make the list of gifts to give your favorite hardened traveler

Enjoy an acoustic performance by John Davis of the DC-based group Title Tracks.

Weekend Events Dec. 16-18: Happy Feet Two, All About Me in D.C., and Title Tracks Unplugged

This week, see Happy Feet Two in 3D, meet a children's author, and enjoy an acoustic performance by a local indie frontman

In Nepal, the Lambrecht family of Sebastopol, California is loving life and local transport.

Have Kids, Will Travel

"We were travelers. It was in our blood, and the idea that we would ever stop traveling just because we had kids never sat well with us"

Meet Oglala Lakota Angela Babby, the creator of "Mountain Chief" and other enameled mosaic works.

Events Dec. 12-15: Seasons of Light, The Expert Is In, Day With the Artists, and Holiday Jazz

This week, see a holiday performance, talk to a bird expert, meet a pair of Native artists, and attend a jazz concert

Felicity Aston, shown here in Iceland, is currently attempting cross Antarctica alone.

Farthest South: News from a Solo Antarctic Adventurer

Aston is in no-man's land, where schedules and responsibility carry little relevance, but she is bound by one logistic: "I can't miss the last plane out"

Department of Anthropology Staff, 1931

A History of Anthropological Work at the Smithsonian

Early research by the Smithsonian revealed the origin of thousands of mysterious earthen mounds across the country

Within this sarcophagus and underlying wrappings is the mummified body of a man who died 2,000 years ago (150 B.C.-50 A.D.)

Egyptian Mummification Rituals Uncovered at Natural History

A collection of ancient Egyptian mummies—and new techniques for looking inside them—reveal new information about ancient Egpyt's spiritual beliefs

Facing the Void: Ellee Thalheimer stands before a high pass near Sampeyre, Italy after an ascent of several thousand feet.

Women and the Way of the Pedal-empowered

Susan B. Anthony said bicycling "emancipates women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel"

Enjoy an evening event at the groundbreaking exhibition "The Bright Beneath."

Events Nov. 28-Dec. 1: Postal Tours, Viva Verdi, Celebrating Roots and The Bright Beneath

Take a guided tour of the Postal Museum, celebrate an opera composer, attend a poetry performance and mingle at the Natural History Museum at night

You never know what you will find on the beaches of Malarrimo.

The Wonders that Wash Ashore: Malarrimo Beach

The attraction of beachcombing is that one isn't perusing a garbage dump; much of what one sifts through on a stretch of sand are valuables lost at sea

Get a hands-on introduction to forensics as part of the "Written in Bone" exhibition

Events Nov. 21-24: For All the World To See, Forensics Lab, Beyond Blackface and Thanksgiving

This week, get a guided tour of a fascinating exhibit, experiment in an interactive forensics lab, hear from a noted author and celebrate Thanksgiving

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Into a Desert Place: A Talk With Graham Mackintosh

In remote fishing camps, a few older fishermen remember a red-haired Englishman who tramped through 30 years ago, disappearing around the next point

The recently discovered whale bone fossil, showing evidence of shark predation.

Shark Attack! (In a Fossil)

A new discovery sheds light on a three-million-year-old shark bite

Wild campers must beware of landmines in the Balkans - though locals may only warn of bears.

Crying Wolf Among Motor Vehicles and Landmines

Five drunk young men—the first visibly intoxicated men I think I've seen in Turkey—began dancing in the highway to Turkish music from the car’s radio

Laetitia Plaisance searches for crustaceans in a piece of dead coral.

Corals Crawling With Crustaceans

Smithsonian scientist Laetitia Plaisance talks about her recent study and its finding that coral reefs support even more biodiversity that we thought

Wild camping is first-class lodging in rural Turkey, where dinner is had in bed and nights are passed beneath the stars.

Zen and the Art of Sleeping Anywhere

By camping wild, we bypass unloading the luggage, taking off our shoes at the doorstep, and all the other logistics of dwelling in a well-groomed society

The author with his packed bicycle at San Francisco International Airport at the outset of the journey.

Beam Me Home, Please

Putting one’s means of transportation into a box while miles of travel remain is as clever as stepping into a shopping bag and attempting to carry oneself

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Not Finding the Lost Explorer Everett Ruess

A recent book only adds to the enduring mystery of a legendary Southwest wanderer

The setting sun showers Spil Dag National Park in a dusky, rosy red.

The Final Sprint to Istanbul

The townspeople ogled the tourist he’d captured. “From America,” the cop boasted, like he’d shot me at 400 yards with a rifle

Figs like this one, so ripe it's bursting, dangle by the millions along the roadsides near Izmir and Aydin.

The Figs and Mountains of Izmir

Travel horizontally in any direction and you see no change in landscape; Siberia remains Siberia from Finland to Kamchatka

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