Charles Alan

You book the solo trip with one hand and text your mom “I’m safe” with the other. This is the reality for millions of women who want to see the world. The desire for freedom is strong, but the fear is real. A huge 66% of women who travel alone worry about their personal safety, … Read more

That perfect travel photo you just saved is probably a lie. A stunning beach, a secret mountain path—it could all be a digital ghost, created by AI to trick you into booking a trip to a place that doesn’t exist. This isn’t just about edited photos anymore. We’re talking about “phantom destinations,” entirely fake places … Read more

Your vacation photos probably feature beaches or mountains. For millions of others, the new must-have shot is in front of a bombed-out building in Ukraine or inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This is dark tourism, and it has exploded from a strange hobby into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Younger generations are leading the charge, turning sites … Read more

A splash of cold water on a hot day can be refreshing. But on the streets of Barcelona, it’s a declaration of war. Locals are arming themselves with cheap plastic water guns and taking aim at tourists, not as a game, but as a desperate act of protest. The city’s sun-drenched boulevards have become a … Read more

Your brain feels like a browser with too many tabs open, and another night of restless, broken sleep isn’t going to fix it. For a growing number of exhausted Americans, the answer isn’t a new mattress—it’s a $1,700-a-night hotel room where the only goal is to finally get some rest. This new travel trend isn’t … Read more

That sun-drenched Mediterranean trip you’ve been dreaming of is now a high-risk gamble. Record heatwaves and wildfires are turning relaxing beach getaways into survival missions, forcing you to trade sightseeing for shade-seeking. The days of predictable sun, sea, and sand are over. A new travel trend, the “coolcation,” is taking over as savvy travelers head … Read more

That perfect Bali photo in your feed—the one with the sunset, the infinity pool, the impossible calm—is selling a beautiful lie. Behind the billion-dollar brand of pristine beaches and spiritual retreats, a grim reality washes ashore every single day. During the monsoon season, Bali’s most famous coastlines are buried under a sickening tide of plastic … Read more

A dream vacation shouldn’t end on a stranger’s doorstep, but that’s what happened to the Johnson family. They had saved for months, planning the perfect ten-year anniversary trip to a Caribbean beach house. The online listing looked perfect. The pictures were stunning, the price was low, and the owner was friendly. He convinced them to … Read more

There’s a place in America where the roads are too small for cars and the mail still arrives by boat. This isn’t a theme park. It’s Tangier Island, a tiny kingdom of ridges and waterways in the Chesapeake Bay, home to about 430 people. Here, life moves at the pace of a golf cart, and … Read more