If you like variety, follow me to an L.A. experience that will challenge your senses – not your purse. The walking exercise on this day trip approximates six miles; I took all day, but you …
April 7, 2015
Travel Stories
L.A. in a day (by train)
True-blue Bahamas
For most of its history, Grand Bahama Island only had a few hundred people and no development. In 1955, a Virginian named Wallace Grove, eyeing the tourism of nearby Cuba, created the planned city of …
April 3, 2015
Ağva's "Club Bar"
My friend Saba and I decided to take a trip outside of Istanbul to Ağva, a vacation village in the mountains, by the Black Sea. Saba is a native Turk, but she majored in American …
March 31, 2015
Defining BIG in Sequoia National Park
I expected it to be colder here in January. I packed snow boots, hiking boots, three jackets, and two sweatshirts for the 36-hour trip. Usually, I pack light – only a small carry-on bag for …
March 28, 2015
Adventures in Tawi-Tawi
Editor's note: The author visited Tawi Tawi in 2007. There are a few more accommodations there now, it looks like. A few years ago, ignoring the advice of our horrified Filipino friends, my wife and …
March 26, 2015
Switzerland's Jungfrau
Riding the train up to the 11,371-foot Jungfraujoch, Europe’s highest point accessible by railway, I fell in love. I first glimpsed her after departing Grindelwald station, when the cogwheel stopped briefly at Brandegg and she …
March 23, 2015
Into the Zion Narrows
Joshua, age 10, is an aspiring photojournalist. This is his first published work. In my ten years on this earth, the Grand Canyon had been the most beautiful spot I had ever seen. That is, …
March 20, 2015
Getaway Contest winners: spread the word
With an incredible variety of submissions in the Reader’s first-ever travel writing contest, all of the winning articles are deserving. And that makes our jobs tough. 2015 Getaway Contest prizes will be awarded by Reader …
March 18, 2015
Welcome to East Jesus, CA
Overlooking the Salton Sea in the shadow of mature Ironwood trees rests a man still much loved. The former “mayor” of East Jesus, a fenced community of free-roaming, ever-rotating artists, musicians, scientists and builders located …
Spring break detour: Tulum & Coba
If you tire of lounging about on Cancun's white, sandy beaches and yearn for a bit of Maya culture with your tropical escape, consider exploring the nearby sites of Tulum and Coba. They can both …
March 13, 2015
Sevilla goes to Seville
Like a call from a muezzin when it starts, the tone grows gradually more profound. Rhythm gets stronger and more intense – now accompanied by the powerful stamping of feet from a dancer, whose long, …
March 10, 2015