I’ll be honest – from my four-day weekend in NOLA, I wanted three things: voodoo, ghosts and Hurricanes. And I wasn’t disappointed. My first glimpse of Bourbon Street was a little disappointing – trashy bars, …

We drove through downtown San Diego in a state of anxiety, paranoia and excitement. It’s hard not to be affected by the constant media deluge of horrors from south of the border: decapitated heads, mutilated …

We were heading to the majestic Grand Canyon, surely America’s most famous crevasse, when we decided to stop off at the neat little ghost town of Chloride, AZ. Nestling halfway between Las Vegas and the …

The majestic Anza-Borrego Desert never ceases to surprise me. It is an alien environment of ghostly, pale rocks and unforgiving heat. Ocotillo plants sprout like underwater coral from the barren sands that hide translucent scorpions …

In May 1962, an ill-advised trash fire set light to the veins of coal running beneath the small mining town of Centralia, PA, and sparked a dangerous inferno that has raged ever since. Despite various …

Death Valley must be seen to be believed. From the turquoise flats rolling out beneath lofty Dante’s View to the salty vertigo of Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, it is a place …

Los Angeles is a city of divides: poverty and decadence, history and trend, life and death. And the city of angels has its share of death, as evident by two Hollywood attractions, the Museum of …

Lake Tōya in Hokkaidō, Japan, is a small tourist resort nestled among mountains and active volcanoes. Known for its serene landscape and relaxing onsen spas, it also has a darker side; in 2000, the majestic …

Washington might be the most beautiful place on earth. I've been fortunate enough to visit the state twice in the last year (and am going again in the fall), and each time I have left …

Three hours from San Diego, east of the Anza-Borrego desert, lies the Salton Sea. When stopped by border patrol on our first drive out to the sea, the officer seemed surprised by our destination. “You …

I am in love with the deserts of Southern California. There is no greater joy than leaving the ’burbs on a sunny Saturday, stocked up with water and sunscreen, and driving off into the beyond. …

The tragic events of 1945 can barely be appreciated without seeing the peaceful, dignified city of Hiroshima, Japan. Within minutes of stepping off the bullet train, a local resident offered us a free tour of …

I was two years old and living in the U.K. when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, on April 26, 1986. Naturally, I have no memory of the event, but my mother assures me that …