Tag: Vacations

  • Is it safe to visit the US? How guns and Trump affect travel interest

    Is it safe to visit the US? How guns and Trump affect travel interest

    More than 90% of travelers from Southeast Asia say that gun prevalence in the United States influences whether they will visit, according to a new survey. The study — which surveyed 6,000 international travelers from the six countries — showed that respondents perceived Hawaii to be the safest state in terms of gun violence, while…

  • Pinang Island is a private island that costs ,000 per night

    Pinang Island is a private island that costs $1,000 per night

    When Richard Kvech first set foot on Pinang four years ago, a dilapidated bungalow used by passing fishermen was the only sign of human life on the island. Kvech and three friends, all from the Czech Republic, slept in hammocks and cooked on the beach, while dreaming of creating an eco-retreat on the 50-hectare Indonesian…

  • Where to take an alcohol-free, sober-curious trip

    Where to take an alcohol-free, sober-curious trip

    Years ago, the manager of a hotel in Koh Samui, Thailand told me about an unusual booking that he once received during the middle of the night. A traveler had flown his entire family via private jet from Brunei to the Thai island after learning upon landing in Brunei that it is a “dry country”…

  • What is the best country to visit? One top traveler picks his top five

    What is the best country to visit? One top traveler picks his top five

    I’m often asked: “What is your favorite country to visit?” For an avid adventurer, it’s a confounding question. How to distill culture, vibes, food, scenery, and all the other factors that shape the international travel experience? Identifying the nations I have explored in depth over multiple visits — popular places like Turkey, Nepal, South Africa…

  • Cities are fighting back against overtourism: Venice, Amsterdam, Bali

    Cities are fighting back against overtourism: Venice, Amsterdam, Bali

    From overtourism to no tourism — and back again. Many cities have come full circle to worrying about too many tourists rather than too few.    The rise of budget airlines, short-term home rentals and cruise ships are part of the problem, said Lionel Saul, a research assistant and visiting lecturer at EHL Hospitality Business…

  • A ban ends dog and cat meat trade in Sulawesi

    A ban ends dog and cat meat trade in Sulawesi

    The Tomohon Extreme Market was once a top tourist attraction in the Indonesian province of North Sulawesi — a live animal market filled with everything from fileted pythons to skewered bats and rats. But the market drew international condemnation in 2018 after animal activists shot videos of dogs and cats being brutally beaten and blowtorched…

  • Hong Kong retains spot as most expensive business destination in Asia

    Hong Kong retains spot as most expensive business destination in Asia

    Hong Kong has been named the most expensive location in Asia for business travelers — for the second year in a row, according to a new report.  ECA International’s latest Daily Rates research ranked countries based on costs for short trip expenses: four-star hotel rooms, meals, laundry, alcoholic and soft drinks, journeys by taxi and…

  • Does being a digital nomad save money? It depends on where you go

    Does being a digital nomad save money? It depends on where you go

    Sipping a cold pint of beer in Budapest can cost $2. Dinner for two in a pub in Prague? About $22. And a month’s rental for a sleek studio apartment in the center of the Portuguese city of Porto can set you back $650. With these sorts of living costs, it’s no surprise that many are…

  • How to earn money and pay to travel full time: one couple explains

    How to earn money and pay to travel full time: one couple explains

    Most people have a travel bucket list, perhaps with 10 to 15 countries. For this couple, it’s all 195 — and they’re more than halfway there. Hudson and Emily Crider have visited 112 countries, but their journey together began long before that. Both are from the “same small town” of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They met in…