Travel

The 52 Places Traveler The planned stops on the 52 Places Traveler’s trip around the world included a mainland China ski area, and the vibrant former British colony. Neither was quite as expected. Our columnist, Sebastian Modak, is visiting each destination on our 52 Places to Go in 2019 list. His last dispatch was from […]

In 794, Emperor Kanmu moved Japan’s Imperial Court to a river valley in the Yamashiro Basin surrounded on three sides by mountains. In planning the new capital, engineers relied on the expertise of China, whose technology and culture Japan had long been absorbing via trade and travel. Chinese principles of feng shui determined the city’s

I was feeling down on my hometown, a fractured city of appalling inequality out of which has sprung an industry that’s contributed to the ruin of our country — and also, probably, my mind. The quirky tech scene had soured, while the houses had gotten grander and the homelessness more brutal. My family has been

One of only four oar makers for Venice’s famed gondoliers, Paolo Brandolisio wades through his ground-floor workshop for the third time in a week of record-breaking floods, despairing of any help from national or local institutions. “If these phenomena continue to repeat themselves, you have to think about how to defend yourself,” he says. “Because

Rising global temperatures are worrying truffle hunters around the Italian town of Alba, where the most prized specimens can fetch twice the price of gold. This particularly warm October, eight out of 10 white truffles unearthed by Carlo Olivero with his trusty 3-year-old dog Steel were dark, withered and dried out. “They are clearly signs

Make your move Once you have purchased your ticket, spend the time before you leave learning key phrases in your destination’s language, preparing necessary documents and packing. With American health care costs higher than those in most developed countries, it may be advantageous to choose a local plan at your destination over an international one.

When we first solicited reader stories of travel disasters, we immediately received four individual emails concerning Europcar, the rental car company that operates in 140 countries. Although anyone renting a car from any rental company on Earth might find themselves in the situations below, we felt that strength in numbers might be valuable here, so

It seems almost unspeakably ungrateful now, but I spent most of my high school years wishing I didn’t live on an island — and not just any island, but one of the Hawaiian islands, among the world’s most remote and yet most visited archipelagos. I lived on Oahu, by far the most densely populated in

LAST SPRING, I went to Japan to see the cherry blossoms. It was the first of April, but I had gambled — with each year, the flowers were opening earlier and earlier, and I was hoping I might see them just as they were beginning to bud. On the streets and in the shops, plastic

After visiting the Grand Canyon with my 9-year-old daughter in August, I splurged on a two-night stay at the Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Ariz., to cap off our mother-daughter trip. Upon arrival, we were upgraded to a two-bedroom, two-bath suite with a kitchenette, a fireplace and dual balconies facing the breathtaking red rocks of Boynton