Seattle is getting a sky-high sendoff to Alaska cruise season as Princess Cruises plans a one-night-only public drone show over downtown on May 1 at 8:30 p.m. The free event will take place at Seattle Center, with the best viewing area set around the International Fountain Mall at 305 Harrison Street. For locals and visitors, it sounds like one of those rare city evenings where … [Read more...] about Princess Cruises Alaska Drone Show, May 1, 2026, Seattle
Travel Insights
Vibes of Taormina
Taormina does not ease you in. The town announces itself from a distance — a stone shelf jutting from the eastern flank of the Peloritani mountains, suspended between sky and sea at roughly 200 meters above the Ionian coast. Before you have walked a single street, before you have tasted anything or heard the dialect, you already understand why the Greeks built here in the … [Read more...] about Vibes of Taormina
AI Heads to the Campground as More Campers Blend Nature With Connectivity
Camping in the United States is entering a new phase where campfires and trail maps now share space with artificial intelligence, satellite internet, and remote work setups. New findings released by The Dyrt show that 33.6% of campers say they trust AI to recommend a campground, a clear sign that digital tools are becoming part of how travelers choose where to escape next. Even … [Read more...] about AI Heads to the Campground as More Campers Blend Nature With Connectivity
The Mara Laguna Beach Opens, April 20, Laguna Beach
A low-rise stretch of coastline just south of downtown Laguna Beach has picked up a new kind of hospitality signal, the kind that feels less like a hotel opening and more like a repositioning of how stays are packaged altogether. AvantStay has brought The Mara Laguna Beach into its growing portfolio, stepping into a former Sonder Holdings Inc. property and reshaping it into … [Read more...] about The Mara Laguna Beach Opens, April 20, Laguna Beach
RoarFun Unveils ROF for America 250 Tourism Activations
As the United States heads toward its 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, a growing number of companies are trying to position themselves around what could become one of the biggest public-facing tourism and branding moments in the country in years. RoarFun is now making its pitch with ROF, a compact immersive simulator platform designed for state tourism boards, destination … [Read more...] about RoarFun Unveils ROF for America 250 Tourism Activations
Two Headwinds for Tourist Season 2026: Oil Prices and Europe’s New Border System
Summer 2026 is shaping up as one of the most expensive and logistically complicated travel seasons in recent memory. Two forces — unrelated in origin but convergent in effect — are compressing the options available to international travelers: a structural spike in aviation fuel costs driven by the conflict in the Middle East, and the full rollout of the EU's Entry/Exit System … [Read more...] about Two Headwinds for Tourist Season 2026: Oil Prices and Europe’s New Border System
Rooftop of the Austrian Hospice on Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem
There is a rooftop in Jerusalem where, for a few shekels and the willingness to climb several flights of stone stairs, the entire Old City spreads out before you in one uninterrupted panorama. It belongs to the Austrian Hospice on Via Dolorosa — a pale, symmetrical building that has occupied the same address since 1863, when the Habsburg Empire still had enough reach to plant … [Read more...] about Rooftop of the Austrian Hospice on Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem
The People Who Still Dress Like They Mean It
On a weekday afternoon in a Bavarian pedestrian zone, a small procession appears without announcement. Men in lederhosen and flower-crowned hats. A woman in dirndl carrying a saxophone. A clarinet player wearing more buttons and badges than a NATO general. They move through the street with the unhurried confidence of people who have done this before, surrounded by shoppers and … [Read more...] about The People Who Still Dress Like They Mean It
Marienplatz, Munich: The Square That Runs the City
Every European city has a central square. Rome has the Piazza Navona and the Campo de' Fiori and a dozen others competing for the designation. Prague has Staroměstské náměstí. Vienna has the Stephansplatz. Amsterdam distributes its civic weight across a network of canal-side spaces that resist the concept of centrality entirely. But Munich's Marienplatz is something more … [Read more...] about Marienplatz, Munich: The Square That Runs the City
The Almudena Cathedral in Madrid, The Cathedral That Was Told to Stand Down
Most great cathedrals dominate their surroundings. They were built to do exactly that — to rise above the city, to terminate vistas, to make the surrounding architecture feel provisional by comparison. The Almudena Cathedral in Madrid does something almost unprecedented for a building of its ambition: it defers. Stand in the Plaza de la Armería and the dynamic is immediately … [Read more...] about The Almudena Cathedral in Madrid, The Cathedral That Was Told to Stand Down