What do you do when you're a happy camper but your partner is less keen on a night under canvas? Wally Byam's solution was to invent the Airstream, which started in the late 1920s as a wooden platform atop the chassis of a Ford Model T and by 1937 was a sleek aluminum-clad trailer marketed as "an airplane without wings ... luxurious in the extreme." Here, @Smithsonianmag looks at the origin and evolution of this American classic.
Happy #TravelTuesday, adventurers! Check out these 5 Magazines we love to follow for travel inspiration, recommendations and tips.
🗺️ Around the World with 33andFree: Exploring countries around the world, one mile at a time, from Australia, Africa and beyond! @around-the-world-travel-from-3
💡 The Travel Exchange: Follow this Magazine for the latest in travel news, hacks and recommendations from over 100 travel experts and enthusiasts. @the-travel-exchange-travelers
✈️ Travel Inspiration by Afar: Inspiring and enabling travelers to have deeper, richer, and more fulfilling experiences. @travel-inspiration-AfarMedia
Near Ouarzazate, me and @cobic have just met Czech cyclist Mirek and Slovenian cyclist Katya, who travel all around the world on their bicycles and live on the road and work as artists. I have introduced them to Mastodon and they are now @Cyclingnomads on our #fcz instance...
So if you want Cycling Nomads in Fediverse instead of just on Facebook, don't hesitate and follow @Cyclingnomads !
Kajū-ji or Kanshū-ji (勸修寺) is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Kyōto founded in 900 by Emperor Daigo. It is near Daigo-ji and was built where the Emperor's wife lived as a tribute to her. The Imperial family traditionally provided the head priests.
I go there mainly for the garden and pond, which are also historic. Wisteria blossoms are over, and now there are yellow, purple, and white irises in the pond along with pink and white water lilies. I've also noticed big herons nesting in the treetops, but they are too far for a mobile phone to capture a clear picture. By the pond I did startle a young egret, to my regret 😅 .
ADRIFT IN A NEARLY DESERTED VENICE in the early months of the 2020 pandemic, a writer contemplates his native Nigeria, his life in Detroit, his love of travel, but most of all his complicated family. Beautifully crafted prose, distinctive story. B PLUS
When Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit of Mount Everest in May 1953, a courier named Ten Tsewang Sherpa ran 200 miles to the British Embassy in Kathmandu to deliver the news. A few weeks later, he died. Outside's contributing editor, Peter Frick-Wright, went to Nepal to meet his family, figure out what happened, and tell his extraordinary story. [Article may be paywalled]
This review, at a popular site for people interested in Japan, could serve as a guide to watching the new documentary about Japanese hostess bars. It's a new genre for me, although I have some background in journalism: https://japanned.hcommons.org/journalism
Every Cabbage Patch Kid is "born" in Babyland General Hospital, Cleveland Ga. Thrillist's Joshua Rigsby took his family there, persuaded by his two daughters who saw billboards advertising the hospital. "We were not prepared for what was next," he writes.
I've been planning my first solo travel/workation this year and I can't decide where to go this August. La Union, Zambales, or Baler?
La Union is at the top of my list but since it's a workation and as an introvert, I won't be into parties and large crowds. I want a more peaceful vibe. I wonder which among those three is better for digital nomading?
Have you ever had occasion to say "The book made me do it?"
For me it was a trip to Syria 18 years ago.
I read Les jardins de lumière by Amin Maalouf (translated as The Gardens of Light) several times between 1995 and 2005. The story is set in 3rd century Palmyra and I was so intrigued and fascinated by the place that I wanted to see it for myself.
Yet another destination has had to take measures to deal with badly behaved tourists. Photography enthusiasts recently discovered that Fujikawaguchiko, in Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture, has a perfect vantage point to capture a shot of Mount Fuji in contrast to the neon sign of Lawson Convenience Store. To get the picture, they're parking without permission, blocking traffic, and even climbing onto buildings. Authorities have put up an eight-foot-tall barrier to try and curb their behavior. Here's more from Conde Nast Traveler.
Author Michael Harris says that life in 2024 is too much — a deluge of stimulus. He examines why that's the case in this essay for Montecristo, and heads to a Tokyo listening bar in an effort to still the noise and rediscover the practice of sustained attention. "Needle touches vinyl, and a grief-stricken Nina Simone sings, 'Ne me quitte pas'," he writes. "To hear that beacon of a voice and to be moved, and yet to refrain from any critique or review, is our goal. For once to hold back our vulgar additions."
The Dilbar Hotel in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, has been a hub and haven for Kashmiri Muslims since 1950, when its original owner, Malik Jamal, opened it as a small teashop. But it wasn’t the tea that got locals’ attention; it was the hareesa and tabaq maz Jamal would bring from home for his lunch. Today, his son, Malik Aslam, runs the restaurant (hotel and restaurant are used interchangeably locally) fully aware it is perhaps the only one in the country serving food from the Kashmir valley. Atlas Obscura has more, including why Aslam believes he is the custodian of a culinary tradition that must be treated like a precious heirloom. https://flip.it/oxoBvU #Culture#Pakistan#Food#Foodstodon#Travel
Sumadera (須磨寺) is a unique #temple full of iconographic #arts, at the western end of Kōbe (神戸). Perhaps because it's not in Kyōto or Nara, there is little information available online about Sumadera, even in #Japanese. It was founded in 886 and has its own branch of Kūkai's #Shingon#Buddhism: Sumadera-ha (真言宗須磨寺派). It is internationally active, and a place for #religious practices rather than an outdoor museum. By the same token, it's free to enter.
Suma appears in ancient waka poetry (和歌) of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables, and is associated with the Heike Monogatari (平家物語). I was determined to go, despite the rain, because I'd read an article clarifying wabi and sabi with a #waka coincidentally about Suma. The first photos show Sumadera's exchanges with #Nepal resulting in a display of Tibetan #Buddhist and #Hindu#iconography. Although there was light rain on the beach at first, later up at Sumadera the day turned bright.
With its warm weather, historic sites and thriving culture scene, Miami draws millions of tourists each year. But for one traveler, a trip there took on greater significance. This story from Condé Naste Traveler is written by a man who spent eight years locked up in a prison 30 miles from the city. Here's what he experienced when he finally got to visit. https://flip.it/fWYtju #Culture#Travel#Miami
I've finished mourning the fact that I'm not on Skye anymore.
Lots of change happening at the moment, personally, but was thankfully able to make space for a solid 13km hike around the gorgeous Feizor area in the Yorkshire Dales.
Ewen Bell is a professional photographer posting photography and camera tutorial videos as well as beautiful travel videos. You can follow the video account at:
The account is pretty new, and most of its videos haven't federated widely yet. You can browse all the videos so far at https://makertube.net/a/ewenbell/videos
You can also follow Bell's general social media accounat at @ewen