Great news for travel and adventure enthusiasts: An international event combining freefall from hot air balloons, aerial sports, and aerial photography has taken place in the Wadi Rum desert in southern Jordan.
Approximately 16 participants, including skydivers, paramotor pilots, photographers, and specialists, from several European countries, participated in the event, which lasted until October 10th. This was the first event of its kind in the region, taking advantage of Wadi Rum's unique desert landscape and rock formations, one of the most prominent natural and adventure tourism destinations in southern Jordan.
The event was organized by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority in collaboration with the company "Balloons Over Rum" and several European clubs specializing in aerial sports and skydiving. The program included freefall from hot air balloons, paramotoring, and aerial photography and videography.
What I liked about the idea is that it goes beyond the desert: The visit also aims to introduce participants to Aqaba's tourism attractions and to connect the desert and aerial experience of Wadi Rum with Aqaba, as part of what is known in southern Jordan as the "Golden Triangle," which includes Aqaba, Wadi Rum, and the ancient city of Petra.
For those planning a trip to Jordan, it seems that combining all three in one itinerary is the smartest way to experience the south: the sea in Aqaba, the desert in Wadi Rum, and the history in Petra.
Source: CNN Arabic.
Living abroad is an adventure that teaches you so much about yourself, but nobody says it's easy. I've moved countries several times: I went through Spain, the United States and France, and ended up spending eight months in Vietnam teaching English. From all of that I took away a few tips I would have loved to know beforehand.
The first thing is to get the paperwork out of the way as soon as possible. The first few weeks are an endless slog of offices, visas and banks, and until you close that chapter you won't be able to enjoy anything. Then, listen and observe: don't judge or start comparing everything to your home country, because you're the one who has to change, not the place.
A mistake many of us make is hanging out only with people from our own country. It's the most comfortable option, but it keeps you inside your bubble and it takes you longer to understand the place. Look for plans with locals, use apps like Meetup or Couchsurfing and, above all, learn the language: it's the key that changes how people treat you.
Not everything is rosy — culture shock arrives sooner or later — but with patience and new friends the feeling of being uprooted gradually fades. In the end, stepping out of your comfort zone is one of the best decisions you can make.
Source: El Viaje de Mi Vida
Some travel facts stay with you for a while, and this one from Diario del Viajero is one of them: in the Faroe Islands there is a roundabout inside an undersea tunnel. The tunnel is Eysturoyartunnilin, which connects Tórshavn, on Streymoy, with Runavík and Strendur, on Eysturoy.
The numbers are impressive. The tunnel is 11,240 meters long, split across three branches: 7,460 from Hvítanes to the roundabout, 2,153 toward Saltnes and 1,625 toward Strendur. The deepest point lies 187 meters below sea level, and the roundabout sits 72.6 meters below the fjord's surface. The cross-section is 10.5 meters wide, with a 7-meter carriageway for two lanes, and no ramp exceeds a 5% gradient.
The project cost 1.3 billion Danish kroner, about 174 million euros, the largest infrastructure investment in Faroese history. The contract with the Swedish builder NCC was signed on November 8, 2016, the first blast took place on February 21, 2017, the crews met under the seabed on June 7, 2019, and the tunnel opened on December 19, 2020. In the center, a steel sculpture of roughly 80 meters by Tróndur Patursson wraps around the natural rock pillar that gives the roundabout its name.
For travelers, here is the practical part: it is a road in service, so you cannot stop to take photos. According to the article, the toll comes to about 23 euros per trip. In return, the journey from Tórshavn to Runavík or Strendur fell from 55 to 17 kilometers and from 64 to 16 minutes, and the trip from Tórshavn to Klaksvík dropped from 68 to 36 minutes. In 2025, about 6,400 vehicles passed through each day.
The piece adds an interesting footnote: this would be the first and only roundabout in an undersea tunnel in the world until Norway opens the 26.7-kilometer Rogfast, planned for summer 2033. I like how a country of about 55,000 people has changed daily life with a single project.
Source: Diario del Viajero
If you are planning to fly abroad or home for the holidays, The Points Guy's latest piece is worth a read before you hit the book button. Senior aviation reporter Sean Cudahy reports that airfares have risen an average of 23% since the war in Iran pushed up global oil prices. By Hopper's forecast, domestic Thanksgiving flights are up about 31% from last year, and Christmas and New Year's fares average roughly 23% more than last holiday season.
The advice is straightforward. Book as soon as you can, but leave room to rebook if the fare drops. Most major carriers allow changes or cancellations, so basic fares that restrict them are best avoided, and some AI fare-tracking tools can capture savings automatically if prices fall after you buy. According to TPG's tracking with Points Path, prices have stayed high but fairly steady since August, while last year both cash and award prices jumped in the final weeks before the holidays.
Timing matters as much as the booking date. For Thanksgiving, Monday, Nov. 23 is the cheapest departure day, with a return on Black Friday or the following Tuesday. Sunday, Nov. 29 is likely the priciest, roughly 40% more than Black Friday. For Christmas and New Year's, the weekends before and after Christmas and Sunday, Jan. 3 are expected to cost the most, while weekdays on either side of Christmas are usually cheapest.
The article also points out that airlines often will not cover hotels, meals or taxis during weather disruptions, and that new federal rules taking effect this month may limit compensation for mechanical delays. Flight cancellations have reached a four-year high in 2026, so it makes sense to book with a credit card that includes travel protections and to use expiring airline or hotel credits before the year ends.
Personally, the part I found most useful is the reminder to compare dates, airports and even destinations on tools like Google Flights or Kayak instead of fixing the plan first and the price later. If you live abroad and fly home every year, those few extra days of flexibility can matter more than any coupon.
Source: The Points Guy
In the mountains of Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku island, there is a village that looks, from a distance, like any ordinary countryside: children gathered in the school hall, mothers tending gardens, older people waiting at the bus stop. Up close, it becomes clear that they are all dolls. This is Nagoro, which VnExpress featured in its travel section on October 9, 2026.
The village is called the “Scarecrow Village” because it has more scarecrows than residents. Only about 30 people still live there, while roughly 350 cloth figures stand around in many sizes, depicting adults and children doing everyday things like working in the rice fields or chatting by the well. The cause is a familiar mix of migration to cities and an aging population. The elementary school closed for lack of pupils, and now the dolls sit at the desks.
The story began about 30 years ago, when resident Tsukimi Ayano made a scarecrow for her family’s rice field and used her father’s old clothes instead of straw. Because the figures were often mistaken for real people, she made more, with different outfits and poses, and other residents joined in. According to the Shikoku Tourism Organization, each figure is registered with a name, a personality, and its own story. Ms. Tsukimi says: “Making dolls was my hobby. I never imagined my hobby would become something like this.”
Nagoro has more than 1,000 reviews on Google. Many visitors find it a unique destination, while some find the quiet space a little eerie, especially on rainy days. Nearby are the Oku-Iya double vine bridge, Mount Tsurugi at over 1,900 m, the Oboke gorge and the old village of Ochiai.
Personally, I think this is a very special way to look at the fact that Japan’s countryside is steadily emptying out.
Source: VnExpress
Some travel news makes you smile first thing in the morning, and this story, published by NiT, is one of them. Manolita, an 89-year-old Spanish grandmother, had always dreamed of seeing Rome, and her grandson, Jordi Rodriguez Moreno, a content creator known for videos featuring her, decided to make that wish come true.
The trip carries special weight: it's Manolita's first flight, and the first time she has left Spain. The dream included strolling through the city's streets, tasting the local food and visiting the Vatican. Jordi announced the trip in an emotional video the week before the article was published.
In the days that followed, he shared small moments: her on the plane, at the hotel, eating carbonara in Rome for the first time, and visiting the Colosseum. A visit to the Vatican and a relaxed exploration of the city were also planned. The article doesn't give the dates, the length or the cost of the trip, so I'll focus on the essentials of the story.
What moves me is the simplicity. It's not a luxury itinerary or a list of money-saving tips; it's someone living, at 89, a first time that had been kept for decades. For anyone who lives abroad or has older relatives far from home, it's a reminder that it's never too late to take the trip you put off.
If you have grandparents or parents with a dream destination, this might be the cue to ask them where they'd like to go.
Source: NiT
Barcelona welcomes around 16 million tourists a year, roughly ten times its population. Local residents have long been overwhelmed, and in recent years some protests have even taken the form of spraying tourists with plastic water pistols in crowded areas. According to a report by detikTravel citing The Independent, the city is now trying a new approach that I find interesting to follow.
The existing rules are fairly strict. New hotels in the city center have been banned since 2015, about 10,000 short-term rental licenses are to be eliminated by 2028, and the number of cruise ship terminals will be cut from seven to five by 2029. The tourist tax is currently 12 euros per night and is set to rise to 15 euros by 2029.
The new approach is on the promotion side. The tourism board has renamed its campaign from "Visit Barcelona" to "This is Barcelona". The platform provides information about history, local traditions, transport and accessibility, and recommends places according to the user's interests, much like Netflix recommends what to watch. The difference is that the system also takes crowding into account: if one location gets too busy, tourists are directed to quieter places. For culture lovers, for example, besides the works of Gaudí and the Gothic quarter, it suggests museums, festivals, classical music concerts, and unique restaurants and bars in other parts of the city.
Barcelona Turisme CEO Mateu Hernandez says that for the past 15 to 20 years, the conversation about tourism has focused too much on the negative impacts, while social media causes people to crowd into the same viral spots. Visitors are invited to choose more varied experiences and to respect residents and traditions, for example by staying quiet during festivals.
For those of us who like to travel, the message is clear: the most crowded place is not necessarily the most memorable.
Source: detikTravel
I read an article on TABIZINE about a solo woman traveler's day trip to Niagara Falls. The writer, fumi, took the tour in early April 2026, and the article was published on September 24. Since it could help anyone torn between using an overseas tour and traveling alone, I want to summarize it here.
She booked the "Niagara One-Day Sightseeing Tour from Toronto" on the travel site VELTRA, which comes with an English-speaking guide. What tipped the decision was the high rating from reviews, the fact that it is possible to make it a day trip from downtown Toronto, and the chance to stroll a town and taste maple syrup. Guests gather and board between 8:00 and 8:15 in the morning, and the bus leaves at 8:30. The first stop is one to one and a half hours away, so the advice is to buy breakfast in advance.
The itinerary goes from Niagara-on-the-Lake, a town with British-style streets where you have about an hour of free time, to a souvenir shop where you can sample maple syrup, and then to Niagara Falls. At the falls, after a bus ride of about 30 minutes, there is free time for a meal and a walk, and since you get splashed by spray, a jacket with a hood comes in handy. Finally, the group stops for about 40 minutes at Clifton Hill, lined with haunted houses and arcades, before a roughly two-hour bus ride back to Toronto.
For the standard adult plan (ages 12 to 64), the price is 9,267 yen from May to October (15% off as of September 24) and 13,660 yen from November to April. Cruise and behind-the-falls plans are separate experiences, and their contents change with the season and operating conditions, so checking in advance is required.
The writer sums up that the trip offered not only the falls but also cafes and souvenirs in a single day. Travel was handled by the tour while the time at each spot was left to her own choice, which made it just right for a solo trip. Personally, I found the small tip of pinning the return bus stop in a map app especially useful.
Source: TABIZINE
A list by Açelya Kirezci on Gezimanya caught my eye: ten scenic and fascinating roads from around the world. It was published in early August, reviving the curiosity about routes left over from summer holidays. Here are the ones that stayed with me.
The Chizhou Road in Anhui province, China, is about 120 kilometres long, and it's also called the Sky Road because it looks like it runs above the clouds. Norway's Atlantic Road consists of eight bridges linking small islets; the most iconic point, the Storseisundet Bridge, is 260 metres long. Romania's Transfăgărășan is about 90 kilometres, built in the 1970s for strategic reasons, and usually open only between July and October because of snow.
The Amalfi Coast Road (SS163) in Italy is about 50 kilometres and links Positano, Amalfi and Ravello. In South Africa, Chapman's Peak Drive is only 9 kilometres long but has 114 bends. In the US, the Pacific Coast Highway runs for about a thousand kilometres, and its wildest stretch is Big Sur. Iceland's Ring Road covers 1,322 kilometres and goes all the way around the country.
In Nikko, Japan, the Irohazaka road is famous for its 48 sharp bends, representing the 48 characters of the Japanese kana syllabary, with a sign at each bend showing the corresponding character. Australia's Great Ocean Road is about 240 kilometres and was built as a memorial to soldiers returning from the First World War. The list ends with the Los Caracoles Pass between Chile and Argentina: at about 3,200 metres, it crosses the Andes with 29 sharp bends on the Chilean side.
For me, the value of lists like this is that they give you ideas for the next journey, even if you can't go right away. For people living abroad, they can also be a nice way to find a weekend route. Which one would you like to drive?
Source: Gezimanya
Packing for a short trip is one of those things where it's easy to overdo it. That's why I read with interest Anna Szubińska's guide on Podróże.pl about how to pack for three days with one small backpack. The premise is simple: one person, two nights in a hotel or apartment, and ordinary sightseeing. A winter trip, a trek or an event needs a different set of things.
The first tip concerns the airline. Check the number of permitted items, their dimensions and the weight limit, because what counts as cabin baggage can be ambiguous. The article uses Ryanair as an example, which allows one small item of 40 × 30 × 20 cm under the seat on every fare. The label "20 litres" alone isn't enough, so measure the backpack after you've packed it.
It's best to wear the bulkiest items: long comfortable trousers, your first T-shirt, a sweatshirt and shoes you've already tested. In the backpack go two extra T-shirts, three sets of underwear, two or three pairs of socks, a light set of sleepwear, one spare pair of bottoms, a small toiletry bag, a phone with its charger, documents, a card, medicines and a thin bag for dirty laundry. Clothes should go with each other, and you shouldn't plan on doing laundry as a rescue.
For liquids, the safe starting point is containers of up to 100 ml in a transparent bag of up to 1 litre, and what counts is the capacity of the container, not how much is inside. Leave room for the return trip too, since souvenirs and small purchases add up.
The author's control question is the one I liked best: not "will this be useful?" but "when will I use it?" If an item has no place in the plan, it stays at home. The exceptions are medicines, documents and protection against the expected weather. It's a good rule even for those who come back from abroad every year with a suitcase that's too heavy.
Source: Podróże.pl
The magazine Вокруг света has published a travel feature by Karina Naumkina about a nine-day trip to Cambodia. The author lives in Thailand, and the trip took place in April 2025. I pulled out the parts that are most useful for anyone thinking about this route.
She kept the first day free: checking into the hotel, a walk around, and buying a local SIM card. Most of the time was spent in Siem Reap. In Angkor Park, which covers about 400 square kilometres according to UNESCO, they booked a private tour with a Russian-speaking guide. Two tickets and a driver for the day came to about $170. Places that stayed with her include Ta Prohm, where trees have grown through the walls, Theam's Gallery (entry $5), and the APOPO centre, where African giant pouched rats sniff out explosives. The APOPO tour lasts about an hour and costs $10.
In the evening in Siem Reap you can go to the Phare circus, which has no animals (tickets $18–38, daily at 20:00; part of the proceeds goes to an art school for children from vulnerable families), or to the Apsara show with dinner for $30–35. Then comes a bus to Phnom Penh, about five hours, with tickets for two at roughly $48. In the capital she visited the Independence Monument and the Tuol Sleng Museum (entry $5, audio guide another $5), where, in her advice, you should plan plenty of time.
On food: lok lak, marinated beef with rice and vegetables, and amok, a spiced fish or seafood dish steamed in a banana-leaf bowl. Lunch cost $5–10, and she recommends small cafés where many locals eat. Central hotels with breakfast came to about 30,000 rubles, and the total budget for two was about 135,000 rubles.
Two of her tips stood out to me: start preparing about six months ahead, and don't give money to begging children, but support charities instead. Practical, and humane.
Source: Вокруг света
I'm planning a short October trip right now and stumbled across a Lonely Planet list that got me really curious. Instead of the usual beach destinations, it's about places where autumn itself is the reason to travel.
Three images stuck with me most: Gauja National Park in Latvia, with castles amid golden foliage and canoe trips as long as the river stays ice-free; Exmoor in England, which becomes Europe's first dark-sky reserve at night and even celebrates a Dark Skies Festival in mid-October; and Umbria, where after the summer tourist rush there's finally room again for truffles, chestnuts, Sagrantino wine and the Eurochocolate festival in Perugia.
Then there's Copenhagen with its food scene and Culture Night, Gozo for diving while the water is still warm, Zermatt for the last hikes and the first glacier skiing, and Slovenia for forest bathing between Bohinj and thermal spas.
What I like about the list: it thinks in seasons, not just in sights. Fewer people, better light, and you understand why you should be travelling right now of all times. For now I'm leaning towards Umbria or Slovenia – and keeping Exmoor in the back of my mind for a starry night.
Source: Lonely Planet
