AFAR

This kind of Japan travel doesn’t show up in guidebooks. In January 2024, a major earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula, lifting the seabed 15 feet into the air and exposing an ocean floor that locals walked across—harvesting octopus and abalone—to get home. This week on Unpacked, Five Questions, host and Afar executive editor Katherine LaGrave is joined by Afar contributing writer Ryan Knighton, who recently wrote a feature about traveling along the peninsula.

For the past several decades, writer and editor Lavinia Spalding has championed women’s travel writing. She’s helmed seven editions of the Best Women’s Travel Writing—the celebrated Traveler’s Tales anthology—including the latest, released on June 9th. Over the years, she’s read hundreds of submissions a year from women around the world and distilled them into one essential collection.

In Norway and Finland, winter is not simply a season—it shapes the cultures and traditions of the far north. Traveling by ship, rail, and road, this 16-day journey from Oslo to Helsinki ventures through some of the Nordic region’s most remote corners, from Arctic Norway’s rugged coast to Finland’s snow-covered forests. Along the way, you can connect with Sámi communities, search for the Northern Lights, and sleep beneath the northern sky in a glass igloo.

By the end of March 2027, first-class international flying on major U.S. airlines will no longer exist. American Airlines, the last U.S. carrier to offer an international first-class cabin, earlier this month announced the phaseout of the service.

This article was originally published in 2023 and most recently updated on September 25, 2026, with current information. Spanish gastronomy looks simple—possibly even humble—to the outside observer. Visitors might notice superb produce quality. Or some may note the many uncomplicated recipes, executed with impeccable technique, that let natural flavors shine. There’s often a balancing act between refinement and unpretentiousness across the country.

The sleek black arc is there and then gone beneath the foamy green surf. I’m almost certain I’ve seen a whale—the smooth, curving motion nothing like the bobbing of yesterday’s porpoises—but it’s the only glimpse I’ll get today. I keep scanning the water anyway, yellow gorse on my right and the rolling swell on my left, a habit that’s hard to break on the Raad ny Foillan, the roughly 100-mile path that loops the entire coast of the Isle of Man.

U.S. airlines have been making headlines lately with their newly announced nonstop flights to destinations throughout Europe. Now, one lesser-known French airline is getting in on the action. All-business-class La Compagnie runs three direct routes to Europe, all from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), to Milan Malpensa (MXP), Nice Côte d’Azur (NCE), and Paris Orly (ORY). Starting next spring, it’s adding a rather unexpected fourth: Düsseldorf Airport in Germany (DUS).

An enormous 1858 Greek revival residence—known to locals as Magnolia Mansion—wraps the corner of Prytania Street and Jackson Avenue in New Orleans’s storied Garden District, its deep veranda supported by 11 Corinthian columns. Inside, across the 13,000-square-foot property, original details include a curving staircase, 15-foot ceilings, and pocket doors opening onto a series of parlors.

As I write this, my mom is on her first solo trip abroad—at age 73. She spent two weeks in Dublin and Edinburgh, with a few day trips built around each city. Turns out she’s part of a bigger wave. Google searches for “solo travel” hit an all-time high in early 2026 and “women solo travel” reached a 15-year high. More than one in four travelers plan to go solo this year, according to a 2026 Hilton trends report, and 48 percent have started tacking solo days onto family trips.

Four months after my daughter was born, I left her for the first time, flying to Switzerland for a five-day work trip. I said a tearful goodbye and then boarded the plane, expecting the typical tedium of an 11-hour journey. Instead, it was glorious. I watched a movie, slept, and snacked, delighted by the luxury of so many consecutive hours being responsible for no one but myself. My body was still on duty, persistently reminding me to pump.