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Implementation of Europe's always-upcoming travel permit and entry fee for international visitors has been postponed for the umpteenth time. Nothing new there. The European Union has repeatedly pushed back the target date for rolling out the so-called ETIAS, or Electronic Travel Information and Authorization System.

'Twas once an era when travelers were told to dress in respectable clothing when they flew, because professionally clad passengers were the most likely to be selected for an upgrade. To access a higher class of service, it helped to dress like a member of a higher class. That tip was being dispensed as recently as 3 months ago, when Travel + Leisure posted a whole article about how to dress for upgrade success.

The following is a transcript of an interview featured on the Frommer's Travel Show podcast. Pauline Frommer spoke with Andrew Motiwalla, founder of the immersive travel company The Good Life Abroad. The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. Click here to listen to the entire interview. Pauline Frommer: Usually on this show we talk about vacations—places you can go for maybe a week, maybe two if you're lucky. But many people over the age of 55 have longer times available to them to travel.

Are airlines passing the point of no return with the industry's latest extra fee? Today's Rubicon: making customers pay a fee to put their bags in the overhead storage bins. The airline crossing that line is Jetstar, the Qantas-owned budget airline with about 100 planes flying in Australasia and Japan. Basic airfare on Jetstar will soon only cover a bag that can be stored under a seat. To use the overhead luggage bins, passengers will have to pay a "Priority Carry-On" fee.

The chances are strong that you won't personally witness the total solar eclipse of Aug. 12, 2026. The path of totality—the area under which the sun will be completely obscured by the moon—only passes over parts of Spain and Portugal, Greenland, and a lot of uninhabited Arctic areas where the main witnesses will be polar bears. Parts of northern Canada and northern Europe will have incomplete side views. But so what if you miss this one?

Book Lovers Day is August 9. Today's independent bookstores aren’t just places of commerce. They’re destinations unto themselves. They have also taken on many of the roles that used to be reserved for civic and religious institutions. Bookstores are community gathering places, hubs for conversation between like-minded souls, lecture halls hosting inspiring and thought-provoking speeches, and vital lyceums for citizens to discuss the important issues of the day.

Travel writing often feels like an inherently bossy genre. More than other types of journalism, we rely a lot on the second-person imperative. Go here, not there, eat this, skip that, look at this view, strap on that money belt. Speaking for Frommer's, it's not that we don't want you to explore freely and make your own discoveries out in the world.

The spot in Rome where Julius Caesar was assassinated sits in a large sunken square a short distance south of the Pantheon. Known as Largo di Torre Argentina, the site contains the ruins of four ancient temples and the Curia of Pompey. Also here: one cat sanctuary whose inhabitants appear wholly indifferent to the location's historical significance.

International Cat Day is August 8. The following is a transcript of an interview featured on the Frommer’s Travel Show Podcast. Our guest was Jeff Bogle, author of Street Cats & Where to Find Them: The Most Feline Friendly Cities and Attractions Around the World. The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity; click here to listen to the entire interview. Pauline Frommer: When I think of street cats, I think of a sobering talk I had many years ago with a veterinarian in Jerusalem.

National Book Lovers Day is August 9. A great way to prepare for an upcoming trip—aside from getting your hands on the latest Frommer's guide for your destination, of course—is to read a book or two set in the place you'll be visiting. Novels, histories, memoirs, travelogues, and works of journalism can offer unique and illuminating perspectives from a location's residents or previous visitors.