53 articles found
Spanish or English in Puerto Rico? What You Actually Need to Know
Puerto Rico's official languages are Spanish and English but the island's primary language is Spanish . While English is widely understood in tourist areas and by professionals who deal with Americans regularly, if you travel around outside of those ...
What Dutch People Actually Think About Tourists (And How to Be a Better Tourist)
The Netherlands, and Amsterdam in particular, is heavily touristed but unfortunately it has resulted in disruptive and disrespectful behavior due to a prevailing perception that "anything goes." "Amsterdam Is Not a Theme Park" In 2023, ...
Littleton, Colorado and Australia: The Surprising Sister-City Bond
Tucked into the southern suburbs of Denver, Littleton, Colorado doesn't scream "international city." It's quiet, tree-lined, and mostly known to outsiders for its historic Main Street and proximity to the Rocky Mountains. But visit the right corner o...
Uzbekistan: Language, Food, Culture, and the Most Amazing Places on the Silk Road
Uzbekistan is one of the most architecturally extraordinary countries on earth. The Silk Road cities that pass through it — Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva — were, for centuries, among the most important cities in the world: hubs of commerce, Islamic schol...
Khartoum: What Was Once Africa's Most Fascinating Capital — And What It Is Now
Before anything else, the geography demands acknowledgment: Khartoum sits at the exact point where the Blue Nile — rushing blue-gray from the Ethiopian Highlands — meets the White Nile, which has traveled pale and sluggish from Lake Victoria in Ugand...
Guinea: What Is It Famous For? (More Than You'd Expect)
Guinea — officially the Republic of Guinea, sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbours Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea — is a country of about 14 million people on the Atlantic coast of West Africa. It is largely unknow...
Everyone Loves Americans — They Just Can't Stand Our Government: How the World Really Sees Us
If you have spent any time traveling outside the United States, you have probably noticed something interesting. People will tell you — sometimes to your face, always politely, occasionally with a beer in hand — that they love Americans but canno...
Are Filipinos Actually the Happiest People in Asia? The Story Behind the Smiles
In the Social Progress Index, the Gallup World Poll, and numerous academic studies on subjective wellbeing, the Philippines ranks as one of the happiest countries in Asia — typically ahead of South Korea, Japan, China, and far ahead of countries with...
Where Is the Biggest Library in the World? (And Can You Visit It?)
The largest library on Earth is the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., United States. It holds more than 170 million items — books, recordings, photographs, maps, sheet music, and manuscripts — spread across 838 miles of bookshelves. That's rou...
Moldova's Wine Country: Why Eastern Europe's Smallest Nation Has the World's Biggest Cellars
Moldova is a landlocked country tucked between Romania and Ukraine, rarely mentioned in travel conversations and frequently confused with other Eastern European countries. It also holds the world record for the largest wine cellar, hosts one of Eur...
Trinidad and Tobago: Two Islands, One Nation, Infinite Character
Trinidad and Tobago sits at the southernmost end of the Caribbean island chain, just 11 kilometers from the Venezuelan coast. It is a constitutional republic, has been independent since 1962, and is one of the wealthiest nations in the Caribbean,...
What Is El Salvador Best Known For? A Traveler's Introduction
El Salvador — the smallest country in Central America and the only one without a Caribbean coastline — has a reputation that often precedes it: violence, gangs, emigration. That reputation, while rooted in a painful history, is increasingly outda...