Sam Farley

The Rolling Stones frequently stayed at Marrakesh’s La Mamounia in 1967 and 1968, seeking refuge from legal pressure and media scrutiny while immersing themselves in Morocco’s counterculture. During a journey to Morocco, Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg continued on after Brian Jones was hospitalized, and their subsequent relationship helped trigger Jones’s final estrangement from the band. Jones returned to Britain alone after a breakdown in Marrakesh, though his later exposure to music in the Rif Mountains inspired the posthumous album Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka. The exact location and details of the betrayal remain disputed, with La Mamounia forming part of the Stones’ enduring mythology.

Gereja Ayam, known as the Chicken Church, is an unusual unfinished structure in Central Java near Borobudur. Daniel Alamsjah began building it in the early 1990s after saying he experienced a vision of a dove on a hill. Intended as an inclusive spiritual retreat for people of different faiths, the project stalled because of rising costs and inadequate funding. The abandoned building later became associated with legends of ghosts and curses before social media and its appearance in the 2016 Indonesian film Ada Apa Dengan Cinta 2 brought international attention. Entrance fees have since funded cleanup, repairs and visitor safety improvements, turning the failed religious project into a popular tourist attraction.

A walking tour of five drinking venues in Port Stanley uses the town’s pubs to explore more than 180 years of Falklands history. The Globe Tavern, Victory Bar, Malvina House Hotel, Deano’s and The Narrows Bar are connected to maritime activity, the 1982 Argentine occupation and British liberation, as well as the islands’ present-day community and tourism economy. The piece emphasizes the enduring British identity of the Falkland Islanders and the resilience of a small population shaped by conflict and isolation.

A first-person account of a 16-hour Greyhound journey from Miami to Atlanta argues that intercity bus travel offers a more authentic view of the United States than flying or driving. The trip is uncomfortable and unpredictable, involving poor sleep, long stops and unusual fellow passengers, but it exposes the traveller to small towns, overlooked landscapes and a diverse cross-section of American society. Despite its flaws and slower pace, Greyhound is presented as an adventurous way to experience the country beyond major cities and tourist destinations.

Travel media frequently labels cities such as Tbilisi, Belgrade, Warsaw, Vilnius and Tallinn the “new Berlin” because they offer affordable nightlife, creative scenes and repurposed buildings. The phrase is criticized as a lazy editorial shortcut that ignores each city’s distinct history, particularly Berlin’s development after the fall of the Wall and Tbilisi’s layered Georgian, Persian, Russian and Soviet influences. Such comparisons can also fuel hype, overcrowding, short-term tourism, rising rents and the displacement of locals. Travel writing should instead explain what makes each place historically and culturally unique.

Dark tourism is presented as a longstanding human curiosity rather than a shameful or inherently creepy practice. Visiting sites such as Auschwitz, the Genbaku Dome, Chernobyl, Srebrenica and Robben Island can provide a deeper understanding of tragedy and human cruelty than books alone, helping preserve difficult histories. Although commercialization and disrespectful tourist behavior remain genuine concerns, the piece argues that these problems should be addressed through empathy and responsible management rather than by restricting access to sites of mass suffering.

Travel influencers and SEO-driven content have transformed the idea of the “hidden gem” into a marketing category, rapidly directing crowds toward places that were once known mainly through word of mouth. The resulting influx can raise prices, increase operating costs, damage local character and ultimately contribute to businesses closing, while creators profit from advertising and move on. Chongqing’s Hongya Cave is presented as an example of a heavily promoted attraction overwhelmed by crowds and commercialisation. More responsible travel coverage should focus on a place’s stories, people and community significance rather than presenting it as an exclusive discovery; Anthony Bourdain is cited as a model for this approach.

Sam Farley argues that EU funding, open borders and the spread of Western European norms have improved living standards across Eastern Europe but diminished the region’s roughness, strangeness and distinctive nightlife. Drawing on past visits to Russia, Latvia, Poland, Prague and Budapest, he contrasts their former disorder and affordability with increasingly polished, gentrified and standardized tourist experiences. He acknowledges the value of infrastructure investment and social progress, while suggesting that Serbia, Moldova and Chisinau retain more of the unpredictability and cultural edge that once defined travel farther east.

The Chernobyl disaster displaced tens of thousands of people and left numerous towns and villages abandoned across the exclusion zone. Beyond the better-known Pripyat, Zalissya retains the remains of former domestic life, Kopachi was almost entirely buried because of severe radiation, and Yaniv remains marked by contaminated machinery and its occupation by Russian forces in 2022. Poliske survived for years after the accident before most residents were evacuated, while Krasne is remembered for its decaying wooden Church of St Michael. Together, these settlements show that the exclusion zone was once a lived-in region of longstanding communities, not merely an empty landscape surrounding the power plant.

Ricchi e Poveri’s 1981 hit “‘Sarà perché ti amo’” has evolved from a chart-topping Sanremo entry into a widely recognized symbol of Italian life and tourism. After becoming associated with AC Milan matches and communal singing in piazzas and restaurants, the song experienced a post-Covid revival through TikTok and Instagram, re-entering charts in several European countries between 2023 and 2025. Its catchy melody and expressive celebration of love now make it a recurring soundtrack for visitors experiencing Italy.

Poveglia Island, located in the Venetian Lagoon near Venice, has a long history as a military outpost, farming and fishing community, quarantine station, and psychiatric hospital. During plague outbreaks, an estimated 100,000 to 160,000 people died and were buried or burned there, while the later asylum became associated with neglect and unverified stories of cruel medical experimentation. Closed to the public after the hospital shut in 1968, Poveglia became the subject of ghost stories and commercial speculation. In 2014, the community group Poveglia per Tutti raised €460,000 from 4,500 members and secured a 99-year lease, with hopes of eventually transforming the island into a park for Venice residents.

Food traditions commonly associated with national identity are often products of migration, colonialism, trade, military influence and cultural adaptation. Fish and chips, chicken tikka masala, Macanese cuisine, Japanese katsu curry, Korean budae jjigae, Philippine spaghetti and Caribbean dishes all illustrate how ingredients and recipes crossed borders through both voluntary and forced movement. As globalization accelerates these exchanges, cuisines continue to evolve beyond the boundaries of individual nations.

White Desert’s Whichaway Camp in Antarctica costs from $16,500 for a one-day excursion to as much as $115,500 for a seven-night Discovery Week. Prices cover private charter flights from Cape Town, luxury accommodation, gourmet dining, expert guides and activities such as glacier abseiling, penguin viewing, ice-cave exploration and a South Pole visit. The camp accommodates up to 12 guests in six en-suite pods and emphasizes its carbon-neutral operation, making the author view the expense as reflecting both the luxury and the extraordinary logistics of operating in such a remote environment.