Volunteering at music festivals supported my post-retirement trip to the US and Canada
Working in exchange for tickets from Vancouver to Texas was an ideal way for a 60-year-old solo traveller to find friends, fun and an instant community
May 2024
I became a man in the Alaskan wilderness – just not in the way you might think
Benjamin Alva Polley had a healthy respect for the whims of the wilderness. But when he and his wife headed to the most remote frontier, fear crept in
February 2024
My Rasta father showed me the real Jamaica. After he died, I wanted to share it with my kids
I had no idea where I was heading when we set sail from Jamaica in the 70s, but I’m glad I’ve returned with my children to remember their grandfather this way
September 2023
Brooklyn for all budgets: 10 places to stay in New York’s coolest borough
New York City can be costly, but these hotels mean you can still afford to visit
August 2023
Are Europeans actually less enthusiastic than Americans - or just dehydrated?
Emma Beddington
A dream holiday at home
A fake volcano, an ice-cream, a dog dressed as a shark: how I holidayed in the Aeolian Islands – without leaving Philadelphia
June 2023
Readers' travel tips
‘Everyone I met was lovely’: readers’ favourite student trips
‘I feel the wing-draught of dozens of hummingbirds’: the wild beauty of Panama
May 2023
The perfect blend: how coffee farms in Costa Rica are mixing wildlife, agriculture and tourism
A new crop of farming co-ops are finding ways to safely open up untouched landscapes and exotic wildlife to visitors – and grow superb coffee
January 2023
My bad trip
My bad trip – do you know the way to San José? Take the chicken bus!
When Brie Veron and her friends book a ‘two-hour’ trip into Costa Rica, they aren’t expecting a 16-hour ordeal involving a shady cabbie and a dodgy curry
November 2022
From the Observer archive
How wild was the wild west in 1965?
In Dodge City, there hadn’t been a fatal shootout in 10 years. By Chris Hall
March 2022
The age of extinction
Yellowstone at 150: a journey into the heart of America’s first national park – in pictures
Steven Fuller has been the ‘winterkeeper’ at Yellowstone for 49 years. In that time, he has captured the breathtaking natural phenomena and the wildlife that exist there through all the seasons
July 2021
Holidays from hell: Naga Munchetty, David Baddiel, Jon Snow and others on their worst breaks
We’re all so desperate to get away. But were our summer breaks as good as we remember? Famous travellers tell their sorry tales to Michael Segalov
April 2021
Vlogging and fishing: a YouTuber goes wild camping in the Cascade mountains
A lone fisherman goes into the wilds of Washington state in search of giant alpine trout in pristine turquoise lakes. The results are spectacular
March 2021
The soundtrack of my travels
David Reynolds’ playlist: 10 songs from my travels
The writer’s journeys, including a slow drive across the US, were accompanied by a selection of jazz, rock and folk greats
Travel through a lens
It's an RV life for Yurok kids on the California coast
Our series on evocative travel images continues with Joel Redman’s shot of Native American children after a fishing adventure
Virtual travel guides
Mexico City: a virtual tour through film, music, books, food and art
One of Latin America’s most colourful capitals comes alive through its dancehall rhythms, gritty cinema and tasty tacos
February 2021
Travel encounters
'You could see it all from that marvellous glass cabin in the Cascade mountains'
Continuing our series about memorable encounters, we hear the story of the fire watchman of Desolation Peak in Washington State
January 2021
New York's Chinatown pulls together to brighten the Covid darkness
Virtual travel guides
Havana: a virtual tour through food, music, films and books
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