Aug 6, 2024 • 9 min read
21.07.2024 - 20:09 / lonelyplanet.com
Jul 20, 2024 • 4 min read
I can still hear my parent’s voices after we moved to the state of Georgia when I was a child. They couldn’t believe the way Southerners pronounced DeKalb County (the L is silent), and that was only the beginning of the way things sound different in the Peach State.
After spending most of my life living in and around different parts of the state, I now call myself a true Georgia peach. I’m astute in our cultural and conversational ways. I’ve helped colleagues from other parts of the country adjust to living in Atlanta, and given a few lighthearted pointers about our local words and phrases.
Here are the six most important things you should know before visiting Georgia, especially if it’s your first time in the state.
There’s a reason why those of us who live in Georgia prioritize linen, cotton and other lightweight fabrics, especially in the summer months. Average temperatures dance in the lower 90s (Fahrenheit), but locals are quick to tell you, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” Around 70% humidity is the average for the state. If you’re not used to what that may feel like, “soupy” is a great adjective to describe the feeling of Georgia’s humid summer air. If you visit during the summer, plan to drink plenty of water – it’s necessary to fight heat exhaustion.
Outside of summer, temperatures and humidity levels are much more mild and pleasant.
If you’re planning to visit in spring, prepare for allergies, or at least the occasional sneeze. Cities throughout the state have landscaped public areas with too many male trees and not enough of their female counterparts, so many parts of Georgia get covered in pollen. If you see a yellow coating of dust, you’ll know it’s springtime in Georgia, when most locals hope for rain to wash it all away. Even if you’ve never really experienced allergies before, sometimes the intensity of the pollen here can affect you.
Travel across the state and you’re likely to come across a number of different southern accents, but there are a few phrases that are universal no matter where you visit. The most common colloquialism is the contraction of “you” and “all.” Use it and y’all will see how it comes in handy. (If I were talking to someone from Georgia, I’d combine “y’all” and “will” to say “y’all’ll,” but that’s an intermediate level of southern speak, so we’ll save more of that lesson for another day.)
Pay close attention if someone tells you, “bless your heart.” Depending on their tone and the context, this could mean they truly wish the best for you, or that they’re showing you sympathy. However, a slight change in tone changes the intent; it could also be used to say they think you’re stupid.
I shared how my parents were surprised by the
Aug 6, 2024 • 9 min read
Update: August 6, 2024, at 8:05 a.m. ET
UPDATE: August 4, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. ET
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Tropical Storm Debby made landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday morning—causing wide-scale power outages, catastrophic flooding, and dangerous storm surges throughout the Big Bend region on the Gulf Coast. It has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.
Aug 5, 2024 • 7 min read
Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed on Monday as Hurricane Debby made landfall along the Big Bend coast of Florida as a Category 1 storm.
At the urging of labor activists in the late 19th century, Congress declared a national holiday on the first Monday in September to celebrate the hard workers of the United States. Now, 130 years later, Labor Day has become more widely known as a three-day weekend celebration that officially ends summer. And it's often seen as travelers' last chance to hit the open road, hop on a plane or book a staycation at a nearby hotel to grab one last dose of sunny R&R before the kids go back to school, the days grow shorter and pumpkin spice season begins.
The days of fumbling around for your driver's license at the security checkpoint are slowly coming to an end.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Camille Fahrnbauer, a 26-year-old travel nurse from Georgia currently working in New Zealand. It's been edited for length and clarity.
July was arguably the busiest month for aviation news so far this year.
There are several moments in National Anthem—filmmaker and photographer Luke Gilford’s directorial debut—about a 21-year-old day laborer named Dylan, played by Charlie Plummer, who falls in love on a queer ranch, when the camera lingers on trans bodies in the New Mexico desert. In one montage, Sky, played by Eve Lindley, first catches Dylan’s eye while he builds fences and moves bales of hay by posing suggestively on her horse in a sparkly backless tank with the stars and stripes emblazoned on the front. It might seem a little on the nose. It’s certainly not subtle. But this is a movie with things to say about America, and when you’re talking about a country like ours, it’s probably best to go big.