I'm an American who went to Oktoberfest for the first time. Here are 5 things that surprised me most about the famous German festival.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jennison Grigsby, an American mom and yoga teacher who lives in Valencia, Spain. It's been edited for length and clarity.

When most people think of Dubai, they picture towering skyscrapers, glittering lights, and people decked in designer clothes. While that's true to some degree, for me, the city has always been about community get-togethers, roadside shawarma chats, and weekends by the beach.

Last week, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm before ripping through six states leaving a path of destruction in its wake and killing more than 100 people. The record-breaking storm – which clocked 140 mph winds and a storm surge that reached more than 15 feet above ground in the Florida Big Bend region – has left millions to deal with flooded roads, flattened homes and buildings, and power outages. North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama have all made disaster declarations as emergency responders work to rescue missing persons and more than 1.2 million are still without power as of Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us. Popular North Carolina mountain towns – including Asheville – which have become top tourist destinations in the fall, have been reduced to debris as residents are left to rebuild their lives. Carrie Tucker of Charlotte, North Carolina, told Travel + Leisure in the wake of Hurricane Helene, western North Carolina is “completely cut off from life – no roads, no gas, no food.”

In October 2022, I took a two-week backpacking trip through Europe, where I slept in shared train cabins and budget Airbnbs.

Sep 30, 2024 • 3 min read

Delta Air Lines is picking up the slack that American Airlines left in Austin.

According to the trade group Cruise Lines International Association, 10% of cruisers go on three to five vacations at sea a year.

European rail company Eurostar is becoming the first non-airline partner of the SkyTeam Alliance, making it easier for its members to travel across Europe.

In May 2022, I rode the Rocky Mountaineer — one of the world's most luxurious trains. The Canadian train company operates four routes, and I was on its US route heading to Moab, Utah, from Denver.

For Italians, Sardinia is synonymous with “Costa Smeralda” (Emerald Coast), the summer playground of the rich and famous. But the natural and cultural attractions of the second-largest island in the Mediterranean are available to many travelers, not just the glitterati who gather on their mega-yachts at Porto Cervo every August.

“S cottsdale topped the list of destinations for my sister’s bachelorette,” says Alexis Vazquez. Vazquez wrapped her maid of honor duties last month. Her voice has an edge of relief as she chronicles the logistics of planning her sister Reina’s dream bachelorette in Arizona. “Planning a wedding can be a nightmare, but people underestimate how complicated it is to throw a successful multi-day bachelorette party.”

When you board Amtrak’s Auto Train, you’re doing something unique that happens on no other train within the Amtrak system. First of all, you and your vehicle (car, motorcycle, van, small trailer, or SUV if it meets the measurement limits) must both be on board. You can’t go without it and it can’t go without you.