I stayed in an igloo in Lapland for $150 a night. Despite the chill, I've never slept so peacefully in my life.

Rail vacation supplier Vacations by Rail is showcasing the travel experiences it expects to be some of the most popular this year for retired travelers. 

When I started working remotely in 2017 with the hopes of advancing in my career while traveling, my parents thought I was throwing away a successful life for no reason. To them, success meant the stability of a job that required staying in one place, working traditional hours, and showing up in person.

Taking a sleeper train from Denver to Salt Lake City was more expensive than flying or driving — and it took a lot longer. But for a locomotive enthusiast like me, it was worth it.

Hilton and American Express have announced that they are donating 20,000 free hotel nights to residents displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires in partnership with local non-profit organization 211 LA. Ranked among the most destructive fires in California's history, the Eaton and Palisades fires have destroyed entire communities and forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate.

I took my first cruise in 2022 on Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas. At the time, it was the world's largest cruise ship, but the title has since been replaced by the same cruise line's Icon of the Seas.

There are currently more than 100,000 people in Los Angeles who have been displaced by the ongoing wildfires. As Travel + Leisure shares hotels and vacation rentals with significantly reduced rates for Angelenos who are evacuating or have lost their homes, the question becomes: How much will insurance actually cover for short- or long-term hotel stays? Put another way, how significant do hotel discounts need to be in order to not cost displaced Angelenos money out of their own pockets?

The Los Angeles wildfires have collectively destroyed more than 12,000 buildings and homes and scorched over 40,000 acres as of Monday, January 13.

Forget yachting in the French Riviera and skiing in Switzerland — the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express grand suites sit atop the wealthy traveler's bucket list.

Jan 9, 2025 • 16 min read

Last year, open water swimmer Amy Appelhans Gubser became the first person to swim from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands, a craggy, mostly uninhabited archipelago off the Pacific coast that is known for its frigid, shark-infested waters. The 55-year-old fetal cardiology nurse coordinator from Pacifica, California, completed the 29.6-mile distance in 17 hours, three minutes. “It was so foggy that I only knew when it was daylight because the sky was a lighter gray,” she says.

There’s nothing quite like traveling home for Christmas. Well, once you’ve got the journey part out the way, of course. Because I lived overseas for most of my adult life, I made this pilgrimage most years with a suitcase full of gifts for my family from overseas.

Loreto, Mexico, is magical. Don’t just take my word for it. The Mexican government designated the city in Baja California Sur as one of the country’s Pueblos Mágicos, or “magical towns” that provide “cultural richness, historical relevance, cuisine, art crafts, and great hospitality.”