If your idea of Spain is eating paella, dancing flamenco, and improving your Spanish, Catalonia might surprise you.
07.08.2024 - 21:03 / cntraveler.com
It was eight in the morning, and the prickly July humidity had already seeped through my skin as I hopped out of the cab in Singapore’s Little India. Greeted by the bustle of vendors setting up, I was transported back to my childhood, to days spent wandering the neighborhood with my grandmother. The aroma of fresh coriander from vibrant spice stalls spurred memories of her tangy coconut prawn curry. The musky fragrance of jasmine adorning colorful flower stalls reminded me of how she’d woven them into my braids. She never would again.
The air around you changes when someone you love leaves this world. My grandmother’s death was not a surprise, but the shock that I would no longer make new memories with her broke me. When I moved to Vancouver nearly seven years earlier, I’d left behind my family—her most notably, my eternally curious grandmother, who taught me how to be the same, how to notice the world.
The markets of Singapore’s Little India bustle with myriad vendors—it is here that writer Nikkita Nair would wander with her grandmother.
She spoke many languages: English, Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi—even a little Japanese, since she grew up during the Japanese occupation of Singapore. Words confidently left her lips as she spoke with native speakers in their mother tongues. I’ve heard that mastering a language as an adult was difficult, but the sight and sounds of her code-switching with confidence to connect with others encouraged me to follow my own curiosities.
When I first arrived in Vancouver, in 2012, my natural reaction was to find something familiar, a Singaporean community—not particularly difficult given the city’s strong Asian diaspora. But there was a voice in my head that told me to try something new; perhaps it was my grandmother’s. After I signed up on a whim to volunteer at an annual Mexican independence day celebration, I started Spanish lessons too. Years later, I now split my time in Medellín and Vancouver; my hard-earned fluency has paid off. My curiosity has reaped dividends. I have my grandmother to thank for it.
In 2019, when my mother in Singapore said that my grandmother wasn’t doing well, I booked the first flight home. But flights are long and phone calls don’t make it through. She died while I was somewhere over the Pacific; I missed saying goodbye to her by five hours. At her funeral, I navigated conversations with people I hadn’t seen in almost a decade, opening the door to a past self: that of a young Nikkita too afraid to voice her opinions, too concerned with good impressions. That identity was one I’d long outgrown after my time in Vancouver, where I knew no one, where I had a chance to develop my individuality, where I incorporated the lessons my grandmother
If your idea of Spain is eating paella, dancing flamenco, and improving your Spanish, Catalonia might surprise you.
In this episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast, Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia sits down with Mahesh Iyer, managing director and CEO of Thomas Cook India, to explore how the company is strategically adapting to the evolving preferences of Indian travelers. The discussion delves into the shifting dynamics of India’s travel landscape and how Thomas Cook is positioning itself to meet these new demands.
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I’m cheering from the banks of the Seine in a plastic rain poncho, my dress soaked and loafers sloshing. The rain has not let up once during the four-hour Opening Ceremony, but as we watch boatloads of beaming athletes float past us one by one waving their national flags, my smile could not be wider. By the time the evening comes to an end, Celine Dion is belting Hymne a l'amour from a glittering Eiffel Tower—some in the crowd cry, others dance, or FaceTime family—and a contagious sense of universal joy ripples across Paris.
This earnings season, global travel leaders have agreed that the industry is in a slowdown. An exception to that, however, has been the Middle East, which bosses like Accor’s Sebastien Bazin noted was the operator’s best-performing region in the second quarter.
The Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehment Nuri Ersoy, has announced the tourism figures for the first half of 2024. Nearly 1.8 million UK tourists visited Türkiye in the first six months of 2024, marking an impressive 19% increase from the first six months of 2023.
There's good news for Star Alliance travelers departing London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) Terminal 2: Two refurbished lounges are opening their doors at the airport.
School was out, and we were in holiday mode. Buzzing with excitement, we headed to Heathrow Airport, our destination, Dallas, where my sister, husband, and three teenage daughters live.
Aug 6, 2024 • 10 min read
It's a new month, and new months always bring exciting new promotions and travel deals to enjoy! Check out our list of top travel deals, going on now through the end of August and September.