The Craziest Travel Stories From 2023

Americans don’t ride trains. At least that’s what I’m told by every American I meet. 

The most visited city in the world offers a great base from which to explore the surrounding area. Think sumptuous castles and ancient hunting grounds in under an hour from the Eiffel Tower or day trips to the Normandy D-Day landing beaches, Champagne tasting or visiting the Loire Valley château—all are possible in a day trip from Paris and here are six of the best.

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If there was one thing we could choose to leave behind in 2023, it would be flight delays. And while there's no way to ever guarantee an on-time take off, choosing airlines with a punctual track record can help manifest smooth travels in your future. But don't just cross your fingers and hope for the best—use data to make those New Year's travel resolutions come true.

Moving abroad has been a hot topic in 2023 - especially if you can get paid to do it.

With just under three weeks to go to Asia’s grandest ever showpiece, passionate fans from across the globe can now share their predictions for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ by playing the Match Predictor game on the-AFC.com or the AFC LIVE app for a chance to win exclusive prizes. The game allows fans to enter their predictions for all 51 AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ matches and change their predictions up until the kick-off of each match. For each prediction, fans will accumulate points based on how accurate their predictions are in terms of the outcome of the match and the first team to score (during the Knockout Stage). Participants can get ahead in the game by using boosters to earn double points for their match predictions, as well as answering optional bonus questions to gain additional points.

Japan will head to the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ as the top ranked Asian side. The four-time AFC Asian Cup winners maintained their 17th spot in the latest FIFA World Ranking issued last Thursday.

Another year in travel, another 12 months of meltdowns and debacles. As one analyst put it, 2023 “took chaos to a new level.” Yikes. Still, travelers kept flying, including in record-breaking numbers on Thanksgiving weekend.

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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) anticipates that airport security checkpoints will be busier this winter holiday travel period compared to last year.Fortunately, the agency says it's prepared to meet the surging travel demand.The official end-of-the-year holiday travel period runs from Thursday, December 21 through Tuesday, January 2. TSA is projecting that the busiest days will be Thursday, December 21; Friday, December 29, and Monday, January 1.TSA said it expects to screen more than 2.5 million passengers each of those days, signaling a 6 percent increase from 2022. The busiest day last year was December 29, when officers screened nearly 2.4 million passengers nationwide.The projections come after the TSA screened nearly 30 million passengers during November's 12-day Thanksgiving holiday period. The agency broke the record for most passengers in a single day on Sunday, November 26, screening more than 2.9 million passengers at security checkpoints across the country."We are prepared to handle the busy passenger volumes this winter holiday season," TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement."TSA’s continued success during this record year for travel is a direct result of teamwork, planning and professional execution across the agency, from our frontline employees to those behind the scenes; partnerships with airports and air carriers; and innovative checkpoint technologies that improve security effectiveness, efficiency and the passenger experience," he concluded.Industry trade group Airlines for America (A4A) projects that 39 million people will board flights in the U.S. between Wednesday, December 20 and Tuesday, January 2, for an average of 2.8 million passengers per day.

The U.S. Travel Association is praising President Joe Biden's administration this winter after the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security moved to extend the visa interview waiver authority for low-risk applicants ahead of its previous December 31 expiration.The decision comes one month after the organization sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas urging both agencies to extend the visa interview waiver authority, which gives consular officers the discretion to waive in-person interviews for certain low-risk nonimmigrant visa applications.These eligible applicants have previously visited the U.S. and are still subject to the same strenuous background checks and screening that all nonimmigrants receive.