The funniest wildlife photos of the year

Thursday marks a month before the EU's post-Brexit Entry/Exit System (EES) was due to launch.

China has now announced visa-free entry for citizens of 5 countries — Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, and Slovenia starting October 15. With this move, nationals from these countries can now visit China for up to 15 days without needing a visa.

I've spent the last 26 years traveling by train all along both US coasts, through the Midwest, and across the UK.

Oct 2, 2024 • 7 min read

In the mid-70s, my then-boyfriend Barry and I tested our commitment to each other by exploring Britain's national parks and villages in a used campervan for three months.

If you’ve long wished to explore the Outback, but don't want to give up your job, there's a way to live out your day dream—Australia's Working Holiday visa programs are a great option for people between 18 and 30 years old (35 in a few cases) to live and work in Australia for the short-term.

Guyana goes by many names. One of the only countries in the Caribbean Community that’s not located in the Caribbean Sea, Guyana is often referred to as the “Land of Many Waters” owing to the numerous rivers that flow through its perch on South America’s North Atlantic coast. It’s also called the “Land of Giants” — an abundance of water and minimal human interference have preserved Guyana as a fertile, untapped country where large flora and fauna thrive.

There are two types of train trip: The long, slow, and often luxurious train journey that takes you through beautiful scenery that you book specifically to spend time on the rails; and the speedy, no-nonsense, cheap train ride you take to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. In the first category, you’ll find grand trips like Australia’s The Ghan, South Africa’s Blue Train, and Britain’s Caledonian Sleeper. In the second, there are trips from London to Brussels in just two hours, from Rome to Venice in four hours, and from Miami to Orlando in three hours. And if you’re a train traveler who belongs to the second category and likes getting places fast without flying, there are plenty of trains in this world that do just that at speeds previously unimaginable on land, including the fastest train in the world and its closest competitors.

The EU's post-Brexit Entry/Exit System (EES) is due to launch in November, but recent reports suggest it may face further delays.

The UK's Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) will soon apply to visitors from from Europe, Australia, the US and Canada.

Kneeling up on their seats, a troop of school girls clapped as a popular Bollywood song played out from a phone. Plaited into loops, their matching hair swung to the rhythm of the train as it curled around a wide arc, the back end snaking out of a bamboo forest. I was on board the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the climb up West Bengal’s jungled slopes was alive with music, cheering, and hoots at every turn. From the open doorway I could smell the freshness of pine, its clean scent soon overpowered by skinny eucalyptus towering overhead. Leaning into the wind, I heard another favorite filmy number start up and ducked back inside to join in with the singalong.

When Lithuania topped the World Happiness Report ranking for people under 30 earlier this year, it came as a bit of a shock — even for those who live there.