Swimming tips

Feb 5, 2025 • 5 min read

Feb 6, 2025 • 8 min read

The first wild swimming retreat I did was in Cornwall. It was back in 2020 when swim stays were not quite the phenomenon they are now. Once we’d settled in, the first thing we did was go around and share why we were there. I was immediately moved by the openness of the other guests. Responses varied from burnout and heartbreak to redundancy, grief, or simply needing a rest. It seemed that everyone had arrived at a crossroads in their life or—more likely—a desire for there to be a crossroads. Although the catalyst for attending a week-long swimming trip was different for each of us, we were united in being ready for change and hopeful for connection. We were all looking for an opportunity to take a different path, and what better way to take that first step than leaping into the water? It’s a perfect metaphor, really—diving, plunging, cleansing.

Feb 1, 2025 • 12 min read

Jan 29, 2025 • 13 min read

Jan 24, 2025 • 11 min read

Jan 21, 2025 • 12 min read

Jan 21, 2025 • 9 min read

Mullets in Australia. Ice swimming in Norway. Strict rules in Switzerland. These national features are united by their ability to surprise the British, according to a new ranking of culture shocks in popular expat countries. 

Hotel pools in Greece could be filled with seawater this summer as the country’s parliament debates new legislation to tackle drought.

Walking through the Marrakech medina means being bowled over (metaphorically and, sometimes, physically) by the swirling scent of spices and grilled meat, audible haggling between ceramics dealers and tourists, the clip clopping of donkeys pulling carts, and the incoming whoosh of a moped zipping along by. It’s chaotic and magical. But much of the old city’s charm also lies just out of sight, behind high, red clay walls where the city’s riads—traditional homes and guesthouses known for lush, often ornately-tiled interior courtyards—have stood for centuries.

Jan 13, 2025 • 5 min read

Jan 12, 2025 • 5 min read

Jan 12, 2025 • 9 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.

Jan 6, 2025 • 4 min read

Dec 23, 2024 • 14 min read

Dec 20, 2024 • 9 min read

Dec 19, 2024 • 6 min read

Sydney's sun-blasted image as being laid-back has been well exported, so first-time visitors might be surprised that the coastal city has a lot of rules by which Sydneysiders tend to abide. There are the obvious ones, like no littering or speeding (spoiler: you will get fined), but there are more than a few unwritten rules visitors should be aware of. The city may be famous for its coffee, for example, but you might get a blank stare if you ask for a black filter. Catching your own fish can be controversial. And then come the questions: How far is too far from the beach to wear a Speedo? What is swimming etiquette? Why can’t you get a glass of wine on the sand? To tip or not to tip? Plus, you’ll be surprised to read where open-toe shoes are banned.

I arrived at the airport in Houston, boarded my flight to Munich, whisked across the Atlantic, hopped into my cab bound for Austria, and just like that – though after twelve hours of travel – I was at the gates of Der Stanglwirt. A 400-year-old “biohotel” in the heart of the Austrian Alps – only closing once, for the COVID-19 pandemic, in all its years of operation – Stanglwirt comes with many surprises, not least of which is how easy it is to reach despite existing a continent away. Nearly every major American city has direct routes to Munich courtesy of United Airlines, and after landing, the resort is only an hour-long shuttle ride away, with the ride arranged by the property.