Turkey Drops Visa Requirements for U.S. Travelers

The memories of my first encounter with the California desert are so clear and intense that sometimes I wonder if I invented them, but I don’t believe so. I was hitchhiking across the States — it was the 1970s — and I was a young Englishman ‘on the road’, having read too much Jack Kerouac. My lift dropped me at a gas station near Barstow, a city in the Mojave Desert, in the south of the state. The car was air-conditioned and as I got out, I was hit by a wall of heat as strange and thrilling as anything I’d ever experienced. 

Beating out even famously scenic states like Alaska and Utah, California boasts more national parks than any other state. The Golden State's 10 national parks show off the diverse range of landscapes you can find on the West Coast, from the towering redwoods of NorCal, the arid deserts of SoCal, the iconic flora of Joshua Tree and the surreal geologic results of past volcanic eruptions and glacier paths.

If there’s a better place for seafood in California than the Mendocino Coast, I haven’t found it. And right about now is high season for Mendo’s crown jewel: Dungeness crab.

On January 15, Phil Hardy planned to fly from Manchester, England, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City with Virgin Atlantic — until he noticed four fastening bolts missing from a wing panel, the New York Post reported.

The federal government is doubling down on high-speed rail with an announcement it is helping to raise $2.5 billion for Brightline West.

A small homebuilt aircraft crashed off the coast of California on Sunday, The Associated Press reported.

Utah’s iconic Great Salt Lake is drying up which will have catastrophic consequences if something isn’t done soon, so state officials are taking unprecedented steps to head off what some are calling an environmental disaster on the order of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

Amtrak is helping travelers criss-cross the country for less by offering $50 off the purchase of a USA Rail Pass.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will keep the beleaguered Boeing 737-9 Max planes grounded until it approves the aircraft manufacturer’s inspection and maintenance process.

Tourists can’t visit Hagia Sophia for free anymore. Since Monday, foreign tourists have had to pay an admission fee of €25 (about $27) to enter the mosque and UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 

When you think of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, you probably think of its giant amusement park-like cruise ships with 10-story-tall slides, go-kart tracks, and many families.

The leading lobbying group for the U.S. travel industry this week claimed inefficient policies like long tourist visa wait times and friction points like lagging security screening technology are causing the United States to lose its competitive edge when it comes to attracting international visitors — not high prices on airfare and hotel rates.