Weekly travel reads: When remote travel goes wrong

[The Travel Wire #81] Surf in Malaysia, travel in the early 2000s, Kilimanjaro, hike around this Spanish island, and more travel reads.

Travel reads

• ‘It was too much to handle’: What happens when remote travel goes wrong (archive) [BBC Travel]
“The idea of being a castaway on a desert island has an irresistibly romantic appeal: sun, sea and a whole ocean between you and your desk-bound life. What could possibly go wrong?”

• Surf in Malaysia? In this East Coast town, community shapes a small-wave surf scene [Travel + Leisure]

• I liked travel better in the early 2000s [Be Back By Dinner]
“And this is why.”

• Hike 115 miles around this Spanish island for farmhouse stays, Mediterranean swims, and well-earned siestas [Afar]
“The Camí de Cavalls is a finca-to-finca walk on the underrated island of Menorca.”

• Kilimanjaro: A shared path to the Roof of Africa [Active, Curious, & Thirsty]
“One of the Seven Summits is simply Hakuna Matata.”

• I let AI plan my seaside break and wound up swimming in the North Sea (archive) [WSJ]
“With a bot as my travel agent, I traveled to the little-known, but quaint English town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea.”

• Raja Ampat: is it really as good as people say it is? (Spoiler: yes it is) [Dive Happy]
“This time around on the Very Long List Of Asia’s Best Scuba Diving is one of the biggies, a place that’s been constantly hyped as The World’s Best Diving over the last 20 years: Indonesia’s Raja Ampat.”

• 30 days in solitude [Nomad Life by EatWalkLearn]
“A month on Jersey Island.”

• Zoning in on Marolles, Brussels: ‘A friendly, cosmopolitan village where everyone is welcome’ [The Guardian]
“Beyond the Belgian capital’s more obvious sights lies a thriving district known for its classic Belgian cuisine, alternative art scene and gigantic flea market.”

• This trio set out to explore unmapped waters in Brazil’s Amazon and found a rare dolphin population instead [Adventure]

• Camels, sailboats and poultry trucks: Inside one man’s no-fly journey around the world [CNN Travel]
“Egyptian traveler Omar Nok set off in October on a quest to circle the globe without flying, and has been hopping on trucks, boarding ferries and even riding camels while relying on strangers’ generosity in his bid to experience the world more deeply.”

• Travel Diaries: Kochi to Marayoor [Reverie Travel Journal]
“A long drive, a new friend, car sickness and a local clinic.”

• Once, on a train [Inside the Outside]
“The meditation of movement.”