The Travel Wire: best travel reads #65

North Macedonia, holidays in the 1970s, Roof of England walk, Varanasi, and more travel reads.

Travel reads

• There’s still one beautiful Southern European country with delicious food, great wine and no tourist crowds [CNN Travel]
“Spiked with ridges and peaks that deliver scenery running the full four-seasons gamut — from electric green slopes to snow-capped crags — North Macedonia offers one of Southern Europe’s final chances to take the path less-traveled.”

• Weird and wonderful things you might have forgotten about holidays in the 1970s (archive) [The Telegraph]

• ‘It’s like striding across the top of the world’: the Pennines’ new Roof of England walk [The Guardian]

• India’s guest houses, where the living await salvation — Varanasi, India [Eastside Asia]

• When was the last time you got lost? [Laura Bronner]
“with no technology to save you.”

• How I travel without a trust fund [redhead gone rogue]
“How I actually afford to travel full time.”

• Week one living in Tangier: is this for real? [The Midlife Traveler]
“Most people never hear the truth about what the first week abroad actually feels like. SPOILER: It’s not Instagram.”

• Voodoo people [far from here]
“A beheaded chicken and promises of a better mental health in Benin.”

• Paradise on a budget: How the Maldives became (surprisingly) accessible [BBC Travel]
“Once a destination for the ultra-rich, the Maldives is now embracing a more local, sustainable model of tourism that’s changing who gets to experience paradise.”

• Is Vienna dull? Austria invites entire Scottish village to find out [euronews]

Travel resources

• Compare and save on train travel across 35 countries with Rail Europe – The easiest way to book European train tickets and passes.

• With eSIMs from Airalo, travelers can download and install a digital data pack for over 200 countries/regions and get connected anywhere in the world as soon as they land.