Weekly travel reads: A bike ride through Patagonia

[The Travel Wire #90] Equitable beach access in Mauritius, I was a space suit model in Greenland, Portugal’s Fisherman’s Trail, service stations of the world, and more travel reads.

Travel reads

• A 1,400km bike ride through Patagonia along the ‘End of the World’ trail (archive) [BBC Travel]
“Wild, rugged and breathtakingly beautiful, Patagonia is one of the most stunning places on Earth – and the best way to appreciate this wild frontier is on a bike.”

• I was a space suit model in Greenland [Perceptive Travel]
“Citizen science and other educational adventures on an Arctic expedition cruise.”

• “Swimming OK, staying not OK”: Behind the fight for equitable beach access in Mauritius and beyond [Adventure]
“By law, all beaches in Mauritius are public—which means anyone can walk along the shoreline in front of hotels. But is that the reality when resorts promote ‘private beaches’ and villas sell ‘exclusive beach access’?”

• The confluence from above. [Sanya Souvanna Phouma]
“I look at the confluence for all those who loved Laos and are no longer here.”

• Tripe soup and bitter coffee in the dining car: a nostalgic ride through Poland on a communist-era train [The Guardian]

• Speeding across the Sahara on one of Earth’s most punishing road trips (archive) [National Geographic]
“In the 1950s, one couple braved sandstorms and land mines to cross the world’s most famous desert.”

• Is there a right to travel or be a tourist in a world of limits? [The “Good Tourism” Blog]

• Portugal’s Fisherman’s Trail is the perfect multi-day hike for first-timers [Independent]
“With the promise of dramatic ocean scenery, sandy tracks, and picture-perfect Portuguese coastal villages, Rachel Ifans takes on a route from Porto Covo to Vila do Bispo in hopes of unlocking a love of point-to-point hiking.”

• How does Gen Z travel so much? Payment plans [Thrillist]
“Travelers are increasingly dependent on buy-now-pay-later lenders to make trips happen. Is wanderlust worth the debt and added interest?”

• Service stations of the world [The Hunger and the Road]
“On the joys of eating badly in places-between-places.”

• The case against backpacking [Time]
“Extended travel doesn’t broaden your sense of self so much as narrow it, writes Tim Brinkhof.”

• No resorts, no cruise ships: Now’s the time to visit our most underrated island (archive) [Traveller]
“One of Australia’s somewhat mysterious External Territories, Norfolk Island lies 1600 kilometres north-east of Sydney in the South Pacific, between New Zealand and New Caledonia.”