The Travel Wire: best travel reads #21
Mardi Gras the Balkan way, tracing a travel writer’s legacy in Taiwan, Japan’s abandoned industrial island of Hashima, in search of a legendary skiing village
Welcome to The Travel Wire, where I curate the best travel reads of the week.
Travel reads
• In Taiwan, tracing a travel writer’s legacy—alongside my mother's own
“On a research trip to Taiwan, writer Kat Chen studies late Taiwanese memoirist Sanmao and gains a new understanding of her mother.”
• Twenty-five years ago, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashed. I could have been on that plane.
“I was an Alaska flight attendant working another flight that day. But two of my friends died.”
• The ancient discovery that put a Silk Road city back on the map
“After unearthing a rare collection of highly prized Silk Road artefacts, a family in the Himalayas has opened a museum dedicated to one of the fabled route's final traders.”
• How to handle a tourist tsunami (free subscription required)
“As of 2024, the world is back to pre-pandemic levels of international travel—and not everyone is happy about it. What to do?”
• Mardi Gras the Balkan way – alternatives to Venice carnival
"In Croatia, Montenegro and Albania, the legacy of Venetian occupation lives on in a series of spectacular carnivals that these days have a local twist."
• I traveled across the world in search of a legendary skiing village
“High in the Caucasus Mountains, Georgia has some of the world’s best slopes, untouched by overtourism or outside investor.”
"Ahead of monsoon season farmers in Thailand’s northeastern provinces swap crop tending for propellant mixtures as the annual Rocket Festival launches."
“The Great Wall has been commodified, but even so, I cannot help but marvel at its scale.”
• I took the Shinkansen every week for 6 months: This is my experience
“A train-lover's dream come true? Maybe, but with some caveats...”
• Exploring Japan’s abandoned industrial island of Hashima, 50 years after its closure (archive)
• First Vietnamese female biker conquers world's highest motorable pass
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James Clark (Nomadic Notes)
Hashima sounds fascinating! Just the kind of place I like visiting. (Thanks for the link!)
Thanks for the feature, James!