Matador Network's Blog, page 929

Shakira tongue Super Bowl meme

In case you missed it and you’re wondering who won the Super Bowl last night, spoiler alert — it was Shakira. Not just because her hips which — much like George Washington — simply can’t lie, but because she unknowingly created the most viral meme yet of 2020. During her co-headlining performance with J-Lo, she leaned in close to the camera, and uttered a sound that is really better seen (and heard) than described.

If I ain’t seen anything ever that’s more meme-worthy, I give you Shakira tongue lol pic.twitter.com/6HcOGBa7Mx

— Neek✊

Prague wants huge changes to Airbnb

Finding an affordable weekend Airbnb in Prague is already difficult, given the city’s increasing popularity and the rising prices that come with it. But now, nailing down a place to stay might be getting even tougher. To curb the detrimental effects of overtourism, Prague’s mayor Zdeněk Hřib is proposing plans to ban property owners from leasing out entire flats, unless it’s their own home and they are temporarily away. Otherwise, owners will only be able to rent out single rooms in accommodations shared by the owner.

Talking to the Observer, Hřib explained, “In the past, you could limit the amount of tourists in the city simply by approving a certain number of hotels of certain capacity during the process of building permits. Now in Prague there is no possibility for the city to limit the accommodation capacity for tourists. The numbers are really critical.”

Airbnb has contributed to transforming quiet residential districts into busy areas inundated with foreign tourists, leading to an inevitable increase in noise and disruption. The trend has also led to higher property values, making it difficult for residents to afford living in their own neighborhoods.

According to Prague City Tourism, in 2013, six million people visited Prague; in 2018, the number of visitors reached almost 7.9 million. Prague has 1.3 million inhabitants.

“This is far beyond the original idea of the shared economy where you are supposed to let a tourist stay in your home, you cook the breakfast and you tell them something about your nice city,” Hřib said. “This is just a distributed hotel, where you abuse the comfort of other citizens in the city, the local residents, and seek your own profit at their expense.”

Historically Airbnb has proven difficult to regulate in Europe, though Hřib hopes to convince regional authorities to let local governments decide on short-term rental regulations according to their specific needs.


More like this: The top 20 trending travel destinations for 2020, according to Airbnb

The post Prague wants major changes to Airbnb rentals to curb overtourism appeared first on Matador Network.

Guinness Storehouse BTS tour

Guinness is opening a behind-the-scenes tour at its Dublin storehouse, which will allow guests to explore the actual brewery at its founding location. Unlike the ticketed storehouse visit that has long been available — which is more like visiting a museum — this experience will allow you to see the brewing process firsthand and learn all about the history and the future of the iconic brand.

Padraig Fox, Guinness Open Gate Brewery’s general manager, told USA Today, “It’s a real in-depth behind-the-scenes look at both our brewing process but told through the history of the site — you get to see parts of the iconic brewery that even some employees don’t have access to, so it’s really something special.”

Photo: Guinness Storehouse

The three-hour walking tour will take visitors through the brewing process, stopping at the brewery’s various facilities, like the barley Roast House and the 200-year-old Vat House where Guinness matures for months. You’ll also get to take the underground tunnel to check out Brewhouse 4, the brewery where the “black stuff” is brewed today, and get to peep in the experimental brewery where the future of Guinness lies.

Photo: Guinness Storehouse

At the end of the tour visitors will be treated to a guided beer and food tasting at Arthur’s Bar in the Guinness Storehouse.

Tickets for the tour are $105 per person.


More like this: The best non-touristy pubs in Dublin to drink at instead of Temple Bar

The post Guinness Storehouse in Dublin now open for behind-the-scenes tours appeared first on Matador Network.

Solo female travel beyond safety

In 1980, after graduating from New England College, which, at the time, had a sister campus in Arundel, England, my mom traveled across Europe, Morocco, and Israel alone.

Born in Germany and raised primarily in Pennsylvania, she was no stranger to international travel. Transatlantic family reunions were common. She’d chosen to pursue her studies abroad, and two years prior to her months-long solo excursion, she’d been questioned at the Muscat airport for traveling independently to visit a college friend from Oman.

This, however, would be her first time truly, intentionally on her own. Solo female travel was relatively uncommon in that day, and her plans, loose as they were, were met with mixed reactions: Her peers largely considered the trip bold and exciting. Most everyone else thought she was crazy.

I caught the travel bug my mom brought into my childhood home. Nearly 30 years after her first solo trip, I took mine, boarding a plane to India a few months after graduating from high school in 2009.

Our plans were different. Though I would decide to travel completely solo before leaving the subcontinent, I’d set off to teach English through a volunteer program. Nonetheless, my trip was met with a similar reaction: My friends were encouraging while many of their parents, and my college counselor, were skeptical.

Like my mom, there was one question I heard most: “But, is it safe?”

In the decade since, not only have gap years become wildly more popular in the United States, but statistics also show that solo travel has skyrocketed, with female travelers leading the charge. According to Condor Ferries, a European freight and passenger ferry service, solo travelers now represent 11 percent of all travelers, and 84 percent of them are women.

The narrative around solo female travel is shifting accordingly, anchored by a growing community of women travelers, many of whom are sharing their experiences, and expertise, online.

“The progress that we’ve made, particularly in the last five years, has been phenomenal,” says Alice Teacake, author of the popular Teacake Travels blog, remarking that 10 years ago, when she started on her solo adventures, people used to question her sanity.

Yet opposite the bloggers, writers, influencers, and everyday social media users showcasing the positives of solo female travel, headlines on the topic typically focus on instances of violent crime, and where it happens. Though they now encourage women to go solo, travel articles continue to cite gender equality, crime rates, and other subtextually fear-mongering justifications for listicles that pigeonhole women into the same, largely Western European, destinations.

Perpetuating the myth that by visiting, or avoiding, certain places women can control the crimes perpetrated against them encourages a victim-blaming mentality.

In actuality it’s unclear, statistically, what risk of violence solo female travelers face abroad. Many women can likely recall instances of harassment, but the same is sadly true for women around the world traveling no farther than their local grocery store, solo or with company.

“It’s becoming better,” says Teacake, “but as long as people question our safety, we’re going to be in a vicious cycle of things not improving … as long as this shaming of women continues when they get in trouble, and they always believe it’s the woman’s fault, then we’re not going to make the progress we need.”

Of course, safety does have its place in the dialogue. According to the 2019 Expedia Solo Travel Report, 51 percent of solo female travelers expressed concerns about their safety and comfort abroad compared to 21 percent of their male counterparts.

Photo: Don Mammoser/Shutterstock

Matador Network staffer Dayana Aleksandrova, who traveled to the Dominican Republic alone in 2017, says she took extra precautions before, and during, the trip given its reputation among female travelers: studying up on self-defense, packing nondescript clothing, wearing a baseball cap.

On the ground, however, she experienced nothing but hospitality. “I didn’t feel threatened or weird at any point,” says Aleksandrova, recounting her tale of arriving in Punta Cana one evening with a five-hour, three-bus trip to the Santo Domingo Airport ahead. “I found the same to be true in the small villages of the Samana Peninsula,” she continues, noting that, more often than not, those she met were inclined toward being protective of her.

I, too, have been shown as many kindnesses because I was a Western woman traveling alone as I have been targeted for that fact.

If not a question of facing particular challenges, taking extra precautions, or shying away from certain places, the question then becomes: What actually defines solo female travel, and what makes a destination particularly enriching for solo female travelers?

Empowerment, community, and education are recurring themes in conversations among women who travel alone. In the 2019 Expedia Solo Travel Report, gaining self-confidence and a new perspective were chief among the reasons women cited for traveling solo. Accordingly, the places we encourage these women to go should be evaluated by their potential to inspire this growth, not measured solely by their presumed risks.

First-timers, for example, might pick destinations with established female expat or traveler presences. This is among the reasons Teacake recommends Thailand as a starter trip. Earlier in our conversation, she’d also noted feeling a sense of empowerment after visiting the Wendake reservation in Quebec, Canada, where “women kind of run the world a bit,” a quip she qualified after by affirming her belief in gender equality. In the Wendake society, women make up a council of elders and are responsible for much of the decision-making.

Similarly, across the world, on the banks of Lugu Lake between China’s Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, there exists a “Kingdom of Women” that’s been gaining tourist traction ever since being branded “the last matrilineal society in China.”

According to Mosuo tradition, not only are money and property passed down through the mother, but women also choose their lovers, who live outside the village, through a practice called “walking marriage.” Though largely monogamous today, Musuo women are customarily entitled to as many lovers as they want in their lifetime, and casual affairs, while not advertised, are still practiced.

Other female-led societies, from the Minangkabau people of Indonesia to the all-female Umoja tribe in Kenya, have invited foreigners to observe their customs, as well. Some, like the Bribri people in Costa Rica, have even taken tourism into their own hands, establishing an indigenous-owned tour agency to ensure their community is appreciated, not exploited.

The growing trend of modern female leadership in both government and the tourism sector is also impacting women across the globe, solo female travelers among them. According to UN Women, as of last year, the number of female parliamentarians in the world had roughly doubled since 1995, rising from 11.3 to 24.3 percent. Rwanda is at the helm, with women representing 61.3 percent of the country’s lower house parliamentarians in 2019.

Neighboring Uganda has made strides of its own in recent years. In 2015, Jean Byamugisha became the first female CEO of the Uganda Hotel Owners Association, while across the continent Hafida Hdoubane became Morocco’s first female mountain guide early last year.

Though there are still only a handful of licensed female guides in Morocco, supporting them and women like them around the world, while also seeking their support, can be more than just an assurance of security for solo female travelers: It can be moving.

Photo: MoSiwa/Shutterstock

Traveling through Pakistan, for example, Teacake witnessed heartening community support for young women and their education. “I was in Hansa for quite a lot of the time, and it was just really great to see the girl power there,” she says, remembering how schoolgirls would proclaim their ambitions to become doctors and lawyers.

In other cases, it may not be a place, or a cause, that brings women together but a shared interest. Take the Austrian and Budapest Women’s Runs, held May 17 and October 10-11, 2020, respectively. Or the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in Japan, this year on March 8. Elsewhere, politically inclined travelers might meet like-minded women in Paris or Mexico City, which are hosting UN events this year for the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, adopted at the Fourth World Conference for Women to end gender inequality.

Or maybe you just want to go to Italy and start relationships only with plates of pasta.

Like all travel, solo female trips should be personal, not prescriptive. And they don’t even have to mean going it alone. Consider joining the free Wanderful Women Who Travel community in-person at a local chapter or on Facebook, or Matador’s travelstoke app, to sync up with fellow solo female travelers heading to the same destination, or even locals to meet up with once you’re there.

It’s safe to say that no two solo female travelers think exactly alike, or travel in the exact same way, but with a great big world out there to explore, no woman needs yet another recommendation to visit Denmark.


More like this: 7 unforgettable first trips for solo female travelers

The post It’s 2020. Stop pitching solo female travelers ‘safe’ destinations. appeared first on Matador Network.

Books to look forward to in 2020

Whether you’ve got big plans to travel the world in 2020 or intend to stay put, you’ll need a few good books to keep you company. All those hours waiting in airports, riding on trains, or spent tanning on beach loungers are always more satisfying and entertaining when filled with the written words. And if you happen to be home, but wish you could be elsewhere, the pages of a novel will provide the escapism you’re longing for. For those purposes (and more) we have selected 20 books being published in 2020 that will hit the spot, no matter where you are and what you’re doing. From historical fiction set in Ireland to a family saga in Norway, and nature writing in South Africa, these are the books most anticipated by Matador Network team this year.

1. Pine by Francine Toon — Doubleday, January 2020

Photo: Penguin

Pine is a creepy thriller set in the very atmospheric Scottish Highlands. In a small village located in the middle of a pine forest, women’s disappearances stack up. A young girl named Lauren, age 10, and her dad Niall, who is rescued from the side of the road on Halloween night, are gone the next morning; a local teenage girl vanished without a trace; not to mention Lauren’s mom’s mysterious disappearance 10 years ago, just after her birth. The ghosts, hidden knives, dark forests, and strange noises of this suspenseful novel will have you sleeping with the lights on well after you’ve finished reading.

2. Meals, Music, and Muses: Recipes from My African American Kitchen by Alexander Smalls — Flatiron, February 2020

Photo: Macmillan

Alexander Smalls, opera singer and mastermind chef behind New York City’s first Afro-Asian-American restaurant, The Cecil, combines his two great loves — music and food — in Meals, Music, and Muses. Each chapter is named for a different genre of music, and the cookbook includes recipes for classic Southern dishes, interspersed with anecdotes from Smalls’ childhood. In addition to telling his own story, Smalls offers insight into the key dishes and musical traditions that shaped the South.

3. Greenery by Tim Dee — Vintage, February 2020

Photo: Penguin

If reading Yuval Noah Harari’s Homo Deus and David Wallace Wells’ Inhabitable Earth has left you filled with anxiety and an intense feeling of powerlessness over climate change, it may be time to switch gears and pick up some uplifting nature writing for a change. You can’t and shouldn’t ignore or downplay the climate emergency, but a book about the wonders of nature like Tim Dee’s new work can spur just as much motivation to keep up the good fight than a deeply depressing one. In Greenery, Dee follows migrant birds as they cross the world at the exact same pace as spring advances from Cape Town, South Africa, all the way to the Arctic Ocean in northern Scandinavia. During his journey across the whole of Africa and Europe, he poetically observes all the changes brought forth by the new season, on birds, of course, but also on plants, land animals, and people.

4. The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls by Ursula Hegi — Flatiron Books, February 2020

Photo: Flatiron Books

In the late 19th century, a circus visits the German island of Nordstrand in the North Sea where a religious home for unwed pregnant girls is located. During the circus’ visit, three of islander Lotte’s four children drown on the beach, a death witnessed by three mothers leading very different lives: Lotte herself; Sabine, a female member of the circus; and Tilli, a young woman from the home who is about to have her first child. Hegi’s latest novel is the story of womanhood and motherhood but also a portrait of how radically different people can become intertwined in the face of suffering.

5. The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 2020

Photo: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Jane Healey’s gothic and tense novel begins in at the start of WWII, in 1939. Because the British capital is under threat, the mammal collection of the London Natural History Museum is evacuated along with its curator, 30-year-old Hetty Cartwright, to Lockwood Manor, a supposedly cursed and haunted estate where they are to stay for the remainder of the war. There, Hetty faces Lord Lockwood’s terrible temper, and the odd young Lady Lucy, his distressed daughter. But more importantly, Hetty has to deal with the disappearance of some of her taxidermied animals and the sense that she is being followed in the large, dark house.

6. The Secret Guests by B.W. Black — Viking, March 2020

Photo: Penguin

Those who binge-watched season three of The Crown, and then reveled in the recent drama of Harry and Meghan’s departure from the British royal family, will want to dive right into Black’s The Secret Guests. The novel starts in 1940 during The Blitz. London is unsafe, so King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth send their two young daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, to Ireland, far away from the bombing, with a female MI5 agent for a custodian. Locals in County Tipperary are soon asking questions about the young girls suddenly living in the local castle, and a dead body found at the gates only fan the flames of suspicion towards the trio.

7. Footprints by David Farrier — Farrar Straus Giroux, March 2020

Photo: Macmillan

Most people think the only fossils worth finding are those of dinosaurs, but in Footprints, Farrier posits that humans are already leaving behind our own chemical and industrial fossils for future generations to find. He wonders how the humans of today will be remembered when our cities have disappeared, 100,000 years from now when the carbon we released will still be lingering in the atmosphere. Farrier travels from Shanghai to the Baltic Sea, crafting a message of warning and hope about the future of our species.

8. Threshold by Rob Doyle — Bloomsbury, March 2020

Photo: Bloomsbury

The central figure of Doyle’s Threshold is a Dubliner who has spent most of his young life taking drugs, reading literature, traveling around Europe, trying to find meaning in life. His wanderings take readers to the club world of Berlin and the cemeteries of Paris. As the narrator indulges in psychedelic drugs and contemplates his purpose in the universe, readers are in for a strange — but funny — journey into the depths of the mind.

9. My Wild Garden by Meir Shalev — Pantheon, March 2020

Photo: Penguin Random House

In this cheerful memoir of a beloved garden, Shalev details the natural wonders he grows with his own hands. Among his lemon tree and purple snapdragons, Shalev ruminates on restorative powers of gardening and argues that learning to love and respect the land — and everything that lives on it — is the key to finding joy in our short time on Earth.

10. Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Washburn — Farrar Straus Giroux, March 2020

Photo: Macmillan

In his debut novel, Kawai Washburn roots the story of a family living on The Big Island in Hawaiian legend. The sugarcane industry, once integral to Hawaii’s economy, has collapsed, forcing Nainoa Flores and his siblings to find opportunities on the mainland. But the spirit of the Hawaiian gods that visited Nainoa in his childhood follow him there, he begins to learn what belonging — both to his first home and his new one — really means.

11. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me — Bess Kalb (Knopf, March 2020)

Photo: Penguin Random House

Comedy writer Bess Kalb had a close and intense relationship with her quirky and fierce grandmother, Bobby Bell. Until Bobby passed away at age 90, Bess kept all her voicemails, and in this family memoir, she uses her grandma’s unique voice again to tell the story of their family, from Bobby’s mother who fled Belarus on her own and immigrated to the US to the rebellious adolescence of Bess’s own mother. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me is feminine, funny, and moving; it will tug at your heartstrings so hard that you might even shed a tear or two, followed by a belly laugh.

12. Everything Is Under Control by Phyllis Grant — Farrar Straus Giroux, April 2020

Photo: Macmillan

This hybrid memoir-cookbook follows Grant as a dancer at Juilliard, to her stint as a cook in four-star restaurants around New York City, to finally her move to California where she starts a family. Formatted as a series of vignettes followed by recipes, Everything Is Under Control is an exploration of motherhood, food, and how one woman carved out a place for herself in professional kitchens.

13. Sea Wife by Amity Gaige — Knopf, April 2020

Photo: Penguin Random House

Gaige’s novel follows Juliet, a mother of two young children struggling with postpartum depression. When her husband abruptly decides to leave his job and buy a sailboat, Juliet resists, then sees an opportunity to reinvent her life. The couple embarks on a seafaring adventure that at first revitalizes Juliet and Michael’s marriage. Soon, though, Juliet must come to terms with how life at sea has changed her family forever. This story of survival unfolds from both Juliet’s perspective and excerpts from Michael’s captain’s log.

14. Northernmost by Peter Geye — Knopf, April 2020

Photo: Knopf Doubleday

The last book of a four-volume family saga (each can be read independently), Northernmost weaves the stories of two different generations of the Eide family. One lives in Hammerfest in Northern Norway in the late 19th century and is composed of Odd Einar, previously believed to have died in the Arctic, and his wife Inger. Their daughter, Thea, has left to immigrate to the US two years before and never kept in touch with her parents. In modern times, the story follows Greta, who lives in Minnesota with her husband, currently away in Norway for work. When Greta decides to travel to Norway to put an end to her marriage, on an impulse, she goes to Hammerfest, the hometown of her great-great-grandmother Thea, where she learns about her heritage and all the hardship her ancestors went through.

15. Rockaway by Diane Cardwell — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, June 2020

Photo: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Rockaway is the true and uplifting story of how Diane Cardwell totally reinvented herself at close to age 50. Inspired by surfers she witnessed in Montauk during a writing assignment (Cardwell is a reporter and editor for the New York Times), she shakes off her unsatisfying life and takes up surfing, almost on a whim. She moves from trendy Brooklyn to Rockaway, a peninsula in Queens that’s home to a dedicated group of surfers, and takes lessons. As she begins to be comfortable in the water, Hurricane Sandy hits, and the community of which she is now a part comes together to rebuild and to keep riding the New York waves.

16. The House on Fripp Island by Rebecca Kauffman — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, June 2020

Photo: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The wealthy Daly family has plans to spend the summer on Fripp Island in South Carolina. Lisa Daly, the mother, has invited her old friend Poppy Ford and her family, a much less privileged bunch, to join them free of charge. But instead of a relaxing summer holiday, the two families of four bring their secrets and conflicts with them, making the vacation tense and full of suspicions. The House on Fripp Island is a page-turner made even more appealing by the knowledge that one of the eight characters won’t be returning home.

17. The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante — Europa, June 2020

Photo: Europa Editions

If Elena Ferante’s Neapolitan Novels had you transfixed, her new book will undoubtedly help you recapture this state of wonder. Also set in Naples, The Lying Life of Adults is the story of Giovanna, a young woman whose childhood is slipping away and whose identity becomes as confusing and divided as the city she grew up in. The Italian reviews (the original novel was published in November 2019) promise classic Ferrante: a captivating world inhabited by complex, beautiful, and sometimes brutal characters that you won’t want to leave.

18. Last Harvest: The Fight Save the World’s Most Endangered Foods by Dan Saladino — Vintage, June 2020

Photo: Knopf Doubleday

In his journey to the far reaches of the globe, from the Balkans to Tanzania, Saladino examines what will happen to our food in the latest age of extinction. Saladino tracks down ingredients threatened by climate change and industrial agriculture, unearthing the history and cultural significance that is being threatened behind each one. As Saladino tracks down these elusive foods, he discovers a globe-spanning battle is being fought to preserve and protect these endangered plants.

19. Slime by Ruth Kassinger — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, June 2020

Photo: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Even Earth’s smallest creatures can play a crucial role in its survival. In Slime, Kassinger takes readers on a journey into the oceans to the realm of all-important algae. Though often overlooked (it’s not quite as glamorous as some of the more photogenic marine life), algae is responsible for creating the planet’s oxygen-rich atmosphere. Kassinger reveals how scientists are harnessing algae to save the planet, highlighting just how important these organisms are to sustaining life on Earth.

20. The Zoologists Guide to the Galaxy by Arik Kershenbaum — Viking, June 2020

Photo: Penguin

Little green men are just the beginning of man’s limited perception of how alien life might look — if it does exist. Kershenbaum, a Cambridge zoologist, argues that in order to understand what aliens might look like and how they communicate, we need look no further than our own natural world. Fish reveal how aliens might communicate using electricity, for instance. Kershenbaum’s book breaks down Hollywood stereotypes about alien life while revealing what the Earthlings can expect if we ever do meet species from another world.


More like this: 12 books that will take you armchair traveling in 2020

The post 20 books we can’t wait to read in 2020 appeared first on Matador Network.

What to do in Belize beyond beaches

Belize is well known for its lush jungles, crystal-clear Caribbean water, and pale-sand beaches. But travelers are now beginning to discover the country’s many other charms, as well. Belize beckons with its rich blend of cultures, caves, wildlife sanctuaries, fascinating Mayan relics, and incredible historical destinations. You just have to make the effort to get to them. Even then, the effort isn’t too great as most places you’ll want to visit are accessible by bus within a couple of hours.

Experience Kriol culture and wildlife in Crooked Tree

Photo: jack_photo/Shutterstock

After landing in Belize City, one of the first things you’ll notice is its unique blend of cultures. The largest ethnic group in Belize, known as Kriol, is made up of the descendants of West African slaves captured and transplanted to the region to work field, farm, and forestry. This tragic past is evident in the music, language, cuisine, and folklore of its people. Your first stop in the city should be Nerie’s, a restaurant located a few blocks from the coast that serves the hearty Kriol dishes built from rice, beans, veggies, and either seafood or chicken.

After you’ve eaten, the next way to experience Kriol culture is to visit the village of Crooked Tree. An hour and a half north of the capital city of Belmopan and 30 minutes from Belize City, this town makes for an easy first stop on your itinerary. For the full cultural experience, spend a day wandering the village, take a Kriol cooking class with local celebrity Ava Tillett, and check out the small but fascinating Crooked Tree Museum. This is not a major tourist destination, so don’t expect much in the way of nightlife — though a few days away from the party scene won’t hurt.

If you have time in your itinerary, take a day to tour the region’s wetlands and swamps. Crooked Tree is the gateway to one of Belize’s most impressive nature reserves, the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. This protected habitat is home to hundreds of species of migratory birds, as well as crocodiles, monkeys, and iguanas. Bus service is available Monday through Saturday from Belize City to the village, which allows you to access the nature reserve as well as the cultural attractions in town. For an overnight stay, book a room at Tillet’s Village Lodge, at $35 for a room with a single bed or $40 for a double.

Find an uncrowded island paradise

Photo: Simon Dannhauer/Shutterstock

The island of Caye Caulker is one of Belize’s most visited destinations, north off the coast of Belize City. This island was once an idyllic tropical escape best known for snorkeling and scuba diving. Sadly these days it’s become known for long lines of tourists and golf cart traffic jams that can sour a beach holiday, no matter how clear the water is.

Instead, head south of Belize City to the small coastal town of Dangriga. The town itself doesn’t offer much in the way of attractions, but it serves as a gateway to some of the country’s most impressive offshore destinations. Nearby Tobacco Caye offers lower prices and a more laid-back experience than the northern islands; it’s a complete departure from the tourist crowds. If you’re up to an adventure, this is the perfect place to explore Belize’s Mesoamerican Reef and dive with the thousands of colorful underwater animals. The nearby mangroves are home to a variety of birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even rare mammals like the manatee.

Visit caverns and caves where Mayans hosted spiritual ceremonies

Photo: triocean/Shutterstock

The ancient Mayas of Belize believed that caves were the gateway to the underworld, known as Xibalba. Here, their shamans practiced rituals, sacrifices, and held ceremonies to communicate with the gods. Today, you can venture beneath the earth’s surface to spot the artifacts they left behind, as well as stunning geological formations.

The most famous cave system in Belize is the Actun Tunichil Muknal or “ATM” cave, located near San Ignacio. The bus ride from Belize City takes about 2.5 hours, with buses leaving from the main terminal every 30 minutes. Of the more popular and crowded spots in Belize, this is one you should not miss, as there’s no other place on earth where you can come this close to authentic Mayan artifacts — and haunting human remains.

If you visit during the rainy season from May to mid-November, you’ll have to swim through a completely flooded passageway to enter the cave. The rest of the year, a 45-minute hike will get you there. Either way, you’ll need a guide, which you can book online, as only 125 people are allowed to visit the site each day.

There are also nearby caverns with less intense hiking options. A guided kayak, canoe, or tubing trip through the Barton Creek cave system or a moderate hike through Crystal Cave can be done in a half day — you can book these guides through Hannah Stables. Nearly all of Belize’s best caving is accessible via a day trip from San Ignacio, a bustling little backpacker town that’s also a great place to take it easy in a hammock for a day or two.

Explore hard-to-reach ruins

Photo: Danica Chang/Shutterstock

Xunantunich, west of San Ignacio near the border with Guatemala, is Belize’s most popular place to tour Mayan ruins. But getting there on your own takes some extra effort. You’ll need to drive out of town, cross a river on the oldest ferry you’ve likely ever seen, and hike up to the archaeological site. The view from the top of this well-preserved temple is worth the trip, however, and you can make it easier by joining an organized tour, such as through Pacz Tours. For the best photo opportunities, visit right around sunset, once all the tour groups have left for the day.

If you’re up for an adventure, take a trip to the Caracol ruins within the Chiquibul Forest Reserve. This site in the center of Belize is one of the country’s hardest to reach, so you’re almost guaranteed to have the place to yourself. Caracol is the largest known Mayan complex in Belize, and many structures are still being discovered in its vicinity. Plus, the drive in is one of the most scenic trips you’ll take, passing through forest, jungle, hills, and plateaus.

A few hours north, Lamanai was one of the longest-occupied and most populated Mayan cities in Belize. People inhabited this area all the way up until the 19th century, and over 700 known structures exist in the area. It’s a great place to see a wide variety of both classic and modern Mayan construction. Most guests visit this site by driving in from the closest town, Orange Walk. But take a water taxi up the river instead for a chance to spot birds, crocodiles, iguanas, and more wildlife.

Spend a day in the big city

Photo: photosounds/Shutterstock

Belize City is crowded and can be a bit dangerous. Most tourists head straight from the airport to more scenic destinations further afield. But a day in the city makes for an excellent introduction to Belizean culture and lifestyle. Take a wander through the city’s backstreets during daylight hours, and you’ll discover a laid-back atmosphere fueled by reggae music and delicious local street food.

Start your day off at the Michael Finnegan Market, home to an impressive selection of local produce, baked goods, crafts, and more. This is also an excellent place to buy high-quality dairy products made by the local Mennonite community. Save room for lunch, though. Well-known eateries like Dario’s Meat Pies and Dit’s serve some of the country’s most authentic Kriol and Garifuna (a culture of those from mixed African and indigenous ancestry) food — although the surrounding ambiance can be hectic. As the afternoon fades, take a walk along the waterside near Digi Park, where street performers, musicians, artists, and vendors of all kinds set up shop here during the cool early evening hours. A hotel room in the city can be as cheap as $35 per night, and you can upgrade to a beachside location for under $100.


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Never Miss a Super Bowl Club

Under the watchful eye of the man who coached the NFL’s only perfect team, a group with an even more impressive streak is holding court.

In a photo-filled dining room at Shula’s Hotel and Golf Club in Miami, the Never Miss a Super Bowl Club is hosting its annual luncheon a couple of days before Super Bowl LIV. And its three remaining members are reveling in the brief fame they get every year before the big game.

“Eh, they bring us out for two weeks, then put us back to bed,” groans Don Crisman, 80, who’s traveled here from Maine. He’s joined by Tom Henschel, 78, from Tampa and Greg Eaton, 84, from Lansing, Michigan. Each of them has attended every Super Bowl since the first NFL/AFL World Championship Game in 1967. And they’ve become as much a Super Bowl fixture as lavish parties and Buffalo wings.

Once upon a time, getting to the Super Bowl was easy.

“I was working in Colorado, and I had some friends who worked for a bank, and the bank got tickets from the Broncos,” Crisman says of his first Super Bowl. His bald head is covered by a new, unbent Super Bowl LIV hat. “And nobody wanted them, except me and [deceased club member] Stanley Whitaker. We were the only ones who stuck it out.”

His book of ticket stubs shows his ticket from the first game. It cost $12.

Greg Eaton went to his first Super Bowl through his relationship with Packers running back Herb Adderley, who he knew from Adderley’s time at Michigan State.

“I used to go to the games up there [in Green Bay], and Herb said ‘You got to come! It’s a World Championship,” says Eaton. “It wasn’t the Super Bowl back then, but he said ‘You’ve got to come to this!’ So that’s how I got started.”

Over the years the men have missed weddings, funerals, and other important family events to make it to the Super Bowl. Henschel even told a story of suffering a severe asthma attack the morning before Super Bowl VI in New Orleans. After stumbling out of his hotel’s front door unable to breathe, he passed out and police took him to a nearby hospital.

“I woke up with an IV in me, in the ER, with oxygen,” he recalls. “A nun came in and told me I had to be under observation for 24 hours and I said, ‘Sister, I’ve got to get to the game!’ She said she was sending a lady up to the room to get my information. Once she walked out of the room, I ripped that IV out and got the hell out of the hospital. Got back in time, met up with my friend, and we went to Super Bowl VI together.”

Crisman says his streak almost ended before it began, as icy conditions kept him stranded in South Carolina for three days before he hopped on a train to Miami for the 1968 game. He arrived in town just a couple of hours before kickoff.

“I never came close to missing because I’d always see the whole week,” says Eaton, “but this year I was worried because the governor of the state of Michigan… that’s her father right over there…”

He points to a man in a Hawaiian shirt hunched over a Shula Burger. He does not interrupt his lunch to acknowledge the shout out.

“Anyway she’s my niece, so she had the State of the State Wednesday. I flew back for that and I didn’t sleep that night, cause if I missed that flight, I couldn’t get another flight cause they’re all booked!”

He says this as casually as if he were flying in for his niece’s graduation from preschool.

The birth of a Super Bowl tradition

Never Miss A Super Bowl Club, pictured 10 years ago during Super Bowl XLIV. (Photo: Never Miss a Super Bowl Club)

Though the club now watches the game together, only over the past couple of decades has it been an official thing.

For the first 17 years, it was just a bunch of guys going to the Super Bowl separately.

“Stanley [Whitaker] was afraid of flying, so he had this big bumper sticker on his car that said, ‘Never Miss a Super Bowl Club,’” says Crisman of his late club comrade. “We’re in the line for the Johnny Carson show before Super Bowl XVII, and Tom comes running up saying, ‘Who owns that car with the never miss sticker?’ And that’s how we met Tom.”

Sixteen years later, the original three members read an article in the game program at Super Bowl XXXIII listing all the people who’d attended every game. That was how they found Larry Jacobson of San Francisco, then later Robert Cook of Green Bay. That was around when the NFL recognized the club and began setting aside two tickets for each club member to purchase.

A few years later, Cook was preparing to board a plane to watch his beloved Packers play in Super Bowl XLV when he suddenly had to be admitted to a hospital. He watched the Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers from his hospital room, then died four days later.

For Super Bowl 50, the NFL gave the remaining members all-expense-paid trips to the game, as well as game tickets. Four years ago, Jacobsen found Eaton and brought him into the fold. He then passed away after Super Bowl LI.

Photo: Matthew Meltzer

Though the Never Miss a Super Bowl Club gets most of the Super Bowl Week media attention, they’re not the only people to have the distinction. Detroit Free Press writer Jerry Green has been to each game, as has Norma Hunt, wife of late Kansas City Chiefs owner and AFL pioneer Lamar Hunt.

“But once we’re done, that’s it,” says Eaton. “And I’ll go on as long as I can get there.”

“Once they put me in a wheelchair, maybe I’ll think about not going,” adds Crisman.

“If not, I’ll sit in my old chair and reminisce,” says Eaton.

“And maybe” adds Crisman, “we can sit in our wheelchairs together, and reminisce on the guys who are no longer with us.”


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Chinese creativity in virus lockdown

With many global crises, it can be tough to find a silver lining. To attempt to do so can even feel insensitive or out-of-touch. Amid the recent coronavirus outbreak, people around the world are panicking and fearing for their health. In China, particularly, the mood is rather gloomy, with 10 cities on lockdown to prevent the virus’ spread. In Wuhan, where the virus originated, around nine million people are being advised to stay indoors. To make matters worse, the government has canceled all entertainment shows on TV, in order to show 24-hour news coverage of developments concerning the virus.

As you can imagine, people in these quarantine zones are getting quite bored. But they’re making the best of the situation. Videos have emerged online showing the different ways people are spending their time.

One person, for example, entertained themselves by staring out the window with a sock puppet, pretending to use the pupped to devour passing cars.

How to survive staying indoors during #coronavirus lockdown according to these very important videos making their rounds on Chinese social media. Firstly: don't be afraid to express your feelings and get in touch with your emotions. pic.twitter.com/xd8yj73dtx

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 27, 2020

Another video shows a series of creative games people invented to pass the time, including ring toss, living room tennis, fishing in a pet fish tank, and makeshift ping pong.

Three: exercise your body and brain to combat stress and anxiety. pic.twitter.com/RZ3qOU1CeV

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 27, 2020

On Weibo, China’s most popular social network, many people are sharing artistic creations they have plenty of time now to make.

China's national coronavirus crisis, forcing so many people indoors for days on end, is already inspiring a rich outpouring of art. https://t.co/v5n0gojHHJ pic.twitter.com/oFmfh46U6M

— Chris Buckley 储百亮 (@ChuBailiang) January 30, 2020

Others got really creative, and managed to have a communal dinner despite being confined to different buildings. They set up meals on their respective roofs, and enjoyed each other’s company by shouting across the way.

Seven: Despite restrictions, there's always a way to still have a party together. pic.twitter.com/G24nJnNNEg

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 28, 2020

And when there’s nothing on TV at night, and you can’t go out to a nightclub, you might as well join a singalong with people from the adjacent apartment buildings.

Four: don't be afraid to call out to neighbours for support. pic.twitter.com/OBjCHEiUnL

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 27, 2020

It’s important to remember that those most closely affected by the coronavirus outbreak are real people, and racist panic over Chinese people potentially spreading the virus will do nothing to help the situation. And if these people under quarantine can still find humor and relative calm under the circumstances, there’s no reason for people in the United States to be freaking out — especially when the threat of the common flu remains a bigger danger.


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Spend the night in a castle in Japan

Japan is opening two of its “Top 100 Castles” for overnight stays this year. The recently restored Ozu Castle in Ehime Prefecture along with Hirado Castle in Nagasaki Prefecture will be open for guests as early as April 24, 2020.

Photo: Tanya Jones/Shutterstock

Guests will soon be able to stay in Ozu Castle’s tenshu — a four-story tower overlooking the Hijikawa River located a less-than-five-hour drive out of Osaka. The tower was built in the 14th century and was thoroughly renovated in 2004. Reservations will be taken online for only 30 days on a first-come, first-served basis, offering an exclusive experience. Prices for a night’s stay at Ozu start at $9,223 (or one million Japanese yen). Apart from luxurious lodging, the experience at Ozu castle comes with a gun-salute welcome, a dance performance, and an elaborate selection of traditional dishes for those who like to be treated as Japanese royalty for a night and can afford the hefty price tag.

Photo: SoulAD/Shutterstock

The other fortress opening its doors is the five-story, 16th-century Hirado Castle in Nagasaki Prefecture. The castle was recently renovated and has walking trails for its guests to enjoy the surrounding nature. The 165-foot structure has an observation deck that provides a panoramic view of Hirado Bay surrounded by water on three sides. Bookings can be made through Stay Japan beginning in July (dates and prices are yet to be announced).


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Orient-Express murder mystery party

If Hercules Poirot’s exploits in The Murder on the Orient Express and The Mystery of the Blue Train have you oohing and ahhing, here’s your chance to transform yourself into a mustachioed Belgian detective and enjoy some train luxury for yourself.

On May 17, the historical Orient-Express will host a murder mystery party, complete with costumes, 1920s decor, and, of course, a murder.

The party will begin at the Train Bleu restaurant at Paris’s Gare de Lyon station, where passengers will hear the rules of the game and depart around 11:30 AM. What follows will be an immersive experience featuring costumed actors as train staff and guests. The ride ends in Nice, in the French Riviera at 11:00 PM the same day, but not before passengers enjoy two gastronomic meals, drinks, tea time, a concert, solve a murder, and celebrate with Champagne cocktails.

Tickets for the experience start at $10,380 per person, which includes the train journey, participation in the murder mystery, meals, and a full set of photographs from the onboard photographer. If you have a lot more to spare, you can take advantage of the VIP package, which includes a private session with a French theater and film costume designer to really get you looking the part.


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