Travel
Discover facts about travel. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Travel
The word travel once referred to torture
Travel and travail share a linguistic history through words associated with labor and hardship. The chain is commonly traced back to Latin tripalium, a…
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Why corner hotel rooms are often bigger
Corner rooms can be larger because they may include awkward leftover spaces in a building’s floor plan that don’t fit standard rooms.
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Why French diners tear bread instead of biting it
At a French dining table, biting straight into bread can seem aggressive and unrefined; diners typically tear off bite-size pieces by hand.
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Australia's Route 1 forms a giant loop connecting all its major capitals
Its enormous loop lets drivers travel around Australia without crossing into another country.
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The NSA has a museum where secret-code machinery goes public
The National Cryptologic Museum near Fort Meade displays objects such as Enigma machines and tells stories of making and breaking codes. Equipment once…
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Brisbane holds an annual cockroach race
At Brisbane's annual cockroach races, spectators bet on the insects as they scurry around a plastic ring.
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Why the International Date Line zigzags
It bends around Pacific island nations to keep a single country from being split between two calendar days.
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The Grand Canyon is missing hundreds of millions of years
Erosion removed older rock before newer sediment could settle, leaving a gap in the canyon's geological record known as the Great Unconformity.
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Why airplane black boxes are actually orange
They’re painted high-visibility orange and covered in reflective tape so search crews can spot them in wreckage or underwater.
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A cheap hotel room can come with an acoustic trade-off
Rooms near elevators, service areas, or machinery can be less desirable because sound travels into them. Price alone doesn't tell you where your room will be,…
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Cape Town roads boldly wrap around steep mountainsides
Some of these roads hug steep slopes above the ocean, where sharp turns and exposed drops can make for an unnerving drive.
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Camouflage can be an illegal vacation outfit in Barbados
Official travel advice warns that the restriction applies to visitors and children as well as residents. A pattern sold elsewhere as ordinary casual wear can…
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In Thailand, a spotless plate can get you more food
In Thailand, finishing everything can signal that your host didn’t serve enough, so they may offer you more food.
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Why the Colosseum floor was covered in sand
A layer of sand helped absorb stains from the arena floor, making it easier to clean between events.
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Casa Bonita charges you to watch cliff divers
Admission requires buying a meal, even if you only came to watch the cliff divers.
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Why tasting first can be a compliment to your host
Egyptian etiquette guides caution that adding salt before tasting can suggest the cook got the seasoning wrong. Trying a bite first acknowledges the food as…
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Why Churchill locals leave their car doors unlocked
Because polar bears sometimes wander through Churchill, residents leave car doors unlocked so people can duck inside if they encounter one.
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Phuket's Vegetarian Festival is also a festival of spirit mediums
Alongside abstaining from meat, some participants take on the role of mah song, understood within the tradition as spirit mediums. Processions can include…
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Fingal's Cave turns Atlantic waves into a performance
On Scotland's island of Staffa, waves enter a tall cavern lined with basalt columns. Sound reverberates inside the rocky space, giving the cave its famous…
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Your hotel bread pudding may be yesterday's pastries
Some hotel kitchens turn leftover pastries, such as croissants, into bread pudding by soaking them in custard and baking them.
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Why stepping on money can get you in trouble in Thailand
Thai coins and banknotes bear the king's image, so stepping on one to stop it rolling can be seen as disrespectful. Use your hands instead.
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Even luxury express trains in the 1800s could leave passengers shivering inside
Passengers still needed heavy blankets inside elaborately decorated wooden carriages.
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Why expensive restaurants keep the lights dim
Dim lighting can make a dining room feel intimate and encourage guests to linger and order drinks. It also makes the bill harder to scrutinize.
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Train departure boards can turn a routine platform change into a frantic sprint
A late platform change can send passengers with heavy bags rushing across a terminal with only minutes to catch their train.
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