Travel
Discover facts about travel. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Travel
Canada has more lakes than every other country combined
Ice Age glaciers carved millions of lake basins across Canada, leaving it with more than 60% of the world’s lakes.
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Idaho's Museum of Clean has vacuums from before electric motors
The Pocatello museum's collection includes machines worked by bellows, cranks, plungers, and wheels. They show how many ways inventors tried to produce…
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Central American highways frequently lack street lights
Without streetlights, drivers rely on their headlights to spot potholes, cattle, and sharp curves on rural roads.
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Commuter rush hour turns ordinary citizens into gladiators
At 5 p.m., crowded platforms can turn boarding into a jostling crush. Standing still in the flow of passengers risks getting knocked aside.
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Colombia's 24-hour broadcasters have an anthem appointment
A 1995 law requires the national anthem at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on round-the-clock radio and television services. Part-day broadcasters follow a start-and-finish…
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Heathrow is the world's busiest two-runway airport
Heathrow handles roughly 80 million travelers a year using just two runways, leaving little room to absorb delays.
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Antarctica has a pond too salty to freeze easily
Don Juan Pond contains exceptionally concentrated calcium-chloride brine. Dissolved salt interferes with the formation of ordinary ice, pushing the freezing…
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Pet friendly hotel rooms sit on ground floors
Ground-floor rooms can make it easier to take dogs outside and limit the distance to walk if they have an accident.
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Japanese diners get hot hand towels
They’re meant for cleaning your hands before a meal, not your face.
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A Japanese pub may serve the cover charge as a snack
At many izakaya, an otoshi arrives before you order: a small appetizer charged as part of the visit. The unfamiliar surprise is that it wasn't requested, yet…
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Why Russians avoid shaking hands across doorways
According to Russian superstition, shaking hands across a threshold invites arguments into the home. The tradition says to step fully inside before greeting…
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Venice glass pieces require official papers
Because Murano glass is heavily counterfeited, legitimate sellers provide certificates of authenticity to verify a piece.
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A campfire isn't a dependable mosquito shield
Smoke drifts and disperses instead of forming a stable protective barrier around everyone nearby. For preventing bites, public-health guidance relies on…
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Using a manual sextant on a violently moving boat is hard
A sextant requires steady hands to align its mirror with a faint star; on a deck pitching in the waves, that alignment can be incredibly difficult.
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A German court treated a pillow as a dangerous instrument
In a 2014 decision, Germany's Federal Court of Justice considered a pillow used in a violent attack a dangerous instrument. The legal point was how the object…
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Big Ben is the bell—not the tower
The 13-ton bell hangs inside the Elizabeth Tower, the building's official name since 2012.
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At ancient sites, a dropped snack is a conservation problem
Athens's archaeological-site rules prohibit eating, drinking, and pollution. Food scraps, sticky residue, and litter create cleaning work around surfaces…
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Wisconsin's mustard museum grew from one man's collecting obsession
Barry Levenson left a legal career and built a museum around jars, labels, and the history of mustard. The collection turns a familiar condiment into evidence…
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Local vendors wildly inflate prices for foreign accents
At some street markets, a foreign accent can lead to higher opening prices. Shoppers who can’t negotiate in the local language may have a harder time pushing…
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Flashing escort vehicles warn you about massive road hazards
The vehicle signals that an oversized load is ahead, giving drivers a chance to slow down and make room. The load may extend beyond the truck carrying it,…
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The Tower of London once held executions
It was once a damp prison, and executions there included beheadings.
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Japan's fast-food menus include hot corn soup
Some chains serve the soup piping hot in cups, even through the drive-through.
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Airlines can make your miles worth less overnight
Airlines control their loyalty programs and can change redemption values without warning, leaving customers with points rather than a guaranteed asset.
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Spam became a beloved staple in Hawaii
A popular way to eat it is sliced over rice and wrapped in seaweed, a snack that can surprise visitors.
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