Travel
Discover facts about travel. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
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Finland's heavy-metal knitting competition
Competitors knit while headbanging to blast beats and distorted guitars, turning scarf-making into a heavy-metal stage event.
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Why sumo wrestlers try to make babies cry
At Nakizumo, people believe a baby's loud cry brings a long, healthy life.
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California’s ugliest dog wins a prize
The contest rewards dogs for their unusual looks, turning genetic quirks into a point of celebration.
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Austin's rush hour includes a million bats leaving a bridge
The Congress Avenue Bridge shelters a seasonal colony of up to 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats. They roost in the bridge's expansion joints, then stream…
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Florida gave Bigfoot a terrible smell
The Skunk Ape is Florida's own reported hairy swamp creature. Witness stories emphasize an overpowering odor, which supplied its memorable name. Like other…
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Why Tujia brides cry before weddings
In Tujia wedding traditions, ceremonial weeping can mark the bride's departure from her family and include relatives joining in. It gives the separation a…
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Twinsburg hosts a gathering where double takes are inevitable
Ohio's Twins Days Festival began in 1976 and grew into an international gathering of twins and other multiples. Families return for themed celebrations, while…
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The tiny farm spirit that demands respect
In Scandinavian folklore, the tomte is a small, bearded farm spirit. Farmers who failed to show it respect or offer treats risked trouble for their livestock.
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Why German newlyweds saw a log together
The couple saws through a log together as a test of how they'll handle challenges as a team.
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In Scottish folklore, a wet pony may be a kelpie
A kelpie can disguise itself as a wet pony and lure people toward a loch, where folklore says it drags them in.
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Why trolls supposedly turn to stone in sunlight
In the tale, sunlight petrifies trolls, turning the boulders scattered across the landscape into the creatures caught by dawn.
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A Spanish festival has a devil-costumed jumper leap over babies
At El Colacho in Castrillo de Murcia, infants lie on mattresses while a costumed participant jumps over them. The local tradition links the ritual to…
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Oklahoma's bizarre cow-patty throwing contest
Competitors throw dried cow patties across a field instead of standard discus—a contest where the equipment is decidedly less glamorous.
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Why La Llorona haunts the water
The legend places her by the water, where she weeps while searching for children to pull into the depths.
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French loup-garou behaves exactly like a werewolf
In French folklore, cursed people could transform into beasts that terrorized the countryside and attacked livestock.
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Monarch butterflies can weigh down entire tree branches
Overwintering monarchs cluster on oyamel firs in Mexico's mountains. One butterfly weighs less than a gram, but tens of thousands together create a…
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Why the wendigo is always starving
In local legends, the wendigo’s endless hunger embodies greed—a warning about refusing to share resources.
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Black Shuck: England's ghostly dog
Its glowing red eyes made it especially frightening, and folklore held that an encounter was an omen of bad luck.
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Why Nara deer bow to tourists
Nara’s deer have learned that bowing prompts tourists to respond, making the gesture a practiced tactic rather than a sign of politeness.
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An Arkansas school's mascot has six legs for a reason
Conway's Wampus Cat is a blue-black, mountain-lion-like creature with four legs assigned to running and two to fighting. It turns an imaginary animal into a…
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The creature that dissolves into tears when caught
Folklore says the squonk is so ashamed of its loose, warty skin that it dissolves into tears when cornered, leaving only a puddle.
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Hoia Baciu's twisted trees helped build a haunted reputation
The Romanian forest combines unusually shaped trunks with stories of strange sightings and unsettling encounters. Visitors bring those stories with them, so…
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The undead relatives feared in Romanian folklore
In Romanian folklore, strigoi were undead who could claw out of their graves and drain the life force of surviving relatives.
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Why Moroccan goats climb argan trees
They climb thorny argan branches with remarkable balance to reach leaves that grow beyond the ground.
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