Hello Reader,

🧭 Where in the World?

It’s summer and I have an outsized desire to talk about the weather. We’re based in the North Country for the summer, traveling a bit in Minnesota and a couple other U.S. destinations. This time of year, we’re looking for every opportunity to visit friends, relax lakeside, and even work or read outside on a shady deck or screened porch. Summer is fleeting, so we remind ourselves: carpe diem!

🛫 Get Going: Tours We Recommend For You

For those who like to take advantage of last minute travel opportunities, you are in luck. Check these out and share this email with your friends.

• Ireland in October. We've had another single spot cancellation on our Ireland tour. Their loss, your gain. We’re most excited about the easy-going stay at Temple Mansion, and the focus on landscapes and artistry, meeting craftspeople in their studios. Interested? See Ireland n Focus for more details. Here is the direct link to book the last spot. October 17-24, 2025; Save $300 with code TP50 at checkout.
• Japan Cat Tour in November. Consider this a two-fer! You’ll visit Japan with our friend Sherry Ott for an immersive experience in Japan’s culture and lush landscapes, from Tokyo to Tohoku. Besides that, enjoy frequent feline meet-ups and learn about the historic significance of the “beckoning cat.” See details here. November 3-10, 2025; $3,975.
• A couple spots remain on Sherry’s Japan adventure tour, too, in late October.

🧳 Our Latest Posts

Yes, we realize it’s tough to plan travel when you’re in the midst of uncertainty, whether that be personal, political, local, or worldwide. We’ve helped all our Travel Past 50 Tour guests with their travel insurance choices. This post offers a travel insurance primer about what to look for in travel insurance. Whether it’s protecting your investment in case you need to cancel, or being assured you can be evacuated in case of injury or illness, the peace of mind can help you jump into your next travel adventure. Lately, we’ve found some good coverage at Faye.

🗞️ Travel News From Around the Web

• We love photo contests and this one from Biographic Magazine of nature and conservation photography has some stunning images. Biographic is the online magazine of the California Academy of Sciences, btw, and is definitely worth a look.
• Biographic was originally pointed out to us by our friend Jodi Ettenberg, a former travel blogger who now publishes a newsletter called Curious About Everything, which is so much better than the usual dreck that lands in our inbox. Check it out.
• On a more mundane level, we're always looking for deals on accommodations, and the best way to do that is to consider visiting cities where the hotels are a (relative) bargain. To help with that, here is the Hotels.com 2025 hotel price index report. Want a bargain? Try Vietnam. (We've been twice.) Unfortunately for us, our very favorite destination – Madrid – is getting more expensive.
• ​Southwest Airlines made some waves recently when they abandoned their open seating policy and introduced baggage fees. This interview with CEO Bob Jordan addresses these hot buttons for current and future Southwest fliers.

💸 This Week's Best Deals in Travel

• For minimalist packers like us, this 40L Osprey backpack (or one like it) is essential. And, it's on sale for 26 percent off at Amazon. Tom favors backpacks rather than roller bags and this one is the perfect size and will fit everything on our essential packing list. It's also available in a shorter torso version for women.
• Our perennial favorite travel gadget, the Apple Air Tags, are on sale for the lowest price we've seen in a while, 31 percent off. If you're checking bags and not using these, you're taking a big risk.
• And, another recent discovery, the Waschii portable clothes washing bag, has permanently lowered their price by $10. One use will more than pay for hotel laundry charges.
• And, if road tripping is your thing, you'll want to put one of these portable battery charger/car starters in your trunk. We used ours twice last winter. It works, and a lot faster than calling AAA.

📖 What We're Reading

Kris is reading Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. So far, it seems to be about the state of being captured in the great line, “mixing memory and desire." That beautiful line is lifted by Rooney from T.S. Eliot’s Wasteland.

Tom is entranced by the novelette Bonjour Tristesse (Hello, Sadness) written in the 1950s by the then French teenager, Françoise Sagan. (And, no, he's not reading it in the original French.) You can get through it in a sitting or two; it's only 130 pages, but each of them is packed with life observations you wouldn't expect from a teenager. Frankly, it's brilliant.

For our previous book recommendations, check out this list.

❝Travel Quote of the Week❞

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? – George Carlin
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Happy travels,

Kris and Tom

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Tom Bartel and Kristin Henning ​Travel Past 50​ Connect with us: Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Join our Facebook community.

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