Hello Reader,

🧭 Where in the World?

I was going to say we’re airborne, but that sounds like a disease. So, let’s just say we’re off on more adventures, packed for about a month. We're starting with a couple days in Madrid, then Kris is going to Jerez for a week of concentrated Sherry tasting and Tom is headed to Malaga for a week of intensive Spanish conversation classes. After that, we're off to Valencia for some family and beach time. Our expectations are to see new places, meet new people, eat new food, and enjoy more than a few unplanned days. All the better if we can keep up on our reading and writing and embrace a bit of new perspective on this complicated world. By the way, Spain's excellent train system makes all this moving around extremely easy and much more comfortable than flying.

🧳 Our Latest Posts

Our latest post harkens back to that age-old question about packing – and specifically about tech accessories and carry-on organization that will really make your travel hours more pleasant. Check it out.

🛫 Get Going: Tours We Recommend For You

You know we are keen on attracting four more people for our November trip with Elective Study Abroad to Andalucia, Spain. (And now is the time to enroll.) To us, it mattereth not that we’ve been to Córdoba and Granada before, given the experts we get to hang out with there.

But you may be enthralled by other destinations and topics – and that’s OK! Go ahead and browse Elective’s ‘course catalog’ to discover other sessions: The Evolution of the City in Palermo, Sicily; World Religions in Istanbul; Women in Paris in … Paris!; Art and Art de Vivre in Montpellier, France; and others.

Start your research here and consider joining Tom and me for “The Architecture and Cuisine of Andalusia.” We look forward to including you in this Travel Past 50 experience with Elective.

Talk to Carrie at Elective Study Abroad or contact Tom or Kris if you want to noodle on any of this. But don’t delay, space is limited.

NOTE: Travel Past 50 readers save $250 with the code TP502026. There’s no single supplement, and just for the asking we’ll help Andalusia visitors with any of your pre- or post- travel extensions in Spain, our home away from home.

🗞️ Travel News From Around the Web

• Museums are often our first stop in cities because we can learn so much about the history and culture of a place through its art. The American Friends of the Prado just announced its new exhibition, “A Work, a Story” with the display of The Year of Hunger in Madrid by José Aparicio. This artwork was a centerpiece in the Prado in the 19^th Century, more popular than Velazquez’s Las Meninas. We’re fascinated in its journalistic role, too. The museum notes, “By displaying the painting in this way, the Prado is encouraging a reflection on the vicissitudes of art and criticism, propaganda, the invention of taste and the role of museums.” By the way, the American Friends of the Prado provides expedited entry to the museum and a wealth of video presentations about current exhibits to members. Read this to see why we think the Prado is the best museum in Europe.
• ​Rails to Trails Conservancy just celebrated Trails Day this month. It’s not too late to investigate the best trails near you. Their website includes top trails by state, tips for trails by activity, and ways to support the system. To date, the United States has nearly 26,000 miles of rail-trails.
• On a darker note, the Iran War is causing huge headaches for the travel industry. The latest manifestation is not just the high price of jet fuel that is being passed on to us flyers, but, in some cases, the shortage of fuel causing even some major world carriers to cancel thousands of flights.

💸 This Week's Best Deals in Travel

• In this era of sky high air fares (please pardon the pun) it's even more critical to take advantage of fare deals while you can. That's why we subscribe to Thrifty Traveler's Premium newsletter which will notify you of hundreds of air fare discounts and points deals. Every day, there are one or two great deals out there for the taking. In fact, Tom is flying to Madrid today on a points deal he got from Thrifty Traveler. Round trip to Madrid for 50,000 points, or the equivalent of only $500. And, if you use our link to subscribe, you automatically get $20 off the annual membership.

📖 What We're Reading

Kris is uploading several books to her Kindle in preparation for our long trip to Spain. The latest is The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans, which is also Tom's book for his book club next month.

Tom is still working on East of Eden, by John Steinbeck. Hey, it's long. And then, it will be his turn for The Correspondent.

You can see most of the books we recommend in one place at our Amazon book shop. If you'd prefer an alternative to Amazon, there is Alibris.com, where we frequently buy used books, and Bookshop.org, which supports independent booksellers. And, if you're into art books, like we are, check out the catalog at Taschen, the world's foremost publisher of art books.

If you buy a book through our links, we make a small commission at no additional cost to you.

❝Travel Quote of the Week❞

I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them. – Mark Twain

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Have any feedback? Ideas for future posts or email topics? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at feedback@travelpast50.com.

Happy travels,

Kris and Tom

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

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