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Hello Reader,

🧭 Where in the World?

It's been several years since we’ve been to Italy, and so it seems both familiar and new. We arranged guides for the essential sights such as Ancient Rome's Pantheon and the Theater of Marcellus, and for the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and Saint Peter’s Basilica. While we've seen all that before, our Context Travel guides managed to show us things in a new light with new insights.

We think the food in Rome has improved, and we enjoyed staying in the Aventine Hill neighborhood.

Of course, most of Rome doesn’t change. The one change we do notice though is, even in late October, the crowds are formidable…if that’s the right word. To put some actual numbers to it, our Vatican guide told us that ten years ago the average daily number of visitors to the Sistine Chapel was around 5,000. Now, the average is closer to 30,000 per day.

🧳 Our Latest Posts

Kris circled back to her visit to Menorca, in Spain's beautiful Balearic Islands, to write up the details of her stay. She found lots of art and nature and historic sites, so is encouraging everyone she runs into to consider a trip there. Maybe we'll return for a walk around the famous Cami de Cavalls trail that circles the island. She assures me it's not crowded.

🗞️ Travel News From Around the Web

• National Geographic has just released its 25 Best Places to Travel in the World for 2025. We've been to nine, so far, and are picking up another, Sarajevo, on this trip.
• And, not to be outdone, Lonely Planet has also released their 2025 Best in Travel. So, between the two, you'll have a lot of suggestions.
• Finally, as long as we're into lists this time, here's Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection's list of Safest Countries to Travel. Note, the USA is not on the list.

💸 This Week's Best Deals in Travel

• Our perennial favorite travel gadget of all, the Apple AirTag is still on sale at Amazon. If you're not putting these in your checked luggage, you're missing out on a lot of peace of mind. By the way, you can see all our suggestions for the best travel accessories here.
• And, this isn't on sale, but we've just discovered the Waschii traveling laundry bag. Essentially, it's a heavy plastic bag where you can shove a few items of clothing, some water and soap, give it a shake for a couple minutes and your travel clothes are ready for another day. Give it a try.

✈️ Points and Miles News

• Our favorite travel credit card has an unprecedented welcome offer right now. For the first time ever, this card has unveiled a unique welcome offer that combines points with cash for travel. Right now, you can earn 60,000 points and a $300 cash credit after spending $4,000 within your first three months. Learn more here. The points plus the travel credit are worth up to $1050 in free travel. That, along with the card's multiple other benefits, is a great deal for the $95 annual fee. Again, we're sorry that banking regulations won't let us name the card in an email, so click to find out more. Hurry, this offer will end soon.

📖 What We're Reading

We've been so busy traveling, and writing up our last trips, we haven't had as much time as usual for reading. When you get back from traipsing around Rome, and having a glass or two of wine with dinner, you mostly feel like going to bed. Nevertheless, Tom is currently reading The Stones of Florence, a travelog from the 1950s by Mary McCarthy. Beautiful writing, and as I said above, Italy doesn't change all that much. It's actually funny that she mentions over tourism, even 70 years ago.

❝Travel Quote of the Week❞

Home life is no more natural to us than a cage is natural to a cockatoo. – George Bernard Shaw

Happy travels,

Kris and Tom

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

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