Hello Reader,

🧭 Where in the World?

We’re off to see the wizard, which is to say some corners of the world we’ve not yet visited. First, before we join up with Elective Study Abroad in Palermo, we’re going to mosey around Sicily. We’re especially excited to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site Villa Romana del Casale, purported to be the world’s best example of Roman mosaic work in situ. We’ll keep you posted, or you can help point us in the right direction by checking out our Travel Past 50 Facebook Community discussion.

After Palermo, we're heading back to Spain for nearly two months. We'll be based in Valencia, where we have family, but will have plenty of time for travel, including to some places we haven't visited that were recently cited as some of the friendliest towns in Spain. See News below.

🛫 Get Going: Tours We Recommend For You

Consider joining us This Spring in Spain

We’re officially looking ahead to 2027 travel plans. Will you join us? We’re confirmed for The Architecture and Cuisine of Andalusia March 14-21, 2027, with Elective Study Abroad. Grab a spot now.

Whether you’ve been to this part of Spain before or not (we have several times), there’s always more to discover. Did we mention the course instructor's family grew up within the Alhambra walls, and the course facilitator is a renowned flamenco musician and scholar?

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

Read more about Elective Study Abroad programs – including courses in Paris and Istanbul – and inquire today.

Stay inside a UNESCO World Heritage Story in Sweden

The UNESCO-listed Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland can now be experienced through new three- and five-day journeys. Stay at World Heritage farmhouse Erik-Anders, meet the people who own and care for the farms, enjoy private visits to extraordinary painted rooms, and discover Hälsingland through food, stories and landscape. Choose the three-day Essential journey or stay longer with the five-day Signature experience, with options to explore even more of the seven UNESCO farmhouses. You can see the brochure here, or make inquiries to Anna Forsell, anna@erik-anders.se​

Here's a post about one of the many great experiences we've had in Sweden.

We like to get our own daily news via short summaries. A big time saver over doom scrolling social media for tidbits. We subscribe to the daily news summary from 1440. Have a look. (BTW, sponsors like this help keep our site and newsletter free.)

🗞️ Travel News From Around the Web

• A new way to beat jet lag is being studied. Here's a semi-academic article with details, but the short story is there might be a simple injection in our future that will help our bodies adjust to time changes more quickly. We'd welcome giving that a try. Probably a lot easier than trying to sleep on the plane.
• We just ran across this arbitrary list of friendly towns in Spain that includes many places we haven’t visited…yet. We're planning on hitting a couple of these, and some others on our upcoming two months in Spain. Haro, in the wine region of Rioja, has a particular attraction.
• We recently checked out the newly renovated Radisson Blu at Mall of America, right here in Minnesota, and were reminded that MOA is nearly always associated with our hometown when we tell people where we’re from. That and our basketball teams and Prince. And cold and snow. Sounds about right. Here’s another reminder to find your hotel’s proper website when booking. Don’t be taken with the pseudo reservation sites that rise to the top of your search results and may charge you more.
• If you’re like us, creating your independent tour as you go, you might seek out cultural centers to learn about current events and to check the pulse of the city. We lean toward artist studios, student centers and libraries to do just that. Istanbul’s Rami Library is a great example. It was awarded the “Grand Scale Project” prize at the 2026 Green Library Awards organized by the International Federation of Library Associations.

📖 What We're Reading

Kris continues her non-fiction reading streak. She was inspired by Drawn to the Rhythm, by Sara Hall, a beautifully written memoir about Hall’s emergence from a punishing marriage to discover her passion for rowing. We met Sara at the home of another writer friend, Karin Winegar, so Kris has returned to Karin’s recent book, Horse Lovers. Horse Lovers, like Drawn to the Rhythm, explores intense passion, and both recall, in a way, Kris’s read earlier this summer of Patti Smith’s Bread of Angels. All three women understand they were born to follow their paths – sport, horses, art. (Kris is still asking what was she born to do, and when will she find out?)

Tom is still plowing through the massive 2666, by Roberto Bolaño, and finds himself thinking it's one of the best books he's read in the last 10 years. Almost 1000 pages, and it never drags. The NY Times agrees, placing it in the Top 10 of Best Books of the 21st Century. Next on his list is Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett, whose books he's been meaning to read for years, after getting so many recommendations.

Find most of our recommendations at our Amazon book shop — or, if you prefer supporting independent booksellers, Bookshop.org is excellent. Art book lovers: Taschen's catalog is a rabbit hole worth falling into.

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 believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings. – Gustave Flaubert

See our list of amusing, insightful, and pithy travel quotes here.

Read past editions of our newsletter here.

If you're enjoying what you're reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here.

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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