Hello Reader,

🧭 Where in the World?

We're here at home, digging out from our first snowfall and plotting our trip this weekend in Chicago. We're meeting with our friends at the Tourist Bureau of Spain to plan our visit(s) to our favorite country next year, and will certainly take in as much of Chicago's cultural scene as we have time for.

🛫 Get Going: Tours We Recommend For You

It's not too early to plan your travel for 2026, so have a look at these three opportunities, one of which is coming up soon.

• South America (with us!) We're leading a small group (maximum 12) to Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay in February-March. We're concentrating on food and wine, with some history and culture thrown in. If you're a fan of wine, you're probably already familiar with the wines from Chile's Colchacua Valley and Argentina's Mendoza region. We'll be visiting both, and we'd love you to join us. There is more info on our Tours Page, and if you're interested in even more info, email Kris at kristin@travelpast50.com with the subject line "South America Wine and Culture."
• Ireland. The Ireland in Focus tour to Sligo that we just finished has just announced its next tour for October 2026 and is offering a $300 discount to readers of Travel Past 50. Use the code TP50 at checkout to get the deal. You can read about our experience here, or listen to Kris's radio broadcast on Travel Writer's Radio here.
• Elective Study Abroad. Pick your dates (as early as March 2026) or pick your destination, but do have a look now at the 2026 course offerings by Elective. Their study abroad model is a great kickstarter for your thoughtful travel. (Read about our experience here.) Consider your study options: Palermo, Paris, Istanbul, Andalusia, and more, to experience this unique approach to travel. Travel Past 50 is pleased to announce $250 off per person for enrollments in any of Elective's 2026 courses. Just use the exclusive code TP50.

🧳 Our Latest Posts

The Department of the Interior announced a big jump on how much visitors to the United States will have to pay to visit a United States National Park. Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, the Annual Pass will cost $80 for U.S. residents and $250 for nonresidents. Nonresidents without an annual pass will also pay a $100 per person fee to enter 11 of the most visited National Parks, in addition to the standard entrance fee.
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The Department also highlighted resident-only free days for 2026, notably dropping Martin Luther King day from the list of the days that had been free in the past, and adding Donald Trump's birthday in its stead. Here are the free days for 2026:
President’s Day (February 16, 2026)
Memorial Day (May 25, 2026)
Flag Day/President Trump’s birthday (June 14, 2026)
Independence Day weekend (July 3–5, 2026)
110th Birthday of the National Park Service (August 25, 2026)
Constitution Day (Sept. 17, 2026)
Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (Oct. 27, 2026)
Veteran’s Day (November 11, 2026)

🗞️ Travel News From Around the Web

• Are you looking for a weekend getaway? We've been to Nashville several times and have always loved it – especially just wandering downtown and sticking our heads in to every bar that's playing music. BTW, Nashville is the US's fastest growing airport.
• We hope Jamaica wasn't on your upcoming travel agenda, because Hurricane Melissa caused the closing of at least 26 Jamaican resorts. Climate change is having an increasing effect on tourism everywhere.

💸 This Week's Best Deals in Travel

• Tomorrow is the last day that new subscribers can receive 50% off their first year of Thrifty Traveler Premium or Premium Plus. The Thrifty Traveler daily newsletter of great flight and hotel deals is often how we make it cheap and easy to fly around the country, and even around the world. A few months ago, Tom flew first class round trip to Amsterdam for the equivalent of about $700 worth of points – a deal he found through Thrifty Traveler. Just today, Thrifty Traveler notified us of a round trip fare to Madrid for only 16K points (which you can transfer from Chase, AMEX and others.) It's well worth the annual fee if you use just one of their deals. And at half price, it's a no-brainer.
• Interrail has announced a 25 percent discount on European rail passes if you purchase by December 17. We always use the European rail pass when we travel in Europe, and this is a great deal on your next trip.
• Maybe the most useful travel accessory ever, a four pack of Apple AirTags, is on sale for the lowest price we've ever seen. They're only $62.99. That's 36 percent off the full price. We don't know how long that price will last, so check them out today.
• The Belkin Portable Charging bank we carry is also on sale for the lowest price we've seen: $37.99 with a coupon available on the Amazon page.
• Our favorite travel shoes Xero Shoes has all their shoes on sale for at least 25 percent off...and some styles are up to 60 percent off. Use their handy Find Your Shoe function to find the right shoe for your style.
• Finally, today is the last day for REI members to use a coupon to get an extra 25 percent off on purchases at REI Outlet. Use the code CYBER2025 to get the extra discount.

📖 What We're Reading

Tom is currently reading The Orphan Master's Son, by Adam Johnson. It's a story of one North Korean, the son of an influential North Koren official who becomes a professional kidnapper and must navigate the shifting rules, arbitrary violence, and baffling demands of his overlords in order to stay alive. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2013. He put down the book this week to re-read his favorite play, Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, who died last week.

Kris just finished Long Island by Colm Tóibín, a quick enjoyable read after watching the movie version of his earlier book, Brooklyn. She's now dipping her toe into A Little Piece of Cuba, by Barbara Caver (a memoir), and a re-read of Tom Stoppard's Indian Ink and Leopoldstadt.

You can see most of the books we recommend in one place at our Amazon book shop. If you buy a book through our links, we make a small commission at no additional cost to you.

❝Travel Quote of the Week❞

If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older. – Tom Stoppard (1937-2025)

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Happy travels,

Kris and Tom

P.S. What more can we do for you? Reply to this newsletter and ask us anything.

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

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