Kassondra Cloos is a travel writer in London. She focuses on wilderness adventures, urban green spaces, and slow travel. Her work has been published by Outside, The Denver Post, Fodor’s, HGTV, Travel Channel, and many others. She almost always has a few postage stamps in her backpack and is weirdly obsessed with snail mail. You can find more of her work via her newsletter, outofoffice.substack.com
If you live in a big city, it might feel hard to escape to the outdoors. It can be hard to get to the woods if you don’t have a car, and even if you do it might be several hours of driving from your home to the mountains. But many cities are hiding a [...]
Ever wondered what it’s like to do the Bear Grylls workout? On a hot morning in London, we tried it – and it was very, very hard.
TikTok is always bursting with all sorts of viral tests claiming to challenge your balance, fitness, strength, and mobility. If you’re looking for ways to get moving, strengthen your body for summer outdoor sports, and maybe challenge your friends, here are three to try out from @Dr.Dan_DPT, a physical therapist who often posts challenges and [...]
America’s National Trails System is adding 340 miles to its network of the nation’s “highest caliber” trails, thanks to a recent announcement from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. Similar to the way National Park and Monument designation recognizes some of the most beautiful places in the United States, the National Trails System is a [...]
Whoever runs the National Park Service Twitter thread really should get a raise. Every day, @natlparkservice uses animal memes, pop culture references, and subtweets commenting on bad tourist behavior to share important tips about how to behave properly in parks. It’s fun to see a government agency that doesn’t take itself too seriously—and to learn [...]
If you’re looking for ways to stretch your vacation time and your budget this summer, “slow travel” might be just the change of pace you need.
“Weird walks” have recently been trending on TikTok—and they’re just as straightforward as they sound. Basically, the game is this: Go out for a walk, and don’t head home until you’ve found something weird. That could be a bench with a funny inscription, some interesting graffiti you’ve never noticed before, or a funny animal interaction, [...]
Forty-three years ago today, Mt. St. Helens erupted in southwestern Washington. And to this day, it remains the most destructive volcanic eruption in U.S. history. The eruption killed 57 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and dozens of bridges, and debris ruined 15 miles of railroad tracks and 185 miles of highway. Over a nine-hour eruption, [...]
The National Park System has over 400 units, but each year, people keep going back to the same few places. That leads to traffic jams (especially when tourists spy cute animals from their cars), parking issues, and crowded trailheads. While places with official “park” designation often get the most attention, there are so many other [...]
The European Union has long had consumer protections in place that require airlines to compensate passengers with cash payments when their trips are disrupted—sometimes amounting to hundreds of dollars per ticket. Now, President Joe Biden wants to make U.S. airlines follow suit. Currently, major U.S. airlines currently guarantee cash payments for travel disruptions, The New [...]
