The worst travelers of March so far
Air travel worldwide is set to be disrupted for days following a fire near the UK's Heathrow Airport. Shocked travelers have told us about being caught up in the chaos on Friday. Here's what to do if your flight is canceled or delayed.
It's been a lively month so far in terms of disappointing antics by travelers and pleasure-seekers.
An American tourist caused international outrage mid-March after she was filmed snatching a baby wombat from its mother and running off with it.
A Pennsylvania man was caught on March 7 going through security at a New Jersey airport with a live turtle concealed in his pants.
A video went viral of two diners urinating into their hotpot broth at a restaurant in China, leading the restaurant chain to offer refunds to customers.
In Ireland, a campaigner is trying to stop tourists from groping the breasts of Dublin's famous Molly Malone statue.
Airplanes have always been a hive of unruly behavior, but March has been a doozie.
In just the last three weeks, disruptive incidents on planes have included biting, shoving, swallowing of rosary beads, plans to speak to President Trump, and toilets getting so clogged the plane had to turn back.
Let's turn now to some more inspirational real-life travel stories.
A former luxury realtor from Los Angeles was in her 60s when she went on vacation to Puglia in southern Italy. She loved it so much she decided to stay there for good.
A Pittsburgh woman had a different calling when she moved to the southern Italian region of Calabria and became the country's 'first woman rabbi.' 'There's a Yiddish word, beshert… It means 'meant to be,'' she tells CNN.
A Californian university professor left the US for what he thought would be a six-month trip to Japan. More than three decades later, he's still there. He tells CNN, it's still 'so much fun.'
Finally, a Chicago woman and her teenage son left the US for Spain after a heartbreaking family tragedy. Relocating is not easy, she says, but 'Valencia helped us heal.'
Li Dongju, of China, didn't go on her first international trip until she was 56 years old. Now, 10 years later, she's exploring the world by bike. She's already biked solo through 12 countries across three continents.
In Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park, Trish Salazar and Aaron Toro connected instantly when they met while hiking. Within days, they were committed to a long-distance relationship and planning a future together. Then life took another unexpected turn. Hear their story on the Chance Encounters podcast.
With 'perfect waves and no crowds,' Angola could be the surfing world's best-kept secret. So far, the fledgling infrastructure means it's only attracting the more adventurous surfers, but that's beginning to change.
It's possible to keep fit on any trip, not just on full sporting adventures like these. To help keep up your routine while you're away, our partners at CNN Underscored, a products review and recommendations guide owned by CNN, have this round-up of the best travel fitness products under $25, according to personal trainers.
A Canadian couple told CNN they normally spend tens of thousands traveling throughout the US every year. Because of remarks by President Donald Trump and the tariff war, they've canceled nearly everything.
They aren't alone. Canadian tourists make up 40% of the revenue for many businesses in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. This year, many are choosing to skip their regular vacation. One accommodation owner tells CNN he's had so many cancellations his business may not survive. Watch here.
This man quit his corporate job to travel the world photographing dogs.
He says he's 'close to out of money.'
The world's happiest countries for 2025 have been revealed.
And it turns out people are much kinder than we expect.
This Ugandan tourism experience costs $800 an hour.
Here's why it's worth it.
An Italian beach town has been swarmed by midges.
Locals want a state of emergency declared.
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Buzz Feed
an hour ago
- Buzz Feed
Americans Share Culture Shock Abroad
So much of traveling abroad is learning how to adapt to a new culture while you're visiting, and oftentimes, you discover differences that you never even expected would be unique to your own country's culture. So when Reddit user u/TJBullz asked the question, "Americans of Reddit, what is something you didn't realize was typically American, until you went abroad?" In r/AskReddit, I knew it would be full of some very interesting and unbelievable realizations: "Garbage disposals in sinks. When I moved to the UK, my flatmates asked how in movies people would stick their hands in the sink drain and it would be ripped apart. I told them about garbage disposals, and they were very weirded out." "Ranch flavor Doritos in the Netherlands are called 'Cool American' flavor." "Red plastic cups for parties. So much so that people outside the US use them as an accessory to American-themed parties." "Keeping the AC on 100% of the time in the summer. I visited Madrid for about a month to see the exchange student we housed, and found that they typically only turn on the AC at night to sleep or when it reaches a damned 105 degrees F." "Dressing like shit to do stuff like grocery shopping. We went to the Netherlands for about two weeks, and we never saw anyone dress in comfy shit. Like, everyone looked nice everywhere… at all hours. You catch me walking through Walmart at 3 a.m., and I'm wearing old PJs and whatever shirt I happen to exist in, and I'm probably not wearing socks." "At a buffet in Germany, I had to pay for ketchup." "Sugar. When I visited Japan, even some of their sweetest desserts paled in comparison to how much sugar is in American food." "I was struck by the extent to which nobody talks to strangers in northern Europe ... Even in big cities in the US, people will talk to each other sometimes in line, on the subway, etc. Not deep conversations, but it isn't weird to make casual conversation." "S'mores. I was in New Zealand having a bonfire on the beach, and someone went and grabbed a bag of marshmallows, and then everyone just ate them??! By themselves?! And someone from Sweden asked me if s'mores were a real thing or only on TV. I was flabbergasted. This all could be due in part to the fact other places don't tend to have graham crackers." "Water pressure. Y'all's showers are like a flower watering pot. I like to feel my shower. Like, make the pressure strong enough to tear my skin off, then back it off like ten percent." "Road least just jumping in the car and driving a few hours without giving it much thought. I live in a large western state, and it seems at least every other weekend my family and I were in the car traveling for a few hours to see some sights or go into Mexico or another state." "Cold drinks. Every European country I visited, the drinks would best be described as cool but definitely not cold like in the US." "Tailgates. I've lived in the States my entire life, but when my Spanish girlfriend came to visit, I wasn't sure what I could show her that really exhibited American culture. There are plenty of American stereotypes you see on TV, but it wasn't until I took her to a tailgate that I realized how violently American the whole experience is." "The fear of strangers. I was in Munich and chatted a girl up at the hotel bar. She asked me to walk her home, and I hesitated at first because I thought, 'We hardly know each other, and that's walking around in a large city at night alone together.' She saw NOTHING wrong with it, and no one looked at us funny. I did so, and it was fine. The Germans just are not paranoid about stranger danger the way Americans are." "Apparently, it's weird to carry around a reusable, non-plastic water bottle outside the US. When I studied in South America, the big joke at the university was, 'You can always tell who the Americans are by their water bottles.' I'm talking Nalgene, Swell, etc. with stickers on it. I was embarrassed by this, but not enough to not stay hydrated." And finally, here's an interesting one for everyone who loves to wine and dine while they're abroad: "Going out to a restaurant. In America, you are seated ASAP, and then they bring you drinks, appetizers, an entree, dessert, and then your check. It's as quick as possible (if it's good service) for a total time of 45 minutes to an hour and a half-ish. Staying past this time is seen as a bit rude." Are you an American who has also discovered some "distinctly American" things during your travels? Let me know in the comments!
Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Headed to Paris soon? Our restaurant critic has a dozen standout dining suggestions
I'm recently returned from two weeks in Paris for vacation (planned for the window right before so many restaurants close for a break in August), and I didn't even pretend I intended to give myself a break from the business of dining. It's Paris. Of course I was going all in, particularly since I hadn't been to France in over a decade. The research — the brooding over all the possibilities — is always part of the fun. Beyond suggestions from Parisian friends, there was much triangulating of recommendations, especially among the Paris By Mouth newsletter, Lindsey Tramuta (who writes for many English language publications and wrote the 'Eater Guide to Paris' book released in April) and David Lebovitz's very popular newsletter. Nothing about the following list is complete, but as inspirations for your own travels I pared two weeks down to a dozen Paris suggestions, plus thoughts on a few of the city's geekiest coffee bars. Over the year and a half I traveled through our state to write the 101 Best Restaurants in California guide, I kept wishing to experience a tasting-menu restaurant that thrillingly centers vegetables on the plate. Excellent places like Kismet and RVR include intricately composed dishes on their menus that roll with the seasons. I'm thinking, though, of a kitchen with a revolutionary streak, where the emphasis on plant-based cooking not only feels unapologetic but galvanizing, rattling diners awake to the delicious, sustainable-minded possibilities of decentering meat in one of the world's great growing climates. That restaurant doesn't exist yet in California. But it does in Paris. Manon Fleury opened Datil, a 33-seat railroad-style space in the 3rd arrondissement, in September 2023. Her restaurant's website details commitments that will sound familiar to Californian restaurant obsessives: how the staff (predominantly women) foster close relationships to producers, how the menu strictly reflects what's coming from the meals, the low-waste approach. So maybe, in my jadedness, I was caught off-guard by the lyricism of the five-course lunch. Beautiful in its garden colors and juxtaposing crunchy and yielding textures, but not showy or pushy. The kind of food where I found myself leaning toward what I was eating, like bending closer to catch what my smartest friend was saying at a party. To describe the heart of the meal: After crackery nibbles, and a lovely flan whose flavors brought to mind white gazpacho, came porridge made using white rice from the coastal southern region of Camargue, where the grain (including a famous red strain) has been grown since the 13th century. It was crowned with an improvisational arrangement of tomatoes and other summery fruits and vegetables, and a gloss of herb oil. It was filling and comforting and also, given all the pointy vegetals flavors, enthralling. Then came a stunning savory play on a mille-feuille formed from sinewy, perfectly salted blanched zucchini. Its layers hid flaked morsels of skate wing — the kitchen is roughly 85 percent plant-based but seafood or meat might be used sparingly — with a brunoise of zucchini, parsley and shallots. Servers swooped in with two sauces poured from metal carafes: a warm beurre blanc tensed with juiced kumquat and cider vinaigrette, and a cool sorrel sauce that clung to the butter in swirls. Another sauce made from plums already lurked underneath. So many harmonies to discern. Lastly, some straight-up indulgence: a boozy, plush savarin, about the size of a Krispy Kreme doughnut, domed with half of a poached and lightly charred apricot. All the reasons to travel — to know a place while better seeing ourselves, and who and what we might be — came to bear in this emotionally intelligent meal. Chefs in California could, and should, be cooking like this. Two fantastic bistros: Friends urged that while Le Bistrot Paul Bert has become a de-facto option for visitors over the last decade (and I have, in the past, sopped up its île flottante until I indeed floated away), I should check out Bistrot des Tournelles in the 4th for a more intimate, relaxed but still bullseye bistro dinner. They were right. Surprise hit? The gushing, textbook chicken Cordon bleu. Harder to book but worth the effort: Chez Georges at 1 Rue du Mail. (I mention the address specifically because there other similarly named restaurants, but this is the one you want.) Jean-Gabriel de Bueil leads a suave cast of characters in a rowdy, cramped, exhilarating room. Squint at the menu written in tiny handwritten cursive and pick out salade frisée, ris de veau, cote d'agneau grillé and the must-have tarte tatin. My favorite Lebanese meal: If you read my work, you know I'm looking out for Lebanese restaurants wherever I go in the world. Part of my time in Paris was with my Lebanese crew, and among several meals we agreed hands-down the best was Kubri, the deservedly lauded draw in the 11th run by Ingrid and Mayfrid Chehlaoui and chef Rita Higgins Akar. So, so rarely does a Lebanese kitchen find balance between the traditional dishes (many of which have simple ingredients that demand technique) and innovation (which often produces aberrations that have no relation to the original). This one nails the midpoint, with wonders like a charred wedge of cabbage rubbed in Aleppo pepper butter and pummeled with diced pickled apricot, shanklish (crumbly aged cheese) and salty-sugary peanuts modeled after a snack in Lebanon called Cri-Cri. The only restaurant to which I circled back for a second meal. Seafood for a casual lunch: Septime, the modern bastion of bistronomy, rides on its fame and is so difficult to book. Show up for lunch at its next-door seafood restaurant, Clamato, which doesn't take reservations. I'd been warned about long waits, but we managed to walk right in on a summer weekday at 1:15 p.m. Beautiful plates of fish and shellfish from the French coast, most seasoned with restraint and a nod to Japan here and there. Loved the take on the bountiful Provençal grand aioli with a slab of pollock and big hunks of blanched fennel, carrots and zucchini. (I was continually reminded that Parisians could teach us how to blanch vegetables to just-tender, properly seasoned deliciousness.) Seafood for a fancier night out: Restaurant Le Duc, in the 14th and around since the late 1960s, personifies midcentury Parisian elegance: rich wood paneling, career servers with sly humor, simple and impeccable seafood. A lovely crab salad, cleaned entirely of shell, segued to a gorgeous, finely textured sole meunière presented in a copper pan before filleting. Among desserts displayed on a roving cart, home in on crunching, gorgeously proportioned mille-feuille. The three-star blowout: Plan half a year ahead to score a reservation at Plénitude, the ne-plus-ultra splurge (as in €345 per person) in the Cheval Blanc hotel, with its almost comically scenic perch at the edge of the Seine overlooking the Pont-Neuf bridge. Arnaud Donckele is a chef of the moment; Plénitude has all the global accolades. For fine-dining devotees, I say it's worth the investment. Much has already been written about Donckele's mastery over sauces, and I love how servers present both a side of the sauce to taste on its own — which I sometimes prized even more than with other elements on the plate — and a booklet that details the dizzying number of ingredients they contain. (So many wild vinegars!) The staff move as one, with the synchronized precision of a Rolex. As is expected during the loftiest modern tasting-menu dinners, a little fun comes into play: Diners might move location for one course, and those who opt for a cheese course rise from their chairs to make selections from a walk-in cabinet that opens at the end of one room. The whole experiences feels at once very worldly and very Parisian. Speaking of cheese: Plenty of people visit Paris for the patisseries. I'm with y'all (the apricot tart at Du Pain et Des Idées forever), but I come even more for the fromageries. A group of us signed up for a cheese tasting experience, via Paris by Mouth, with Jennifer Greco, an American who has lived in France for decades and dedicated her curiosity to all things fromage. We begin at Laurent Dubois, her favorite cheese shop in Paris, and Greco is excellent about adapting a selection to the group's interests and knowledge levels. I like bloomy rinds (like Brie de Meaux and the runnier, funkier specimens, and she obliged — while steering us towards the sublimely nutty Comtés the shop is known for carrying. We walked a few minutes to a space where we slowly tasted through our loot, with plenty of bread and appropriate wines. What an incredible afternoon, and believe me, it counts as a meal. France meets Japan: Japan has been a major influence on aspects of French dining for over 50 years, and chefs in Paris, more than ever it feels like, graft the two cultures and cuisines. One newer great: Maison by Sota Atsumi in the 11th, also known as Maison and Maison Sota. Atsumi earned fan as the chef at Clown Bar, and his own tasting-menu restaurant is warm and communal: Most diners sit either along the counter or at a comfortable, room-length table. The air smells of woodsmoke, a fascinating counterpoint (in a way that particular fragrance usually engenders casual and rustic) to the meticulous compositions in large ceramics that define the aesthetic. But all the foams and saucy dots and tiny flowers trick the mind after all: The flavors are shockingly soulful. A standout Moroccan restaurant: Marie-Jose Mimoun waves you to a table at Le Tagine in the 11th, and for a few hours you sort of absorb into the living entity of her dining room, flowing with the pace. I was sad that, pre-vacation, she had stopped making a special lamb and peach tagine advertised on a placard, but a variation with the meat flavored with raisins, onions, honey and almonds was still among the best tagines I've tasted outside Morocco. Ditto the couscous, served with plenty of broth and smoky harissa full of tightly knotted spices. Great natural-leaning wine list too. The dependable crêpe destination: Breizh Cafe has 13 locations around Paris, a chain by any standard, but it was recommended in so many publications it felt like the right recommendation for a group outing one night. We gathered at the location in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and we had the reliable experience we needed. The savory galette with ham, egg and Comté delivered lacy texture and deep buckwheat flavor (as is traditional in Brittany, where the company originates), and a sweet crêpes Suzette, flambéed with Grand Marnier, flickered with a taut dash of yuzu as well. To drink: dry pear cider. Perfect end-of-the-trip pizza: So many friends mentioned Oobatz, a pizza restaurant by Maine native Dan Pearson in collaboration with the owners of Le Rigmarole (roundly lauded but not open during my trip). I thought that the last thing I wanted in Paris was pizza. And then, after two weeks of nonstop eating and drinking, my partner and I looked at each other the evening after a wine-soaked lunch and said, 'Yeah, let's go have pizza.' So good. Pearson uses a sourdough base for his bready crusts; they'd be well regarded anywhere in America. Bonus that the menu lists a 'chef du surprise' pie; ours was a white pie dotted with meaty splotches of duck ragu. I recommend the list that Lindsey Trumata co-wrote for Conde Nast Traveler for a broader perspective on drinking coffee in Paris, but these three coffee bars stood out for me: Emily Wilson of The Angel newsletter has a very trustworthy list of Paris recommendations. She directed me to Téléscope Cafe, presided over by Nicolas Clerc, regarded by many as the (still young) godfather of Paris's fourth-wave coffee movement — by which I'll define as bars dedicated to working with roasters (or roasting their own beans) with direct relationships to farmers and an emphasis on unusually expressive coffees. Wilson loves Clerc's iced coffee; I admire his long list of pour over options listed by growing region and tasting notes in order of intensity. It was my first coffee stop on the trip, and the place to which I most returned. His banana bread with salted butter was, most days, the only breakfast I needed. The most dedicated coffee nerds should plan ahead for Substance Café, a reservations-only bar run by barista Joachim Morceau and his wife Alexandrine. Joachim has showmanship, charming customers from behind the counter but he's intensely serious about his craft. (The couple roasts their own beans.) He often encourages every person to start with one featured coffee to grasp individual tastes, and then he starts making excellent suggestions, equally compelling for pour overs or milky espresso drinks. Substance is one of those places where customers compare notes on where else they're drinking coffee in Paris, and based on those conversations I ended up at Tiba, a tiny shop that gets intensely busy on the weekends. Kevin Cerqueira, as friendly as he is passionate, mans the place by himself. He wasn't brewing a variety of Colombian beans roasted by local company Datura, but based on my very specific predlictions in coffee (notes dried fruits and booze) I bought them from his supply … and I already have an order in for four more boxes.
Los Angeles Times
4 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Leaving Las Vegas! Fewer Californians are visiting Sin City. Here's what the number say
If you spend any time on social media, it's hard to avoid the scorching hot takes about Las Vegas' recent financial struggles. Vegas critics say the exorbitant resort fees are brutal, the ever-increasing parking costs are punishing, the comps are few and far between — and did you notice the buffets are vanishing? In short, Vegas is on a losing streak. After fighting to bounce back from COVID-19 closures, Sin City is facing financial headwinds as fewer people, particularly Californians, are visiting, playing and ultimately spending money. My colleague Terry Castleman dived into some theories, but also, as Terry does well, dug into the numbers to tell the tale of Vegas' sudden crap out. Visits to Las Vegas were down 11.3% in June 2025 versus a year earlier, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Traffic on Interstate 15 at the California-Nevada border was down 4.3% over the same period, suggesting fewer visitors doing road trips from the Golden State to Vegas casinos. The number of air travelers into Las Vegas overall declined 6.3% over the previous June. In 2024, Californians made up more than a fifth of air travelers into Vegas, with nearly half of those coming from the Los Angeles metro area. A demographic report from the visitors authority estimated that Southern California provided 30% of all visitors to the city in 2024. Add it all up, and Californians could be responsible for a significant portion of the decline in Vegas tourism. Tourism within the U.S. is only part of the picture, though, as experts previously predicted we are also seeing a slump in international tourism to the U.S. The convention and visitors authority estimates that 12% of the city's visitors are international. A report from the World Travel and Tourism Council projected that the U.S. would lose $12.5 billion in international travel spending in 2025. 'While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the 'closed' sign,' Julia Simpson, the council's president, said in a statement. The report cited air-travel booking data from March that showed a 15% to 20% drop in expected travel from major tourism sources, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada. Visitors from Canada and Mexico made up more than half of international visitors to Las Vegas in 2024, according to data from the visitors authority. But President Trump's talk of making Canada the 51st state and his decision to hit Canada with tariffs have not endeared him to Canadian travelers. Meanwhile, media overseas have been bombarded with stories of capricious denials and detentions of travelers at U.S. border crossings. Apparently, Mexican and Canadian tourists are not feeling so welcome in the U.S. these days. 'Las Vegas thrives on tourism,' Rep. Steven Horsford wrote last week on X, 'but under the Trump slump, the numbers are tanking.' Horsford, a Democrat, represents Nevada's 4th Congressional District, which includes a portion of Las Vegas. By many metrics — including visitor totals, convention attendance and room occupancy rates — Las Vegas has not fully recovered from the onset of the pandemic. In dollar terms, however, Sin City continues to profit even as visitor numbers drop: Clark County, which includes Vegas, collected $1.16 billion in gambling revenue in June 2025, up 3.5% from a year earlier. So, Vegas' luck has not run out yet. For more, check out the full article here. Jim Rainey, staff writerDiamy Wang, homepage internIzzy Nunes, audience internKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew J. Campa, reporterKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
