Latest news with #Wanderlust
The Independent
5 days ago
- The Independent
Why travellers are eyeing nation plagued by ‘extreme violence'
Despite Foreign Office warnings, UK travellers are showing renewed interest in Venezuela, with one in 12 Wanderlust magazine readers expressing readiness to visit. Demand is expected to rise following Sir Michael Palin 's upcoming TV series on the country, where he highlights its 'spectacular' scenery but acknowledges the challenging travel conditions. The Foreign Office warns of high murder rates, armed robbery, mugging, and 'extreme violence', while the US State Department advises American citizens to 'prepare a will' before visiting. Lupine Travel's Venezuela tours have sold out, but the operator cautions about increasing tensions and high detention risks for individuals with US links. Sir Michael and travel experts say some of the draws of Venezuela are its 'magnificent' mountains, beautiful beaches, exotic wildlife, and the world's tallest waterfall.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Venezuela high on travellers' wish-lists despite Foreign Office warnings of ‘armed robbery, mugging, carjacking and burglary'
Venezuela is back on the agenda for UK travellers – despite the Foreign Office warning against visiting the South American nation. In a survey of readers of Wanderlust magazine, one in 12 is ready to travel to Venezuela. The founding editor of Wanderlust, Lyn Hughes, said: 'Our readers are more adventurous than many, and are very curious about the world. I am sure there is pent-up demand to visit Venezuela and when it does open up our readers will be the first wanting to explore.' Demand is likely to increase when a new TV series on Venezuela presented by Sir Michael Palin airs on 5 later this year. On his return, the veteran traveller described the travelling as 'hard, but hugely rewarding'. He said: 'I worked with the Channel 5/ITN team with whom I'd made three series – in North Korea, Iraq and Nigeria – and for all of us this was a different challenge. 'Venezuela is spectacular. Magnificent mountains, beautiful Caribbean beaches, exotic wildlife and the longest waterfall in the world. But Western governments issue strong warnings to their citizens about the risks of travelling to a nation whose leadership is regarded by the UK as illegitimate and whose basic public services are in disarray. Nicholas Maduro has presided over economic collapse and a political crackdown. The opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, is in hiding. 'Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in the world,' warns the Foreign Office. 'Armed robbery, mugging, carjacking and burglary are all very common and often accompanied by extreme violence.' Even on arrival at the airport serving the capital, Caracas, visitors may be targeted by armed robbers, the FCDO says. Yet this year's trips organised by one of the few tour operators to offer Venezuela have all sold out. Lupine Travel of Wigan offers 10- and 11-night tours, taking in Caracas, the Angel Falls and the Caribbean coast. The next departs on 17 June, and like the subsequent trip in October there are no places left. 'Demand has been continuing to increase for Venezuela,' said the founder of Lupine Travel, Dylan Harris. He warned, though, that 'things are getting slightly tense again over there again' as relations with Washington DC deteriorate even further. 'Risk of detention is now really high for anyone with links to the US,' he said. 'We've recently had to cancel places of those with US links from our upcoming tours. I believe this won't be a quick fix and I expect it will dampen demand over the coming months.' The US State Department warns American citizens of 'extreme danger' in Venezuela. Anyone planning to go is urged to 'prepare a will'. Yet Christine Shacklady, managing director of Travel Risk & Incident Prevention, told The Independent 's daily travel podcast that she could not wait to return – having spent much of her childhood growing up in Caracas. She said: 'The number one thing that I love about Venezuela is the culture. The people are incredible. The waterfalls, the jungle, the nature; the beaches are out of this world.' The Wanderlust survey was presented to delegates at the Latin American Travel Association Expo 2025 in Windsor. Ms Hughes said: ' Wanderlust was conceived on a Viasa flight to South America, in which we spent six months in Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia. 'Venezuela then seemed like a little-known secret that deserved many more visitors – and that applies even more so now. The magnificent table-top mountains known as tepuis; unspoiled Caribbean beaches; the Andes, the wildlife rich plains of Los Llanos. 'We were blown away by the diversity and the sheer scale of the landscapes as well as the welcome from indigenous communities.' The Venezuelan airline Viasa went bust in 1997. Since then most European airlines have axed their routes to Caracas. British Airways dropped its link from London Heathrow to the Venezuelan capital in 2005.
ITV News
22-05-2025
- Business
- ITV News
Tourism still big earner for the Isle of Man last year adding millions of pounds to its economy
Tourism is still one of the big-earners for the Manx economy, generating hundreds of millions of pounds last year, according to new figures released today. The figures from Visit Isle of Man show that almost 330,000 visitors flocked to the island in 2024, both for business and pleasure, staying on average just over 5 nights each. With each visitor adding an average of £663 during their stay they helped generate more than £212 million pounds for the Isle of Man economy, with almost £2 million coming from cruise tourism alone. Deborah Heather, CEO of Visit Isle of Man, says that despite bad weather blighting the country last year and rising prices: "The 2024 visitor figures are a testament to the success of a collaborative, industry-wide approach focused on sustainable growth, high quality experiences and strategic marketing. "We are delighted with the outcome, particularly in light of the challenges faced throughout the year. "Adverse weather conditions affected both the Isle of Man and our primary feeder market, the UK, whilst additional hurdles included an early Easter, connectivity issues both locally and nationally, price increases driven by global forces, and ongoing economic uncertainty impacting consumer confidence and spending. "Despite these obstacles, visitor spending exceeded £210 million, and satisfaction levels remained consistently high, clear indicators that our long-term strategy is delivering." She adds:"Some of this success is also owed to the Island's growing recognition in the press. "2024 highlights include being named among Conde Nast Traveller's Top 10 UK Islands, listed as one of Wanderlust's Top 10 Best European Islands, and most recently, featured in BBC Travel's global '25 Best Places to Travel in 2025' list. "Sustaining a strong presence in the minds of potential visitors is a key priority for Visit Isle of Man, and the impact of our efforts is becoming increasingly visible. "Our commitment remains unchanged: to build a resilient, year-round visitor economy that brings lasting benefits to everyone who lives, works, visits and invests in our Island." Enduring attractions like the TT Races and the Manx Grand Prix helped pull in the tourists, accounting for almost 24%, but the outstanding natural beauty of the island was the major attraction, with 61% enjoying walking, or exploring the countryside and parkland, with heritage sites also a major draw.
Boston Globe
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
How to stay hopeful in trying times
Despite a president who seems determined to trample the government, economy, and environment, Solnit remains as hopeful as she was in 2004. She still thinks the progressive left is much too prone to doom and gloom. She still thinks that those who supposedly have no power end up changing the world again and again. She still thinks we as a society have gained more ground on human rights and climate issues than we've lost. In an interview with me this month, she said, 'You can change the laws, but you can't change people's minds as easily. The right is using political power to make up for what they lack: cultural power. A lot of what they want to do and are doing is wildly unpopular. People support climate action. People support reproductive rights.' Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Solnit is one of the country's most versatile writers — she's tackled everything from sexism and violence against women ('Men Explain Things to Me') to the history of walking ('Wanderlust') to the advent of technological change in the American West ('River of Shadows'). The now 63-year-old is the author of more than 20 books and countless essays published over three decades. Haymarket Books Her latest compilation of essays embraces the unpredictability of change while acknowledging the fraught nature of the current moment, when many fear American democracy hangs in the balance. 'We cannot know what will be the spark that catches fire,' she says. 'But we make the future in the present. The future depends on how we show up, or fail to show up, today.' This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You've written about so much — women's rights, the environment, civil liberties — that seems to be under assault right now. But you aren't despairing. Why? There's an essay in the book called 'Despair Is a Luxury.' Giving up is breaking solidarity with the people who are most impacted — the poor, disabled, immigrants. We can't just stand aside. But also despair, in its own strange way, is a form of false confidence. It's a sense that the future has already been decided and there's nothing we can do about it. In fact, the future is something we make in the present. We can learn from the past about how change works, how power works, where civil society movements and amazing individuals from Rachel Carson to Greta Thunberg have been able to intervene and change the world. And so despair, pessimism, and cynicism are a false sense of inevitability about the future. People do not like uncertainty. But I feel that uncertainty and possibility are related. So I do not despair. Advertisement In 'Despair Is a Luxury,' you also say that too often we scorn people who are hopeful. Why is it so easy to dismiss them as naive or Pollyanna-ish? You know, despair is like a black leather jacket. Everybody thinks they look cool in it. Hope is a pink dress nobody wants to wear in public. But that pink dress is quite sophisticated, because hope is not the same thing as optimism. It does not assume good things will happen. It just says good things may be possible. But we have to actually show up and make them happen. Legislation doesn't pass by itself. Immigrant rights don't get defended without our participation. Climate progress all started with organizing and activism. It is cynicism that is naive — which I've written about before. Cynics are very bought into the status quo idea that power resides among a handful of elites — famous, powerful, wealthy people who hold office. But the historical record shows us that those who are not supposed to have power have changed the world over and over again. To think that they can continue to do so is not naive. How have your views on how progress happens changed over the decades that you've been a writer and activist? I think that at first I didn't really have a theory of change. My first book ['Secret Exhibition: Six California Artists of the Cold War Era,' published in 1991] was about the visual artists who were part of beat culture in California during the Cold War. They taught me how people change the world. These artists were not very well known, but they were huge influences on transforming culture. A second book ['Savage Dreams,' originally published in 1994] was about the nuclear and Indian wars. For that book, I went to Yosemite, which had been a place where terrible representational genocide had happened: The existence of Native people had been written out by Ansel Adams and John Muir, and others — wilderness was a place where man is only a visitor. Advertisement I got to see that change. When I came back to Yosemite after publishing 'Savage Dreams,' I was like, ''Wow, these problems I wrote about, they're not resolved, we're not in utopia or paradise, but there have been huge shifts in how the National Park Service represents indigenous people.' Feminism is another example. At various points in my life, people have announced that feminism failed. People do not understand the mind-blowing transformation, not just of centuries but millennia of patriarchy that just in my lifetime have been changed so profoundly. The fact that it's not all perfect and finished isn't cause for despair — why should we complete something in one lifetime? I took heart from one of the essays in the book, 'Feminism Has Just Begun,' because I do think that for women of my generation (I'm a millennial), it can be easy to fixate on the backlash. When I read that essay, I was struck by just how much the norms for women have changed for the better. And as you say in that essay, there is some progress that can't be undone. Sure, states can outlaw abortion, but they can't take away the belief among the majority of Americans that women have a right to it. Advertisement People on the left often don't recognize our victories, let alone bask in them. And I think the whole MAGA-Trump backlash and the versions of it happening around the world are essentially saying, 'You all changed the world profoundly in terms of marriage equality, rights for queer and trans people, rights for people of color, immigrant rights, disability rights, women's rights.' And what they're actually saying to us is that we have been very successful. We have changed the world a lot. The backlash is that they don't like what we did and want to change it back. But I don't think that people are going to easily surrender what they've gained. People are looking for ways to hold on to hope — how, on a practical level, can the average person do that? I'm sad because I missed a bunch of Related : You can lay the flammable material for the bonfire, you can pile up the wood and kindling, but it's the lightning strike that's going to set it ablaze. I watched those George Floyd protests. I watched Occupy Wall Street. I watched the fall of the Berlin Wall. I watched a bunch of extraordinary moments that nobody saw coming, and suddenly the world was different. So pile up your fuel. Find common ground. We now have the possibility to form an unprecedented coalition. Suddenly people who love Advertisement Christine Mehta can be reached at
Global News
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Global News
The best grad gifts for every type of graduate
The Curator independently decides what topics and products we feature. When you purchase an item through our links, we may earn a commission. Promotions and products are subject to availability and retailer terms. Getting ready to celebrate a graduate in your life? Finding the perfect gift can be tricky—you want something they'll actually use, but that also feels meaningful enough to mark the moment. To make things easier, we've rounded up thoughtful picks for every kind of grad, from preschoolers to post-secondary achievers. For the preschool grad School Years Record Book The last days of preschool are the perfect time to start memorializing your kiddo's school years. This customizable memory book lets you chronicle accomplishments and store artwork, report cards and more from preschool through grade 12. $33.99 on Amazon $33.99 at Indigo Story continues below advertisement Graduation Cat Plush Toy Soft, squishy and totally adorable, this plush cat toy wears a tiny graduation cap and diploma—making it a suitable and sweet souvenir for little ones to mark the occasion. $17.96 on Amazon Skip Hop Sparks Kids Backpack, Rainbow Give your preschool grad a gift that makes the transition to kindergarten super fun with a colourful, kid-sized backpack. Bonus points for a durable, easy-to-clean design and cheerful rainbow motif. $38.88 on Amazon For the elementary school grad Dan & Darci Paint & Plant Flower Growing Kit Want to keep the learning going into the summer for your STEM-loving graduate? Celebrate their milestone with a fun, educational gift. This kit includes everything they need to grow marigold, cosmos and zinnia flowers—plus supplies to customize the planter. $26.99 on Amazon (was $29.99) Story continues below advertisement Exerz Illuminated World Globe As your kiddo's world grows, give them a gift to spark their imagination and inspire dreams of travel. By day, this globe shows a detailed world map. When switched on at night, it lights up with 88 constellations. $69.99 on Amazon For the high school grad Lululemon Wanderlust Weekender Bag 48L Whether your grad is off to college or is dreaming of travel, adventure awaits—and they'll need something to carry their essentials. This versatile water-repellent weekender features plenty of pockets and a roomy interior. $218 at Lululemon Story continues below advertisement Jenny Bird Viviana Ring Reinvent the class ring by gifting your grad a bold, modern, statement-making piece. Case in point? This curvaceous ring from Canadian brand Jenny Bird is finished in high-polish gold—ideal for marking the special moment with serious shine. $128.00 at Jenny Bird PASSUS 16 Ft. Tower Surge Protector Power Bar with Night Light It may not be glamorous, but if your grad is moving into a shared space, this could be the gift they use the most. This space-saving vertical design lets them keep devices charged and organized—plus, it's a night light. $39.99 on Amazon You may also like: 'She Believed She Could So She Did' Engraved Bracelet – $39.99 Story continues below advertisement Lacquer Rollerball Pen – $46.99 Laptop Tote Bag with USB Charging Port – $39.59 Compass Necklace – $22.99 Amazon Kindle Paperwhite – $164.99 For the college & university grad Roots Small Zip Around Clutch Cervino Many college grads really want, and need, cash. Make it feel more special by tucking a few bills into a sleek, RFID-protected leather clutch. It's a stylish, thoughtful upgrade from a plain envelope—and one they'll use for years. $98.00 at Roots Story continues below advertisement Nespresso Vertuo Next Coffee and Espresso Machine by Breville As your grad moves into their busy post-university life, it's the perfect time to upgrade their morning coffee routine. Using coffee capsules makes it easy for them to craft a variety of coffee and espresso drinks. $114.5 on Amazon (was $229) GraduatePro Shadow Box Frame 11x14 Display Case Celebrate your grad's future while also honouring the past. A shadow box display case lets them turn small items—think graduation tassels, photos and special keepsakes—into a meaningful display for their post-grad home. $35.99 on Amazon For the masters & PhD grad Officially Smart Mug There's no denying that earning a post-grad degree takes serious smarts. Help your favourite grad celebrate their hard work with a dose of whimsy in the form of this playful stoneware mug. $14.00 at Indigo Story continues below advertisement CORE ART 11x14 Diploma Frame Yes, they spent countless hours earning their degree—but they still might be too tired to frame it. Make it easy for your post-grad grad to showcase their hard-earned paper with an appropriately fancy frame. $33.99 on Amazon Monos Carry-On Pro Luggage is a classic grad gift, but this version makes it modern and exciting. This sleek, durable carry-on from Canadian brand Monos fits a 16' laptop, resists dents and is a seamless companion for post-grad adventures. $355 at Monos You may also like: Portable Charger with Built-In Cables – $29.99 Story continues below advertisement Retro 12-Can Mini Personal Fridge Portable Cooler – $60.50 Natasha Wing's The Night Before Kindergarten Graduation – $7.99 Quiet 2 Ear Plugs – $29.95 (was $39.95) Kids Prints 2-in-1 Backpack & Insulated Lunch Bag (Dinosaur) – $44.99
