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Featured Writers

Joshua Zukas

Writer | Fixer | StrategistHanoi-based writer covering travel, culture, architecture and innovation in Asia. MSc in Sustainable Tourism.Travel writer for Lonely Planet, Ink Global, Fodor's Travel and Asia's top inflight …

Gina DeCaprio Vercesi

Anna Fiorentino

Anna is an award-winning storyteller focused on science, outdoors, adventure, and travel. She applies journalistic principles to narrate stories, boil down research, and promote brands. Her work has appeared in …

Arabella Bowen

Entrepreneurial digital strategist who guides content and product ideas from concept to reality.

Erin Gifford

I am a Washington, DC-based travel & outdoor writer. My writing has appeared in USA Today's GoEscape, Chicago Tribune, AFAR.com, CNN.com, The Washington Post, LonelyPlanet.com, Parents, Family Circle, HGTV.com, TravelChannel.com, …

Latest Articles

Norway’s Ambitious Plan to Designate 10 New National Parks

The goal is to protect one-third of the country’s land by 2030 in an effort to combat climate change. Through an oversized window streaked in raindrops, I make out tiny cottages with snowy grass rooftops as a crackly voice announces, “We’re stuck on ice.” It’s late May, practically June, and …

By Anna Fiorentino
13th July 2022 • AFAR

The First Space Hotel Could Open as Soon as 2025

Inside the luxury suite at the Voyager Station, which could follow Pioneer and open as soon as 2027, according to Orbital Assembly. In addition to being afforded some epic views, guests of the modular space station would dine and walk around—thanks to artificial gravity. Of all the sweeping views in …

By Anna Fiorentino
7th June 2022 • AFAR

The U.S. Ski Resorts for the Best Spring Season Action This Year

Not only will there be great late-season skiing and snowboarding, but these mountains are going all out this spring with music, food, festivals, and competitions. Get out your T-shirts and sunscreen because spring skiing is back. After the 2020 ski season was cut short by the start of the pandemic …

By Anna Fiorentino
19th March 2022 • AFAR

Retro Charm Lives on at These Independent U.S. Ski Resorts

When it comes to ski resorts, bigger isn’t always better. Case and point: Saddleback Mountain in Maine. These old-school mountains will take you back to the simpler days of skiing. Every year it seems another round of resorts gets gobbled up by the downhill megacorps—the Vails and the Boynes. But …

By Anna Fiorentino
6th February 2022 • AFAR

A First-Timer’s Guide to Cross-Country Skiing

Still wondering if cross-country skiing is hard? Hardly. Here’s your cheat sheet to getting started. Cross-country skiing debuted at the inaugural Olympic Winter Games in 1924, a decade before Alpine skiing, but you don’t have to be a superhero in spandex to go ski touring. That image of a cross-country …

By Anna Fiorentino
22nd December 2021 • AFAR

A 600-Mile Recreational Trail Is Coming to the West’s Sierra Nevada

The Lost Sierra Route will connect—and ideally help revitalize—15 mountain towns by bringing biking, hiking, and trail tourism to this scenic alpine region. When it’s completed, the new 600-mile Lost Sierra Route will wind along the rugged ridgeline of 15 Northern California and Nevada mountain towns, from Truckee to Susanville. …

By Anna Fiorentino
22nd December 2021 • AFAR

A First-Timer’s Guide to Cross-Country Skiing

Still wondering if cross-country skiing is hard? Hardly. Here’s your cheat sheet to getting started. Cross-country skiing debuted at the inaugural Olympic Winter Games in 1924, a decade before Alpine skiing, but you don’t have to be a superhero in spandex to go ski touring. That image of a cross-country …

By Anna Fiorentino
7th December 2021 • AFAR

Where to Go in 2022: Phong Nha

Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park, a geologically notable site in central Vietnam, has tempted daredevils since 2013, when Son Doong, the biggest cave on the planet (large enough to hold a Boeing 747), opened for multiday tours. The Phong Nha–based company Oxalis Adventure is hoping to launch a fresh adventure …

By Joshua Zukas
1st December 2021 • AFAR

Can’t Make It to the Alps? Visit One of America’s European-Inspired Ski Towns

Europe’s eternally charming Alps region, spanning France, Monaco, Switzerland, Italy, Lichtensten, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia, is on many travelers’ wish lists for a reason. (Hello, gorgeous snowy peaks, endless fondue, après cocktails, and hot springs.) If you’re yearning for an alpine experience closer to home, get your fix in several …

By Anna Fiorentino
3rd November 2021 • AFAR

8 New Tiki Bars Around the United States to Escape to This Winter

Live the island life—or at least dream of it during the cold front—at these tiki-inspired bars across the country. The tiki bar, known for its umbrella-laden fruity concoctions, was first made famous in the middle of the 20th century by Don the Beachcomber (the man and his eponymous tiki bar). …

By Erin Gifford
13th February 2019 • AFAR

8 Exceptional Festivals to Escape to This Winter

Come out of hibernation this winter for travel-worthy festivals that celebrate ice, snow, chills, and thrills in cities around the globe.

By Erin Gifford
18th January 2019 • AFAR

Tips & News + Inspiration Channels

Launched recurring series across multiple beats, from arts + culture to weekend getaways, and developed a fast-paced, in-house news team that responded to daily travel news through a consumer lens. Doubled article PVs YOY and decreased bounce rate by 43% by prioritizing quality, reported stories for discerning travelers. Won Folio …

By Arabella Bowen
27th December 2018 • AFAR

New Hotels Channel

Partnered with UX, product, and dev to relaunch AFAR's Hotels channel to provide travelers with a tool to find the properties that best matched their travel style. Identified a matrix of tags to apply to every AFAR Recommended hotel, to power filtering by price, style, and brand; created inspirational "best …

By Arabella Bowen
17th December 2018 • AFAR

You Can Still Flag Down a Train in Alaska’s Backcountry

As I rode the Hurricane Turn Train into Alaska's wilderness, I was particularly glad I’d opted for a seat in the glass-enclosed dome car, able to soak up every panoramic view of this stunningly beautiful and off-the-grid area.

By Erin Gifford
11th December 2018 • AFAR

New AFAR Homepage

Partnered with UX, product, and dev to redesign AFAR's homepage to better showcase the brand's daily news and inspiration channels, and position it as a go-to travel authority and resource. Five content buckets were prioritized, given a hierarchy, and populated via automated backend solutions, including pub date and page-view data …

By Arabella Bowen
7th December 2018 • AFAR

Charleston’s Best Local Gifts to Take Home with You

Bring a bit of the Lowcountry home with original souvenirs from Charleston makers. Locals are handcrafting everything from feathered bow ties to bourbon and cast-iron pans. Even if you can’t get to the Holy City right now, you can buy all of these gifts online and support small businesses at …

By Arabella Bowen
20th November 2018 • AFAR

Effortlessly Chic Pants to Pack for Your Next Trip

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6th November 2018 • AFAR

Travelers’ Choice Awards

Expanded annual travel awards to a year-long program showcasing destinations, airports, outfitters, hotels, cruises, and experiences. Led initiative across edit, sales, and marketing. Established new processes for curation, nominations, voting, winner tabulations, digital roll-out, and presentation. Dramatically increased voter engagement overall (+1000% YOY) and reader engagement, especially on popular cruise …

By Arabella Bowen
15th October 2018 • AFAR

How Utah’s Weird Laws Made It One of the Coolest Places to Drink in the U.S.

By Gina DeCaprio Vercesi
25th April 2018 • AFAR

Falling in Love With Mérida, One Perfect Home at a Time

I travel for design. My flight history is evidence: I first went to Marrakech for its riads, Palm Springs for its midcentury Alexander houses, and Pittsburgh for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. So when my husband and I were invited to a wedding in Mérida, Mexico, the Yucatán capital known for …

By Arabella Bowen
2nd April 2018 • AFAR

Raise Your Paddle: You Could Own a Piece of Noma 1.0

In what promises to be the restaurant auction of the year, René Redzepi is auctioning off plates, tables, decor, and more from Noma 1.0 in advance of his highly anticipated Noma 2.0 reboot. Bid right and you could own a piece of Noma’s distinctive Scandinavian design aesthetic—and a part of …

By Arabella Bowen
3rd November 2017 • AFAR

Just Back From: Oman

By Arabella Bowen
1st July 2017 • AFAR