MSN has posted a pretty good list of the world’s top cultural destinations for 2026. There’s always room to quibble with most “best of” lists, as they’re generally based on someone’s personal experience or preferences. I’m sure people look at some of mine and think, ‘Dude, WHAT are you thinking?” Anyhow, this latest MSN cultural list seems pretty good to me. Here are their top 10 choices for this year, with a short excerpt from their comments, And, for places I’ve visited, some of my own thoughts. SINGAPORE “Modern yet deeply rooted in tradition, Singapore offers a mix of cultures Read more
Barcelona
I see a lot of travel shaming going on in today’s world, and I’ve had it. Day after day, I see so-called travel experts on social media targeting people who visit all-inclusive resorts instead of going out and exploring. I understand where they’re coming from, as I vastly prefer to go out on my own. But not everyone fits the same mold. And not everyone’s passport (if they even have one) is overflowing with stamps from exotic countries. Some people might take a vacation every ten years. Or five. They work hard to put food on their tables and take Read more
Florida tourism set a new record last year, welcoming 143.3 million visitors, according to data released by Visit Florida. That represents an increase of 0.2% over 2024 and represents the highest yearly total in state history. Domestic tourism represented nearly 92% of all visitors. Overseas visits were up 4%, with almost 9.3 million visits. But visits from Canada were down a substantial 14.7%, reaching roughly 2.9 million for the year. Visit Florida, which markets the Sunshine State to the world, says it’s engaging in talks with Canadian travel groups in an effort to change that. But it may not be Read more
The Canadian government has new travel advisories up for citizens and residents who plan to visit the U.S. or China. Ottawa recently updated its travel advisory site to say that residents of Canada and other foreign nationals visiting the U.S. for longer than 30 days must register with the U.S. government. Canadians haven’t had to register with the government of the U.S. prior to this. U.S. President Donald Trump in January signed an executive order called “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” The order requires all foreign nationals, including Canadians, to register with U.S. Customs and Immigration Services if they Read more
And now my Jimmy Awards for Best International Travel Experiences in 2024. I didn’t do a lot of overseas travel, but I did manage trips to Istanbul and Singapore, and our MSC cruise on the World Europe took us to Italy, Malta, Spain and France. Thank you to everyone who helped along the way, both in big and small ways. Best Tour: We had a superb tour of Palermo, Sicily with a local guide on our MSC World Europa visit. We admired the beautiful cathedral, nibbled on cannoli the size of a football, and briefly toured a furiously noisy local Read more
