Plus, The Irish Islands on the Edge of the World

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I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never felt compelled to spend much time in Nebraska, having driven straight through on countless road trips. I once asked a college friend who hailed from there what a great cultural experience would be if I wanted to stop. “A Cornhuskers game,” she replied earnestly, without hesitation.

However, I’d like to steer you to Karthika Gupta’s post from our beloved It’s Still a Big World Series as she makes the case for a stop in Scottsbluff. It’s a place, Gupta says, that will change not only how you see Nebraska’s towns, but also its oft-maligned topography.

Whenever travel writers have a piece of theirs published, there are inevitably responses from the locals. Sometimes they’re mad you missed something, or peeved you’re even drawing attention to their town. But this week I got a note from my mom that family friends on Ireland’s west coast agreed with Malcolm Jones’s ode to the Aran Islands “he definitely gets the place.” High praise in my book.

Rounding out this week’s newsletter we have Candida Moss’s fascinating look at why a giant bathtub is one of the most valuable items in the Vatican, Daniel Modlin on the dog-killing bacteria that’s troubling a popular national park, and Brandon Withrow’s journey on the world’s first large hybrid cruise ship. Enjoy!

— William O’Connor, Travel Editor

“As a kid, I always imagined an Indiana Jones-esq adventure at a Mayan temple. This was far more tame, of course—after stealing someone else’s national treasures, Dr. Jones wouldn’t have rated his adventures on TripAdvisor.”

–Brandon Withrow recounts his highbrow journey around the Caribbean with Hurtigruten Expeditions.

Solgaard’s Endeavor LifePack Bag Is Truly the Swiss Army Knife of Backpacks.

The Lifepack Endeavour by Solgaard is by far the most innovative bag for digital nomads who don’t like paying extra for bag fees. The Endeavor backpack is equipped with a removable hanging closet piece that can hold a week’s worth of clothes and can be compressed into a little brick of your favorite wardrobe options (this also helps keep your clothes from getting wrinkled, by the way.)

When we think today of iconic religious architecture, the first images that spring to mind are often churches, mosques, and Buddhist monasteries. But some of the most spectacular houses of worship in the world are those of the Jewish faith—synagogues. That’s why the latest selection for Just Booked, our series on exciting new travel coffee table books, is Rizzoli’s Synagogues: Marvels of Judaism by Leyla Uluhanli.

The book is one that demands attention from the outset with the electric blue stained glass window of the Eldridge Street Synagogue in New York on its cover. Inside, the book dives into the evolution of synagogue design from continent to continent, featuring more than 60 synagogues worldwide. Some are over the top, like the Great Synagogue in Budapest with its elaborate stencil-work ceilings, while others, like the Paradesi Synagogue in south India, are simpler but no less remarkable.

Don’t miss our other selections for our series on gorgeous travel-related coffee table books, Just Booked.

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