travel writing — Hannah Lott-Schwartz

5 of the World’s Most Mind-Bending Drug Cultures // National Geographic Traveler

A strong stigma in the West bullies our idea of drug culture, fueled by perceptions of mind-altering substances, man-made chemical compounds, and destroyed communities. But throughout the world, spiritual practitioners’ use of entheogens—psychoactive substances applied in religious or shamanic contexts—is nothing short of a learned art, unique to the people and regions who’ve studied it for centuries. [Read more]

Inside Japan’s Oldest Whisky Distillery // Fortune

For more than a millennium, a quiet but mighty lifesource has drawn people to a region in Japan that straddles the modern-day Osaka and Kyoto prefectures. Here, at the base of Mount Tennōzan and at the confluence of three rivers, mineral water flows with such purity that it was recorded in an ancient collection of Japanese poetry during the Nara period, some 1,200 years ago. [Read more]

Made in America: Ride of Her Life // Amtrak’s The National

Jenna Stellar grew up motorcycle adjacent—in the sidecar of her father’s 1964 Triumph Bonneville 650. When she was just 7 years old, she rode along at Los Angeles’s Griffith Park Sidecar Rally with her dad, a custom motorcycle fabricator and decorated rally racer. Her three brothers raced. Her boyfriends all rode. But Stellar was happy to sit on the back and hold on tight. [Read more]

This Is the Loneliest Road in America // National Geographic Traveler

Where the state of Nevada folds in half—from the elbow on its western arm at Lake Tahoe across to its Utah border—you’ll find the most direct route across the state. It crosses several communities, a handful of mountain ranges, a national park, and one reservoir, where bobcats, foxes, and wild horses roam free. There’s life, yes, but not a familiar way of life for many. It’s a place where the lines between John Wayne Westerns and everyday life blur, where ghost towns bleed into living ones. This is Route 50, the Loneliest Road in America. [Read more]

Faces of DTLA // Aspire by Hong Kong Airlines

Cranes dominate the downtown Los Angeles skyline. They’re markers of change, as the historical city centre shifts away from its rough-and-tumble past – with gang and police violence part of its once-dystopian identity – to welcome a new age. [Read more]

Driving Southern California: San Diego to Santa Barbara // National Geographic Traveler

A new year deserves a new road map, and this one takes you on a road trip along the Pacific coast, which offers epic views, delicious fried treats, and the chance to unwind to our perfect Southern California playlist. [Read more]

Japan on Foot // Private Clubs

It’s 10:23 a.m., and I don’t know whether I’m drunk on sake or high on a week’s worth of well-fed Buddhas and geisha smiles. I’m just past the midpoint of my journey, a trek by boot, bus, boat, and train from Japan’s ancient capital to its modern one, Kyoto to Tokyo. Two of the country’s most historically and culturally significant trails — the UNESCO-designated Kumano Kodō pilgrimage, behind me, and the samurai-trodden Nakasendō Way, now underfoot — serve as my compass, centuries of Japan’s evolving makeup preserved along the paths. This is history detailed beyond the capacity of language, recorded in the land itself. [Read more]

The Stay: Hawaii Five Senses // Hemispheres by United Airlines

A new Mid-Century–inspired hotel offers an antidote to Waikiki Beach’s cookie-cutter resorts. Simplicity, symmetry, and style are the tenets of tropical modernism, as well as the guiding principles behind The Laylow. [Read more]

Is Your Sunscreen Destroying Coral Reefs? // Sierra

Even the savviest of sun chasers may need to rethink their sunscreen habits. While lathering up before taking to the great outdoors might protect your skin from the sun’s harmful UV rays, research shows that some 90 percent of sunscreens are taking a serious toll on the environment—contributing to the bleaching and inevitable death of coral. [Read more]

Why the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally — and the rest of the industry — needs to attract more women // Mic

At the center of a dozen boot-clad women stood the shortest of them all, in one hand an owl’s wing that she harvested herself, in the other a bundle of burning sage. “Great spirit, we thank you for your many blessings upon this beautiful circle of women,” she began, batting the skunky smoke across their bodies in turn. [Read more]

Explorer's Guide, Peruvian Music: Facing the Music in Cusco // National Geographic Traveler

While living among the Q’eros, an indigenous Andean group in southeast Peru, Holly Wissler was immersed in their native music. Now based in Cusco, the ethnomusicologist and Nat Geo Expeditions expert outlines where to find the best local beats. [Read more]

Trending: San Diego // Sky by Delta Airlines

It took 120 years for North Park to come of age, but it’s finally happened. Home to artists and hipsters, its energetically dense streets—packed with vibrant murals, craft breweries and a range of eclectic boutiques—have made the walkable hood a go-to. [Read more]

5 Reasons to See Morocco by Motorcycle // National Geographic Adventure

A foreign land, a new language, sketchy roads, and a beast of machinery between your legs—these are the trappings of an epic adventure. And in Morocco, where the sea meets North Africa’s Sahara, the open road is best explored by motorcycle. [Read more]

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San Diego’s Sippable Crafts // Sky by Delta Airlines

Where the Pacific Ocean meets California in the farthest southwestern corner of the United States, San Diego buzzes from dawn ’til dusk with makers who are exercising unparalleled patience, creativity and curiosity—all in the name of craft beverages. They’re the remedy to a sweeping culture of instant gratification—if only for just one drink. [Read more in English or español]

Baja Beer Crawl // Hemispheres by United Airlines

A Mexican revolution is underway in Baja California—and it’s leaving light-bodied, mass-produced lagers sweating in their bottles. Brewers in Ensenada and the nearby Valle de Guadalupe wine region have gone hop-wild, putting regional twists on chelas that rival those made 85 miles north in the craft-beer haven of San Diego. [Read more]

Mexico City by Layover // Endless Vacation

Many flights with end destinations throughout Mexico include at least a quick stopover at Mexico City International Airport, the busiest in Latin America and the main hub for the country’s Aeroméxico airline — and turning your layover into an adventure, sampling some of the country’s historic sights (and tasty bites), is as simple as uno, dos, tres. [Read more]

Spend the Night in a Museum at the New 21c Nashville Hotel // Robb Report

In the heart of Music City’s growing downtown area, the newly opened 21c Nashville offers guests a uniquely enriching experience—the opportunity to stay the night in a museum. [Read more]

Best Places to Travel 2019: Panama City, the birthplace of the New World, is celebrating its 500th birthday // Mic

In seven hours or less, travelers departing from across the lower 48 can land in Panama City, where the oldest European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the Americas celebrates its 500th birthday in 2019. This is where the New World was born and where it thrived, thanks to the Panama Canal. [Read more]

PDX-Rated // The Improper Bostonian

This is not an account of Oregon’s piney coast, nor a guide to connecting to the natural world. This is a weekend bender for advanced deviants only, an urban adventure demanding total allegiance to indulgence. To partake of Portland’s quirky traditions, to imbibe by the customs of its citizens, to flirt with excess without becoming excessive: This is the oath by which we stand, until we can stand no more. [Read more]

The 'Hood: Barrio Logan // Hemispheres by United Airlines

Barrio Logan, the center of San Diego’s Mexican-American community, sits in the shade of an overpass leading to Coronado Island. When the bridge was constructed in the 1960s, residents met encroachment with creativity, painting the concrete pillars with vibrant murals to decorate the 7.4-acre Chicano Park, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2017. [Read more]

Atlanta by Layover // Endless Vacation

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the busiest in the world: Millions of travelers pause here on layover each year. Outside of the terminal walls is a Southern city that stands at the intersection of history, culture and entertainment. [Read more]

Best Places to Travel 2019: Australia’s sacred Uluru park is finally getting the protection it deserves // Mic

The heart of Australia beats in the very place where the land looks as though it cannot sustain life, where salt flats give way to trees with far-reaching roots, bush shrubs and a sea of red sand. Known alternately as Uluru and Ayers Rock (its respective aboriginal and colonial names), the massive rounded monolith that defines Uluru–Kata-Tjuta National Park in the country’s Northern Territory rises dramatically against an otherwise level horizon, changing color as the sun rises and sets, a chameleon in the Australian Outback. [Read more]

3 Places to Find Untouched Slopes in Utah // San Diego Magazine

They don't call it "The Greatest Snow on Earth" for nothing — Utah boasts more than a foot of snowfall every five days from December to March, making for plenty of unspoiled slopes across the state. Here's where to find Utah's understated winter wonderlands, plus a few novel ways to experience an old favorite. [Read more]