Travel

armed with our new linguistic knowledge, we headed off on our own into the shops that lined Nanjing Road, a major shopping area in Shanghai. In one shop, we pointed to a fan. The clerk took it from its case to show to us. We looked it over and carefully said in our best Mandarin, "Mao, mao, hoo, hoo." The clerk's eyes widened. She backed away into the protection of the other clerks who were standing around stone-faced trying to decipher our intentions. more »

I was thirty years old when I took my first trip to Europe, and I did so with reluctance and misgivings.I had never had any desire whatsoever to roam. I’m not sure why. Fear wasn’t stopping me. The word “terrorist” wasn’t yet part of the travel vocabulary in that innocent age, and the thought of flying intrigued rather than intimidated me. more »

A locket's miniature bears the inscription, Nelson For Ever Huzza; the back of an ivory brooch bears the name and date 'Emma Hamilton 1803'; and King George V in 1882 is given a dragon tattoo in Japan more »

15 Tips from well-traveled New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, for students abroad pursuing a degree but also for the novice and experienced traveler: Buy a secondhand local cell phone for $20, outfit it with a local SIM card and keep it in your pocket. more »