Vanita Salisbury
The Archive
Easter Island statues are being defiled by nose-picking tourists
The sacred statues of Easter Island have been around for at least 600 years. For centuries, the 1,000 or so stone anthropomorphic monoliths, called "moai," on the craggy island off...
Bloom and doom: Hordes of Instagrammers are killing these flowers
This year’s phenomenal California super bloom was so vibrant with color, you could see it from outer space. And that’s just where you might have to be to get your...
The Matterhorn is global warming's latest victim
Soon the only way to get up close and personal with the peak of the Matterhorn will be to pick up a package of Toblerone chocolate.
Big cruises dump boatloads of problems on beloved cities
Earlier this year, Venice greenlighted an "entry fee," beginning at $3.33, which will be used to limit the number of daytrippers to the sinking city. Meanwhile, Barcelona has been under...
Instagrammers flock to cliffs where woman taking selfie plunged to death
On the morning of Aug. 17 at around 11:20 a.m., a woman slipped off a cliff in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, and plummeted to her death. Just a short...
Gross Carnival ship earns the line's worst sanitation grade ever
It’s enough to make you stay on land. A recent unannounced inspection of the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) resulted in the...
Instagram pond with $1 entrance fee saved an Indonesian village
Social media can destroy tourist attractions. But sometimes Instagram’s power can be used for good. It can even save a village. Fifteen years ago, the small Indonesian village of Ponggok...
How to sneak into business class
We’ve all had this fantasy. As you, the plebe clutching the economy ticket, are ushered to your seat through business class, the air scented with Champagne and elevated self-worth, you...
Disneyland experiencing shortest lines in decades
Wednesday is the 64th anniversary of Disneyland, but you’re the one that gets the present: in addition to today’s planned “Happiest March on Earth” -- with more marches planned this...
Disneyland has become a 'ghost town'
To say that Disneyland's new Star Wars-themed Galaxy’s Edge land is a big deal would be an understatement. The highly anticipated $1 billion, 14-acre immersive expansion was the biggest in...
KFC owner in remote Australia lobbies for a Michelin star
One of the charms of KFC is that it differs wherever you go in the world. In China, its franchises serve soy milk drinks and egg tarts; in India, you’ll...
This famed city will limit tourists over fears of becoming 'Disneyland'
Another city has fallen victim to the scourge of tourism. This time, it’s the popular Belgian pitstop of Bruges, an UNESCO World Heritage city known for its medieval buildings and...
Ex-New Yorkers visited 30 countries, 40 states before choosing new home
Which big city could possibly live up to the Big Apple? For travel writers and former NYC residents Ashlea Halpern and Andrew Parks, it was not a place they thought...
TSA scanners may discriminate against black women
While TSA agents say they’re not discriminating against women of color, their equipment has been doing otherwise, according to new report from ProPublica. Those futuristic full-body scanners — the ones...
Tourists desecrate Chinese parks during somber holiday
China's Qing Ming festival -- the tomb-sweeping holiday or, literally, “pure brightness” in English -- is a time of renewal and reflection. The 2,500-year-old rite of passage marks the coming...
Tourists destroy massive Louvre installation within hours
This is why we can’t have nice things. On the evening of Friday, March 29, a massive collage was installed around the glass pyramid in the Napoleon Court of the...
For $10, all aboard the cheapest safari in Africa
It’s a wild ride. A few hours into your trip on Kenya’s 1½-year-old Madaraka Express, which stretches from capital Nairobi to the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa, long after the...
See how Nepal is mending a year after its deadly earthquake
Nepal is a land in recovery. Last April 25, an earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale ripped through the South Asian nation, devastating the region and taking nearly 9,000...