Journal
Reports, analyses and features from all 195 countries - the journalism behind the journeys.
An Earthquake Without Borders
Colombia shook from a depth of more than a hundred kilometers. Venezuela still lives in the shadow of two shallow quakes. Geologically, no tectonic domino links them — yet in human terms they expose the same truth: magnitude alone does not make a disaster; the society it strikes does.
The Gateway That Flooded Twice
Rasuwagadhi is the only major road crossing between Nepal and China, and the single overland funnel for Kailash pilgrims, Langtang trekkers, and most of Nepal’s China trade. On August 26, 2026, it was destroyed for the second time in thirteen months. The first official explanation — an earthquake — turns out never to have happened.
The Fire Is a Hundred Kilometres Away
What ends a trip is rarely flame. It is smoke across three hundred kilometres, a closed valley, a suspended ferry and an insurance position that does not cover any of it — plus the fire restrictions a visitor is most likely to break.
Starving, Not Dead
A bleached reef is a starving animal, not a dead one, and whether it recovers is decided by the next hot season. What that means for where diving is still worth the airfare — current, depth and enforcement, in that order.
The Low Price Is the Citizens’ Rate
A foreign visitor pays several times what a citizen pays at most park gates in the world, and the complaint this generates is misplaced. Where the revenue goes, why community revenue-sharing matters more than ranger budgets, and what to check.
The Newest Marker Is Furthest From the Ice
Retreat has outrun the infrastructure built to show it: viewpoints of where a glacier was, approaches over unstable moraine, and a permafrost problem above the ice that has closed classic routes outright.
The Number Was Chosen by Someone Who Counted
Some of the best-known walks on earth cannot be walked on a decision. Three rationing systems — release-date scramble, ballot, rolling quota — that are not interchangeable, and the operator layer that changes the problem entirely.