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Hi from Croatia!
Recently labeled as Europe’s safest spot for walking alone at night, my home country is often described through a lens of natural beauty too.
Eight national parks are dotting our landscape, with enchanting Plitvice Lakes grabbing the most visitors’ attention. In the entire world, they can choose between more than 4,000 national parks!
These parks prove that natural beauty flourishes once we protect it against human influence. Boris Pecigoš, whose vibrant land art made it to this week’s #Top4Red theme, pointed this out by painting a tree red in Croatian Učka Mountain. It was an artistic interpretation of how we uglify nature with artificial “trees” such as transmitters, antennas, gas pipelines, and other products of human invasion.
The United States protected 63 areas as natural parks. A 63-year-old photographer Rebecca Latson has visited and documented 27 of them.
You could call Rebecca a frequent national park visitor. But what if I told you that I met a person who has visited all U.S. national parks, in a 21-times shorter period? The tiny traveler is the star of this week’s feature. But also…
Find this in today’s newsletter:
- Words: Trips & traps.
- Images: Bison, snakes, and pigs.
- Numbers: Maggots don’t kill, but climate change will.
- P.S.: Hungry for a discount?
Have a naturally beautiful week!
Ivan Kralj
Pipeaway.com
Silly side: Ever wonder why skeletons don't go on a vacation? Because they don't have the guts for it! If you prefer traveling to staying grounded (unlike our skeletal friends), do me a favor and give your favorite story in this edition a bone-click!
FEATURE SPOTLIGHT
A Toddler’s Guide to National Parks (and Snack Breaks)
Speaking to three-year-olds can resemble analyzing parts of a rocket. And what a rocket this unstoppable toddler is! First crawling, then running through them, Journey Castillo has conquered all national parks in the USA before her third birthday. That was a reason enough to ask her press agent, also known as Dad, for an interview with the hiker in a diaper. Exclusively for Pipeaway, she explains her views of bears, buffaloes, and well, binoculars. Read what Journey Castillo has to say!
CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS
When Pipeaway announced paperless travel as one of the major airline industry trends, we didn’t envision that Russian who flew from Copenhagen to Los Angeles without a passport or a boarding pass. But it happened again! A woman from Nashville landed in Los Angeles without a ticket. Not to be outdone, another passenger in Europe managed to board a plane for Copenhagen with no documents.
TRAP AROUND THE WORLD
After picking the top tourist traps in Europe, with Fontana di Trevi reigning at number one, the 24/7 Wall St. has published the global trap list. Rome’s famous fountain was overrun by Dole Plantation in Hawaii and Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.
HEELS & WHEELS
National Geographic announced their Travelers of the Year. The spots were claimed by an environmentalist drag queen, a disability access advocate, and legendary Dolly Parton. Check out all nine game-changers!
🐍
Always wild Rio de Janeiro Carnival channeled spirits of the Amazon rainforest. The Viradouro samba school, crowned champions, paraded celebrating black women, ties to Benin, snakes, and voodoo.
🐂
The center of San Francisco is not a place where you expect to find a herd of bison, and yet, they’ve been wandering around the Golden Gate Park since 1891. Don’t pet the fluffy cows applies here just like in Yellowstone. Speaking of you, floor-kissing grandma!
🐷
With its bonsai-sized flats, urban Japan has invented animal coffee shops where you can pet cats, hedgehogs, or – snakes. I had my Hogwarts moment in an owl café! But the Associated Press visited a piggy paradise called Mipig Café. Cuddly piglets are even available for adoption here; 1,300 found their home so far!
$30
The value of the meal ticket Delta offered to passengers whose Detroit-bound flight had to return to Amsterdam after they were showered with maggots mid-air. Bon appétit!
525
The number of business jets that departed Las Vegas after the Super Bowl. The shortest flight was just 29 minutes in the air. Notorious for her excessive private plane hopping, Taylor Swift, as polluting as 1,100 average persons, claims to have offset her greenhouse gas emissions with double carbon credits.
14.5m
The number of excess deaths climate change will cause by 2050, according to the World Economic Forum report. In the same period, healthcare costs will increase by $1.1 trillion. And who’s gonna offset that?
Carnival Plate With a Pinch of Discount
Eatwith is your best solution when searching for a social dining app that lets you eat with a local. For carnival season, they prepared a promotion with culinary experiences that are 5% off! Carnival dinner in Venice with a local sailor? New Orleans tour that focuses on food, art, and history? Or a tasting tour in a stone wine cellar in Nice? Whichever experience you choose on the Eatwith website, use promo code ewcarnival-24 at checkout. The discount is valid until the end of February.
This is the archived version of our free weekly newsletter. To start receiving it in your mailbox on the send-out day, join the newsletter list!
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