Forget Machu Picchu. Think ancient tribes, floating islands, and singalongs on a reed boat. Youre sailing on Lake Titicaca. Fathom intern Alison Weissbrot tells the tale of her adventure through an ancient, floating world.LAKE TITICACA, Peru – The trail of the slow-sailing motorboat is blazed head-first by a Peruvian flag flying proudly through clusters of totora, reeds that abound in the shallow section of the lake near the shore-sid

Hometown: Long Beach, California.Occupation: Photographer and co-founder of El Camino Travel.Favorite destinations: Mongolia, Indonesia, Italy, Finland.Dying to visit: Iceland.Bizarre travel rituals: Pulling out tightly tucked sheets in hotel rooms.In-flight relaxation regime: Dramamine to knock me out and music to lull me to sleep.Always in carry-on: Journal and pen.Concierge or DIY? DIY. I prefer exploring and discovering an area on

We were moved by this reader story from Maria Botta, a Cuban American who made her first journey back to the island nation just a few years ago. It was a deeply pivotal trip: an exile returning to the homeland she never knew. CUBA – Yo no soy ni de aqui, ni de alla. Loosely translated, I mean to say that I am not from here or there. I do not feel like a tourist or a native. When I landed in Cuba for the first time I had

Music is transportive for Fathom super intern Daniel Schwartz. A powerful song by an award-winning Catalonian singer-songwriter takes him back to his roots. My happy place is an exercise in imagination.It isnt a meal, a cozy cafe, or a single faraway place. Its a familiar tune that transports me back in time. I take a trip whenever I listen to Mediterráneo by Joan Manuel Serrat. Let me explain. The song was a hit for y

MARRAKECH – Ive traveled extensively. Ive been to many places. But by far, the wildest place Ive experienced is the souk in Marrakech. The open-air Berber marketplace is a completely foreign and entirely authentic world. No hoards of tourists. No visible Western influence. Just the pure and beautiful culture of Morocco.I could describe the labyrinthine soil paths winding back into the bowels of the Grand Medina. I could tell you about

Names: Darrell Hartman, Oliver Hartman.Hometown: Whitefield, Maine.Occupations: Writer (DH), filmmaker (OH), and co-founders of Jungles in Paris.Favorite destinations:DH: Nepal, Namibia, Scottish Highlands.OH: The Serengeti, Argentina, Nicaragua.Dying to visit:DH: Japan.OH: The Arctic.Bizarre travel rituals:DH: I empty my wallet of anything extraneous. Its a psychological thing about traveling light.OH: Not packing enoug

INSTAGRAM – Sometimes the space is just as important as whats on show. In anticipation of Museum Week, our feed was loaded with gorgeous shots of cultural institutions, from museums to temples. No need to wait in line. Weve got your all-access pass right here. Bonus: Weve included links to help you plan your visit. COMING UP NEXT WEEK: SCANDINAVIAInstaTrip is a Sunday roundup of the best Instagram photos of the destination or tra

After several summers visiting Santa Fe, Fathom contributing editor Kate Donnelly has Georgia on her mind. NEW MEXICO – For two weeks every summer, in almost auto-pilot fashion, I head southwest to Santa Fe with my family. New Mexico is where I discovered the constant magic of color, pure air, and expanse of sky. Its no surprise that this place has made painters into pilgrims. The quality of light against the earthy palate,

This contest is now closed. Thank you for entering. All eyes are on California as this seasons festival circuit kicks into high gear next weekend at everyones favorite hippie-and-hipster extravaganza in the Palm Springs desert. The music, the fashion, the celebrities, the food, the parties — its quite a scene.We teamed up with American Apparel, mobile shopping platform Spring, and the band St. Lucia to send you to the festival for ope

Calling all New Yorkers: The 2015 Tribeca Film Festival kicks off Wednesday, April 15, 2015, with the world premiere of Live From New York!, a documentary exploring the early years of Saturday Night Live.Weve partnered with Tribeca Film Festival to give away two Live From New York! tickets to one lucky reader! Archival footage, interviews with cast and crew, and 40 years of laughs — its going to be a great night. We hear theres a

Hometown: Paris.Occupation: Journalist, musician, and co-founder of Indie Guides.Favorite destinations: Freezy ones like Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Canada in wintertime.Dying to visit: Asian cities like Bangkok and Phnom Penh to discover the alternative cultural scene. And also the Lofoten Islands. Ive actually already spent hours visiting them on Google Street View, but it only made my desire to visit them worse!Bizarre travel rituals: Lap&e

Last week, Fathoms Pavia Rosati got an email alert from Indie Guides about their new Rome app. Shes going to Rome next week, so she downloaded the app, loved it immediately, and reached out to co-founder Anne Le Gal to have a chat about her project. Tell me about the Indie Guides apps. How long have you been around, how did you get started?Indie Guides is a project my partner Gary and I have been thinking about for years. Like most peo

When we were invited to preview the New York Botanical Gardens upcoming exhibition, Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life, Fathom editorial assistant Becky Cheang discovered that Mexico City is only a subway ride away from our Manhattan office.THE BRONX – Im ashamed to admit that Mexico City is only a recent addition to my to-go list. We have so many stories about it on Fathom, and Im always totally captivated reading about the citys vibrant

Chronic wanderer and These Foreign Lands author Lucy Laucht is based in New York City, but youd never know it by looking at her Instagram feed. Shes usually off on a glorious adventure, capturing her surroundings in a collection of serene photos. After spying her shots from Trinidad, Cuba, we asked for her to describe some trip highlights.TRINIDAD, Cuba – We passed parched fields and the emerald Escambray Mountains before arrivin

They say Mexico is a suburb of California, but Plaza México on the outskirts of Los Angeles has quite literally been recreated as Mesoamerican homeland. Prepare to do a double take as you spend a day in the little Mexican enclave.LYNWOOD, California – I just cant love Los Angeles, no matter how hard I try. But Im enamored with Plaza México, a little-known shopping and entertainment center in an open-air plaza in Lynwood,

The Araabian Gulf may be filled with souqs, but only Souq Waqif in Doha can claim to be historic, authentic, and totally entertaining. Qatar-based historian Chandi Wyant takes us on a tour.DOHA, Qatar – Doha is in the process of transforming itself from a quiet town of pearl divers to one of the most important cities in the Gulf region. Ive been living and working here for three years, teaching at the community college. Its an incredible ti

Theres something about heading back to school that gets everyone excited. New friends. Back-to-school shopping. Maybe, even, learning something. We’re kicking off September with a roundup of the best classes in New York City. From flowers and fabrics to butchers and glassblowers, these interesting workshops appeal to curious locals and visitors. After all, isn’t a new skill a better souvenir to bring home than a Yankees baseball cap?

This post was produced in partnership with American Express, part of Pavia Rosatis role as a Platinum for a Year Ambassador.NEW YORK CITY – A few months ago, I had an incredible time-and-space travel experience. I woke up in Bangkok, where the night before I had visited the worlds largest reclining Buddha, for a 6 a.m. flight to NYC, which involved a three-hour layover in Tokyo. I landed at JFK a thousand hours later at 6 p.m. the sam

Third times a charm, or so the saying goes. Fathom readers and Burning Man devotees Rus Kuznetsov and Alla Kostenko headed back to Nevadas Black Rock Desert for their third visit to Burning Man, the annual festival/social experiment of temporary community and radical self-expression. The duo, authors of the travel blog Our Home World, recapped their experience in a #FathomTakeover on our Instagram account. Here, they delve deeper with even

Mexico City-based photographer Luis Cárdenas (one of Fathoms 24 Best Travelers on Instagram) recently took a 25-day trip to Cuba. Maybe you caught the #FathomTakeover he did for us on Instagram. Cuba is evolving so fast right now, and Cárdenas wanted to experience and capture it before it changed.What brought you to Cuba?I wanted to document daily Cuban life — how they live, how they look, what they eat — before th