How do you fully comprehend something as grandiose as the Taj Mahal when youre traveling by your little old self? You get on the floor with a bunch of strangers. A reader story.AGRA, India – Thirty-three kilometers. Thirty-two. Thirty-one. I watch every signpost tick past. The Taj Mahal is waiting for me. Then a night train to Varanasi. Im standing in the doorway of the overcrowded bus, the gear shaft is shouting out clouds of bl

A boutique hotel on a private island with a flawless beach — youve probably had a dream like this. Mark Colodny found the real thing at Parrot Cay.TURKS AND CAICOS – In Herman Wouks now largely forgotten 1965 novel Dont Stop the Carnival, a jittery New York Broadway press agent named Norman Paperman goes on vacation to a Caribbean island and, seduced by the spectacular weather, pristine beaches, and local charm, buys a hotel and quits

Sometimes its nice to make friends with the strangers you meet on your travels. Not when a failed English clown is ruining your once-in-a-lifetime trip to Lisbon. A reader story.LISBON – One of the greatest benefits of solo travel is that it forces the lone backpacker to open up to a world of people and experiences she would have never otherwise encountered. But there are people worth opening up to, and then there are people to be run

An awkward first date at a New York deli turned into a marinara-drenched romance — this is Fathom intern Tess Faloticos Bronx tale.NEW YORK CITY – I go to school and live in a neighborhood so densely packed with delicious Italian food that you cant even tell which restaurant the scent of tomato sauce is coming from. Arthur Avenue recalls what Mulberry Street used to be — simple menus and old-school waiters listing off spec

Topping Rose House Inn is just finishing its first season in the Hamptons. We checked in to check it out.BRIDGEHAMPTON, New York – Ive spent the majority of the past 12 summers in the Hamptons, specifically in Bridgehampton. Which you might think would make me an authority on the area, given how my job is to, you know, travel and explore the world. But the truth is I rarely leave the Bridgehampton village of Sagaponack, a hamlet filled with

Summer is only over if you stop thinking about it. Last month, along with Eater and Pure Wow, we gave away a sweet, late August weekend getaway to Montauk. Ruschmeyers provided the room; Uber provided the rides. New Yorker Stacey Franchina was the big winner. We caught up with her to hear how it went. Are you the kind of person who usually wins things like weekend trips to the Hamptons in high season? Never! How was Ruschmeyers? Like summer

This post was sponsored by Marriott: Travel Brilliantly.The travel industry has come a long way from the days of telegrams and horse-drawn caravans. We have translation apps in our pockets, flatbeds on airplanes, and feather-light titanium suitcases on wheels. But then, as now, a trip isnt always a vacation.On one end of the spectrum, theres a growing trend in traveling to unplug and escape from it all. But the modern reality is that most p

In June, Amanresorts opened its latest property, Aman Canal Grande Venice, one of the few European hotels the companys portfolio. Liza Foreman checks in and not surprisingly finds it to be as exquisite and magical as Aman hotels always are.VENICE – Leaving my OAP (old age pensioners) holiday camp on the Lido, where a friend and I had stayed for the Venice Film Festival, sleeping in what looked like former army barracks, I hopped on a vapore

You know what they say: Marriage is a tropical paradise. (Okay, nobody says that.) But if you have the cash, the wedding certainly can be. BORA BORA – I could die today and that would be okay, I whispered to myself.The crazy thing was that I meant it. Lying alone, in a lovers paradise, on my tiny, private beach on a Bora Bora motu with my eyes closed, I drank in the sounds. With the water tickling the pebbles at my feet and the crash

Its a good day at Fathom HQ. We have some happy news to share. We just won bronze medal in the Best Online Travel Journalism category of the 2013 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards. Were thrilled and honored!The annual competition is sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation and is named for Lowell Thomas, the first roving newscaster, radio personality, prolific author, explorer, and wily globetrotter. He

Fathom founder Pavia Rosati checks into the romantic Nam Hai beach resort in Vietnam and loves what she finds. HOI AN, Vietnam – Say hello to paradise for me, my friend Gail told me before I left for Vietnam.She was talking about The Nam Hai hotel in Hoi An Beach, and her comment was a crazy understatement.Gail spent her honeymoon at Nam Hai; I was there on a press trip with five nice strangers. I was given a gorgeous villa thats

All aboard for the latest installment of Fathom for kate spade new york City Guides.We have tried, tasted, swilled, shopped, strolled, snapped, researched, fact checked, mapped, and napped — to bring you a new collection of cities to covet. While we were at it, we updated and added to our own city guides.ParisA locale perfectly attuned to the kate spade new york sensibility.kate spade new york guide | Fathom guideCharlestonAt the

David Farley is a globetrotting travel journalist who we read in The New York Times and AFAR, among others. Hes also the author of the book An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Churchs Strangest Relic in Italys Oddest Town. (The relic was the foreskin of Jesus; the town was Calcata.) Weve had the pleasure of traveling (and drinking) with David in New York and around the world and thought hed be the perfect person to introduce our new

NEW YORK – We swear were not biased, but Fathom husband Ben Schott has published a new book, Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human Condition, and its awesome. In this funny and beautifully designed volume, Schott identifies human conditions that everyone experiences but no one has named, and gives them names — in German — as well as historic, literary, and philosophical footnotes. For example:Since he is pretty c

Fresh flowers, grapes, olives, and plum blossoms. Cherry tomatoes paired with fresh watermelon. Cantaloupes and peaches accompanying pumpkin slices and millet. Paula de la Cruz takes in the colorful bounty at Babylonstoren.FRANSCHOEKK, South Africa – Big yellow squash flowers as bright as suns were the first thing that caught my eye as I entered the stainless steel and white tiled kitchen. The flowers were not decorating pla

Anthropological observations on the Land of Wood and Water from writer (and Jamaican radio-obsessive) Jon Kirby.JAMAICA – If youre anything like me, you forgot to call your bank before you left the country. So you probably only have one chance to hit the ATM, because Im pretty sure theres a siren that goes off in most responsible banking institutions when your card makes a withdrawal at the Kingston Airport. Youve probably got some US

INSTAGRAM – Its cold over here at Fathom HQ! Were bracing ourselves for another New York winter. Warmth is on the mind.

Finca Esperanza Verde, aptly translated to Green Hope Farm, takes eco travel to the next level. Ariel Azoff appreciates the natural beauty and learns about how the resort gives back to its tight-knit community. A verdant reader story.MATAGALPA, Nicaragua – Swinging in a hammock on the yoga platform of the Finca Esperanza Verde, Im surrounded by bird songs, flowers, and the occasional battle cry of a howler monkey. Its a noisy pla

Were looking back at some of our best neighborhood finds — up-and-coming enclaves in Cairo, Mumbai, San Francisco, Austin, Brooklyn, and Mexico City.

Were clicking, viewing, liking, and linking out to our favorite finds on the web. Presenting a weekly compendium of what were loving right now. Happy armchair traveling.When I travel, I always visit historic homes. (Show me how you lived and ate, and Ill know who you are.) Next time Im in Chicago, Ill go to the Art Institute of Chicago to see these stunning miniature replicas of real period homes made in the 1920s and 1930s by Mrs. Jam