International Travel News -- RIP

[OldShooter]

I have posted/recommended the International Travel News site here from time to time. ITN is unique because almost all of the articles are written by subscribers, who pull no punches describing their experiences with places and attractions. ITN published an excellent travel insurance series written by Wayne Wirtanen. I also wrote a number of feature articles and short pieces about DW and my travels.

I got a note from David Tykol, the editor, on Wednesday. He thanked me for my contributions and delivered the bad news. They have been running at a loss through the COVID period and, after 553 consecutive issues, just couldn't hang on any longer.

Here is the silver lining, though:

" ... an archived and searchable copy of the website will continue to be available at the current web address, www.intltravelnews.com — a library of our subscribers' articles and letters. The archived site will be available at no cost [paywall removed!] and will remain accessible through at least 2024."
​

So IMO this should be a fist-stop for anyone considering international travel or international cruising. If you haven't checked out intltravelnews.com I encourage you to take a look. (as of today, the paywall seems to still be there, but it will be coming down. In the mean time, lots of material is not behind the wall anyway.)

 

[pacergal]

Thanks for posting, bookmarked the website.
I seemed able to access it without a paywall.

 

[Sunset]

Thanks, have bookmarked it, in case I get the urge to look.

Seems some parts are accessible, and others require a login.
example:
https://www.intltravelnews.com/2021/travelers-intercom-usa-0

 

[OldShooter]

... Seems some parts are accessible, and others require a login.
example:
https://www.intltravelnews.com/2021/travelers-intercom-usa-0

Let's wait a few days. If the paywall doesn't come down I'll email David to ask.

 

[Chuckanut]

I just got the April issue today. It's a shame that it no longer is being published.

A smart move would be to see what they can do online.

Most travel sights are not that impressive. They run articles like "Five fantastic seashore retreats that nobody knows about". Well, everybody knows now! Or their list of things to do when visiting Varandaville is to eat at three restaurants, buy tourist junk at five famous tourist traps, drink at five historical bars, and walk the rutted road between the decaying lighthouse and the sawmill.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Let's wait a few days. If the paywall doesn't come down I'll email David to ask.

When I first accessed the above link, a message popped up explaining their decision to end publication. It also gave info about the free access to the archives. It indicated this would start April 7th.

Subsequent visits to the site do not make the pop up appear.

Thanks for the details on this.

 

[OldShooter]

I just got the April issue today. It's a shame that it no longer is being published.

A smart move would be to see what they can do online. ...

It's a pretty old-school operation; I don't see David or Beth (features editor) doing something like that. But David's email to me did say "There are people expressing interest in keeping ITN going somehow, but we don't know what will come of that. Any news would be posted on our website." Faint hope, of course. But we can hope.

 

[Chuckanut]

Here's an alternative to the ITN. It's a news group where people discuss travel and share their experiences. Like this FIRE group, The Travelzine group is very friendly and some of the people are quite knowledgeable.

Its filled with great advice from ordinary people who have been there and done that. Below is an example from this months messages.

https://1a-travelzine.groups.io/g/ZINE

These are some museums in Paris that I enjoyed visiting and I think are less well known.

Musée des Arts et Métiers - a fascinating museum of science and technology
Musée Jacquemart-André - in a beautiful19th-Century home that displays the collection of the owners
Musée de Cluny - the medieval museum, which features the famous Lady and the Unicorn tapestries
Musée de l'Orangerie - a small Impressionist museum

I also highly recommend going on a walking tour with Paris Walks - www.paris-walks.com. They do tours of neighborhoods and about history (in English), and all the ones I have been on were excellent.

 

[ScoopKona]

Travel sites are their own worst enemy.

Let's take the Cinque Terre in Italy. Five gorgeous towns, perched precariously on cliffs on the Mediterranean. Rick Steves wrote about it. Then he featured it on his travel show.

And now it simply isn't worth going there anymore because of the absolute crush of tourists.

There is a nearby place my wife and I like to go, which is almost as beautiful. And it's almost deserted because Rick Steves never wrote about the place.

I would never write about it. I hope it remains a sleepy, underrated town. Don Henley was right: "You call someplace paradise -- Kiss it goodbye."

 

[Scrapr]

There is a nearby place my wife and I like to go, which is almost as beautiful. And it's almost deserted because Rick Steves never wrote about the place.

I would never write about it. I hope it remains a sleepy, underrated town. Don Henley was right: "You call someplace paradise -- Kiss it goodbye."

you can tell me though right?

 

[Koolau]

you can tell me though right?

Yeah, your secret (Paradise) is safe with us. Too late for Hawaii, though.

 

[ScoopKona]

Yeah, your secret (Paradise) is safe with us. Too late for Hawaii, though.

Thankfully, my town is considered the most criminally underrated town in the state. I hope it stays that way.

And yes, I'm not going to mention my favorite small city in Italy. Anthony Bourdain agonized over this -- on one hand, he single-handedly improved the financial lives of many many people when he gave a glowing review. On the other hand, he ruined places he loved to visit.

Most people aren't going to like my pick, anyway. They're going to go to the Cinque Terre and Pisa. And they're going to take tacky pictures at the leaning tower. I don't want such people behaving badly in the places tourism hasn't already ruined.

 

[Koolau]

Thankfully, my town is considered the most criminally underrated town in the state. I hope it stays that way.

I loved Captain Cook and the Kona side of Big Island but I couldn't live on Big Island. It's just too laid back. I like it "spoiled" so I chose Honolulu. Glad your crime stats are low. Ours seem to be headed up but YMMV.