In this Issue of the Statesider
2022 travel: still complicated. Trees from outer space, bad architecture, cinnamon rolls, weird Disney, more fun with fonts, tunnels that united a nation, and piñatas you won’t want to break, no matter what’s inside.

How to Think About Travel in 2022

The annual “where to go in 2022” lists are out. Yeah, we want to go to the Cook Islands as much as the next cabin-fevered traveler, but “where” is the wrong question if you can’t (or shouldn’t) get there. We’re much more interested in “how” to travel — or even “if.” Read our take in this Statesider editorial

Stories Across the US

The Lost National Park: Years of drought in the West are revealing the glory of Glen Canyon, America’s “lost national park.” Don’t miss the visuals on this one. Nathan Rott, NPR

Where to Find a Moon Tree: In 1971, the Apollo 14 mission brought a variety of tree seeds into space to see if they would germinate when they returned to Earth. They did, and there are still “Moon Trees” growing all across the US, some probably not far from where you are right now. Twitter thread, Kat Long. Google Map by Heather Archuletta.

Goodbye, Mansplaining: Six days exploring the Alaskan wilderness. What adventure travel could look like with no men involved. Maggie Shipstead, Outside

Sure, lots of women are terrible, and men contain multitudes, but I don’t think it’s out of line to say that women, left to their own devices, tend to be more cooperative and supportive than all-male or mixed groups.

How Kansas City Rolls: So you like cinnamon rolls. Do you like them the way Kansas City likes them? Baked, fried, round, square, iced, plain, even served with chili? Gina Kaufmann, KCUR

Lemon Pepper City: The story of Atlanta’s love of lemon pepper chicken wings, and how some of the city’s best-known versions come from an unlikely culinary destination: strip clubs. Eric Kim, New York Times

The peach is famously the state’s fruit, but lemon pepper is the city’s soul.

A Time for Change: Poet Maya Angelou will become the first Black woman to appear on a US quarter, one of five new designs coming out this year. The coins will be in circulation early this year. Nora McGreevy, Smithsonian Magazine

Can’t Improve This Headline: “Lee surrenders again as New Orleans renames boulevard for Allen Toussaint.” Sarah Ravits, Gambit

Cat Island: The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone has received a lot of attention, and stirred up a lot of passions, in recent years. Cumberland Island, a barrier isle off the Georgia coast, is home to a different and reintroduction experiment: bobcats. Ben Goldfarb, National Parks Conservation Association

Tunnels to the Past: The tunnels cut through Donner Summit built by Chinese immigrants in the 1860s helped unite our country. Today, with no active protection, the tunnels are a magnet for adventure seekers and graffiti artists. Shoshi Parks, Smithsonian

Atchafalaya Mud: One thing is clear: the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest river swamp in the United States, needs help. But in a place where change is constant, no one can agree on what it is supposed to look like. Boyce Upholt with photos by Rory Doyle, Bitter Southerner

Early European settlers saw the Atchafalaya Basin as a nearly impossible landscape, a place where “the inexperienced traveler would require the thread of Ariadne in order not to wander forever,” as one 1803 visitor suggested.

Outdoor Access: Blair Braverman developed multiple tick-borne illnesses and her body has not been the same since. “Disabled” can mean many different things to different people, but if the goal is to enjoy the outdoors, these tips can improve your experience. Blair Braverman, Outside

Tasty Tucson: The headline “Is Tucson the best city for Mexican food in the US?” is designed to provoke a strong reaction. Here’s ours: We need to eat our way through Tucson to test the hypothesis. It’s the least we can do. Abbie Kozolchyk, National Geographic

Dallas Arts: Meet the piñata master whose creations are so beautiful that you won’t want to smash them open with a stick. José R. Ralat, Texas Monthly

Build Back Weirder

Have Fun Buying the Castle! This castle in Connecticut that looks straight out of a Disney movie is hunting for a buyer with $35,000,000 and very specific tastes. This might take a while. Rebecca Makkai has the backstory in this remarkable Twitter thread. Here’s the Zillow listing.

New Deal Disney: The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland was supposed to capture a New Orleans aesthetic, but was instead modeled after a real house in Baltimore — all thanks to the Index of American Design, a New Deal effort to catalog the art and design of America. Jason Schultz, Disneyland Nomenclature

Fun With American Fonts

The Statesider’s own Doug Mack accidentally blew up on Twitter after buying a font based on National Forest and National Park signs and then creating his own versions (there are many more, touching on everything from bears to Pop-Tarts to anxiety, if you click through to the thread):

bought some park service fonts and pic.twitter.com/h2jsuZCSWq

— Doug Mack (@douglasmack) January 20, 2022

What We’re Listening To

Way Too Interested, by Gavin Purcell. Are you weirdly interested in a specific topic? Maybe even a little too interested? Yeah, us too. Gavin Purcell’s recently started podcast pairs a person with specific passion with an expert in that field, and it makes for some fascinating listening. The most recent episode is tailor-made for Statesider readers: it’s all about the interstate highways of America. Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch and highway superfan, talks with Dan McNichol, former White House appointee and author of The Roads That Built America: The Incredible Story of the U.S. Interstate System about the past and future of America’s road system and bold infrastructure projects. (Also, don’t miss food writer Helen Rosner talking about her obsession with moss.)

Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or learn more here.

If you enjoy The Statesider newsletter, please forward to a friend or two. Word of mouth is our favorite way to grow, which means we depend on your mouth and the words emerging from it. There was probably a better way to say that.

The post January Travel Jones appeared first on The Statesider.

The annual barrage of destination lists filled with tips on where to go in 2022 is here. We’re travelers, so we love those things. When we’re not inspired by them, we love to argue with their picks and ogle the pretty pictures. 

But we are where we are: in a pandemic in the midst of a wave of infections from a dangerously transmissible variant. We’re all tired of Covid’s looming presence and effect on every aspect of life, but it’s no good pretending things are back to normal. A destination list is of no use if you can’t get there — or if you’re being irresponsible in doing so.

Instead of creating our own list, or giving advice on what to do to get past the various and shifting COVID requirements of different destinations, we offer our thoughts on how to approach travel in a year of deep uncertainty.

Obviously, we’re going to tell you to take a domestic trip, so yeah, do that.

Try somewhere within a day’s drive, somewhere self-contained and self-catered. There will be moments for long-distance flights to other parts of the world, but today is not that day. Plus, it’s our raison d’être to remind people how fascinating the US is for travelers. Whether you’re looking for food, history, nature, adventure, sports, or the International Banana Museum, we’ve got it all. Don’t think of this travel as a substitute for the trip you actually want to take — one place can never be a perfect stand-in for another — but as a chance to see something genuinely cool and journey-worthy that you might not have seen otherwise. 

Put a trip on the calendar, but not the big dream trip. 

Maybe things will look great for travel in the Summer! Or maybe they won’t! It’s probably not the year to put all of your hopes and dreams into one big trip. Getting a trip on the calendar is still a good plan. Having something to look forward to is a great way to lift your pandemic-sagged spirits. And short trips — in distance or duration — can be as satisfying as the biggies. Research backs us up on this: the main effects of a vacation on your health and wellness come from experiences, not from the length of your trip.

Finally take the time to explore that town you always drive through on the way to somewhere else.

A lot of those towns you blow by on the freeway today were more bustling back when transportation was different, in the days when cars got fewer miles per gallon and more people traveled by train. Those little one-time hotspots continue to be interesting in their own right if you give them a chance. The lodging is cheaper, the demand is lower, and if you’re trying to minimize your exposure to crowds, well, why go where the crowds are? Plus, you get to learn about a new place.

Risk tolerances will vary. Take other people into consideration.

As the LA Times’ Matt Pearce recently tweeted: “Everyone taking masking less serious than me is a maniac putting us all at risk and everyone taking masking more serious than me is a threat to our proud social fabric.” Point being, your risk tolerance is just that: yours. Keep in mind that some people are very concerned for their own safety and the safety of their kids and loved ones, while others are ready to jump aboard a maskless Bikram yoga cruise. Wherever you are on that spectrum, don’t forget that others around you might see things differently.

Check before you book and before you travel to see if locals really want you to come. 

In 2021, Hawai‘i experienced a spike in infections, an overwhelming crush of mainland tourists, and a labor shortage all at once. The Governor asked people to stay home. Travelers, by and large, did not. If you’re still thinking, “But I really want to go there!!” we’d suggest getting a bit more context by reading this Afar story on Hawaii by Chris Colin. Headline: “Hawai‘i Is Not Our Playground.” This isn’t just a Hawaii issue. Wherever you’re wanting to go, if the locals say no, make new plans.

Expect labor shortages, and understand that might affect you. Tip service workers generously. 

It might take longer for your food to arrive or for your vacation rental to be ready. Everyone is doing the best they can under less-than-ideal circumstances. 

Speaking of service workers, order takeout.

New Yorkers had this dialed in well before the pandemic, with that pile of menus on top of the microwave. That new place you’ve been wanting to try will pack your food to go, and some places have the reheating instructions right there in the bag. Tip delivery folks well, too, if you go that route.

Step away from the savior complex. It’s just a trip.

If your goal is to help the local people of a destination thrive, find an organization that supports those in need — including when you’re not there in person. Yes, travel is a huge industry and it supports a lot of people, but don’t fool yourself that you’re saving a place by visiting, or that tourism is necessarily a net good even in non-Covid times. Travel economies are complex, and your presence as a traveler can both benefit and endanger the people and the place. You already know this. 

Staying home is always an option.

Look, we’re a travel-focused site, but we’re not travel promoters. Exploring America is a wonderful thing to do, but not at the expense of your safety or the safety of others. If travel is going to ratchet up your anxiety, or if it just doesn’t seem advisable to do, that’s okay! Now’s a great time to catch up on your movie-watching, your book-reading, or, if you really need to see the world, your Google Street View explorations (if you need inspiration, try finding a random city using Earth Roulette). And if you’re struggling to find an excuse to say no to travel, The Onion has you covered: What To Say If You’re Not Comfortable Traveling During Covid-19.

This too shall pass. We’ll meet you for breakfast tacos when it does.

– Andy, Pam & Doug

The post How To Think About Travel in 2022 appeared first on The Statesider.