culture

Get the authentic cultural experience on your next foreign jaunt. Wander like a local; here, there, and everywhere.

A Trip to England (Part III)
There are moments in your life that cloud things; that make things seem so difficult to comprehend that you just do not deal with them in a way that would seem proper. I was given that photograph of my half-sister and kept it hidden in a drawer from any curious eyes in my house. I did not mention it or even hint at it until my mother confessed that she knew all about her and we both realized that two lies were living in the same house. As I think about that scene between us, I realize that I would not believe it if I had heard about it from a friend (not even the film studios of Hollywood could have imagined such things). But it was too real and made me more aware of what was true and what was imaginary. I paid more attention to the racist graffiti I saw on an embankment wall as we travelled to a cricket match (contrasted with a wheat field that appeared like liquid gold, it was startling to see an attitude so honest). I noted that fruit sold in the markets came from South Africa. This was during apartheid and I made a point of buying a t-shirt that recommended that one Boycott South African Goods. I then looked carefully around that neighbourhood. Cramped homes, grey weather, narrow and mugger-friendly lanes and walls, appalling programs on TV (comedy specials seemed to have to volume of the audience turned way up for the weakest jokes) and I have already commented on the food.
By Kendall Defoe 3 years ago in Wander
What They Don't Tell You About Being An Au Pair
When you decide to become an au pair, it’s because you want the opportunity to travel and (ideally) you don’t absolutely despise children. It’s the ideal setup for a young traveller.
By Faith3 years ago in Wander
Get off the beaten path in Patagonia
Do a fast bucket list of destinations you want to visit. If you are an outdoor enthusiast, Patagonia probably popped up there (even if you already know it).
By Ricky Lanusse3 years ago in Wander
UNLISTED WONDER OF THE WORLD
QUICK INFO: Located at Thanjavor , Tamil Nadu , India. Dedicated To: Lord Shiva Thanjavur Temple Timings: 6:00 am – 12:30 pm & 4:00 pm – 8:30 pm (Everyday)
By Venu3 years ago in Wander
The single word that connects Denmark
Towards the end of each year, Dansk Sprognævn (the Danish Language Council) and P1 radio station select Denmark’s word of the year. Inevitably capturing the (sometimes unflattering) mood of the times, previous winners have included klimatosse (“climate idiot”) in 2019 and hvidvask (“money laundering”) in 2018.
By Joans3 years ago in Wander
The private language of Venice
Venetians have an uncanny ability to dodge, deflect, blend in, disappear in plain sight. Perhaps that's why so many travellers assume that “real” life in Venice was long ago trampled out of existence by hundreds of millions of tourist feet.
By Corsicari3 years ago in Wander
The origin of the word 'taboo'
It was sometime in early March when a passenger with Covid-19 landed at the world’s most remote commercial airport, disembarked into Easter Island’s sticky air and subsequently infected members of the small volcanic outcrop’s indigenous Rapa Nui community.
By Gay3 years ago in Wander
'Captain' Gallagher: The legend of Ireland’s ‘Highwaymen’
My mother first told me the tale when I was three years old. Somewhere, in a forest near her hometown of Swinford, Ireland, lay the buried treasure of a folk hero who gave power to the powerless. More than 200 years ago, while Ireland’s County Mayo was patrolled by British soldiers, controlled by English gentry and riven by poverty, one group of Irish men launched an unconventional revolt.
By Seamons Mahall3 years ago in Wander
The truth about British stoicism
The street cleaner was sitting at a small table outside Leadenhall Market in central London, his gaze fixed on a large mug of tea in front of him. I’d met the 60-something-year-old man a few weeks earlier on a previous visit to the market.
By Seamons Mahall3 years ago in Wander
Europe’s city of dawdlers and loafers
Bulgaria’s second city of Plovdiv is proud of its reputation for doing things its own way. As soon as you step off the bus from the capital of Sofia, you can feel the change in pace of life. People walk more slowly. They seem to have more time on their hands. The traffic is less hectic. As you walk to the city centre through the park, where old men gather to play chess and people lounge and chat in the shade of the old trees, Plovdiv immediately feels different. There’s a kind of insouciance to Plovdiv, something that is both immediately apparent and hard to put your finger on.
By Gay3 years ago in Wander
Why Germans love getting naked in public
After four years of living in Berlin, I’ve learned to embrace Germany’s anything-goes sprit and more casual approach to nudity than where I grew up in the Midwestern US.
By Seamons Mahall3 years ago in Wander
Japan's hidden world of temples
Koya-san is a sacred Unesco World Heritage site In 816 AD, a monk named Kukai wandered into the thickly forested slopes of Mount Koya (Koya-san) in Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture in hope of finding a suitable site to build a base for his newly founded Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism. He chose an 800m-deep valley surrounded by eight peaks, whose ridges resemble the petals of an eight-petaled lotus blossom. Twelve centuries and 117 temples later, Kukai’s spiritual wooded wonderland is a [Unesco World Heritage site](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1142) and one of Japan’s most sacred destinations – a place where the wafting aroma of incense, the chanting of shaved-head monks and the primeval air of forested cemeteries creates a spiritual experience like none other. (Credit: ncousla/Getty Images)
By Gay3 years ago in Wander