Jen Ottolino

2 weeks ago | explore.com | Jen Ottolino

Albania's Budget-Friendly Tourist Destination Is A Beach Escape With Coastal Hikes VikSid/Shutterstock Vlorë, Albania is a coastal city with a long and fascinating history. With a strategic location in a bay on the Balkan Peninsula — exactly where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian — Vlorë has had its share of plunderous rulers.

2 weeks ago | islands.com | Jen Ottolino

From Hawaii and Alaska and scattered from coast to coast, when you take a look at the complete list of every national park in America, you'll find that it boasts a total of 63 parks, representing some of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the entire world. While professional rangers and other paid park personnel are integral to the functioning of these parks, volunteers provide critical services, too. Thousands of them, in fact.

2 weeks ago | explore.com | Jen Ottolino

A Charming Town In Southwestern France Is Highly Regarded As A 'Capital Of Miracles' Boris-B/Shutterstock The town is called Lourdes, and over the past 142 years or so, more than 7,000 pilgrims and visitors have reported unexplained healings here. An entity established by the Catholic Church — the Bureau des Constatations Médicales de Lourdes (Medical Bureau of the Sanctuary) — employs a permanent medical doctor.

2 weeks ago | islands.com | Jen Ottolino

Arizona has a stunning variety of urban and rural landscapes, from deep gorges like the Grand Canyon and cactus-studded deserts to shining modern cities and old western towns. Surprisingly, the state also has a fair number of quaint mountain communities nestled amongst the pines, such as Pinetop-Lakeside, which is located 188 miles northeast of Phoenix in the White Mountains.

3 weeks ago | explore.com | Jen Ottolino

A Dangerous Mountain Climbing Trend Has Been Claiming Lives On The World's Tallest Peaks Vixit/Shutterstock Following mountaineers on Instagram as they conquer the world's most difficult climbs is itself an adventure — and you don't even need to leave your living room. But envy and fascination quickly turn to armchair horror when accidents happen, and inevitably, they do. This was the case in the Tibetan Himalayas in October 2023.