Wild coyotes in urban spaces can bring a bit of the outdoors to the concrete jungle—but why are their populations growing in places like San Francisco? See the full post >

But the peak is loaded with rookies and critics decry the ‘Everestization’ of the Savage Mountain See the full post >

People thought the photo was a fake, but the meltwater is due to a European heat wave that spike temps to 114º in France. See the full post >

After a close call on a flight over New Jersey, writer Jen Rose Smith wanted to learn more about how travelers can better deal with risk and uncertainty. So she got in touch with Allison Schrager—an economist, of all things. It was somewhere over Newark, New Jersey that all hell broke loose on the plane. […]

The entire Australian state of New South Wales is suffering through one of the worst droughts in history. So what’s the best way to help the local farmers and communities that have lost livelihoods and income? Visit them, says travel writer Jennifer Ennion.  Green grass isn’t what you’d associate with severe drought. Cracked earth, gaunt […]

Captivated by birds since he was a child, David Lindo has turned his hobby into a career. Now known as the Urban Birder, he’s on a mission to get everyone, particularly city-dwellers, better engaged with the nature around us. As we walk, heads low, checking phones for headlines, updates and messages, it’s not just lamppost […]

For six years, Matt Green walked along every street of New York City’s five boroughs. His footsteps have been recorded through a blog and a documentary called The World Before Your Feet. Michele Herrmann finds out why he wanted to explore his hometown in this way. New Yorkers walk around a lot. But since 2012, […]

Tours to Syria and northern Iraq are selling out, and tourist arrivals to both regions are on the up. But while the ‘caliphate’ may be over, is it safe to return yet? “You’re traveling through to … Erbil?” The flight check-in staffer raised her eyebrow as I wrestled my suitcase onto the luggage belt. “Are […]

This story was originally published in Smith Journal Volume 22. He’s scaled Everest twice, flown a balloon around the world in 11 days, and been camel riding with Vladimir Putin. Meet Fedor Konyukhov, 21st-century Russia’s most tireless adventurer. Fedor Konyukhov greets visitors to his Moscow workshop with a hand to the forehead—a blessing in the […]

Vienna’s coffeehouses were once synonymous with intellectual thought, where great minds met and sipped. Luke Waterson looks at how they became such legendary breeding grounds for innovative thought—and why they could become so once again. When you’ve spent as much time in as many of Vienna’s coffeehouses as I have, the first common denominator you’ll […]