Senses of Direction Archives | Page 2 of 2

Land of the (white) lotus eaters, Notre Dame 2.0, and brilliant women hidden in plain sight

Welcome to the ninth edition of VoiceMap’s newsletter, Senses of Direction.

This week, we dive into the crowded waters of Koh Samui, where the ‘White Lotus effect’ has brought a new tide of tourists. We also step inside the gleaming interior of Notre Dame 2.0, with a French YouTuber as our guide. Then, in celebration of International Women’s Day, we’ve got a story about a ‘wild’ woman who shocked 18th century Scotland by riding a sow through Edinburgh, but managed to leave her mark on the world nevertheless.

McSpaghetti, jam sessions, and the bank of Scrooge

Welcome to VoiceMap’s newsletter, Senses of Direction.

In our eighth edition, we take a sensory journey to the Silk Road, where music remains one of the trade route’s most enduring exports. Cultural exchange through commerce is also the theme of a new book, taking us to the far corners of McDonald’s’ surprisingly eclectic empire, where you’re as likely to find macarons and McSpaghetti as you are a Big Mac.

And from Gloucester, on the site of a McDonald’s that was once a bank, there’s the story of a very real miser who inspired Charles Dickens’ fictional Scrooge.

Time wealth, travel in 2025, and Bangkok’s backpacker hub

Welcome to the seventh edition of VoiceMap’s fortnightly newsletter, Senses of Direction.

In our first edition of the new year, we’ve got a selection of stories, trends, and conversations to inspire your travel plans for 2025. There’s a podcast with Tim Ferris and Rolf Potts, who talk about everything from long-term travel tactics and “vagabonding,” to redefining one’s mindset around success and seeing a city with new eyes.

There’s a series of larger-than-life vignettes from the pulsating heart of Bangkok’s traveller hub, and an engaging collection of trends for 2025 that shed light on how – and why – travel is changing. We also voyage to Paris to hear an esoteric take on why many a traveller’s aspirations culminate in this city, and the Champs-Élysées.

Christmas mythmaking, perfect strangers, natural wonders and Paul Theroux

Welcome to the sixth edition of VoiceMap’s fortnightly newsletter, Senses of Direction.

This week, we’ve got a behind-the-scenes look at a beloved symbol of the holiday season, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. There’s the unlikely story of a man who set off on his first-ever long distance cycle – all the way to India – after a chance encounter in a London pub, and a series of astounding photographs from this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

Lastly, there’s a reflection on travelling to Burma over the course of 53 years by Paul Theroux, “who, it’s fair to say, reinvented travel writing as an art form.”

Russian tumbleweeds, spitting Germans and cardinal lies

Welcome to the fifth edition of VoiceMap’s fortnightly newsletter, Senses of Direction.

This week, we face a hard truth: travel might not have the power to change the world. In fact NYT columnist Matt Gross calls the idea “horseshit”, and declares his life’s work a failure.

You’ll also find out why people still spit on a small stone in front of Bremen’s St Peter’s Cathedral, and follow the humble tumbleweed on its border-hopping adventures.

Last but not least, we’ve got excerpts from a fascinating new book about the history of direction, and how it’s more topsy-turvy than you’d expect.

American hospitality, mud-loving pigs and mile-high nostalgia

Welcome to the fourth edition of Senses of Direction, VoiceMap’s fortnightly newsletter.

As polls open in the United States, we’ve got an eye-opening new book about dodging tornadoes and crossbow-wielding weirdos to get up close and personal with an America that’s too often reduced to blue or red.

We’ve also got a story about the legend of Bath’s mud-loving pigs, a podcast about reading a book from every country in the world and, for your sense of nostalgia, a reflection on the in-flight magazine’s demise.