Travel Newsletter: Year of the Dragon edition
Chiang Mai burning season, the ‘Into the Wild’ bus, visiting every country (or not), best beach in Australia (if you can quantify such a thing), and more travel reads.
Welcome to the Nomadic Notes Travel Newsletter, where I curate the best travel reads of the week.
It’s Tet Eve in Vietnam (the lunar new year), so it feels weird to be working while many people already stopped working during the week. Wishing you all a happy year of the dragon!
Latest posts at Nomadic Notes
• Chiang Mai burning season: News and information about air pollution in Northern Thailand
Last February I went to Chiang Mai thinking that I was arriving before the burning season. This is when agricultural and forest fires are lit in the dry season, causing terrible air pollution. This got me thinking about when the burning season begins, and what the worst years were (so far). I have started a news archive that tracks reports.
Travel reads
• The ‘Into the Wild’ bus was a pilgrimage site in the wilderness. Can it hold up in a museum?
• What’s in a souvenir? The true value of hyperlocal handicrafts
“Done right, souvenirs can help craft practices thrive, and provide a crucial source of income for local communities...”
• Victoria's Squeaky Beach named Australia's best beach for 2024
• A guide to Bangkok’s oldest—and currently, buzziest—neighborhood
💻 Nomad news
• Japan's digital nomad visas to require ¥10 million in income
“Japan plans to begin issuing six-month visas for digital nomads with an annual income of ¥10 million ($68,300) or more, the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) announced Friday. The program is expected to start by the end of March.”
• Nomad Place – Bulgarian municipality renames street in nod to nomad community
🚆Train travel
• Tokyo’s busiest commuter line slowing things down with special one-lap Yamanote sightseeing train
• The Schwebebahn: Germany's spectacular 'flying' train
✈️ Air travel
• World's abandoned airports offer an eerie journey through bad decisions and worse wars
• Thailand’s forgotten Boeing 747 operators
…
[Year of the Dragon, via @nomadicnotes.]
James Clark – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.