I did a little live stream thing this week to test Substack’s capabilities in this regard and… it was nice. I took some time to talk about one of my favorite obsessions – US national park ink stamps — and how to collect them in a smart little book called Your National Parks Passport. Here’s the video and my big face. Enjoy! I hope you’ll join for the next one.
Read on for more from The Escapologist this week…
Right Now in Travel, as Briefly as Possible
Spain: The Alhambra, the famous medieval Islamic palace in the Spanish city of Granada, closed this week due to earthquakes in the region. While there was no structural damage to the palace, and there’s no danger to visitors, cosmetic aspects of the building require repair. The palace is now re-opened, but some rooms are closed and visits have been re-routed. (Alhambra official ticketing), (RFI)
NYC: The Neue Gallerie, among the loveliest museums in New York and home to a spate of magnificent Gustav Klimt paintings, has been closed for renovation and will reopen in the coming weeks. Its restaurant, Cafe Sabarsky, where you can order Sachertorte and Bavarian sausages for breakfast and feel completely civilized in the process, reopens on October 1, while the galleries reopen on November 12. (Neue Gallery)
Philly: It’s not super new – it opened in May – but the Pennsylvania Hospital Museum, which chronicles the history of hospital care, is now open in Philadelphia. Founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1751, it is the country’s oldest hospital and was key in pioneering sciences like mental healthcare and maternity care. A reason to go – the hospital’s two-story original apothecary, complete with original medicine jars. (Philadelphia Hospital Museum)
Georgia: Heeeey, the US got another UNESCO World Heritage designation – its first since 2023. And it’s a swamp! The Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia protects critically endangered wildlife like the gopher tortoise, the indigo snake, and the red-cockaded woodpecker. You love to see it. (The Wildlife Society)
US: There are so many serious, ongoing threats to US national parks right now that it’s almost impossible to name all of them in a single paragraph. From bulldozing in Big Bend (which has now just moved to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument), to the decimation of Bear’s Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante, to mining threats at Chaco Canyon, to the ongoing censorship of park exhibits that tell important civil rights, native American, and climate history, it’s… horrifying. Write to your reps. Make noise on social media. Sign petitions. Pushback from constituents helped pause the bulldozing at Big Bend, and spurred new, state-level protections at the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. It can be done. Some important advocates in the space: Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, National Trust for Historic Preservation.
