This week: We're flicking through our camera roll. | | | Looking back is beautiful | Lonely Planet has been traveling the world for over 50 years. In the time of support bots and AI-generated images, we rely on real people and experts tasting, smelling and seeing the world and reporting the best of it back to us for our books and site. We work with writers and photographers from Vietnam, Vanuatu, Victoria, BC, and Victoria Falls. We work with a lot of on-the-ground photographers, too. Some are local professionals who are excited to share a piece of their home, others are photographers on vacation or those that we call for assignment, like Pier Nirandara, who captured the diving scenes in Cape Town, including the one at the start of this newsletter. We recruit all of them to do what they do best and share it with Lonely Planet readers so that they can feel informed and inspired. You never know when the light is going to hit something just right that it will make you say, "Ooh, I've got to see that in person." With that in mind, here are some of our favorite photographs shot for us this year. We hope they inspire your next adventure. | | | Robert Ormerod's photographs of the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland made me, quite literally, book a ticket. We took our first vacation as a family of three to Ireland and Northern Ireland later in the year. I didn't make it to see the incredible Connemara ponies or the sheepherding demonstration that Robert was able to photograph for us, but I did see plenty of sheep and had to jump out of the car multiple times for the views along the Wild Atlantic Way. - Pia Peterson Haggarty, Photo Director | | | This photograph by Blake Horn of the Mirandaola Ironworks in Mirandoala, Basque Country, Spain was fascinating because it's something that you don't see every day scrolling, it's a visit that you have to seek out. Mirandola is one of the oldest foundries in the Basque Country, and the workers still wear outfits from the 16th century. They gave our video team a look at how metal was made into swords with techniques used for over 500 years ago. - PPH, Photo Director | | | Our Destination Editor for Southeast Asia, James Pham, took the dreamiest trip to Phu Quoc earlier this year and made us all extremely jealous with his photographs that captured just how relaxing this beautiful island is. When we daydream about Vietnam, we're picturing this exact scene. Heading to Vietnam? Don't stress about using your mobile device once you're there. Check out the eSIM service, Saily, to get a reliable, affordable and secure internet connection when traveling. | | | I tend to feel a pull towards destinations where I can swim so this image of Cascata de Fecha de Barjas in Portugal by Kerry Murray is forever stuck in my mind. You see people laughing and lounging on the rocks. You know that the water is cool and the sun is hot. It is obvious that this swimming hole is an escape from the city and will take effort to find for yourself. To me, this image looks like the perfect summer afternoon and one I would like to recreate. - Chamidae Ford, Associate Writer | | | Gabriela Bhaskar photographed the coastal town of Puducherry (Pondicherry) for Best in Travel and captured its essence remarkably well. This photo is an unabashedly colorful slice of life. Though mildly chaotic for lovers of beige and gray, this scene opens up without feeling intrusive: you can feel the buzz; hear the conversations (arguments!) and smell the flowers. Plus it's so layered - you see much more on close inspection! - Akanksha Singh, Destination Editor for India and the Subcontinent | | | This photo from Amber Bracken stopped me in my tracks (pun intended!): an off-road streetcar being directed by a conductor in a traditional uniform. It looks so incredibly nostalgic that I was convinced it had been mislabeled. Surely this isn't Edmonton in Canada? In 2024? But it is, and it made me curious about the city and its quirks. I adore any image that makes me approach a destination with a fresh perspective. - Sasha Brady, Digital Editor | | | I get to watch newly commissioned images for our annual Best in Travel campaign flood into Lonely Planet's collection. When Rintaro Kanemoto's vibrant photos of Osaka first arrived, I felt like I'd jumped into a vintage postcard. I love everything about this photo: the symmetry, the contrast between light and dark, between cool and warm - I think Wes Anderson would like it, too. - Ann Douglas Lott, Digital Editor | | | Damien Mobbs captured this photo of a local tourist, Donna, being presented with a headband of flowers from a young woman on Banks Island after a performance of a "water music" song - a traditional type of music unique to their home islands in Vanuatu. This image radiates joy, but it's also a tender moment that celebrates tradition, culture and the pride of a community. - Sasha Brady, Digital Editor | | | This week we're reading...
| | | | Photography by: Pier Nirandara, Robert Ormerod, Blake Horn, James Pham, Kerry Murray, Amber Bracken, Gabriela Bhaskar, Rintaro Kanemoto, Damien Mobbs | This email was sent to you by:
Lonely Planet Publications Ltd. | 1101 Red Ventures Drive, Fort Mill, SC 29707 | | | |
