Travel News to Know - July 18
+ reporting vs curation and a guide to Courmayeur
Hi friends -
It’s a dark week for news. Congress approved a plan to cut $1.1 billion in previously allocated funds for public broadcasting. That’s all federal support for NPR, PBS and their member stations. (They also rescinded $7 billion for foreign aid. Remember that this money was already allocated and now they are taking it away.)
At the same time, a report from Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack found that one in three counties in the U.S. do not have even one full-time local journalist.
Why does this matter? Studies have shown that a decrease in local news increases political polarization. The loss of local news leads to a decrease in voting and government accountability.
Big NPR stations will (I hope) survive. But a lot of small stations are in serious trouble and will likely close.
I think about coal mining all the time. In 2024, there were 43,000 coal mining jobs in the U.S. The loss of mining jobs has been treated like a national crisis and Trump campaigned on bringing mining back. There are about 45,000 journalists in the U.S. With how important an informed public is for democracy, where is the outrage? Where are the politicians pledging to bring the industry back?
With the rise of Substack (which just raised $100 million and is turning into more of a social media site), and the number of personalities relaying “news” on Instagram and TikTok, I also think a lot about reporting versus aggregating.
There are so many people out there telling you what you should know. Many of them are avid news consumers and they help their readers/viewers become more informed. That’s great. Many more of them are not well informed themselves and spread misinformation. But regardless of whether they have their facts straight, someone relaying the news doesn’t replace the actual news.
It’s hard to know the value of real reporting until it’s gone.
Without news outlets, these people have nothing to cover. Where are they getting their information? The news!! The vast majority of them are not out reporting. They don’t have press passes, they’re not getting interviews, they’re not taking the time to sift through data or file public records requests. (There are exceptions, like reporters who launch newsletters and continue to do reporting. I love Food Fix, for example.)
Often, they also have an agenda or at the very least are filtering what they talk about based on their interests or what they feel is important. Do news outlets do this too? To a degree, yes. But it’s not as drastic partly because of a commitment to journalism standards and ethics, and partly because there are more people working in a newsroom. When there are more voices, there’s more debate about what to cover and how to cover it.
Of course there is a place for curation. That’s what this Friday roundup is each week! I’m aggregating travel news and summarizing it to help you know what’s going on with airlines, destinations, travel issues, etc. In my day job, I’m a reporter. But when it comes to the Friday issue of this newsletter, I am rarely doing any original reporting.
Maybe you pay for a few newsletters that tell you about what’s going on in the world or have a favorite social media personality you turn to to understand new legislation. Please consider paying for and supporting the actual news as well.
Donate to your local NPR station here.
A Weekend in Valle d’Aosta
Now for something more fun. We spent last weekend in Valle d’Aosta, home to the Italian sides of Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and Gran Paradiso. We stayed in Aosta, sometimes called the Rome of the Alps due to its extensive Roman ruins. Downtown has lots of cute shops, bars, restaurants. I was running a marathon Sunday in Pont Saint-Martin, a bit southeast, so it was a good location. But if we were going solely for the mountains I would stay closer to Courmayeur.
On Saturday we drove to Courmayeur for a hike. This is a major trekking area. The Society Guide Alpine in Courmayeur was the first mountain guide association to be established in Italy in 1850, and the second in the world. So, there are dozens of trails.
Traveling with a one-year-old means our options were limited. You can walk along the river with a stroller. An easy, pretty walk. We opted to take her in the carrier and were planning to walk on some flat trails, but the man running the ski lift next to this restaurant (I can’t find the lift name) said if she was strapped to me we could take the lift up and hike down. I hate heights and ski lifts so I was freaking out the whole way up, but Stella didn’t seem to mind. And the views were incredible. I’m really glad we did it. The hike down was easy, but make sure to wear shoes with good traction, as there is a lot of gravel.
After, reward yourself with drinks and polenta dishes at Capitan des Alpes. There are rifugios (mountain huts offering food and often lodging) all over this part of Italy. Try at least a few during your visit. I love that they typically have extensive outdoor areas, great for kids to run around while you eat.
We spent the afternoon window shopping in Courmayeur before heading back to Aosta. If we had an extra day we would have crossed over to Chamonix. I really like these mountain regions of Italy that fuse Italian and French or Italian and German language, culture, and food.
The best part? It wasn’t crowded! And was warm but not too hot. I’m telling you–-northern Italy is the place to be.
Travel News to Know (a curated summary!)
Air traffic controllers say modernizing equipment won’t fix deeper problems. Grueling schedules, stagnating pay, stressful work conditions, and more need to be addressed.
Wildfires destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge in the canyon’s North Rim. Really sad about this one. I was lucky enough to stay here when I was 14 and I remember the views being so pretty and unlike anything I had ever seen. The lodge was a National Historic Landmark. The entire North Rim will remain closed through at least October.
Málaga, Spain is doubling down on its ‘Improve Your Stay’ campaign. The 10 rules for tourists include “dress completely” and “do not be conspicuous,” with fines up to €750 for violations.
Thailand is postponing the rollout of its tourist fee to mid-2026 due to economic uncertainty and lower tourism numbers than expected. The eventual fee is set to be 300 bath (about $9) for air arrivals and 150 baht for land or sea arrivals into the country. The government said funds will go toward tourism infrastructure projects.
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes a $250 “visa integrity fee” charged to any visitor to the U.S. who needs a nonimmigrant visa (tourists, business travelers, international students). Just what they need to do to raise already low tourism numbers…
ICE detained an Irish tourist for months after he overstayed his visa for three days because of a health issue.
This is the worst summer for air travel in Europe in 25 years. Tens of millions of passengers are expected to face delays this summer due to air traffic control strikes and staff shortages. The next strikes are planned for July 26 in Italy and Spain.
UNESCO named 26 new World Heritage Sites. Gola Rainforest National Park and Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Sierra Leone mark the country’s first entry onto the list.
Weekend Reading
‘Bonjour’ sets off a linguistic dispute on a Belgian train (lol, wow)
Trump administration says deported farmworkers will be replaced by Medicaid recipients
An American from Florida was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. He was at least the fourth American killed in the West Bank since October 2023. (I find it extremely odd that American citizens are being killed abroad and both the Biden and Trump administrations have ignored it.)
Build/Do/Wear/Cook
Buy/Build: My sister-in-law Mary designed this adorable LEGO set and it’s available in a couple of weeks! Coincidentally, we’re headed to the Italian Riviera (Santa Margherita–send recs) in a couple days.
Do: Chase the garbage truck, or whatever it is you’re into.
Wear: I am obsessed with this YSE Beauty skin glow primer. The perfect summer glow, no other makeup needed.
Cook: I’m pretty sure I’ve recommended this chickpea, yogurt, zucchini recipe before, but we eat a version of it ALL the time in every season. Use the recipe as a template and sub whatever seasonal vegetables you have. Vegetable preparation doesn’t matter that much. Sometimes we pan fry them, most often we roast them, lately we grill them. (To get the chickpeas crispy make sure you rinse them first!)
P.S. Did you miss Monday’s post?
Thanks for reading.
-Rebecca 💛