Travel News to Know - June 20

And a call for help + birthday deal

Good morning!

Before we get to this week’s news, I need your help with three things:

One, I’m wondering whether the travel with kids content fits in this newsletter, or should be its own thing. (This week I wrote about the two things that helped me survive pumping in airports.)

What do you think? Keep it as it is now (with paid subscribers getting travel with kids content on Wednesdays) or make it a completely separate newsletter?

Two: it’s my birthday today! So subscriptions are 20% off. In honor of another year on earth, I wrote out a life resume for paid subscribers. The homeschool writing exercise that got me into journalism, the chain restaurant mascot period, the many better restaurants that followed, everywhere I’ve lived, how and why I’m in Vicenza, etc.

About Me

Three: every month I do an AMA for paid subscribers. Something I didn’t touch on in that ‘about me’ post? Travel questions? Either comment on this post or send me an email or message through the Substack app and I’ll compile them all to share at the end of the month. I’m excited to hear from you!

Now let’s get to it.

Travel News to Know

• Israel launched a major attack on Iran last week. This is bad for a lot of reasons. When it became clear that the George Bush administration lied about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, my dad put this giant sign in our yard. Maybe he should resurrect it…

  

  It says, “Lies, Corruption, Incompetence.” A second sign read, “Impeach Bush Now.” I had an interesting childhood.

  • The travel angle: Delta, Lufthansa, United Airlines, Air France, Air Canada, Emirates, and other airlines have suspended flights to the two countries. If you’re traveling to Jordan, Iraq, the UAE or elsewhere, you could have cancellations due to airspace closures.

• The Trump administration is considering adding 36 countries to the travel ban list. From the Washington Post: “Among the new list of countries that could face visa bans or other restrictions are 25 African nations, including significant U.S. partners such as Egypt and Djibouti, plus countries in the Caribbean, Central Asia and several Pacific Island nations.” Read more.

  • Related: “Travel and visa restrictions imposed by the Trump administration threaten patient care at hundreds of hospitals that depend on medical residents recruited from overseas.” NYT.

• “The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and a global symbol of art, beauty and endurance, has withstood war, terror, and pandemic — but on Monday, it was brought to a halt by its own striking staff, who say the institution is crumbling under the weight of mass tourism.” AP.

  • Related: All past news about overtourism.

• Israeli soldiers opened fire on aid distribution centers in Gaza, killing at least 59 people. It was the deadliest day of attacks on the food distribution centers, which opened about three weeks ago and have been a disaster. Around 300 people have died since the new system was put in place. (To the people who always email me after topics like this: this is a travel and food newsletter, and this is most definitely a food issue.)

• Transatlantic airfares have dropped to lows not seen since before the pandemic, as fewer Europeans travel to the U.S. due to concerns over border controls.

  • Related: tourism is tanking in the U.S.

  • Related: JetBlue to reduce flights due to decreased demands

• Flying EasyJet in Spain next week? Crews plan to strike from June 25-27 over a wage dispute. But if you fly EasyJet from the UK, the airline announced 22 new routes for this winter.

• Meanwhile, dozens of flights to and from Bali were cancelled or delayed yesterday after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted.

• It’s now easier to visit Gulf countries. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has approved a unified tourist visa, similar to the Schengen visa, which will allow tourists to visit UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait.

  • Related: I have visited most of these countries (and lived in one) but have never published guides. Would you be interested in my recommendations?)

  • Also related, though my feelings on this are becoming more mixed as the U.S. descends into authoritarianism.

• Egypt is experiencing a tourism boom. According to World Travel & Tourism Council’s latest Economic Impact Research report, tourism contributed about $27 billion to Egypt’s GDP in 2024, accounting for 8.5% of the national economy. 2025 is projected to be even better. (I am a huge proponent of visiting Egypt. Another place I’ve somehow never written about but talk about all the time. You can see some Instagram highlights from my last trip here.)

• Hilton and Marriott plan to open in Angola, Ghana, Benin, Madagascar and Tanzania, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Mauritania. Airlines, like Emirates, are also increasing flights to destinations across Africa.

Weekend Reading

• Nutella vs. El Mordjene in France - Fascinating!

• The great egg heist: how 280,000 eggs disappeared from America’s top producer –then came the ransom note

• La dolce vita does not exist

  • Related: Should you move abroad?

• Paris is full of museums and exhibits, but few have moved me the way this one did

• The quality of Lebanese wine is incredible

• The full list of 2025 James Beard Award winners and media winners

• An innocent abroad in Mark Twain’s Paris

• The travel writer’s dilemma: share or gatekeep?

• First time in 100 years: young kayakers on a ride for the ages

Cook, Read, Listen, Do

Cook: Something Persian. If you don’t have a Persian cookbook, Persiana and Saffron Tales are good places to start. I’m excited for Sabzi (Yasmin Khan’s vegetarian Persian cookbook). You can preorder it now. You might remember from this week’s post that I studied Persian for several years, and thus made many Iranian friends, ate my weight in Persian food, and learned not only how to talk about food, but to appreciate how ingrained food and hospitality are in Persian culture. 💛

Read: Rereading On Tyranny is on my weekend list.

Listen: I’ve been listening to Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams’ memoir about working at Facebook. It is insane. Infuriating and entertaining. So crazy it’s funny, until you remember this is a real business that has a huge, detrimental impact on the world. I’m not normally an audiobook person, but I’m enjoying listening to Wynn-Williams narrate.

Do: Get a kiddie pool! It’s been 95 degrees here for two weeks. We got a tiny pool for the porch and it’s been great! Stella seems to love it and I’m liking that it entertains her while I get some sun with my feet in the water. Even if I didn’t have a kid I would want one of these. How did I forget how enjoyable a pool, whatever size, can be?

Thanks for reading! Now we’re off to Conegliano-Valdobbiadene for some Prosecco tasting and birthday celebrating.

-Rebecca 💖