With an 80% market share in the house-swap space, and explosive growth, HomeExchange, bought and reinvented by two Frenchmen, has become the undisputed champion of house swapping. Will it undercut the American giant’s hold on the market.
Tag: holiday
Unlike today’s perception of beaches as relaxing vacation spots, the ancient Greeks viewed them as spiritually significant, albeit unsettling, dangerous places linked to death, sterility, and hardship.
With limited childcare and resources, parents are stretched thin during summer vacation months. If Germany wants more children, it needs to start giving parents more vacation days or more childcare options.
Each year, millions of French people take to the saddle more or less regularly, making horse riding the country’s third most popular sport, and the most popular for women. The sport will get special attention at the Paris Games.
UN chief António Guterres has warned us, ominously suggesting that we update the phrase “global warming” to “global boiling” as July is on track to be the hottest month on record. Summer holidays to the beach may no longer be on the cards as countries around the globe grapple with scorching heat. Will climate change push us to drastically change the way we holiday?
Mass tourism developed by taking advantage of cheap and abundant energy. But those days are over and we are all going to have to reinvent how we holiday. But as I found out, that is no easy task.
By Dec. 10, one third of German employees have already mentally switched off for the holidays — even though they still have to show up for work.
He’s laughing and blushing, but he’s not having any of this Christmas singing stuff. No way!
-Essay- When you’re living abroad, Thanksgiving can sneak up on you. So when my dad sent me a message Wednesday night — “About to run my last errand for Mom (hopefully)” — I had absolutely no clue what he could be talking about. Then, it hit me. He was out grocery shopping for the big […]
Two years after hosting a costly FIFA World Cup, Brazil will once again be on the world sporting stage next summer at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. But now, with the Brazilian economy facing a deepening crisis, the government has an idea for some help from a pillar of the “sharing economy”: […]
I’ve never gone to a country to lie on the beach, but I am happy to bring my camera along to capture a seascape or two.
Categories
Holiday Hiatus
My partner in crime, le petit-fils (grandson) Bertrand, is following in my footsteps and touring the Southeastern United States. During this hiatus, take a look back at all the places we’ve already been in My Grand-Père’s World …
LUCERNE — In 2001 Kurt Mathis bought the Haldigrat chairlift “spontaneously,” after he’d read about it in the newspaper. The previous owners, two brothers from the Swiss canton of Aargau, felt that running it no longer was worth it. “It was a little bit like when I decided to marry my wife,” the 59-year-old says. […]
Aware of the profound effect Christmas has on people, researchers have studied our reactions to everything from supermarket music to gender-specific gifts and delayed gratification.
Sumptuous beaches and low-key vibes in Tulum, on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, have attracted those keen to avoid the crowds and bling of the most popular resorts. But will it last?
Russian travel agencies are going bankrupt as the Ukraine crisis clips the wings of tourism and keeps Russians at home. Many who have ventured abroad have found themselves stranded.
They must look good and know how to…shop.
Haven’t finalized your Halloween costume yet? Don’t worry! Worldcrunch has been browsing the news archives of recent months looking for good ideas, bad puns and other ways to abuse the powers of photoshop. Scary, right…??
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Eid Al-Adha Around The World
Eid al-Adha is a central holiday on the Muslim calendar, celebrating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son to God. Muslims all over the world go to mosque for prayers and thank Allah for their blessings. Those who can afford it then sacrifice a sheep, or sometimes a goat, as a reminder of Abraham’s obedience and […]
For most vacationers this summer, it was a choice of beach, countryside or cultural capitals. Of course the world is also full of places where most people would never consider spending a holiday. But leave it to the tourism industry to cash in on the strange and creepy too. Take a look. “Sailing stones” in […]
VALETTA – It is an inhospitable rock floating in the Mediterranean Sea. A piece of coralline limestone blown by the winds and burned by the sun with a layer of earth so thin that nothing much can grow on it. Welcome to Malta, a simple and unpretentious place. Yet, this archipelago comprising eight islands – […]
DUBAI – Beer? Of course not! Sayed Kamal looks at his guests with astonishment. Alcohol is only served in the big hotels. This is a youth hostel! It is in fact the only youth hostel in Dubai. “But I can offer you something similar,” says blue-shirted, tie-wearing Kamal as he emerges from behind the counter […]
Worldcrunch 1. ARGENTINA – The twin sister of a murdered model is set to wed her dead sister’s killer, much to the dismay of her parents, according to Buenos Aires daily Clarín. The wedding has been in the works for months, but these two lovebirds hold back nothing when it comes to romance: the ceremony […]
PAPEETE – Regardless of what geographers might say, there is a certain proximity between Tahiti and Iceland… The lush green rock dropped in the middle of the southeast Pacific Ocean might be a hundred times smaller than the chunk of windswept ice in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, but insularity is not about surface or latitude. […]
BERLIN – In grandpa’s time, somebody would call out “End of the work day!” – as a signal in many companies for workers to pack it up and go home. It’s not so easy today, says Wolfgang Panter, the president of the Association of German Business and Company Doctors (VDBW): “Boundaries between work and free […]
BBC, CHANNEL 4 NEWS, THE GUARDIAN (UK), EUROPE 1, LIBERATION (France), NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (USA) Worldcrunch PARIS – A French court has blocked the future publication by a French magazine of the now infamous topless photos of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, reports the BBC. The court order prevents French magazine Closer’s publisher, […]
MARSEILLE – The Old Port, the historic quarter’s main street known as the Canebière, Notre Dame de la Garde church — these are three must-sees for any tourist in Marseille, France. And everybody visits them. But how about the old quarter known as the Panier? Very few venture there. Even many locals take the long […]