Author: Maarten Van Den Driessche

Beirut is a city of impossible contrasts. Few places in the world allow you to swim in the Mediterranean in the morning and stand among snow-covered mountains by the afternoon. Yet in Lebanon’s capital, this is not a metaphor—it is geography. Set between the sea and Mount Lebanon, Beirut has always been a crossroads. Phoenicians,…

A Quixotic Guide to the Balkanization of the United States Travel teaches you a dangerous lesson: borders are optional. They look immutable on atlases, defended by flags, anthems, and airport immigration desks. But cross enough frontiers and you start noticing the truth—most borders are simply frozen arguments from the past. Some thaw. Some crack. Some…

Not every great city was designed to rule. Some places were never meant to be capitals, power centres, or administrative hearts of nations. And yet, through geography, migration, trade, or sheer cultural gravity, they became icons — cities that define their countries far more than the official seat of government ever could. New York City…

Ask for the oldest city in Europe and you won’t get a single, uncontested answer—you’ll get a debate. And that’s precisely what makes it fascinating. Europe’s deepest urban roots stretch back far beyond modern borders, into a time when cities were not nations, but settlements clinging to rivers, hills, and trade routes. Among the strongest…

Some cities reach for the sky with glass and steel. Jeddah does it with water. On the shores of the Red Sea rises King Fahd’s Fountain, the highest fountain in the world, shooting a column of seawater up to 312 metres into the air. That is higher than the Eiffel Tower, taller than most skyscrapers,…

Few airline slogans have aged as gracefully—or proven as accurate—as “Hello Tomorrow.” Launched by Emirates in 2013, the phrase is more than a marketing line. It is a statement of intent, a worldview, and a promise that air travel can still feel like a step into the future. At its core, Hello Tomorrow positions Emirates…

Monschau is one of those places that feels carefully preserved, as if time decided to slow down here. Tucked into a narrow valley of Germany’s Eifel region, right near the Belgian border, this small town is defined by half-timbered houses leaning gently over the Rur River, cobbled streets, and forested hills that rise abruptly on…

Some journeys are about distance. Others are about borders. The Vennbahn manages to be about both — while quietly bending the rules of geography along the way. Stretching for roughly 125 kilometres from Aachen (Germany) to Troisvierges (Luxembourg), the Vennbahn follows the former trackbed of a railway line that once stitched together the industrial heart…

Every year on 12 December, Turkmenistan celebrates National Neutrality Day — a public holiday unlike almost any other in the world. It marks the moment in 1995 when the United Nations formally recognized Turkmenistan as a permanently neutral state. In a world shaped by alliances, blocs, and military treaties, neutrality is not just a policy…

London doesn’t usually do subtlety when it comes to luxury hotels. But The Chancery Rosewood — the city’s newest ultra-luxury opening in Mayfair — is an exception. Quiet, cultured, architectural, and deeply refined, it transforms the former U.S. Embassy on Grosvenor Square into something rare: a hotel that feels both historic and modern, both grand…