Articles / Jen Rose Smith

24th April 2019

HuffPost: Weirdest historical diets

According to historian of medicine Louise Foxcroft, fad diets have been around since the 16th century, when a tell-all weight loss book by Venetian merchant Luigi Cornaro became a surprise bestseller with tips on extreme calorie restriction.

AFAR Media • 4th April 2019

AFAR: 11 Lost Cities You Can Actually Visit

Whether you’re among the dusty palaces at Xanadu or walking along ancient Troy’s battlements, you can channel your inner explorer while visiting these ruins, whose cultural breadth and evocativeness show how enduring lost cities can be.

2nd April 2019

Nexos: Colombia is for Cyclists

An adventurous bikepacking trip through the Andes reveals a culture where cycling is sacred.

CNN Travel • 25th March 2019

CNN: Visiting a country that doesn't exist

A buffer zone splits this easternmost Mediterranean island in two, a 180-kilometer scar maintained by United Nations peacekeepers in one of the longest-running missions in history.

24th March 2019

Backpacker: Hard Hikes

Whether it’s big elevation changes, big miles, or big moves, these 23 routes prove that the best hikes are often the hardest. There’s a world of adventure out there—if you’re strong enough to seize it.

Atlas Obscura • 22nd March 2019

Atlas Obscura: The Istanbul Food Detectives Recreating Ottoman Cuisine

Here’s a basic shopping list if you’re chef to the Ottoman sultan: The dried glands of a musk deer, a bushel of violets, ambergris from whale bellies, and handfuls of desert-harvested frankincense.

Adventure.com • 5th December 2018

Adventure.com: The Human Carpentry of Catalonia's Castellers

Equal parts flesh and architecture, the castellers’ craft is a kind of human carpentry, using their own muscle, sinew and bone as tools.

15th November 2018

Backpacker Magazine: Holy Hikes

Make a modern-day pilgrimage to one of these sacred sites.

AFAR Media • 15th January 2019

AFAR: Why Your Next Trip to Europe Should Be on the Canals

Compared to urban vacations, which can rush through countries at the pace of an Instagram scroll, a European canal cruise is the definition of slow travel. The historic barges keep to a leisurely pace of four miles an hour, following man-made canals dug for transporting everything from wine casks to royal entourages.

Fodors Travel Guide • 20th October 2018

Fodor's: The Salar de Uyuni is South America’s Most Surreal Landscape

With an ancient island of giant cacti, boiling mud pools, and hotels made entirely from salt, Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni looks like something from a fever dream.

CNN Travel • 30th November 2018

CNN Travel: 50 of the world's best desserts

Imagine the best dessert on Earth. Better yet, turn to a stranger on the street and ask them. Odds are good -- dollars to doughnuts -- their answer is different from yours.

4th November 2018

Playboy: Welcome to the Catalan Republic

A layer of white smoke waves over the crowd, along with hand-painted banners, Catalan flags, and a shower of sparks from a sputtering flare. “Ni oblit,” the people shouted, hoisting clenched fists and small children above their heads, “Ni perdò.” Neither forgotten, nor forgiven.

CNN Travel • 25th July 2017

CNN Travel: Is this the world's best whiskey?

In recent years, Vermont has seen a quiet craft distilling revival, and the state's bars are lined with locally made bottles. But they're not always what they seem.

Wine4Food • 1st November 2018

Strawberry Tart with Verbena Cream, Plus Perfect Wine Pairings

As the canal barge Savannah winds through the tree-lined Canal du Midi, the boat’s French chef climbs from her compact galley kitchen to tiny garden she tends in the stern of the boat. Thyme, basil, and parsley thrive in the intense sun of southern France, but for a signature strawberry tart Lafitte plucks a handful of lemon verbena.

Air Chicago | Air Chicago Magazine • 1st March 2019

Air Chicago Magazine: New Zealand

For a diminutive island country at the southern edge of the world, New Zealand offers a near-mythic amount of adventure and culture.

CNN Travel • 14th October 2018

CNN: These beloved sweets preserve sugar's history

While the story of sugar could fill a library of history and travel books, there are bits of the tale in kitchens around the world. Sugar has followed in the wake of the world's armies, from the Arab conquest to European colonialism, and it's left a trail of recipes behind it.

Wine4Food • 17th September 2018

Perfect Pisco Sours from Lima’s Hotel B

Bartending guides insist that Pisco sours are just another take on a classic, tart cocktail—at a family reunion, they’d be rubbing elbows with daiquiris and margaritas—but don’t tell that to Peru’s colorful capital. The foamy, frothy drink was invented in Lima, and it’s become an emblem of the city, served everywhere from glittering bars to sandwich joints.

CNN Travel • 29th August 2018

CNN Travel: Bolivian chefs are trading colonial cuisine for national pride

For a handful of Bolivia's young, ambitious chefs, Amazonian caiman, altiplano potatoes and fish from Lake Titicaca have a revolutionary appeal.

13th August 2018

Mic: Parisians might take credit for the macaron, but it actually has Middle Eastern roots

Like strolling the Champs-Élysées and snapping a photo of the Eiffel Tower, tasting a Ladurée macaron has become an essential Parisian experience.

Dirt Rag • 25th July 2018

Dirt Rag Magazine: Huaraz Aerothlon

What's better than riding in a wet chamois? Throwing yourself off a cliff.