Unsurprisingly, Lonely Planet is staffed with people who are passionate about travel. | | | | | | Unsurprisingly, Lonely Planet is staffed with people who are passionate about travel. We’re very lucky to do the work we do, informing and influencing how you travel, and we hope every trip ends with many magical moments to look back on for years to come. This summer, we gave over a dozen staffers cheap disposable cameras to share how they spent their PTO in the hopes of inspiring future vacations. No professional photographers, no drone shots that the average traveler won’t be able to replicate, no retouching or filters – thumbs in the photo and all. Learn more about their summer vacations, and enjoy the snapshots they took with their disposable cameras, below. | | | Paula finally got the chance to visit her bucket-list destination, Japan, on a nine-day trip with her family. | Do: Visit the tucked away garden in the Heian-jingū in Kyoto. Take in the bright orange Japanese maples, lily pads and beautiful and fragrant kuro matsu (Japanese pines) – every piece of that garden was absolutely intentional. I have never felt more at peace. Eat: I can go on and on about the incredible food we had – ramen with a rich pork broth, 7/11 egg sandos, matcha soft serve and ongiri (rice-ball snack). Highlight: Making our own Japanese knives with a 14th generation Japanese bladesmith in his studio. This was the most special souvenir I took home, especially as a home cook. TRY THESE JAPAN ITINERARIES | | | Ann Douglas' inner calling for wide open spaces brought her to South Dakota’s Black Hills, with a detour to Badlands National Park. | Stay: There’s something undeniably American about staying in a state park lodge. In Custer State Park, I stayed in a woodsy room at Creekside Lodge. I also spent a cozy night in a private log cabin at Badlands Frontier Cabins in Wall, right by Badlands National Park. Do: A jeep safari on the park’s Wildlife Loop Rd (book it – they take you off-road where other cars can’t go), hiking around Sylvan Lake and horseback riding through streams in Black Hills National Forest. Highlight: A tour at Deadwood's brothel museum, which is housed in one of the gold rush town's former brothels and covers the complex stories of the women who lived and worked in the town’s 104-year-long brothel scene. READ MORE HERE | Ru and her husband experienced a taste of local life while traveling to Barcelona, the Costa Brava and Madrid. | | | |
