From mountains to libraries, we take a look at some of the most extraordinary international borders to be found across the globe. Over the last few years, we’ve seen an impressive collection of new websites, blogs and social media accounts dedicated to ‘travel porn’. They’re filled with big, sweeping images of fairytale lands and precarious precipices. The post 10 remarkable international borders appeared first on Atlas & Boots.
"The Eras Tour" lands in Toronto for six nights in 2024. Learn how to get sold-out tickets here. How to Get Tickets to Taylor Swift’s Sold-Out Toronto “Eras Tour” Shows Bryan Kress and Jo Vito
Q suggested that his appearance in Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” could be a factor in the show’s cancellation. ScHoolboy Q Says Canadian Police Canceled His Toronto Show Because of Kendrick-Drake Feud Jo Vito
It was an act of vandalism that scandalised a nation. Britain’s iconic Sycamore Gap tree was cut down with a chainsaw in the early hours of 28th September 2023. The senselessness of the act was particularly poignant. There have been many famous trees cut down by humans, but there has usually been a reason: accident, protest, exploitation. In the case of the Sycamore Gap tree, it appears to be sheer malice. The post 10 famous trees cut down by humans appeared first on Atlas & Boots.
In 2017, during a long trip through Asia, I asked Peter a question: if you could see only five countries before you die, what would they be? My rule was that he couldn’t choose countries he had already visited, nor stateless territories (e.g. Antarctica). Fast forward seven years and he has seen four out of five countries on his original list, so I asked him to come up with a new one. Given that he has been to 100 countries and all seven continents, it wasn’t easy – but he managed it. The post The countries we most want to see appeared first on Atlas & Boots.
As Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken made history as the first astronauts to launch to orbit on a privately-owned spaceship, the world took pause to watch. Given the turmoil of our times, one observer quipped, 'Congratulations to the Astronauts that left Earth today. Good choice.' The post The most stunning natural phenomena on Earth appeared first on Atlas & Boots.
It was five years ago that I first came across a big wall climber. A tiny speck on the side of a gigantic granite wall, the climber was bivvying in Yosemite National Park, the Holy Land of big wall climbing. I couldn't comprehend how someone could sleep tacked onto the side of a wall, suspended thousands of feet above the ground, sometimes in treacherously windy conditions. I was reminded of this special breed of people by the recent film Meru which follows three world-class climbers on their efforts to scale the mountain's imposing Shark's Fin. The high-altitude and Alpine climbing on display is impressive of course but it's the big wall climbing on the near-featureless Shark's Fin that is really mind blowing. The post 20 most stunning big wall climbs from around the world appeared fir...
It may be unfashionable but I'm a bit of a box-ticker when it comes to travel. I'm working my way through the seven summits, the highest mountain on every continent (four down, three to go); I have a list of the countries I’ve visited (94 and counting!); and I keep track of memorable places such as the highest, lowest and driest spots I’ve visited. The post 16 unusual passport stamps of the world appeared first on Atlas & Boots.
When it comes to road trips, we’ve had our fair share of mishaps. We’ve battled a total whiteout in Iceland, got stuck in a ditch in Turkey, broken down in Chile and changed a flat tyre in lion territory (in Namibia’s Etosha National Park, constituting one of the most stressful events of our travels). Despite all this, we’re irrevocably drawn to the open road. There’s a very specific freedom in being able to rent a car wherever you land and set your own course. More importantly, you can veer from the course when you want to: spend extra days in a national park or depart a tourist town earlier than planned. You are the masters of your time. The post Best road trips in the world (and how to stay online en route) appeared first on Atlas & Boots.
Canada has remained a peculiar regulatory alternative to the neighboring United States in regard to cryptocurrency. While its licensing process has become more stringent than in some countries, Canada was the first to approve direct crypto exchange-traded funds. State pension funds have invested in digital assets, and crypto mining firms have moved to the country to take advantage of the cool temperatures and cheap energy prices. But the gold rush for miners in Canada may be slowing down. In early December, the province of Manitoba — rich in hydroelectric resources — enacted an 18-month moratorium on new mining projects. This move resembled a recent initiative in the U.S. state of New York that stopped the renewal of licenses for existing mining operations and required any new proof-of-wor...
Staffers at the Bank of Canada released an analytic note on fiat-referenced crypto assets, otherwise known as stablecoins, Dec. 19. In addition to a review of mechanisms for creating and distributing stablecoins and a list of the potential risks and benefits they involve, the note expressed the authors’ support for further regulation of the crypto asset. The global market for fiat-referenced crypto assets increased 30-fold between the beginning of 2020 and mid-2022, reaching $161 billion in U.S. dollars. They are mainly used on crypto-trading platforms, the note states, but they have the potential for a wide variety of other uses, especially in combination with smart contracts. “These cryptoassets could bring efficiencies and greater competition to payment services, especially in a more di...
In October, Toronto-based Coinsquare became the first crypto trading business to get dealer registration from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). That means a lot as now Coinsquare investors’ funds enjoy the security of the Canadian Investment Protection Fund in the event of insolvency, while the exchange is required to report its financial standing regularly. This news reminds us about the peculiarities of Canadian regulation of crypto. While the country still holds a rather tight process of licensing the virtual asset providers, it outpaces the neighboring United States in its experiments with crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), pension funds’ investments and central bank digital currency (CBDC) efforts. An era of restricted dealers Coinsquare, which...