Once strangers, David Whitson and Allie Reimold are now lifelong friends bonded by a life-saving gift.
Courtesy David Whitson
A pilot raced through the airport to surprise an old friend: the woman who saved his life
Schilthorn Cableway Ltd is based in Stechelberg and connects the Lauterbrunnen valley from Stechelberg with the car-free mountain villages of Gimmelwald and Mürren
Marco Zurschmiede/Schilthorn Piz Gloria
‘World’s steepest’ cable car opens in Switzerland
Pasta Factory Copy 020.jpg
• Video 2:03
CNN
Artisan Setaro is the only producer left in Italy’s first capital of pasta 2:03
Surfers at Cloud 9, Siargao, Surigao del Norte, Philippines
Matteo Colombo/Digital Vision/Getty Images
Siargao, the ‘surf capital of the Philippines,’ is riding a wave of change
IMG_3975.jpg
Courtesy Tehzin and Francis Chadwick
He went to Vegas for Christmas to forget all about love. Everything changed when a woman sat next to him at the poker table
BP74XW The Wayfarers Chapel, designed by Lloyd Wright, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Los Angeles County, California
Gary Crabbe/Enlightened Images/Alamy Stock Photo
The tourist attractions you can’t visit in 2025
DSC08604.jpg
• Video 1:44
CNN John Mees
Watch this CNN reporter try an ancient waterfall meditation ritual in Japan 1:44
The Maiden's Tower , also known in the ancient Greek and medieval Byzantine periods as Leander's Tower, sits on a small islet located at the southern entrance of Bosphorus strait 200 m off the coast of Uskudar in Istanbul, Turkey.
serts/E+/Getty Images
The tiny island that sits between Europe and Asia

NEWS

The grass runway at the Piney-Pinecreek Border Airport near Roseau, Minnesota, on April 25, 1993.
Tom Sweeney/Star Tribune/AP/File
Airport with runway straddling the border of the US and Canada will close
Dec 26, 2024
Swiss International Air Lines passenger planes stand on the tarmac at Zurich Airport on June 14, 2021.
SeanGallup/Getty Images/File
Swiss plane makes emergency landing due to smoke on board
Dec 24, 2024
The items that were seized from the traveler's carry-on, including pepper spray and knives.
Transportation Security Administration
Passenger detained at LAX for having 82 fireworks in carry-on
Dec 23, 2024
A general view shows the Trevi fountain after renovation works in Rome, on the day of its reopening, on December 22, 2024. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)
Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images
Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain reopens after renovation work in time for the Jubilee Holy Year
Dec 23, 2024
American Airlines' Boeing 737 planes are seen parked while a Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR passengers aircraft of Delta Airlines takes off to Buffalo (back) at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York on May 24, 2024. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images/FILE
American Airlines settles discrimination lawsuit filed by three Black men
Dec 20, 2024
Travelers at Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai, China. Shanghai is mainland China's biggest city as well as the most visited by tourists.
Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty Images
China extends visa-free transit policy to 10 days
Dec 17, 2024
FILE - An airline employee transfers a wheelchair to her station at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
Nam Y. Huh/AP
DOT announces new protections for air travelers with disabilities
Dec 17, 2024
Britain classical cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs on stage during the 31th annual Victoires de la musique classique (Classical music award) ceremony at the Opera Berlioz Le Corum in Montpellier southern France, on February 29, 2024. (Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP) (Photo by PASCAL GUYOT/AFP via Getty Images)
Pascal Guyot/AFP/Getty Images
Top musician forced to cancel concert after Air Canada refused to give his priceless cello a seat
Dec 13, 2024

Food & drink

Getty Images
American food: The 20 greatest dishes
<strong>Christmas feasts: </strong>Food traditions are as varied as the people enjoying them. In France, a capon -- a male chicken that's renowned for its tenderness -- is a traditional holiday dish.
Shutterstock
7 traditional Christmas feasts from around the world
A baker prepares bread in Srinagar, Kashmir, India on March 23, 2023.
Faisal Khan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The disputed region of India that bakes bread to rival France
Lahmacun
Shutterstock
Turkish foods: 23 delicious dishes

Stay

Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C. Holidays
Willard InterContinental Washington
17 luxury hotels that go all-out for Christmas
oe_la_minerva_bedroom_hr___mr._tripper-CROP.jpg
Patrick Locqueneux/Orient Express
Orient Express is opening a luxury hotel in Rome. Here’s what it looks like
The bunker building transformed into a park and leisure complex is pictured on July 25, 2024 in Hamburg, northern Germany. A huge former Nazi bunker in Hamburg has been transformed into a leisure complex filled with restaurants, a concert hall and roof terraces where visitors can relax in an apple orchard. The new venue is a novel answer to the question that has long vexed Germany of what to do with former Nazi sites as many are too complex to demolish. (Photo by MORRIS MAC MATZEN / AFP) (Photo by MORRIS MAC MATZEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Morris Mac Matzen/AFP/Getty Images
Former Nazi bunker turned into hotel and leisure complex in Germany
DJI_0512.jpg
Courtesy Lek Hang Group
As a child, he was kicked out of one of Macao’s finest hotels. Today, he’s the owner

CHANCE ENCOUNTERS

Napoli-boating-Darina.jpg
Darina Ivanova
She fell in ‘love at first sight’ with an Italian stranger. Within days they were talking about marriage
Ken&Sema_India.jpg
Kenneth Wayne Harl
He’d been single all his life. Then he fell in love with a stranger on vacation
06.jpg
Laura Binder and Emmanuel Salas
Two hikers encountered a rattlesnake. Then they fell in love

SURVIVAL GUIDES

ZAO, JAPAN - JANUARY 20: Snow trees are seen at Zao Ski Resort on January 20, 2018 in Yamagata, Japan. The natural creation is called Ôsnow monstersÕ, attract visitors. on January 20, 2018 in Zao, Japan. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
Matt Roberts/Getty Images
You’re trapped in a blizzard. Do you know what to do next to survive?
King Cobra,Close-up of cobra,Bekasi,Indonesia - stock photo
Riadi Pracipta/Getty Images
How to survive a cobra bite – or better yet, avoid one entirely
A bison looks back as it crosses the road near Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park.
Erik Petersen/The Washington Post/Getty Images
You’ve come across a bison in the wild. It’s looking at you. Do you know what to do next?

flying advice

A flight information display system shows departure times at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on December 27, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
What to do if your flight is canceled or delayed
New World Traveller on board the new Boeing 777-300ER, BAMC, Cardiff, UK, 12 August 2010 (Photo by Nick Morrish/British Airways)
Nick Morrish/British Airways
A flight attendant’s secrets to surviving long-haul flights
Luggages are seen at the Barajas Airport in Madrid on July 1, 2022. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty Images
What to do if your luggage is delayed, lost, stolen or damaged
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Engi Caribe/Adobe Stock
Unlocking The World
Sign up for CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter for inspiration on future adventures, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, where to stay and other travel developments

Paid Partner Content