Hey there,
A big THANK YOU to everyone who submitted entries to our travel photo contest! There sure is a lot of talent out there in the NextTribe community.
Wow. Our judges will spend the next few weeks deciding which photos are the winners. Stay tuned because we’ll probably make the big announcement in the middle of next month!
Jeannie with a sheep named Mary on a tiny island off the coast of Croatia that made her feel like she’d stepped into the “Durrells of Corfu.”
This week Jeannie Ralston is having a blast in Croatia with a great group of travelers. Pretty much everyone is gobsmacked by the sheer beauty of the coastline. The best mix of Greece and Italy, without the crowds (at the under-the-radar spots on our itinerary). She says the Adriatic Sea is eye-popping blue and the cities are sophisticated and layered with history since they’ve come under various empires through the ages—from Rome, to Venice, to the Ottomans, to the Austro-Hungarians.
“Great food and wine,” Jeannie says. “We’ve had the rare cheese from the island of Pag and eaten a delectable lunch of fish caught that very morning under the olive trees at a private home.”
NextTribe’s Jennifer Miller joined Joy Mills (a Japan traveler this year), Jeannie Edmunds, and Katsuya and Noriko Yoshikawa, owners of the Sun Ureshima Yuki No Sato ryokan in Toba, Japan. The ryokan was a highlight of our trip to Japan this year, and will definitely be on next year’s itinerary.
Jeannie Edmunds is grounded/at home in Austin until our Oaxaca trip in August. This week she and a couple of other NextTribers had a coffee with the owners of the ryokan where she stayed on the Japan trip this year. Their daughter (and Google translate) interpreted the hour-long conversation which, as always with the Japanese, involved an exchange of gifts. Lavender from Texas (honoring the Unlikely Lavender Queen Jeannie Ralston!) and chopsticks, matcha, and sake from Japan!
We hope you enjoy the reads!
This Week’s Reads
One of our travelers to Japan this year was on her first NextTribe trip (she’s also going to Turkey later this year, and Umbria in 2027!)
And from the archives, we stay with the music theme—Cass Elliot’s daughter’s love letter to her mother.
Want more? Check out our library of 1,600 articles.
Happy and safe travels wherever you may roam!
Jeannie Ralston, CEO + Jeannie Edmunds, Chief Operating Officer
Book Today Before They Sell Out!
A Spectacle of Fire and Ice
For all its raw, elemental beauty, Iceland also offers refined Nordic sophistication—world-class restaurants, striking architecture, cutting-edge art, and excellent shopping. It's a place of wonderful contradictions: wild yet welcoming, remote yet remarkably progressive (hello, most gender-equal country in the world).
Come to a Cooler August in the Mountains
Did you know that in Oaxaca, the temperatures in August are in the upper 70s? NextTribe has a love affair with Mexico. Jeannie Ralston called it home for four transformative years of her life. It’s so close that it’s often taken for granted by North Americans who haven’t explored much beyond its famous beaches and tourist hot spots. But Mexico has an incredibly rich tapestry of culture, from a huge variety of soul-stirring cuisine to astonishing classical and modern art, architecture, and deep history.
The crown jewel of Mexico (other than San Miguel de Allende, of course) is Oaxaca, nestled in the country's mountainous South. Here, ancient Zapotecs and Mixtecs built great cities and temples, while Spanish colonizers later created one of Mexico's most enchanting and vibrant colonial towns—a UNESCO World Heritage site, Oaxaca City.
The Oaxaca Trip preview is Tuesday May 26th, 6:30 pm. Please RSVP here:
UPCOMING TRIP PREVIEWS
All are Virtual Events start at 6:30 pm ET, unless otherwise noted.
Trip Previews are presentations about upcoming trips. Someone attending each Trip Preview will win a $400 discount in a random drawing unless the trip is Sold Out.
Tuesday, May 26: Oaxaca Trip Preview RSVP here
Come and See that Big Beautiful World Out There!
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REMEMBER: We offer interest-free monthly payments
Trips Opening This Friday:
For Members: Ecuador & Galapagos in April 2027
For Everyone: Masterpiece Italy—Florence and Venice in March 2027
