Stories | SUITCASE Magazine

Stories

But Where Are You Really From? Being a Black American, Abroad

But where are you really from? Can I touch your hair? For one Black American traveller, the experience of different cultures abroad gives her the confidence to call out microaggressions and everyday racism at home.

Stories

That Sun-Cream Smell: Why Scent Souvenirs are Worth a Million Photos

We ask home-fragrance pioneers, Earl of East, how to go about kindling destinations through scent and why a single sucker-punch of a candle is scientifically proven to be more evocative than a million photos on your camera roll.

Stories

Architecture, Identity and the Meaning of Home: Lahore, Pakistan

How strange it is to feel both at home and not at home. When a Lahorian diaspora writer travels from Birmingham to her Pakistani city of birth, she reflects on the meaning of place and identity as she seeks connection through Lahore’s Mughal architecture and colonial buildings.

Stories

An Ode to Camping: Presence, Peace and Poetry in the Great Outdoors

We’re packing up the camping gear and heading for the hazy horizon, where life-affirming simplicity awaits and tea drunk from a tin cup by the campfire is the remedy for all ills.

Stories

Out of Many, One People: A Global Quest for Acceptance and Home

The American dream never satisfied one multi-racial traveller. As she experiences the kindness of strangers on her journeys across Europe, South America and beyond, her understanding of “home” shifts from place to the power of human connection.

Stories

A Long Walk to Freedom in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

A photojournalist joins the pilgrims in the mountain trails of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where she rediscovers her faith in humanity one step at a time.

Stories

Safe Harbour: Rediscovering the Coastal Landscape of West Penwith, Cornwall

A pair of childhood friends explore the coastal landscape of their youth on the western tip of Cornwall

Stories

Sticky Carpets and Recirculated Air: Is “Normadic Travel” Here to Stay?

Once considered boring, our everyday interactions (as we remember them) have become the ultimate luxuries of 2020. Sticky carpets, recirculated air, cheap rosé? Businesses are capitalising on our fetish for the mundane and catering to a burgeoning community of “normads” – those who’d rather indulge in the ordinary than head out on a sublime adventure.

Stories

Art Deco by the Sea: Coastal Culture and the Architecture of Escapism

In many places across the world, the sweeping curves and nautical designs of art deco have shaped the way we experience the seaside. We trace the evolution of its architectural style from the 30s to present day, taking you from Margate to Miami Beach via Mumbai.

Stories

The Blank Page: Destinations that Inspire Authors

Ten authors divulge the destinations that inspire them to put pen to paper.

Stories

Pride and Prejudice: Hope, Homophobia and Why LGBTQ+ Travel Matters to Us All

While the “gaycation” is an often mythologised aspect of LGBTQ+ culture, the idea of seeking liberation and taking a segregated holiday feels at odds. Speaking to queer travellers from across the world, we stitch together tales of hope and homophobia, pride and prejudice. A rainbow flag on a check-in desk just doesn’t cut it.

Stories

Beyond Mamma Mia!: A Pocket Guide to the Sporades Islands, Greece

Skip Santorini and fun-loving Mykonos in favour of a slow-living escape in Greece’s Sporades islands. Movie buffs might recognise the archipelago from hit musical Mamma Mia!, but we’re here to guide you to the rustic-luxe hotels, quaint tavernas and the beaches loved by locals.

Stories

Homing Instinct: Finding Comfort in the Cotswolds

Returning to the Cotswolds where she grew up, our writer cherishes familiar territory as lockdown descends.

Stories

The Real Scourge of Summer 2020? Shameless Touriphobia

Has “overtourism” been eclipsed by “touriphobia”? At a time when tourist-centric economies need visitors more than ever, a counter-wave of touriphobes – those with an irrational fear of or aversion to tourists – seems to be rising. Should summer 2020’s tourists be revered or reviled?

Stories

Thessaloniki isn’t the New Shoreditch. It’s Better. Here’s Why

A cultural hub and haven for creatives, Thessaloniki is often likened to San Francisco or Shoreditch. These comparisons only tell part of the story. In Greece’s second city, traces of the past and a cosmopolitan atmosphere born of diverse cultural influences form a dynamic metropolis with a rhythm of its own.