Today is a profoundly sad day. Russia’s aggressive action is heartbreaking for the death, suffering, and economic turmoil it will cause in Ukraine and, indirectly at least, beyond. Here at Rick Steves’ Europe, we hope that a diplomatic solution can be found and peace will return to that fragile and long-suffering part of our world. Our mission at RSE is to help Americans better know and understand our neighbors through travel. But when we bring travelers to another country, we also bring their dollars — dollars that would support Putin’s aggression. Therefore, as of today, we have canceled all…

It was with a sense of loss that we left the Land Cruiser behind on Cyprus last summer. Still numb from Coen’s brain cancer diagnosis (read about it here), and with him just out of the hospital – part of his head shaved, stitches crisscrossing where the tumor had been removed – we drove through Nicosia in a daze, on a goose chase from one office to the next. Two full days in forty-degree Celsius heat, stuck in unattractive, barren offices with no air conditioning (not that we have any in the Land Cruiser either), sorting out paperwork so the…

By helping farmers measure soil moisture with precision, a simple sensor is reducing waste, improving yields, and making agriculture more sustainable. RANDFONTEIN, South Africa — Patricia Seaba faced many challenges when she began farming. But few were as perplexing as the exploding cabbages. One moment, the plants seemed fine, cocooned snugly in their leaves, growing into the swirly purple and white heads that customers in suburban grocery stores couldn’t get enough of. The next, she was sitting in her living room when she heard a pop outside. When she got to the field, the cabbages “were bursting like balloons,” Seaba…