Posts
The March Extraction: What Your Spring Break Wellness Trip Actually Costs Local Communities
Spring break wellness tourism isn't an exchange—it's a seasonal extraction economy. Here's what actually happens to the communities that host you, before and after you leave.
Julian VossMarch 5, 2026
The Hands That Hold Your Wellness: Who Actually Pays for Your Glowcation
A $180 massage in Ubud costs the therapist about six hours of wages. The glowcation industry has perfected a new form of extraction—one that comes with a bathrobe and a green juice, and leaves the people doing the actual work out of the marketing narrative entirely.
Julian VossMarch 5, 2026
The $50,000 Glow-Up: What Beauty Tourism Is Actually Selling You
Glowcations are spring 2026's hottest travel trend — $5,000-a-week packages promising IV drips and radiant skin in Bali. What they don't sell you: who's actually paying for that glow.
Julian VossMarch 5, 2026La Paz Over Machu Picchu: A City That Refuses to Perform for You
If you want a perfect postcard, go to Machu Picchu. If you want to understand how a city thinks, sweats, argues, and survives at 3,650 meters, go to La Paz.
Julian VossMarch 4, 2026Merienda Tradition in Iloilo: The Last Jeepney Home
Julian VossFebruary 28, 2026