Fall is when desert season kicks off, and California’s deserts take on an unearthly appeal once the heat breaks. It’s finally cool enough to hike Joshua Tree’s Hidden Valley without baking, and you can camp beneath some of the darkest skies in the state.

In Mojave National Preserve, sand dunes can boom beneath your feet. Death Valley is home to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, and you might recognize one state park’s cliffs from Jurassic Park.

Here’s what to add to your road trip map.

Not heading to the desert? Here’s what else is worth knowing this week:

Halloween started as Samhain, a Celtic harvest festival, and Irish immigrants brought it to the US in the 19th century. America’s candy-and-costume version has since spread worldwide, though places from Ireland to the Philippines to much of Latin America still keep older rituals alive.

October Edition

Yes, that Transylvania, minus the vampires. In Viscri, a village of about 400 people where houses have numbers but streets have no names, Viscri 125 is a restored Saxon farmstead with no TVs, a 12th-century fortified church up the road, and family-recipe feasts from a cook named Mama Vio.

King Charles III liked the village enough to buy a house there.

Fall is the sweet spot for a wellness trip: summer crowds thin out, prices drop, deserts cool off enough to hike, and the Mediterranean stays warm without the heat.

These four spots each take a different approach to wellness.

When life gives you lemons, head to the Amalfi Coast, where the limoncello flows and the cliffs drop straight into the sea. These Airbnbs put you right in the pastel villages.

You don’t need unlimited PTO or a big budget to take a big trip.

Travel creator Garrett Sears says a free weekend and a few hundred dollars will do it, and he shares how, from a Guatemala volcano hike to the Google Flights trick he uses to find cheap getaways.

The Matador Editorial Team

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