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A trip to Fiji can bring you more than just a little sunshine and a swim-up bar...

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Postcard from Bilty

Tahiti booked for January - and with Avios and a partner flight did that for £695 each!

Postcard from Keith 

Hey there, Travellers,
Katy's taking a (well-deserved) break after a flurry of non-stop travel shows, so I find myself at the helm again this week!
Unlike Katy, I've been in a bit of a lockdown after <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/its-not-you-its-me-breaking-up-with-my-nomadic-lifestyle-after-years-on-the-road">burning myself out with full-time travel</a>. I'm now in the proverbial burn unit, i.e., settling into my new town, where I'm relearning how not to travel full-time. I love it here, but&nbsp;the jitters are definitely setting in.
I mostly miss my long drives through the desert (enough to write about it down below) but there are also plenty of perks to&nbsp;not living out of motels. I own a shelf now, so suffice it to say that I'm thriving!
But... if you have any tips for keeping the travel bug at bay, I'd still love to hear them in the comments :-)
Happy travels and safe landings,

Olivia - Sub-Editor of the Detour

Larissa is an Aussie expat from Sydney who only sometimes misses the beach. Currently based in London, she&rsquo;s now working on ticking as many European cities off her travel list as possible. When she's not busy checking for brunch spots in her next destination, she's writing about flight deals for Jack's Flight Club.

By Larissa

Ticking Fiji off my &lsquo;countries to travel to&rsquo; bingo card wasn&rsquo;t really in my 2025 plan. I had already bagged a trip to Japan in February, filling my &lsquo;long haul&rsquo; quota for the year. And unlike many other Australians, I&rsquo;d never had a family trip there during my childhood. I had no nostalgic memories of all-inclusives and endless beaches. It had just never been on my radar.&nbsp;
That was until my dad decided to celebrate his 60th birthday with a week-long trip at the Radisson Blu in Denarau Island. I was (in theory) excited to see my family, but it was a long way to go. I wasn&rsquo;t jazzed about the looming extreme travel and jet lag combo, knowing I&rsquo;d have to turn back around and get back to London after 6 days. And if I&rsquo;m being radically honest, Fiji has never been high on my list.
But after a hop via San Francisco to what is almost the exact antipode of London, I landed in NAN for what would become a really transformative family trip. And one I&rsquo;m so, so thankful to have made the journey for.&nbsp;
Being part of quite an adventurous family (paddleboarding, bike riding, camping, sailing&mdash;if it&rsquo;s &lsquo;outdoorsy,&rsquo; my family does it), I knew we wouldn&rsquo;t just be hanging out by the swim-up bar or posted up on a sun lounger on the beach. Don&rsquo;t get me wrong, I love a relaxing holiday, but Fiji is one of those countries that I knew I wanted to see beyond the resort. I knew next to nothing about life there, and I wanted to see it for myself.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Arriving in NAN airport - that&rsquo;s my plane! </h3>

After 21 hours of flying, we landed in Nadi on the western side of the island. The rest of my family got away with a 4-hour flight from Sydney&hellip;lucky! This is the main international airport for holidaymakers, with the popular resorts of Denarau Island a 30-minute taxi ride away.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Unsurprisingly, the airport is small. We deplaned on the tarmac, allowing the humidity and heat to hit me immediately. In case you&rsquo;ve never experienced this before (clearly you&rsquo;re not from Australia), it&rsquo;s similar to the whoosh of heat you get when you open the oven door. And even though it was a cheery 5am, the heaviness in the air buzzed with an excitement (or maybe that was just my sleep deprivation being overtaken by adrenaline).&nbsp;
After a little bit of difficulty getting Fijian dollars out of the airport ATMs, I took a taxi to the resort.&nbsp;
Sidenote: I have a bone to pick with whoever decided to only put Westpac ATMs in Nadi airport. Yes, it was 100% my fault that I only took 1 bank card to Fiji (lesson learned), but the sheer panic I felt as I tried several ATMs in the terminal and they&nbsp;all rejected my card... cruel! I had no cash (lesson learned x2), so I was at the mercy of a very nice taxi driver. I told him my dilemma, and he drove me to an ANZ ATM on the way to the hotel with the assurance that it should work. Thankfully, it did!
<h3>Running around Denarau Island</h3>

I took advantage of my severe jet lag on day 2 to go for a run around Denarau Island. To give you a bit of context, Denarau is where almost all the major resorts are, with hotels like the Hilton, Radisson Blu and Sheraton standing side-by-side along the beach. As you&rsquo;d expect, the restaurants, bars, cafes, and shops in this part of the island are absolutely geared towards tourists, and it felt extremely safe for me to run by myself at 7am.&nbsp;
I ran up to the Hilton and back, and this photo was taken facing back down the beach towards my hotel. It&rsquo;s easy to access the beach from most of the hotels (no one will check that you&rsquo;re a guest if you just walk through the lobby, trust me &mdash; I was unsure at first when I ran up the stairs of the Hilton, but I kept my gaze straight ahead, and the confidence clearly paid off as no one stopped me. Maybe it&rsquo;s athleisure privilege?) and it was interesting to see the differences between the spaces.&nbsp;
One thing that I remember vividly was the HEAT, even at that time in the morning. You needed a hat and sunscreen; otherwise, you&rsquo;d be getting sunburned even before you hit the pool.
<h3 dir="ltr">DIY trip to Koroyanitu National Park</h3>

While there are plenty of tours for loads of different activities across the island (and beyond, but we&rsquo;ll get there later), my family decided to organise a DIY tour out to <a href="https://www.koroyanituheritagepark.org/">Koroyanitu National Park</a>. The park is 35 square kms, and includes the third-highest mountain in Fiji: Mt. Batilamu. It&rsquo;s around an hour&rsquo;s drive (45 km) from Denarau Island to the national park entrance.&nbsp;
We organised a taxi there and back (the driver waited for us at Abaca Village, at the entrance of the park), which cost just over $100 AUD &mdash; around $150 FJD. This photo was taken on the way to the park, and you can see the coast and the ocean beyond the trees.&nbsp;
For those who don&rsquo;t want to worry about the logistics, tours from the hotels in Denarau are plenty and typically cost around $200 USD/$450 FJD (with lunch included).&nbsp;
Spoiler alert: this walk was one of my favourite points in the whole trip, mostly because I was doing it with my two younger siblings. I&rsquo;ve been living outside Australia for 6 years, and in that time they&rsquo;ve both grown up into actual adults (wow!). This walk was one of the first times on the trip we were able to get to know each other better on the same level. These conversations about their lives, learning the names of their best friends, and just idle chit-chat about how they spend their days have really helped us reconnect. We now make an effort to send regular voice notes back and forth (the preferred communication style of Gen Z), and it&rsquo;s hands down my favourite souvenir from the trip, even though it doesn&rsquo;t quite fit in my bag.&nbsp;
<h3>Entrance to the park</h3>

The entrance to the park is in Abaca Village (where you can also stay if you&rsquo;d like the experience of a traditional Fijian village). From here, it took about 15-20 minutes to walk into the park proper. It is a little hilly, but you don&rsquo;t need to be an experienced trekker to go there.&nbsp;
There is an entrance fee (<a href="https://www.koroyanituheritagepark.org/plan-your-trip">25 FJD for tourists</a>), and they&rsquo;ll give you a map and directions on how to get where you want to go. There are 3 trails, one of which is the 4-hour round trip to climb Mt. Batilamu. We modified one of the trails and only did a 40-minute hike round trip.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr" id="getting-to-the-waterfall">Getting to the waterfall</h3>

The staff at the entrance office gave us instructions on how to get to the closest waterfall. It wasn&rsquo;t too complicated, with the path being marked. Once we got to the turnoff on the main path, it was a quick descent to the waterfall. As you can see here, the waterfall isn&rsquo;t very steep at this point and is very safe/easy to cross.&nbsp;
You&rsquo;ll also notice another thing about my pictures from this hike &mdash; there wasn&rsquo;t another soul in sight, apart from my family. Our group had this whole part of the park to ourselves &mdash; not something you&rsquo;d be able to say if you paid for an organised tour! We think they must take them to another waterfall in the park.
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/fiji-beyond-the-resort">Keep reading...</a>

Travel Tales

Finding Relief in California's Desert Hotspot

A San Diego native, Olivia left home three years ago to live on the road. Since then, she's had homebases everywhere from Quebec to England to New Orleans, but she always ends up back on the West Coast. When she's not hiking through the desert or the woods, she can usually be found exploring her current city and scoping out the best bars and coffee shops.

By Olivia

As a Southern Californian and a big fan of road trips, I know pretty much every inch of my state&rsquo;s desert. It&rsquo;s one of my favorite regions in the world and it&rsquo;s far more complex than it looks on a map. When people visit SoCal, they tend to focus on the coastline and treat most of the desert as a wasteland, even though there&rsquo;s so much worth doing out there.
However, I&rsquo;m currently up in the Pacific Northwest, experiencing a typically dreary winter that brought me homesickness along with it. So I don&rsquo;t know about you, but those sun-soaked dusty highways, warm nighttime breezes, and colorful margarita bars are all sounding especially good at the moment.&nbsp;
If it sounds good to you too, we could fly into Los Angeles, deal with the infamous chaos of LAX, and then make that (frankly god-awful) drive through traffic-filled suburbs and cities until you hit the desert.&nbsp;
But fortunately, there&rsquo;s another option. Instead, we could land at an iconic little town near and dear to my heart, surrounded by the best of the SoCal desert: Palm Springs.

Despite being a pretty small city (about 45,000 residents), Palm Springs has an international airport with surprisingly good connections and much cheaper fares than you&rsquo;d expect. Compared to LA, you might pay $10-$50 more round trip for a domestic flight into town or an extra $100-$250 RT for a transatlantic flight. To be honest, I&rsquo;d gladly pay that much to skip out on the hassle of LAX.
In fact, a widespread desire to &ldquo;skip out on the LA hassle&rdquo; is pretty much how this town became such a hub. Stylish, naturally beautiful, and juuuuuust far enough from the metropolis to feel worlds away, Palm Springs has had a reputation as an oasis since its beginning. Resorts began popping up in the early 20th century, and by the peak of the Old Hollywood era, it was well-known as a getaway spot for the stars. An afternoon stroll in those days might have involved waving &ldquo;hello&rdquo; to Frank Sinatra or Marilyn Monroe.
With all those fashionable folks in town, the city developed a very distinctive aesthetic. You might know that Palm Springs is a major hub for <a href="https://www.huset.com.au/blog/a-look-at-the-history-of-danish-furniture-travelling-back-in-time/">Mid-Century Modern design</a>, with its wide glass walls and sleek shapes, but the homes here really take on a specific Californian flair. Think succulent gardens, breezeblocks, and swimming pools lined with (what else?) rows of palm trees. If you watched the movie Don&rsquo;t Worry Darling, then you get the vibe. These homes were designed to feel like part of the natural landscape.

They also make Palm Springs a lovely place to wander aimlessly. You could easily kill an afternoon just by walking or driving around, admiring the architecture (and the town has a <a href="https://visitpalmsprings.com/mid-century-architecture-self-guided-tour/">self-guided tour</a> to help). Hop aboard the aerial tramway, and you can get a bird&rsquo;s-eye view of the whole city.
Along the main thoroughfare, you can shop, grab some Mexican food, or check out the swanky art museum. Most visitors grab a resort reservation and spend most of their time either by the pool or on the golf course, but we&rsquo;re not here to spend all day lounging. We&rsquo;re here to take in that magical desert...
&hellip;starting with <a href="https://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm">Joshua Tree National Park</a>, which is practically the city&rsquo;s backyard. This is where Southern Californians go to unwind and soak up some desert scenery. You might recognize it as a favorite backdrop for music videos &mdash; those huge granite boulders and titular trees are a dead giveaway. Unlike a lot of national parks, J-Tree is less about long hikes and arduous outdoor excursions and more about hanging out under the stars, clambering around on the boulders, and listening to the wind rustle through the yuccas.

For some truly serious hiking, you&rsquo;ll want to head for the <a href="https://www.alltrails.com/parks/us/california/mount-san-jacinto-state-park">San Jacinto Mountains</a>. This pine-covered range is on the other side of the city, opposite the open desert, and criss-crossed with alpine trails. The landmarks have frightening names like "Devil's Slide" and "Suicide Rock," so you know you're in for a fun challenge.&nbsp;
Climb high enough on a clear day, and you can see up to 100 miles into the distance &mdash; on one side, a hazy view of Los Angeles, propped up against the Pacific Ocean. On the other, a wide-open array of peaks and valleys that seem to go on forever, interrupted by the silver shimmer of the Salton Sea.

Speaking of which, while that shimmer is often treated like nothing more than a salty mud puddle, I&rsquo;m firmly in the camp that loves the Salton Sea. It's usually quiet, sometimes desolate, sometimes kitschy and fun, and always interesting. People like to use the word &ldquo;post-Apocalyptic&rdquo; to describe that area, but I don&rsquo;t take that as a negative! It feels like a place that exists outside of society, where like-minded off-grid types can find some peace and community.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s the kind of place where you can, I don&rsquo;t know, wander across the crunchy, salty sand until you find an entire living room set abandoned in the middle of nowhere:

And to think, I took this photo just about an hour&rsquo;s drive away from the star-studded resorts of Palm Springs. I&rsquo;m not sure which seems more relaxing.
To get the full picture, you can drive around the whole sea as a day trip. Necessary stops include <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/inside-slab-city-squatters-paradise-southern-california-180970218/">Slab City</a> (the PEAK desert hippie experience, which could easily be its own article) and Bombay Beach, an artsy, sculpture-covered settlement right on the shore. I can&rsquo;t promise you&rsquo;ll feel the same odd magic that I feel out there, but I can promise you&rsquo;ve never been anywhere like it.
Once you&rsquo;ve taken in all the scenery, drive home as another purple sunset dips over the hills, and greet the comfortable, laid-back nightlife of Palm Springs. After all, nothing caps off a day in the desert like the relief of digging into a margarita and plate of nachos. That&rsquo;s really the founding principle of a place like this: offering a little relief.
And if I close my eyes, I can almost taste it.

Travel Tips

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.
<ul>
<li>The 2026 Winter Olympics begin tonight in Northern Italy! This year, the most strenuous event might just be <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/2026-milano-cortina-winter-olympic-games-how-to-navigate-850km-venues-9.7074118">the long trek between all those venues</a>.</li>
<li>Speaking of winter, Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/02/weather/groundhog-day-shadow-winter-spring-climate">predicted six more weeks of it</a> &mdash; much to the chagrin of those folks battling major snowstorms right now.</li>
<li>Aer Lingus just introduced a possible cure for Ireland's dreary months: A new direct route between Dublin and <a href="https://simpleflying.com/tempting-aer-lingus-reveals-new-9-hour-transatlantic-airbus-a321xlr-route/">this sun-soaked Caribbean island</a>.</li>
<li>London's Natural History Museum is hosting their annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards, and the People's Choice nominees are <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy/peoples-choice">awaiting your vote</a>.</li>
<li>And finally, here's how you could spend a month living on a Greek island, <a href="https://www.timeout.com/news/love-cats-this-greek-island-is-seeking-cat-sanctuary-volunteers-in-exchange-for-free-housing-020426">cuddling with cats</a>.</li>
</ul>

Travel News

Wiping out Winter Woes, from Fiji to SoCal

Ticking Fiji off my &lsquo;countries to travel to&rsquo; bingo card wasn&rsquo;t really in my 2025 plan. I had already bagged a trip to Japan in February, filling my &lsquo;long haul&rsquo; quota for the year. And unlike many other Australians, I&rsquo;d never had a family trip there during my childhood. I had no nostalgic memories of all-inclusives and endless beaches. It had just never been on my radar.&nbsp;
That was until my Dad decided to celebrate his 60th birthday with a week-long trip at the Radisson Blu in Denarau Island. I was (in theory) excited to see my family, but it was a long way to go. I wasn&rsquo;t jazzed about the looming extreme travel and jet lag combo, knowing I&rsquo;d have to turn back around to London after 6 days. And if I&rsquo;m being radically honest, Fiji has never been high on my list.
But after a hop via San Francisco to what is almost the exact antipode of London, I landed in NAN for what would become a really transformative family trip. And one I&rsquo;m so, so thankful to have made the journey for.&nbsp;
Being part of quite an adventurous family (paddleboarding, bike riding, camping, sailing&mdash;if it&rsquo;s &lsquo;outdoorsy,&rsquo; my family does it), I knew we wouldn&rsquo;t just be hanging out by the swim-up bar or posted up on a sun lounger on the beach. Don&rsquo;t get me wrong, I love a relaxing holiday, but Fiji is one of those countries that is ripe for getting out beyond the resort. I knew next to nothing about life there, and I wanted to see it for myself.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr" id="arriving-in-nan-airport-thats-my-plane">Arriving in NAN airport - that&rsquo;s my plane!</h3>

After 21 hours of flying, we landed in Nadi on the western side of the island. The rest of my family got away with a 4-hour flight from Sydney&hellip;lucky! This is the main international airport for holidaymakers, with the popular resorts of Denarau Island a 30-minute taxi ride away.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Unsurprisingly, the airport is small. We deplaned on the tarmac, allowing the humidity and heat to hit me immediately. In case you&rsquo;ve never experienced this before (clearly you&rsquo;re not from Australia), it&rsquo;s similar to the whoosh of heat you get when you open the oven door. And even though it was a cheery 5am, the heaviness in the air buzzed with an excitement (or maybe that was just my sleep deprivation being overtaken by adrenaline).&nbsp;
After a little bit of difficulty getting Fijian dollars out of the airport ATMs, I took a taxi to the resort.&nbsp;
Sidenote: I have a bone to pick with whoever decided to only put Westpac ATMs in Nadi airport. Yes, it was 100% my fault that I only took 1 bank card to Fiji (lesson learned), but the sheer panic I felt as I tried several ATMs in the terminal and they&nbsp;all rejected my card... cruel! I had no cash (lesson learned x2), so I was at the mercy of a very nice taxi driver. I told him my dilemma, and he drove me to an ANZ ATM on the way to the hotel with the assurance that it should work. Thankfully, it did!
<h3 id="running-around-denarau-island">Running around Denarau Island</h3>

I took advantage of my severe jet lag on day 2 to go for a run around Denarau Island. To give you a bit of context, Denarau is where almost all the major resorts are, with hotels like the Hilton, Radisson Blu and Sheraton standing side-by-side along the beach. As you&rsquo;d expect, the restaurants, bars, cafes, and shops in this part of the island are absolutely geared towards tourists, and it felt extremely safe for me to run by myself at 7am.&nbsp;
I ran up to the Hilton and back, and this photo was taken facing back down the beach towards my hotel. It&rsquo;s easy to access the beach from most of the hotels (no one will check that you&rsquo;re a guest if you just walk through the lobby, trust me &mdash; I was unsure at first when I ran up the stairs of the Hilton, but I kept my gaze straight ahead, and the confidence clearly paid off as no one stopped me. Maybe it&rsquo;s athleisure privilege?) and it was interesting to see the differences between the spaces.&nbsp;
One thing that I remember vividly was the HEAT, even at that time in the morning. You needed a hat and sunscreen; otherwise, you&rsquo;d be getting sunburned even before you hit the pool.
<h3 dir="ltr" id="diy-trip-to-koroyanitu-national-park">DIY trip to Koroyanitu National Park</h3>

While there are plenty of tours for loads of different activities across the island (and beyond, but we&rsquo;ll get there later), my family decided to organise a DIY tour out to <a href="https://www.koroyanituheritagepark.org/">Koroyanitu National Park</a>. The park is 35 square kms, and includes the third-highest mountain in Fiji: Mt. Batilamu. It&rsquo;s around an hour&rsquo;s drive (45 km) from Denarau Island to the national park entrance.&nbsp;
We organised a taxi there and back (the driver waited for us at Abaca Village, at the entrance of the park), which cost just over $100 AUD &mdash; around $150 FJD. This photo was taken on the way to the park, and you can see the coast and the ocean beyond the trees.&nbsp;
For those who don&rsquo;t want to worry about the logistics, tours from the hotels in Denarau are plenty and typically cost around $200 USD/$450 FJD (with lunch included).&nbsp;
Spoiler alert: this walk was one of my favourite points in the whole trip, mostly because I was doing it with my two younger siblings. I&rsquo;ve been living outside Australia for 6 years, and in that time they&rsquo;ve both grown up into actual adults (wow!). This walk was one of the first times on the trip we were able to get to know each other better on the same level. These conversations about their lives, learning the names of their best friends, and just idle chit-chat about how they spend their days have really helped us reconnect. We now make an effort to send regular voice notes back and forth (the preferred communication style of Gen Z), and it&rsquo;s hands down my favourite souvenir from the trip, even though it doesn&rsquo;t quite fit in my bag.&nbsp;
<h3 id="entrance-to-the-park">Entrance to the park</h3>

The entrance to the park is in Abaca Village (where you can also stay if you&rsquo;d like the experience of a traditional Fijian village). From here, it took about 15-20 minutes to walk into the park proper. It is a little hilly, but you don&rsquo;t need to be an experienced trekker to go there.&nbsp;
There is an entrance fee (<a href="https://www.koroyanituheritagepark.org/plan-your-trip">25 FJD for tourists</a>), and they&rsquo;ll give you a map and directions on how to get where you want to go. There are 3 trails, one of which is the 4-hour round trip to climb Mt. Batilamu. We modified one of the trails and only did a 40-minute hike round trip.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Getting to the waterfall</h3>

The staff at the entrance office gave us instructions on how to get to the closest waterfall. It wasn&rsquo;t too complicated, with the path being marked. Once we got to the turnoff on the main path, it was a quick descent to the waterfall. As you can see here, the waterfall isn&rsquo;t very steep at this point and is very safe/easy to cross.&nbsp;
You&rsquo;ll also notice another thing about my pictures from this hike &mdash; there wasn&rsquo;t another soul in sight, apart from my family. Our group had this whole part of the park to ourselves &mdash; not something you&rsquo;d be able to say if you paid for an organised tour! We think they must take them to another waterfall in the park.
<h3 dir="ltr">View from the top</h3>

Our view from the top of the hike! As mentioned, we didn&rsquo;t strictly follow the whole trail (I think that would have taken us closer to 2 hours all up), but we were happy to turn back at this point. To our east, we saw this rock towering before us, with the source of the waterfall we&rsquo;d jumped over in the distance. To our west, we saw the ocean and the view down towards the coast. It was an incredible contrast and a really cool place to stop and refuel. Not pictured is the gazebo rest area, where we ate our snacks (Cheezels and party mix, if you were curious) and enjoyed the view.&nbsp;
While the walk wasn&rsquo;t too strenuous, it was hot and muggy the whole time, so we were tired and sweaty, even without the sun being out in full force. One really cool thing: in the time we had stopped there (maybe 30 minutes), the fog had started to descend over the mountain. By the time we headed back, you couldn&rsquo;t see where the mountain started and stopped anymore.
We followed the path the way we came and were soon back on our way to Nadi and our hotel, where we cooled off in the pool.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Nadi Town</h3>

I&rsquo;d highly, highly recommend visiting Nadi Town if you&rsquo;re staying in Denarau Island. Unsurprisingly, it&rsquo;s easy to forget that real life is going on just down the road when your days are full of pools, beaches, and breakfast buffets. And that&rsquo;s where all the most fascinating attractions are.&nbsp;
&nbsp;You can get a taxi there, but we decided to take advantage of the public transport options! The bus runs regularly (around every 15 minutes) from the road alongside the hotel. In Fiji, you don&rsquo;t pay until you get off the bus, so hold onto your cash until the end of the ride. The bus terminates at the bus station in Nadi, which is just off the main road, so no need to worry about missing your stop. The ride costs $2 FJD each &mdash; find more info about travelling around by bus <a href="https://fijipocketguide.com/how-to-travel-around-fiji-by-bus/">here</a>.&nbsp;
&nbsp;Note: the public bus is different from the &lsquo;Bula Bus,&rsquo; which is a tourist shuttle service running a loop around Denarau Island, stopping at each of the hotels and the port. Tourists use this bus as a &lsquo;hop on, hop off&rsquo; service (it&rsquo;s $12 FJD for an all-day ticket) between resorts and the port (the only place on Denarau Island outside the resorts to go out to eat and shop). The public bus is used by locals and tourists alike to leave Denarau Island and go to Nadi.&nbsp;
The highlight for us was the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hindu+temple/@-17.8068415,177.4139906,18.9z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x6e175b0031fd9e1f:0x11a4b210d438f626!8m2!3d-17.8076048!4d177.4143774!16s%2Fg%2F11xftbq5lb?entry=ttu&amp;g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDExOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D">Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Hindu Temple</a>, casually the largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere. It&rsquo;s at the end of the main street (you can&rsquo;t miss it), costs $5 FJD to visit, and you need to take your shoes off (and put on a shawl if your clothes don&rsquo;t cover your legs or shoulders). From there, you&rsquo;re left to wander around the temple buildings at your own pace, which includes shrines and spots for quiet contemplation.
You can&rsquo;t take photos inside the building, so you&rsquo;ll just need to trust me that the freshly painted ceilings were as beautiful as they were intricate.&nbsp;
Given Fiji&rsquo;s population is around a quarter Hindu, this temple is fairly busy, so be mindful of your noise and don&rsquo;t get in the way of locals visiting.&nbsp;
While in Nadi, we also visited the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Nadi+Handicraft+Market/@-17.8045358,177.4109494,16.4z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x6e175afa1afc2683:0x5375890c280da5eb!8m2!3d-17.8049204!4d177.4149536!16s%2Fg%2F11g_bsyrm?entry=ttu&amp;g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDExOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D">Handicraft Market</a>, which is admittedly fairly touristy. You&rsquo;ll find souvenirs of all types here at a cheaper price than you&rsquo;d find at the resorts (but the prices are still inflated). There are &lsquo;normal&rsquo; (read: not geared towards tourists) shops here too, including supermarkets for cheaper groceries than you&rsquo;ll find elsewhere.
&nbsp;I helped my youngest sibling choose some jewellery for their friends back home, and they helped me pick out a drawing for my flat (which will have pride of place on the wall as soon as it&rsquo;s framed). 
<h3 dir="ltr">Boat trip organised by the hotel to the Mamanuca Islands&nbsp;</h3>

We&rsquo;ve made it to the more &lsquo;traditional&rsquo; tours and excursions section! As part of my Dad&rsquo;s birthday celebrations, we hired a catamaran from Hydro Sports Fiji (located conveniently at the hotel) for a 4-hour tour of the Mamanuca Islands.&nbsp;
These are a chain of small islands near the coast of Fiji&mdash;some of the bigger and more well-known of these are Treasure Island (where we saw a turtle sanctuary), Castaway Island (a very fancy resort, plus great snorkeling reefs), and even the island where they film&nbsp;Survivor.&nbsp;
On our tour, we snorkeled off the boat, moored up to a sandbank, and had lunch on&nbsp;<a href="https://nakelotreasure.com/">Treasure Island</a>. The highlight for me was the snorkeling, since there were soooo many fish, including some really cool ones like parrotfish. Treasure Island was a nice spot to eat, and the staff on the boat seemed really familiar with these spots &mdash; between showing off the iguanas and getting the lunch orders of 20+ people, it was a well-oiled machine.&nbsp;
Unsurprisingly, the ease of not having to navigate the waterways yourself comes with a cost &mdash; our tour cost $2150 FJD (almost $1000 USD). That being said, there are spots for 20 people onboard, so the cost split between many may be worth it (especially since there&rsquo;s not really an alternative to DIY this; you&rsquo;d still have to hire out a boat).&nbsp;

So, were the back-to-back 20+ hour journeys worth it in the end? Yes! By pushing out of the resort&rsquo;s comfortable cocoon, I have a better understanding of the country and the people than I would have had if I&rsquo;d just spent the time by the swim-up bar.&nbsp;
But, on reflection, it was these personal experiences that ended up being the best memories of the trip. I remember my Dad&rsquo;s hand to help me over a rock in the middle of the waterfall and giving suggestions on necklaces for my siblings to take back home while at the market in downtown Nadi. The swim-up bar is nice, but that&rsquo;s better.&nbsp;

Fiji: Beyond the Resort

Mexico

Guatemala

Netherlands

Spain

Finland

France

Sri Lanka

Hey there Travellers,
Like much of the world this week, Katy's off on holiday, so I get the special honor of sending out the first Detour of 2026 🎉
New Year's Eve, for many folks, is a time of reflection! It's the perfect excuse to dig through some old memories and take stock of those meaningful moments.&nbsp;
So that's our theme for this week: memories.&nbsp;This Detour is chock full of them &mdash; from this year's highlights, to nostalgic travel tattoos from trips long past.&nbsp;
Let's make 2026 another great year, Travellers! And let us know in the comments which travel memories you're hoping to create in the next twelve months &mdash; maybe we can help :-)
Wishing you a safe and happy New Year,

Permanent Souvenirs: Our Travel Tattoo Tales&nbsp;

You know a trip is worthwhile when that bittersweet thought crosses your mind: I wish I could bottle up this moment and keep it forever.
It&rsquo;s the feeling that drives souvenir sales and fills up your photo albums, but for travelers who&nbsp;really want to keep those memories close, there&rsquo;s another option &mdash; having that memory permanently added to your body.
Despite the discomfort of traveling with a fresh tattoo, getting inked on the road is a time-honored tradition. Captain Cook&rsquo;s sailors are said to have returned home from Polynesia sporting some new body art. Even 700 years ago, religious pilgrims to the Middle Eastern Holy Land were <a href="https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1235759">getting small tattoos as evidence of their journey</a>. By the 19th century, the list of folks with travel tattoos even included <a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/japan-courts-and-culture/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace/features/royal-tattoos">British royalty</a>.&nbsp;
Nowadays, there&rsquo;s an entire culture built up around travel tattoos. Some shops in touristy areas even&nbsp;depend on the demand. And just like in centuries past, there are still a myriad of motivations behind the decision.&nbsp;

During my (rather formative) few months in New Orleans, I realized I&rsquo;d regret it forever if I didn&rsquo;t leave that city with an inked reminder. Next thing I knew, I was face-down on a leather table, surrounded by NOLA-typical spiritual decor, while a stranger put me through excruciating pain for so long that I felt like my soul was leaving my body.
Unfortunately, in my case, that meant I was having a panic attack, desperately trying to keep still while hyperventilating and gasping through the pain. I tried to focus on a fixed point in the room to ground myself, but ended up locking eyes with a large, weeping statue of Santa Maria. It seemed less unnerving than the taxidermied animals, the bloody crucifixes, or the clutter of figurines stuck with nails or covered in bones and teeth.&nbsp;
When it was finally over, I paid the artist with shaking hands and basically ran out of the shop. I cannot even describe the headspace I was in. The relief was so strong that I felt like an entirely new person. All I wanted was a drink and a place to sit down.
Fortunately, that&rsquo;s not a tall order in New Orleans &mdash; I popped over to Bourbon Street and entered the first bar I saw.&nbsp;

Midway through a whisky, while listening to a bartender&rsquo;s story, I realized my new tattoo had started bleeding. There was a gruesome, oozy red smear running down my leg and trickling onto the floor of the bar.
&ldquo;Sorry, could I just get a napkin?&rdquo; I say, interrupting the bartender. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m bleeding onto your floor.&rdquo;
She casually handed me a napkin without even pausing her story. She had no reaction at all to hearing a patron say they were bleeding onto the floor of her bar at 2pm on a Monday.&nbsp;
I guess that&rsquo;s business as usual on Bourbon Street!
The tattoo has long since healed, but whenever I look at it, I remember what a wild time it was. I had no idea it would be that intense, but I&rsquo;m honored to have been given such a distinctly NOLA experience &mdash; one that really embodies the chaotic excitement of my time in the city. It&rsquo;s how I got hooked on travel tattoos!
So, as a person with so much access to well-seasoned travelers who understand the value of overseas memories, I just&nbsp;had to ask the Jack&rsquo;s Flight Club staff and Community for a few more tales.
And I heard some great ones! Like the new tradition started by our reader Zo&euml; and her wife, which started out as a space-saving measure:

&ldquo;My wife and I have a tradition of getting a tattoo on every *far* trip. Makes the long haul flight home worth it&hellip; Wanting to collect &lsquo;souvenirs&rsquo; whilst living in a small flat at the time was the original inspiration. We&rsquo;ve collected them from Thailand, Bali, and Singapore so far. Many more on the travel wishlist.&rdquo; - Zo&euml;

Or our Jack&rsquo;s Navigator Henry&rsquo;s story, about a priceless memorial that only cost &euro;15:

&ldquo;When I was 19/20, I lived in Spain and became friends with a good group of people. I moved back when someone at home died, but while I was at home, one of my friends in Spain died (very tragic, I know). So when I came back to visit my friends, one of them mentioned that another guy was starting off as a tattoo artist, and he needed guinea pigs to get the business&nbsp; going, so I said I would volunteer one night we were out. So the next day, we went to Seville and got this done. It is of course the song of Liverpool Football Club. But the tattoo is actually for everyone who is no longer with us. The words of the song make more sense than whatever I will say here 😂 It took 3 hours and cost 15 euro.&rdquo;&nbsp;- Henry

Our writer Akasha&rsquo;s tales of stick n&rsquo; pokes in Central American hostels could probably fill an entire novel:

"After almost an hour with my face wedged in the crook of an old Maltese man&rsquo;s pungent armpit as he bent over backwards attempting to tattoo my ribcage, eighteen-year-old me was hooked.&nbsp;
'For each country I visit, I&rsquo;m going to get a tattoo to commemorate it,' I excitedly told my boyfriend at the time. He rolled his eyes. He was the typical Irish lad, one that would 'go on holidays' once every 5 years to Benidorm or Magaluf. Something about the Irish pubs there.
He probably didn&rsquo;t expect that by my twenties, I&rsquo;d be lying on a sagging mattress in the jungles of Guatemala, a Czech apprentice straddling my torso, carving her gun of pain into my arm for four hours without a break.
Or that I&rsquo;d let a French guy hand-poke a reiki symbol onto my wrist in exchange for covering a bar shift.&nbsp;
Stick and poke became my preferred way. So naturally, my ears perked up when a German tattooist blew into the hostel I worked at in Chiapas. It&rsquo;d take me a few weeks to propose a trade he simply couldn&rsquo;t refuse: I&rsquo;d bleach his dreadlocks in return for some artwork."

"This was probably my most painful one. Not from the needle but from the cup of rubbing alcohol he poured over my raw skin, and the violent slap that followed. A sick and twisted joke because it was midnight and I couldn&rsquo;t scream without waking the hostel guests.
And while I haven&rsquo;t managed to stay true to my promise of getting inked everywhere I&rsquo;ve wandered, I&rsquo;ve done a pretty good job of collecting permanent stamps.
Mostly, the ink I&rsquo;ve gotten along the way is a map itself - of the girl who showed up clueless and curious, reckless and scared, but booked the ticket anyway."&nbsp;- Akasha

And lastly, our Detour queen Katy shared the story of her first tattoo, a remnant of a teenage adventure in the Netherlands:

"When I finished high school, I didn&rsquo;t go on the big group trip clubbing in Ayia Napa. That wasn&rsquo;t my thing at all. I wanted to see some of the world before starting university, not just the inside of a bar, surrounded by people I&rsquo;d mostly never see again.&nbsp;
Instead, myself and some of my closest friends decided to go Interrailing around Europe for 5 weeks. As is common when leaving high school in Scotland, most of us were only 17 at the time. We couldn&rsquo;t even (legally) drink in bars at home, so a month of European rules was exciting. And when we realised that we&rsquo;d even be old enough to get tattooed in The Netherlands&hellip;
Well, let&rsquo;s just say a few of us decided to give it a go &mdash; a fact my mum only found out three years later, when I was lazily lying in bed with my leg hanging out from under the sheets.
When getting your first tattoo, there&rsquo;s a lot of pressure to make it meaningful, so I opted for something I knew would always be important to me &mdash; music. I was right, playing music is still part of my life. But perhaps more important is the fact that I got it while on a memorable adventure with people who are still part of my life."&nbsp;- Katy

When I look at all of these stories together, there&rsquo;s a common thread: Most things in life are temporary. People enter and exit, chapters close, and that return flight is always rapidly approaching. I can go back to New Orleans, but I can&rsquo;t go back to that trip. Travel, by definition, has to be ephemeral.&nbsp;
We might be staking our money, time, and energy on a very short-lived experience, but we often return home permanently changed. I think travel tattoos owe their prolonged popularity to that change &mdash; they can help make the outside match the inside.
So if you feel the same, and have a travel tattoo (or several) of your own, feel free to send them our way. Maybe you&rsquo;ll see them in part two :-)

Jack's Gone Global: Where We Went in 2025

As you might expect, the Jack's staff is always jetsetting around the world! 2025 was no different &mdash; We traveled everywhere from the Caribbean to the Arctic Circle.&nbsp;
Here's a few highlights from another fantastic year of travel...

<h2 id="lapland">Lapland</h2>
Hannah Deals &amp; Content

&ldquo;We took a day-trip over to the <a href="https://arcticsnowhotel.fi/en/">Arctic SnowHotel </a>during our trip, as well as snowmobiled through the forests, and took reindeer and husky rides on a tour with the Snowmobile Park company &mdash; they were great and included proper snow gear in their prices, so would highly recommend.
And last but not least, the northern lights! While you can hunt for them on a guided tour, it gets pricey. Instead, we stayed just outside of the city (towards Ounasvaara) in an AirBnB and were lucky enough to spot them dancing above the house most nights we were there.&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">Fiji</h2>
Larissa Deal &amp; Content Manager EU

&ldquo;Fiji was such a surprise to me! I went for a family celebration and didn&rsquo;t have many expectations (given I knew a lot of the holiday would be resort-bound), but we managed to do a decent amount in Nadi and the surrounding <a href="https://www.koroyanituheritagepark.org/plan-your-trip">Koroyanitu National Heritage Park</a>. My highlights were DIY-ing a hike through the park to an incredible waterfall lookout, and visiting the <a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/Qs6PyZGqz5nm2PF9A">Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple</a> - the intricate paintwork inside was incredible!&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">France &amp; Scotland</h2>
Andrea Member Experience Team Leader

&ldquo;My trip to France and Scotland healed parts of me I didn't know needed healing. The little girl in me who thought she might never make it to Europe and visit her dream city and the grown girl in me that found her soul city.
My favorite moment of my adventures was being able to see and touch the Eiffel Tower. I knew that I would cry the moment I laid eyes on her and I very much did! LOL The tears were joy and marvel and finally realizing that I did it, I made it, I was standing in Paris!! I was looking at a monument I had only seen in books and movies. I checked a place off of a very long bucket list. I had macarons and croissants from French boulangeries and strolled along streets with beautiful architecture. I spoke terribly broken French from the years of Duolingo that I had been doing and I was out of this world happy.
However. My favorite place was Scotland. I had never traveled and felt at home anywhere the way I did there. The buildings, history, slight gloom and chill in the air. The beautiful stone streets and castles, this was my place. A place I felt very happy and comfortable, where I could wander for hours and not feel tired. I am still day dreaming about my time there and thinking of the things I want to do and see when I go back. It was on my bucket list and still is. There's so much more I need to see and experience (highland coos, for example!)&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">Sri Lanka</h2>
Fran&nbsp;Deals &amp; Content/Social Media

&ldquo;We loved our train experiences in Sri Lanka, and we&rsquo;d suggest every curious traveller give it a try at some point. I even wrote <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/the-truth-about-traveling-by-train-in-sri-lanka">an honest guide</a> about it. It sparked our curiosity to venture beyond the tourist-packed routes and discover the more authentic, less crowded journeys in the future.&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">St. Croix</h2>
Olivia&nbsp;Deals &amp; Content/Detour Sub-Editor

&ldquo;The highlight was definitely the Cruzan Rum Distillery, which you can read more about <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-179-st-croix-historic-distillery">in my article here</a>. Between the informative tour, the historic setting, our lovely guide, and drinks enjoyed at a breezy, palm-lined patio bar, we couldn&rsquo;t have been more pleased. There&rsquo;s a reason every guide to St. Croix name-drops this spot, and I can happily add myself to its list of fans&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">The Netherlands</h2>
Gabi Product Team

&ldquo;I had such a great time in the Netherlands. I started off in <a href="https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/discover-the-netherlands/visit-the-cities/the-hague">Den Haag</a>, where I decided to try haring (the famous raw herring, just a full fish) which not everyone loves but I&rsquo;m absolutely crazy for (I really love pickled stuff). I spent the rest of my time wandering around the city center, renting bikes with nerdy names, and cycling to some pretty spots like Haagse Bos. That same day I rode all the way to Scheveningen, which turned out to be a super lovely beach with a big pier. I sat there with a hot Chocomel in hand, feeling very Dutch. It also POURED rain the minute I hopped on the bike.&rdquo;

How about our readers? Where did you travel in 2025? Let us know in the comments :-)

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across web this week.
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Unfortunately, we have to start the year off with some tragic news: Chaos in Machu Picchu as <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gweww8rjro">two trains collided</a> last Tuesday, causing one death and injuring 40 others.&nbsp;</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">On a more hopeful note, National Geographic released their <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/travel-adventures-best-trips-to-book-2026">top 20 picks for adventures to take in 2026</a>. The key words? &ldquo;Immersive&rdquo; and &ldquo;Transformative.&rdquo;</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Sicily&rsquo;s Mount Etna has been in a bit of a turbulent mood lately, but that&rsquo;s not stopping the local skiers from <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cz7n4px7e41o">hitting her slopes</a>.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Central Asia <a href="https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025/12/22/kobyz-and-the-yurt-central-asias-living-knowledge-enters-unescos-intangible-heritage-lists">got some love from UNESCO</a> as a regional stringed instrument and a style of yurt both got added to the organization&rsquo;s list of intangible cultural heritage.</li>
<li>And finally, got any questions about life at an Antarctic research station? Now&rsquo;s the time to ask &mdash; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/climate/thwaites-glacier-expedition-antarctica.html">the NYT is heading on down</a>, and they want to know what you want to know.</li>
</ul>

Ringing in 2026 with Our Travel Memories

Hey there, JFC-ers,
I must admit, my algorithm knows me pretty well by now. I open Instagram; travel posts and reels. I open my email inbox; travel newsletters, travel deals, travel competitions. I open my Google News feed; travel articles. I just can't escape &mdash; not that I'd want to.
One of the most typical topics that comes up in those reels, posts, articles, etc. is travel hacks. I'm talking about the latest hack for avoiding baggage fees, the new solution to snagging the best seat, the fastest way to get through airport security. And honestly, most of them tend to be either utter nonsense or blindingly obvious. Yes, the fastest way to get through airport security probably is by sorting your liquids in advance and buying fast track, how did you know?!

The other day, I got a message from former Head Flight Finder Tristan thanking me for my tip of using a duty free carrier bag to bring overflow hand luggage onboard (note: some airlines may be stricter than others here).
Since then, I've seen an article touting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/35772679/baby-flight-hack-lettuce-holiday/">lettuce as a magical parenting flight hack</a>, and another claiming that a 'fragile' sticker is almost guaranteed to <a href="https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/travel/easy-travel-hack-can-help-32000241">make sure your checked bag is offloaded first</a>.
So with that, dear readers, I'd like to cut through the noise and compile the ultimate list of JFC-approved travel hacks. What are your go-to tricks for making your trips smoother or cheaper? And what leaves you walking away feeling like you've beat the system?&nbsp;
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-194-fiji-on-a-budget#comments">Jump into the comments</a> or reply to this email to let us know!
Happy travels and safe landings,

Katy - Editor of The Detour

Walk along Texas streets that inspired rockers and outlaws alike. Adventure, reflection, and the freedom to explore something real&mdash;It&rsquo;s here in Laredo, Texas!

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Fabulous Fiji Off the Honeymoon-Beaten Track

"Question: have you ever put together travel tips to Fiji?&nbsp;
Trying to find info and the thing is, there's just way too much info out there, but it's all messy and mainly targeted to honeymoons, all-inclusive, high-spenders. Looking rather for a more budgetish, non-resort experience." - Salvatore

Detour Editor Katy is a budget travel aficionado who has already travelled to more than 50 countries. Whether she's at home or on a foreign adventure, she has a particular talent for stumbling upon tasty Georgian restaurants.

Answered by Katy

When I read the word &ldquo;Fiji,&rdquo; it immediately conjures up images of the most pristine sandy beaches, the fresh scent of salty seawater, the warmth of the sun on my skin&hellip; and the fear of a terrifying credit card bill.
Even in all our years of flight hacking, we&rsquo;ve never come across a flight to Fiji that I&rsquo;d consider wildly &ldquo;cheap.&rdquo; The lowest we&rsquo;ve ever seen from an airport we cover has to be&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/fiji-new-zealand-in-540s-780s-rt-free">$540 round trip from Los Angeles</a> back in 2023, while Europe&rsquo;s sweetest fare was a Covid-tainted <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/londonmanchester-to-fiji-in-600s700s-rtn">&pound;678 return from Manchester</a>.&nbsp;

Relatively speaking, those are fantastic deals, but from the UK &amp; Europe in particular, it&rsquo;s super rare. Luckily, North America sees decent trips in the $600s fairly regularly, so that would be my top tip for getting to Fiji on a budget &mdash; keep an eye on fares outta LA, San Fran and Vancouver. LA in particular gets lots of low-cost flights from across North America and Europe, so a little DIY multi-city magic can help you work out a cheaper route.
The other (longer, but potentially more exciting) route from Europe would be via China and Australia. We all know by now that Chinese airlines are our cheap tickets to Asia and beyond, so if you manage to snag <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/sydney-melbourne-in-500s-540s-rtn">flights to Sydney for under &pound;600</a>, then grab a <a href="https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=CBwQAhomEgoyMDI1LTEwLTI2KABqBwgBEgNTWURyDQgCEgkvbS8wMjJ3cjMaJhIKMjAyNS0xMS0wMigAag0IAhIJL20vMDIyd3IzcgcIARIDU1lEQAFIAXABggELCP___________wGYAQE&amp;tfu=EgIIACIA">JetStar connection for around &pound;250</a>, you&rsquo;re laughing (in comparison to &pound;1100+ as standard from London).
Once you get to Fiji, it really doesn&rsquo;t have to be all flashy resort vibes, although you may be surprised how affordable some beachfront hotels are; for a week in October, there are options costing around half as much as you would expect in any major city in the US, Canada, or Europe.&nbsp;
The catch is that if you find a cheap resort on one of the outer islands, you may still have to pay extra for a boat transfer to get out there. On top of that, a booking often includes a (mandatory) meal plan, which you will have to pay for on top of your room. So, essentially, do read the fine print!

There are a few JFC-ers among us who have been lucky enough to visit those dreamy Melanesian shores and worked out how to dodge those pricey honeymoon premiums. Here are their affordable Fiji tips:

&ldquo;The octopus resort in the Yasawa Islands, fiji had a dorm as well as bungalows etc when I went (a while ago), it was a great place and very well priced. It was recommended to me and it didn&rsquo;t disappoint&rdquo; - FootlooseCitizen62343
<hr>
&ldquo;A recommendation for the Coral coast&rdquo; is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bedarrafiji.com/">Bedarra Beach Inn</a> which was reasonably priced &amp; had great food, it still gets great reviews on TA. The Fiji TA forum is a great source of info.&rdquo; - Sheena
<hr>
&ldquo;Finally, a topic request I can be useful on! Off the beaten track Fiji. Definitely recommend <a href="https://levukahomestay.com/">Levuka Homestay</a> on the island of Levuka, which you can access by ferry from Suva, the capital, which has a good museum and a few other bits worth visiting. No accommodation recommendation for there as we were lucky enough to get to stay with family. But I can recommend <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/19DbL4ZYyK/">this great walking tour</a>!&rdquo; - Eilidh

To really focus on saving cash on accommodation while you&rsquo;re out there, Sarah in our Facebook community recommends looking out for the one-coconut accommodation:

&ldquo;I flew out there from NZ about 5 years ago. They grade their accommodation in coconuts from 1 to 3. I did the islands on 1 coconut (most economic &amp; mainly dorms &amp; cold water showers but seriously it&rsquo;s ok) which I did on arrival at airport. 3 coconuts you get your own solar heated hut so hot water! Spent 1st day / night in Nadi then the islands. 
The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fiji-bookings.com/ferry/yasawa-flyer">Yasawa Flyer</a> goes up and down the islands each day. I&rsquo;d recommend packing light for getting on &amp; off the Flyer onto transfer boats. The other thing is if [you want to] swim with manta rays, there are other islands offering this experience, not just the very touristy Mantaray island. I&rsquo;d personally recommend <a href="https://www.instagram.com/korovouecotourresort">Korovou</a> to do this but I prefer more eco islands.&rdquo;

Island hopping is a huge draw, but it can rack up the ticket costs. You&rsquo;re best to price up the journeys you plan to take and see how the total compares to the cost of a <a href="https://www.awesomefiji.com/flexible-passes/bula-pass/">Bula Pass</a>. Or, as Lonely Planet suggests, just <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/fiji-on-a-budget">avoid island hopping altogether</a>.&nbsp;
When you&rsquo;re planning your trip, you may find that achieving that balance of affordability and authenticity is the tough part. Reaching the <a href="https://fijipocketguide.com/10-less-travelled-islands-of-fiji/">paths less trodden</a> will cost you in transfers, but it can even out with cheaper homestays and fantastic experiences. Just remember that where there are fewer tourists, there are likely to be fewer amenities, so gear up for a truly authentic slice of island life.
Hopefully, we&rsquo;ve managed to give you a few tips that&rsquo;ll help you plan the Fijian adventure you&rsquo;re dreaming of! And when you get back, please let us know how it went &mdash; I can&rsquo;t wait to see some pictures and hear your stories.
 Is there a destination or travel topic you'd like us to write about in The Detour? Just let us know!

Reader's Corner

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Spotted: Rare Fares in the Wild

Flight Finder Akasha finds phenomenal flights faster than you can decide where you want to take a trip to next. A pro at finding the best of the best fares, she's also a master at sharing must-visit spots for when you land.

By Akasha

It's usually pretty quiet at Flight Finder HQ during the July holiday period, but this year's been kinda different&hellip;
With only Spirit and Frontier bothering to show up for 4th of July sales (NYC to Miami at $39 RT? Fine, we&rsquo;ll bite),&nbsp;I was gearing up for a dry, scroll-in-peace type of workday while everyone else BBQed their way into the long weekend.
Then, BOOM! Fireworks. Blink and you'd miss them &mdash; but we didn&rsquo;t, so I wanted to fill you in on all the recent goings-on at Flight Finder HQ.

Flights to Sicily &amp; Sardinia from New York. Guess how much?
Actually, let me rephrase that. How much would YOU expect to pay for the privilege of plopping yourself onto the blissful, sun-soaked shores of the Mediterranean?
$600-$700 round trip? Same. That&rsquo;s around what we'd usually consider a good deal.&nbsp;
But <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/sicily-sardinia-in-350s-460s-rt">these flights</a> with British Airways and ITA? Absolute bangers, with Catania and Palermo at $350-$370 round trip, and Olbia in the $470s. Late summer dates included!
Now that&rsquo;s a party I&rsquo;d RSVP to. And one that Danni, our Head of Socials, already had at her very own Sicilian wedding. I think I get why she chose it&hellip; 👇

Despite what I&rsquo;d been expecting from the holiday weekend, NYC just kept proving it never really sleeps. We also <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/shannon-at-272-rt">found flights</a> to Shannon (aka the superior end of Ireland, especially for those postcard views) in the $270s &mdash; the lowest we&rsquo;ve seen, like, ever.&nbsp;
Up North, there was a little more on offer when it came to Canada Day. Between <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/canada-in-90s-170s-rt">domestic sales</a>&nbsp;and explaining why <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/faroe-islands-at-656-rt">a rare Faroe Islands road trip</a> is precisely what you need to get you through the week (especially at that price), our Canadian Flight Finders were also celebrating <a href="https://www.canadiansky.co.uk/alberta-holidays/calgary/experiencing-the-calgary-stampede">Stampede season</a>.
And while the boots and bolo ties did come out in Calgary, our team still made sure that you Canadian members didn&rsquo;t suffer the same fate as Canada Lead Kristi &mdash; missing out on&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/costa-rica-in-360s-490s-rt">trips to Costa Rica</a> in the $360s-$490s:

It wasn't quiet across the other side of the pond, either.
Flight Finder Iris has been taking her role as&nbsp;that friend who can always pull some strings seriously. She found super swanky flights to Bangkok, Hanoi, Phuket and more Asian cities for both our&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/asia-in-470s-590s-rtn">EU (&euro;470s-&euro;590s)</a> and <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/asia-in-500s-590s510s-550s-rtn">UK (&pound;500s-&pound;590s)</a> members with Qatar. You know, the &lsquo;<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/17/travel/worlds-best-airline-2025-skytrax">World&rsquo;s Best Airline</a>&rsquo;!&nbsp;
And at the same time, Flight Finder Lauren was on her drama llama arc &mdash; preaching the gospel of off-season Peru to lucky JFC-ers in Brussels. The girl has a point, especially since you got rare <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/lima-at-617-rtn-from-brussels">spring trips at &euro;617</a>.&nbsp;
But the fares that had us fully feral? Like, passport in mouth, &ldquo;I could pack in 10-minutes&rdquo; energy?

Norse Atlantic&rsquo;s new routes from Oslo and Stockholm to Phuket, and Manchester to Bangkok. We even managed to find fares to <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/bangkok-at-256-rtn">Bangkok for &pound;256 return</a>! But just 20 minutes after hitting publish, they were already gone.
So, JFC-ers, we see your clicks, but now we want the tea. Which of these flights had you hovering over the &ldquo;Book Now&rdquo; button? Or is there somewhere else that tickled your fancy?
Let us know&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-194-fiji-on-a-budget#comments">in the comments</a> or by hitting &lsquo;Reply&rsquo; to this email.&nbsp;
Until next time!

Flight Finder's Corner

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across web this week.
<ul>
<li>In major news for any regular visitors to US airports, you'll no longer have to <a href="https://www.afar.com/magazine/tsa-ends-shoe-removal-requirement-during-security-checks">take off your shoes</a> at security! </li>
<li>Turns out it's <a href="https://queenonajourney.com/demographic-of-solo-female-travellers-the-statistics-may-surprise-you/">never too late to dabble in solo travel</a> - the majority of solo female travelers are actually aged 45+. </li>
<li>The <a href="https://www.timeout.com/news/the-italian-island-named-the-worlds-most-colourful-destination-070725">world's most colorful destination</a> has been crowned, and it's caused a&nbsp;lot&nbsp;of controversy at JFC HQ. Where would you choose? </li>
<li>And finally, even the most confident flyers among us have sat on a plane loo and wondered about the alarmingly forceful vacuum mere inches below our nether regions and whether it'll suck us away. So for next time you need a comfort break at 38,000ft,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.popsci.com/science/how-do-airplane-toilets-work/">here's how airplane toilets actually work</a>.</li>
</ul>

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