Mention Tokyo and you'll hear rave reviews from anyone who has been there. The food! The people! The shopping! Share that you'll be traveling solo, and you may find they add a few caveats. 'The language barrier can be tricky,' one friend told me. 'Tokyo is kind of impenetrable,' said another, 'like you're pressing your nose up against the glass but never really feel part of the action.' David is a travel consultant and blogger with a relentlessly upbeat attitude and an enormous backpack permanently slung over his shoulders. Conventionally handsome with tanned skin and sun-bleached hair, he looks like the type to brag about his latest stick-and-poke tattoo before launching into a well-rehearsed story about finding himself in Bali. The only thing distinguishing David from any jovial Australian you might meet while inter-railing Europe is that he isn't human''he's an AI companion. In our increasingly connection-starved world, virtual companions have been gaining traction at a steady clip. One of the earliest and most popular platforms, Replika, allows users to create their own AI personas and interact with them via text, call, voice note, or augmented reality placements. Character.AI, a role-playing app that allows users to create their own characters, even offers multi-bot conversations so users can mimic group chat banter with several personas at once. The two platforms boast millions of users, many of whom are turning to these AI personas for coaching, friendship, and even romance (albeit at the expense of their private data in some cases)....

The list of air-travel fiascos this past year reads like a verse of 'We Didn't Start the Fire': A chunk of plane fell off mid-flight. Boeing workers went on strike. A CrowdStrike software issue grounded thousands of planes worldwide. A major airline merger was blocked. Passengers were terribly unruly. And yet, in roughly that same time period, much about the experience of air travel actually went pretty well: Cancellations in the first half of this year (even with that software outage) were way down from the chaos of 2022, even amidst record-breaking travel days, and last year was by some metrics the safest on record. The Biden administration implemented new requirements for airlines to give passengers refunds for canceled or significantly changed flights and announced a new rule to crack down on airline junk fees. Flights are more affordable than they were decades ago, adjusted for inflation. An air-travel paradox has emerged. As my colleague Charlie Warzel wrote earlier this year, 'although air safety is getting markedly better over time, the experience of flying is arguably worse than ever.' Flying in 2024 is safe and relatively consumer friendly but also quite annoying, especially for the customers unwilling or unable to tack on the perks or upgrades that make it more pleasant. In most economy flying situations, seats are cramped, snacks are expensive, storage space is tight, tensions are high. Airlines are seeing record demand; the TSA is predicting that this week will be the busiest Thanksgiving travel week on record. But staffing shortages persist, adding to inconvenience for fliers....

consider many people's idea of the 'best' toiletry bag. A rudimentary pouch or cube with a single zippered compartment'or, perhaps more primitively, a ziplock bag'with just enough space to hold travel shampoo and conditioner, a toothbrush, maybe a razor. But the items probably roll around and spill, or squish out of hastily screwed-on lids. Next thing you know, you're rummaging through what's basically a junk drawer any time you need to find something. There is a better way. As someone who lives far from family, I have been traveling every few months for the past 18 years and have tried all genres of toiletry bag'from Dopp kits and cosmetic bags to hanging models so big they take up half of a carry-on suitcase. As any seasoned traveler knows, toiletry bags are subjective. Some people like to travel as light as possible with just a razor and some shampoo. Others have elaborate skin- and hair-care routines that practically require a tackle box. There are clear bags, bags with many compartments or elastic organizers, and even bags made out of sailcloth. The only firm principle is that a 'good' toiletry bag should make your life easier, not more difficult....

Upon arrival in a new city or country, that first drink or meal is always important. More often than not, travelers have excitedly hurried to a trendy neighborhood or must-see landmark without really thinking of where they should go for food or a beer. Then when they feel that first pang of hunger or desire for booze, they look around to see a variety of restaurants and bars, all of which look like tourist traps they'd immediately regret entering. With appetites growing, the pressure to find food can quickly intensify. The decision has to be right, too, as this is the meal that the rest of your food will then be judged against. There are now a number of apps that give visitors the definitive lowdown on where they should go. Which ones are worthy of being downloaded' Take a look below at the six best apps to find bars and restaurants while traveling, all of which will ensure that you make the best culinary and nightlife decisions while you're away. World of Mouth might not give users every restaurant that's available in their vicinity, but it will let you know the most acclaimed. Described as the ultimate insider's guide to the world's best restaurants, its list of more than 20,000 recommendations in 4,500 destinations has been curated by renowned chefs, cuisine critics, and food lovers from across the globe. More than that, they have specific lists that reveal the best pizza to try in New York, ramen to slurp in Tokyo, and tacos to consume in Mexico City. Rather than give each place a score that'll help you speedily decide the best restaurant to gorge at, Word of Mouth's experts provide precise and vivid descriptions of what you can get and why you should go. New aficionados are also being added on a daily basis, as its eclectic and all-knowing community keeps on growing. [iOS, Google Play]...