Most travel websites will list off where to eat, drink and play. That’s helpful, but La Carte magazine, started by a handful of local Toronto writers who thrive on adventure, will throw you into the middle of a jungle next to a pack of thirsty elephants…with no luggage. (Seriously, that’s a post.) This online magazine is dedicated to first-person narrative of life lived elsewhere: the sounds, the tastes, the dialogue, and the intimate feelings experienced by an honest traveller, sometimes lonely and unsure.

With online content becoming more and more about buzzy listicles, click bait memes and ten-second GIFs, it’s refreshing to see a new site that’s returning to the art of storytelling; less Expedia, more Bill Bryson. La Carte is a travel site that is focused on good storytelling and based on actual experience, which is what good travel writing is all about.

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There’s so much to explore: go to Dubai and see how a Haligonian is helping Muslim women skydive whilst wearing their hijabs; find out how a bus boy becomes a hotelier who overseas a $250 million renovation at Montreal’s Ritz Carlton; walk into California’s Mojave Desert to experience a geomatrix vortex first hand. (We’re not explaining. Read.)

If the sci-fi desert thing sounds like your version of hell, stay at home! But do it differently; comic book artist Chip Zdarsky will show you where to find the Dolly Parton pinball machine and the not-so-secret west-end spot that will fill you with potato waffles.

Some adventures are exotic, while others rustic, but even a drive around sleepy Ottawa is compelling on La Carte. There’s attention given to the luxe, but simple pleasures are also closely examined. After all, every bowl of olives has a story.