The Layover Archives - OutThere magazine

Illustration of a backpack flying across the skies as a kite, to illustrate the idea of travelling light

The Layover:
Life after luggage

Luggage can be an extension of your identity, a source of home comforts. Or it can betray you at thirty thousand feet. Zack Cahill learned the hard way. Decades later, he has never checked a bag, and along the way he’s picked up some hard-won tips for travelling light.

Illustration of a Jiu Jitsu camp on a Moroccan beach for The Layover column

The Layover:
The Art of Tapping Out

In his latest The Layover column, Zack Cahill joins a week-long Brazilian Jiu Jitsu camp on a Moroccan beach, and learns – somewhat unexpectedly – that surrender can be its own reward.

Illustration of skiers on a piste for a column on Alternative winter escapes

The Layover:
Downhill fast

In his latest column, avowed non-skier Zack Cahill explores the alternative winter escapes for those who don't fancy breaking their bones on the pistes.

An illustration of a bald, male traveller wired up to a wellness machine on a beach with boats sailing in the background.

The Layover:
How the Fitbit killed God

Wellness tourism is worth $850 billion worldwide. Where holidays were once about indulgence, they’re increasingly an attempt to...

Illustration for The Layover column on alternative destinations in Europe

The Layover:
The towns beyond TikTok

In his latest The Layover Column, Zack Cahill escapes the masses and journeys to some of Europe's lesser-known beaches, mountains and towns.

Illustration for The Layover, Border control

The Layover:
Border control blues and the new, bureaucratic normal

With border control measures tightening and reports of travellers ending up in detention centres for not fitting into a traveller type category, are the days of frictionless travel gone?

Illustration for The Layover column on Virtual Reality

The Layover
Where’s my Virtual Reality future?

Once touted as the "next big thing", Virtual Reality has joined a growing roster of tech innovations that miss the point of what technology once promised: to solve problems or make our lives more enjoyable. And as Zack Cahill shares in the latest edition of The Layover, the industry doesn't care, so long as you believe its next "innovation" is the actual next big thing.

Illustration for The Layover column on Paris syndrome

The Layover:
Paris syndrome

Paris is always a good idea – except when it’s not. In the latest edition of The Layover, just in time for Valentine’s Day, Zack Cahill explores the lesser-known state of extreme disappointment known as Paris syndrome, which has (mostly Japanese) visitors fall out of love with the city of... well, love?

Illustration for The Layover column on travelling for Christmas

The Layover:
Driving home for Christmas – or jetting off?

Travelling for Christmas can be stressful, hectic and downright disappointing – but a festive journey also holds the potential for lifelong memories. And some trips might even make you believe... not just in Santa.

Illustration for The Layover column on global drinking culture

The Layover:
Booze beyond borders

For his latest edition of The Layover, Zack Cahill (and his liver) revel in some of their favourite memories of boozing abroad – from Irish Pubs in America to ladies' nights in Australia.

An illustration of a screen being turned off – many travellers choose to be bored on the plane

The Layover:
Bored on board

'Raw-dogging', the practice of avoiding entertainment on long-haul flights, has become a major trend in 2024 – and, as Zack Cahill observes, it might not be such a bad idea.

The Layover, Petty gripes: illustration of a mouse with an iPad being served cheese on a platter

The Layover:
Petty gripes from villa 5

Content with being discontent, Zack Cahill outlines some of the many things he doesn't enjoy about luxury hotels in the latest edition of The Layover – from iPad-controlled rooms to 'deconstructed' teas.

Irish Wish: Illustration reflecting positive stereotypes of Ireland.

The Layover:
Livin’ la vida Lohan

For the latest instalment of The Layover, Zack Cahill contemplates Netflix’s Irish Wish (and the Lohanaissance), while being...

Illustration of a bottle post symbolising uncontacted peoples

The Layover:
Let’s not be friends

If every you've considered trying to befriend one of the world's last remaining uncontacted peoples, you might want to think twice.

Illustration of a plane with a screaming window symbolising an anxious flyer

The Layover:
Panic in aisle 13

Ever wondered what brings out your inner anxious flyer? So has Zack Cahill, who returns to The Layover,...

Illustration of passengers on a plane having sex, The Mile High Club

The Layover:
Love is in the air

Following up on his initial column for OutThere, Zack Cahill returns to The Layover, a new and not...

Illustration of a crying plane, In-flight movies

The Layover:
The Mile Cry Club

In his new column for The Experientialist – The Layover – Zack Cahill discusses just what makes the perfect in-flight movie... and why we should cherish these films in the day and age of streaming services.