''Atlas Obscura'' is an

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-based online magazine and travel company. It was founded in 2009 by author

Joshua Foer Joshua Foer (born September 23, 1982) is a freelance journalist and author living in Brookline, Massachusetts, with a primary focus on science. He was the 2006 USA Memory Champion, which was described in his 2011 book, '' Moonwalking with Ein ...

and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras. It catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations via

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. The articles on the website cover a number of topics including history, science, food, and obscure places.

History

Thuras and Foer met in 2007, and soon discussed ideas for a different kind of atlas, featuring places not commonly found in guidebooks. They hired a web designer in 2008 and launched ''Atlas Obscura'' in 2009. Sommer Mathis (formerly of '' The Atlantic's'' CityLab) was the site's Editor in Chief from 2017 to 2020. She was succeeded by Samir Patel, formerly of ''Archaeology'' magazine, who became the site's Editorial Director in 2020 and Editor in Chief in 2021. David Plotz remained as the site's CEO for five years (October 2014 — November 2019). Warren Webster, former president and CEO of digital publisher ''Coveteur'', and co-founder of website ''

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'', assumed the position in March 2020.

Obscura Day

In 2010, the site organized the first of the international events known as Obscura Day. Thuras has stated that one of the site's main goals is "Creating a real-world community who are engaging with us, each other and these places and getting away from their computers to actually see them." As of 2021, ''Atlas Obscura'' has originated Atlas Obscura Societies organizing local experiences in nine cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and Seattle. In October 2014, ''Atlas Obscura'' hired journalist

David Plotz David A. Plotz (born 31 January 1970) is an American journalist and former CEO of ''Atlas Obscura'', an online magazine devoted to discovery and exploration. A writer with ''Slate'' since its inception in 1996, Plotz was the online magazine's edit ...

as its CEO. In 2015, ''Atlas Obscura'' raised its first round of major funding, securing $2M from a range of investors and

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including ''The New York Times''. In September 2016, the company published its first book, ''Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders'' written by Foer, Thuras, and Ella Morton under

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Guided travel

In 2016, the company expanded into travel, offering two guided trips. Since 2019, Atlas Obscura has been leading unusual trips to places like

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to witness the Monarch butterfly migration or

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to learn how to make '' pasteis de nata''. Atlas Obscura's General Manager of Trips, Mike Parker, received praise for his division's vocal reassurance of travelers displaced by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Parker explained to customers via email/blog: "When you join one of our trips, we want you to have peace of mind. We want you to know that, if circumstances change, we’ve got your back. If you join a 2020 departure and ultimately decide that it’s not the right time or place to travel, we’ll help you update your plans by transferring your reservation to a future date, or to another trip, without cancellation penalties. In the unlikely event we need to cancel a departure, we’ll refund everything you’ve paid us for it.”

Gastro Obscura

Following a second fundraising effort that netted $7.5M, in late 2017 the site launched ''Gastro Obscura'', a food section covering "the distinctive food locations of the world."

Daily podcast (COVID-19)

As the COVID-19 quarantine continued to threaten travel plans worldwide, Atlas Obscura determined to bring the sites to their audience (in place of encouraging people to visit the sites in person). To this end they launched a short (12-20 minutes) four-times-per-week podcast. "The Atlas Obscura Podcast" was introduced on 26 February 2021. The first full-length podcast (14 March), "The Gates of Hell" (0:13:02), described a long-burning underground fire in Turkmenistan.

References

External links

* {{Official site
Presentation by Ella Morton on ''Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders'', 22 October 2016
Online magazines published in the United States American travel websites Magazines established in 2009 Tourism magazines Magazines published in New York City