Weekend Reads is a weekly* series on The Curious Passport and features a round-up of travel news, features and other related links (probably related to food, fitness or the outdoors) I’ve either found around the internet or has been sent my way by friends and family.

Photo credit: Aubrey Daquinag, Conde Nast Traveler

• “Ten Tips to Hiking THE Potato Chip Rock, San Diego (Photos),” TravelBreak – Every other weekend at a girlfriend’s house spurs the same conversation. “We should go on a hike next weekend!” “Yeah! I really want to do that potato chip hike.” “It’s kind of hard, we need to train for it.” And so it goes. Several months later we’re still having the same conversation. However, now that we’re approaching Fall which will theoretically bring a bit of cooler weather and armed with this post as tutorial I am hoping we’ll make it out there soon.
•  “The 2014 Traveler 50: World’s Smartest Cities,” National Geographic Traveler – Scrolling through this list, I noticed a trend. All of the features for each city highlighted contributes in some way to the quality of life for its locals and visitors. Whether it’s through leveraging technology or good old fashioned IRL (that’s in-real-life) relationships, it’s interesting to read about the many ways these cities are making themselves a safer, more efficient, fun, delicious and authentic place to stay and play.
• “Why You Should Travel with a Polaroid Camera,” Conde Nast Traveler – When my littlest sister returned home after nearly two weeks traipsing around Copenhagen and St. Petersburg during a Baltic Sea cruise, she came back with the cutest, retro-looking mini snapshots from her Polaroid. There is something so special about a tangible memento you can bring home after a trip, and the additional ways in which you can use these photos outlined in this post is additional affirmation why I need one a camera of my own. I’m headed to Australia and New Zealand next and am looking forward to capturing the scenery and culture in a variety of ways (eating all of the foods will be one of them).

*It’s been a transitional last few weeks and haven’t been able to post Weekend Reads for August 15 and 22, but I am back on track!