The tagine lid lifted with a soft clink. Steam rose up in slow, fragrant ribbons of salt, citrus, and warm spice. After a morning of shopping at the market and cooking side-by-side with Chamsi in her Casablanca home, I tasted more than a great meal. I tasted how Moroccan hospitality works. I chase culture through real experiences as a seasoned travel writer and photographer. I’ll show you what this Casablanca cooking class taught me about flavor, table manners, and belonging.

Baguio is a mountain town located on the pine-dotted plateau of the Cordillera Administrative Region in northern Luzon, Philippines. I took a weekend jaunt to Baguio from Manila. After nearly six hours northbound, the bus started ascending through the mountain loops. Outside my bus window, the sun-drenched plains reeled away into ranks of tapering pines, and the sweltering heat dissipated into cooler mountain air.

America has a heartland. So does the Philippines. It has 7,600 islands organized into three major island groups, with the midlands comprising the welcoming Visayas region. My ninth trip there delivered an adventurous medley of down-to-earth pensions, a luxe island resort, and a perfect lifestyle mix of everything in between. I explored six different islands where one tune always sings true: this getaway means hospitality on steroids.