Editors’ Picks

For many people, travel consists of marking off a checklist of famous places. I can’t count the number of times I’ve observed people driving up to a beautiful or thought-provoking site, snapping a photo, and driving away. I’ve done that myself a few times.

Two hundred years of Argentinean creativity and talent cannot be easily summed up. However, visitors to Buenos Aires, a major Latin American cultural hub, can appreciate and learn about Argentinean art at some of the city’s art museums.

When I arrive at Healing Farm, I have an overwhelming sense that I’ve come home. This 18-acre organic farm on Vancouver Island’s Saanich Peninsula is everything I love about this part of the world, where I grew up.

Panama City, Florida's vibrant art community tells the city's story well. For some places, art is new. But here it began some 13,000 years ago when primitive people began drawing designs on the pottery found in the long-gone mounds that served as their homes.

Known as a concrete jungle, most visitors to New York City don’t arrive expecting to see an abundance of green space. Well, we have a surprise for you. New York City boasts over 20,000 acres of green space including parks, urban forests, playgrounds, and gardens. These green spaces provide millions of people with meaningful connections to nature.

As the summer sun beat down on the emerald waters of Pasco County, Florida, a treasure hunt unfolded beneath me. We glided through the clear shallows of the gulf waters, our eyes scanning the seagrass below for telltale flashes of blue - the tiny eyes of bay scallops peeking out from their fan-shaped shells.

With oceanfront suites, a hammam-anchored spa, and an intimate rum room, Anguilla's Zemi Beach House has five stars — and nearly 3,000 solar panels. Installed this past winter, a solar farm runs adjacent to the Caribbean resort and powers the property from dawn until dusk. The resort ranks as Anguilla’s first five-star hotel that’s completely solar during the day, indicating a bright future for green travel. 

North of the Arctic Circle, Norway’s Henningsvær plays to the strengths of its surroundings. Framed by dramatic, jagged mountains and the icy Norwegian sea, this Lofoten fishing village attracts hikers, climbers, cold plungers, and divers alike. Two of these divers — Norwegian couple Matias Nordahl Carlsen and Alexandra Anker — repeatedly zip up their dry suits for more than just sport. Since the pandemic, Carlsen and Anker have been repurposing self-collected sea urchins into colorful table lamps. The idea began when Anker accidentally illuminated a decorative sea urchin with her phone flashlight while working at Henningsvær Bryggehotell. The result? Lofotlys, which serves a role in both Henningsvær’s business ecosystem and Norway’s environmental one.

Newspapers have always played a vital part in shaping the history of a place. Often, the now-silent printing presses remain intertwined with their community’s present story. The Panama City Publishing Company Museum in the St Andrews Neighborhood of Panama City, Florida shares one of these stories.

Most of us probably remember from history class that Spanish explorers brought horses to North America in the 14th century. Many people are surprised to learn native horses existed before the Spanish arrived, at least in Canada. Ojibwe Spirit Horses, also known as Lac La Croix Indigenous Ponies, are the only known indigenous horse breed native to Canada. Thousands of them lived in harmony with Indigenous communities in (mainly) Northern and Western Ontario and roamed the forests that surround Lac Le Croix.

As travelers, one of the most exciting aspects of visiting another country is experiencing a new culture. We get the opportunity to learn about the history of places around the globe, participate in local events, and experience traditions and cultural practices first-hand. But, we also have a responsibility as global citizens to travel ethically and only participate in socially responsible tourism. 

I knew very little about the black rhino when I first arrived in Africa. In fact, I knew next to nothing about African wildlife in general and even less about the impact of hunting in Zimbabwe. After three years guiding on the continent, black rhino poaching is now a problem with which I am very familiar.

Someone who hits the trails with my uber-fit husband (nine years my junior) to embrace all that nature has to offer. As you read this description, I can’t help but wonder how you would picture me. Perhaps, if you’ve never met me, you’d assume I’m fit and ready for anything. Well, if that’s your perception of me, you’re wrong. Although I may exude confidence on the outside, on the inside I struggle with self-doubt and body image every single day.

I marvel at the cavernous interiors of the room, chiseled from the soft tuff rock, formed millions of years ago by the eruption of the volcanoes that once dominated the landscape of Cappadocia.  The lava flows formed tuff rock, which the wind and the rain sculpted into winding valleys of craggy cliffs and conical fairy chimneys dotted with pockmarked caves and towering ravines. The earliest settlers in this part of Central Anatolia curved their humble homes in these caves – a tradition followed to date. And many of the Cappadocian homes, like that of my host Okhtai, have been converted into boutique cave hotels. For my 3-day sojourn in Cappadocia, I am staying at such a cavern hotel in the small town of Goreme, which has a history that is as fascinating as its landscape.

With 20.1 bookstores per 100,000 population, Buenos Aires is a haven for literature fans. People read on the subway, at cafes, and on park benches. And, despite the rise of digital formats, print books continue to be relevant and cherished. So, if you are planning to visit Buenos Aires and are a keen reader, you must visit these bookstores.

The morning mist partially obscured the peaks lining Resurrection Bay as the Coastal Explorer pulled away from Seward. A bald eagle bid us farewell from his perch and a nearby sea otter floated peacefully in the harbor. The deckhands served fresh warm cinnamon rolls as we motored toward Kenai Fjords National Park. Dressed for winter [...]

The last of the sun’s rays fade behind the Aravalli mountain range leaving a heavenly afterglow. A somber melody with rhythmic rhapsodies reverberates down the vast expanse of the plains of Ranthambore and fades away beyond the mountains. It is fascinating to watch how skillfully Tularam plays the Ravanhatha, one of the world’s oldest stringed instruments. The red-turbaned 50-something man swiftly moves his fingers on the holes of the protracted wind. He also uses a curved bow to play the folk instrument and the plaintive melody seems to synchronize perfectly with the twilight hues.

Every year, visitors flock to Page, Arizona, near the Utah border to marvel at the mesmerizing beauty of the Arizona slot canyons on the Navajo Reservation. The Southwest is known for these naturally occurring winding canyons, and the ones in Arizona are particularly magnificent.