Editors’ Picks

The best way to travel with the intent of exploring diversity is to ditch the touristy places. Sometimes, tourist attractions bring people from all over the world — the Grand Canyon or Disneyland, for example.

The Maldives islands are home to more than a thousand coral reefs, vibrant ecosystems that provide a home for marine life.

In 1917, a group of women was forcibly shoved into freezing prison “punishment” cells, brutally injured by male guards, and left to survive the night without medical treatment—simply because they wanted to vote. While many people take this privilege for granted today, the battle for women to represent themselves at the ballot box was hard-fought and hard-won—yet can still easily be taken away. 

Although dwarfed by Manila’s staggering 28 million people, Cebu City, the second largest urban center, and its one million proud citizens, have something to say about what’s cool in the Philippines.

This is not your average hotel lobby. This is where presidents have plotted, where the Beatles hid from screaming teenagers, and where Dwight D. Eisenhower maintained his Western White House. And on this particular trip, it's where I found myself standing in the same suite where Ike once practiced his golf swing.

Women’s History Month often highlights the achievements of women from the past, which is important given the wealth of inspiring stories to tell. However, Women's History Month also presents an opportunity to celebrate women who are making history today. In Salt Lake City, Utah, you can find some of these remarkable women in the Maven District.

There are few countries in the world whose very name evokes both ancient civilizations and modern geopolitical fault lines. Iran, cradle of the Achaemenid Empire and home to Persepolis, Golestan Palace, and the Silk Road’s eastern reaches, has long intrigued travelers including me. Cultural heritage exhibitions from the National Museum of Iran have drawn crowds abroad — like the 2024 “Glory of Ancient Persia” tour that attracted tens of millions of visitors in China — and locals often speak proudly of these legacies. Yet today, the idea of visiting Iran sits in limbo because of a war that has reshaped regional mobility and frozen tourism ambitions in the dust of airspace closures and safety warnings.

I’m honored to write about Lady Bird Johnson, a woman whose vision still shapes the city I call home — Austin, Texas. I live just a few miles from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and I go often. In every season, something is blooming. It feels less like a formal garden, and more like an ongoing conversation she began decades ago, one that Austin is still answering.

Step into Fat Harold’s Beach Club in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and you’ll know you’re in a special place For decades, Fat Harold’s has served as a gathering place for DJs, beach music lovers, and dancers, specifically, Shag dancers. With its smooth glide and intricate six-count footwork, the Carolina Shag became a defining symbol of Southern beach culture. But there’s more to the Shag story than the footwork. It’s a story that, despite segregation, centered around the Black community whose music and cultural innovation gave the dance its beloved rhythm and soul.

Built in 1782, Destrehan Plantation is the oldest documented plantation still surviving in the Mississippi River Valley. I visited this living history museum and loved that they recognized, not only the story of the owners, but also stories of the over 200 enslaved men, women, and children of West African descent who worked on the plantation.

While millions of passengers race through Sea-Tac each year, eyes fixed on departure screens and connection times, an entire destination hides in plain sight just beyond the terminal walls. Seattle Southside encompasses the communities of SeaTac, Des Moines, Tukwila, and Burien. Together, they offer a place where immigrant communities have built one of the most authentic international food scenes on the West Coast. Here, protected wetlands and botanical gardens thrive in the shadow of runways. And luxury lodges feel like wilderness retreats despite their proximity to baggage claim. It's a destination that rewards the curious traveler willing to resist the pull of downtown Seattle, at least for a day or two.

The Esplanade in Penang, Malaysia, is a historic seafront promenade that defines the character of the city's colonial past. A long granite seawall spans from the whitewashed Neo-Classical City Hall from one end to the cannon-bastioned Fort Cornwallis at the other.

The mural stopped me cold. Painted on the side of a shipping container in Des Moines, Washington, six doughnut-shaped discs hurled what looked like molten fire down upon a small boat in Puget Sound. A dog cowered. A man shielded his son. The sky burned with something that didn't belong there.

Fredericksburg, Virginia’s new Civil Rights Trail titled “Freedom, A Work in Progress,” offers unique insights into the area’s Black History. This free self-guided journey includes 21 stops around Fredericksburg and the University of Mary Washington. It traces African Americans’ fight for equality from the Civil War to the Black Lives Matter movement.

During February, there is an influx of travel stories for the “Best Places to Celebrate Black History Month”. It’s great and there are so many places I want to visit! However, the same list almost disappears into the ether as soon as March 1st arrives.

You get an invitation to stay free in a secluded forest cabin. Ecstatic, you pack, follow the instructions, and arrive at the cabin. From the outside, it looks like any other cabin that promises a homey stay. But as you enter, you become conscious of your every move. You tiptoe carefully, doing your best to [...]

The legendary Rougarou roams the wetlands of Louisiana. A normal-looking person by day but by moonlight he becomes a terrifying werewolf. The ancient legend was brought to Louisiana by the French settlers and added to by the Acadian Canadians, today known as Cajuns, who were exiled from Canada in the 1750s.

So many places in Tom Lee Park beckon me to linger. Adirondack chairs overlook the river, hammocks are nestled in the trees, and native plants are arranged in inviting gardens. Reopened in 2023 after a $61 million redesign, this large urban park in Memphis pays tribute to local Black hero Tom Lee, who rescued 32 white passengers from the Mississippi River in 1925 when their steamship capsized.