Travel By Design

Visiting West Maui isn’t about racing from beach to beach — though Kapalua Bay, one of America’s best beaches, is a must-see. Here, time slows. Mornings drift over ocean views. Afternoons are spent connecting with locals, and evenings invite reflection under sunset skies. Staying longer uncovers the island's heartbeat — its families, crafts, and traditions — while thoughtful travel leaves a lasting mark on both visitors and the community.

For anyone planning travel with teenagers this year, before you brace yourself for the inevitable eye rolls or mutter phrases like “difficult stage” under your breath, here’s some good news. Traveling with teens can actually be great. It’s not without challenges. No matter how chill or laid-back your parenting (or grandparenting) style is, having carefully planned activities dismissed as “boring” or “mid” can sting. Still, when you treat teens like the almost-adults they are, they can be surprisingly good travel companions. They carry their own bags, keep track of their stuff (usually), help with grown-up logistics like navigation or public transit, and, on a good day, offer a fresh perspective that keeps us from getting too comfortable in our own way of seeing the world.

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.

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.

When I visited Rwanda as a solo female traveler, I was pleasantly assured by how secure I felt, and empowered by how confidently I was able to move around this beautiful country.

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 keep the floor from creaking. Every word comes out of your mouth hushed down to a whisper. In the kitchen, your coffee mug slips from your cold hand, heading straight for the floor. But you are quick enough to snatch it just in time — tragedy averted. The setting is almost like the Hollywood hit A Quiet Place, except you are not dodging a human-snatching monster. What you are dealing with is a decibel meter tucked into a secret corner of the cabin, listening to every sound you make. Just when you think you have [...]

World Footprints goes beneath the surface of the Negro Motorist Green Book, uncovering the human stories behind a document that quietly saved lives. During segregation, travel for Black families wasn’t about freedom or leisure—it was about calculation and risk. Driving through America meant navigating Sundown Towns, racial violence, and long stretches of road where no one would come to your aid if something went wrong. The Green Book became a lifeline. It identified safe places to sleep, eat, repair a car, or simply stop without fear. It also revealed a parallel America—one built by Black entrepreneurs, homeowners, and community leaders who created sanctuary in an openly hostile landscape. Overground Railroad: Reframing the Green Book’s Legacy We explore this history with Candacy Taylor, whose book Overground Railroad reframes the Green Book as part of a larger resistance network. Taylor situates Black travel within a lineage of survival and self-determination, showing how [...]

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.

In my life as a globetrotter, I have missed large swaths of my own country, including much of the upper Midwest. Grand Rapids, Michigan, gave me an opportunity to discover something new. And it was a pure delight.

Wales reminds you to unfold your days–and life–like a map, understanding we can’t always refold them the same way. In this corner of the UK, the ever-present ancient structures and modern culinary delights are a vacation in themselves. Bilingual Wales (Welsh and English) has the most castles per square mile in the world, excluding the ubiquitous castle-like churches. Its population of three million people thrives in a vastly diverse landscape the size of New Jersey. Nearly everything fun you can do here is accessible by public footpaths that explore spectacular stretches of coastline, forests, intimate villages, and the world-class city of Cardiff. This place isn’t just a feast for the eyes; it’s a land of feasts.

When my friend, Erik, first floated the idea of a self-piloted voyage along the Erie Canal, I did the math. From my apartment in Rochester, New York, I can drive west to the town of Spencerport in 21 minutes, 17 should the traffic lights cooperate. If heading east, I can make it to Pittsford in ten, though I usually stop at Wegmans en route, which tacks on another 30. The village of Fairport, meanwhile, requires 25 minutes behind the wheel—practically a road trip by Western New York standards.