Heartbeat of Detroit
By Breana JohnsonI didn’t know a single thing about Detroit when I moved here a year ago. Most people plan where they want to move but when your spouse is in medical school, you don’t always have the luxury of choice or time. The sudden relocation to the city was a surprise. … Read more Read more
United States Off the Beaten Path
Anthony Bourdain and the Stories Left Untold
By Tonya Fitzpatrick“In my world view, food certainly plays a role hopefully in bringing some kind of enlightenment and understanding, openness and appreciation of other cultures.” –Anthony Bourdain Like so many people across the globe, Anthony Bourdain’s death has left me numb. Anthony was a true global citizen who touched many people … Read more Read more
United States Insights
Biking Windhoek’s Bustling Township of Katutura
By Chez ChesakMost travelers journey to Namibia to admire the unique wildlife of this Southern African nation. The capital city of Windhoek, an Afrikaans word meaning ‘windy corner,” is generally, nothing more than a layover for visitors, before embarking on adventures in Etosha National Park, the Skeleton Coast, or elsewhere within this … Read more Read more
Africa Adventure History
Five Ways to Have a Deeper Cultural Experience in Sri Lanka
By Zinara RathnayakeThe Sri Lankan Civil War ended in 2009. Since then, travelers from all over the world visit the country to explore its pristine beauty and post photos on Instagram of lush green tea plantations and soft-powdery beaches. Sri Lanka has emerged as the “it” destination, catering to visitors of all … Read more Read more
Asia History
Three Stops on the Trail of Tears
By Kathleen WallsThe rich culture and heritage of the Cherokee people and the story of their forced removal from their homeland is sometimes lost amid undifferentiated accounts of indigenous people in the United States. Three stops along the Georgia section of the Trail of Tears, a National Park Service site that documents … Read more Read more
United States History
New York City’s Dead: A Guide To Cemeteries In The Five Boroughs
By Hannah FrishbergIn a city as teeming with life as New York, it should come as no surprise that there is a similarly populous world six feet under the five boroughs. With so many tourist attractions, New York City’s cemeteries are rarely on most visitors’ top ten lists, but the sheer size … Read more Read more
United States Off the Beaten Path
Adventures on the Amazon
By Patti MorrowI stepped back into the dark brown muck and leaned on the tree behind me to get a better photo of the anaconda slithering in my direction. I was motionless for a mere two seconds when Ericson Pinedo, our local naturalist, jerked me back by my arm and quickly snatched … Read more Read more
Central and South America Luxury Travel Sustainability
The Rise and Fall of Goldsboro, Florida: An African American Town
By Kathleen WallsMany people know the story of the African American town Rosewood from the movie about the massacre, but how many of us have heard of Goldsboro, Florida, the second black incorporated city in the United States, which also thrived and was subsequently destroyed? Boasting famous residents, like the writer Zora … Read more Read more
United States History
Exploring Kolkata’s Colonial Architecture
By Mehk ChakrabortyThe British colonized India for over 200 years, and cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai are home to notable Victorian-era buildings. But Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, was the capital of India for 39 years during the British rule, and it remains the top spot to see colonial architecture, a … Read more Read more
Asia Architecture
Looking Behind the Funhouse Mirror in Thailand
By Josh FredmanThe dock at Ao Nang in Krabi, Thailand is as nondescript as any western restaurant patio. Wooden slats make up a narrow walkway with benches on either side. When I arrived there one Friday afternoon in January, it was a beautiful tropical day. A blue sky was dotted with high … Read more Read more
Asia Sustainability
Volunteering in Sri Lanka After a Tsunami
By Julie HatfieldThe photograph that appeared on the front page of newspapers throughout the world following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was heartbreaking: it sent me to Sri Lanka. The photo pictured a forlorn man squatting alone on a beach looking out to the Indian Ocean with a mournfully sad look on … Read more Read more
Asia Volunteer Travel
By the Malecon: Havana Nights in Search of the Real Cuba
By Jennifer RichardsonOn a humid Spring evening, a block from Havana’s famous Malecon, I found myself standing on a curb, sharing a bottle of rum with my good friend and traveling companion Sandra, and three strangers. We’d all met earlier at a nearby salsa club tucked in an alleyway between the Centro … Read more Read more
Caribbean and Atlantic Off the Beaten Path Architecture
Along The Bronx’s Grand Concourse: A Guide
By Hannah FrishbergBack in 1890, when much of New York’s northernmost borough, the Bronx, remained undeveloped, a French immigrant was charged with laying out the then rural area’s street grid. The planner cum designer, Louise Aloys Risse, conceived of a dignified throughway, a proud and lovely main street inspired by Paris’s Champs-Élysées. … Read more Read more
United States Off the Beaten Path History
Finding the Perfect Costa Rican Beach
By Eliza AmonEveryone in my family has a different vision of what they want from a winter beach vacation. My husband, who works long hours, likes to be steps from a swimmable ocean with good restaurants nearby. My teenage daughter wants to sleep until noon and then is ready for either adventure … Read more Read more
Central and South America Family Travel
Eau Claire’s Artistic Wonders
By Robin RavenThe American heartland city of Eau Claire is enjoying an artistic renaissance. Sitting at the junction of the Eau Claire and Chippewa Rivers in Wisconsin, Eau Claire is French for “clear water,” and water is a defining physical feature of the city. Its natural beauty was the backdrop for my … Read more Read more
United States The Arts