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21 Articles

editor’s letter

NOT LONG AGO, I made a return visit to Baha Mar, the luxury über-resort in the Bahamas, for an industry conference. Despite all the meetings, presentations, and panel discussions, I still found time to get a little sand between my toes, eat conch prepared several different ways, and, best of all, hug a flamingo. (No joke!) And it wasn’t just the sunshine and brilliant blue water that I soaked up while there—it was also the positive energy of hundreds of families and couples who’d come with no agenda other than to lie on a beach chair with a book, plummet down a waterslide, enjoy a tropical cocktail, and generally have fun. Even though I was going a mile a minute the whole time, I still felt my heart rate slow, my…

editor’s letter

DURING DECEMBER, the height of Brazilian summer, Rio reveals why it is known as the Marvelous City. The days stretch longer, the light takes on a special glow, and preparations for the boisterous Carnival season infuse the streets with an infectious energy. This summer feels particularly special. Though millions of visitors flocked to the city for the World Cup in 2014 and again in 2016 for the Olympics, tourism has been slow to recover since the pandemic. As a result, restaurants have been catering increasingly to locals, and cultural projects have focused on the needs of residents. The city, in other words, has been reconnecting with its roots. That means that the Rio greeting guests today is one that feels deeply, intrinsically itself. And the fun extends beyond the beach,…

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

BEFORE CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA became known for its wealthy retirees, tony golf courses, and upscale resorts, it was a bohemian hot spot. More than a century ago, poets, artists, and writers—including Jack London, Salvador Dalí, and Mary Hunter Austin—decamped to the charming hamlet, today beloved for its cottage-lined cobblestone streets and picturesque stretch of coastline. Some were fleeing San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, while others just wanted to commune with like-minded freethinkers. A bit of that creative spirit has blown back into the one-square-mile town these past few years, driven by an influx of 30- and 40-somethings who have arrived to start businesses—drawn, like their predecessors, by the beauty of nature and the quality of life here. The result: a host of fresh restaurants and boutique hotels that are making Carmel…

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

TAKE A BEACH BREAK

LIFE IN TAHITI for Vaimiti Teiefitu resembles most people’s travel daydreams: clear blue skies, palm trees at every turn, and graceful rides on a lavender longboard atop the cerulean waves of the South Pacific. In 2023 she began traveling to host surf retreats, first in Morocco and then Indonesia (she’ll be in Sri Lanka in January 2025), but nothing compares to home. When asked for her advice on how to best visit Tahiti, which hosted the Olympic surfing events this past summer, Teiefitu laughs and says, “There’s no wrong way to visit Tahiti, except maybe staying in your hotel. That’s the biggest mistake you can make.” Below, she shares her favorite places on the island: where to get in the water, refuel after a surf session, and unwind at day’s…

TAKE A BEACH BREAK

INSPIRED BY THE BOCA RATON

Packing for a Florida escape means adhering to a polished warm-weather dress code. At Beach Club, a hotel within the Boca Raton resort that just completed a $120 million renovation, this means curating a travel wardrobe that looks as at home in the water as it does on a yacht. Dress in shades of soft sand and palm green for the scene at the Harborside Pool Club, where butlers deliver pitchers of rum punch to private cabanas; come sundown, glam things up with a flash of gold or pearls. You’ll feel right at home in guest rooms that have been reborn with teal and coral-colored velvet accents—the same classic, refined image of Florida that the Boca Raton helped invent when it opened nearly a century ago.…

INSPIRED BY THE BOCA RATON

STATE OF INSPIRATION

Palatial Pit Stops “When I’m in Jaipur, I stay at Rambagh Palace, with its beautiful domed architecture. It was built in 1835 and served as the hunting lodge of the Maharaja of Jaipur—a real oasis within the city. I stay at the Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, the iconic marble ‘floating’ hotel on the island of Jag Niwas in Lake Pichola, and wake up to the sound of peacocks crowing from its watery courtyards. My other favorites are Amanbagh, a modern, Mughal-style boutique resort in the Aravalli hills, and Aman-i-Khás, a tented wilderness camp where guests can hear animals moving around outside at night.” “I FIRST CAME TO RAJASTHAN around 2012 and completely fell in love with the people, the way of life, and the colors,” says the English fashion…

STATE OF INSPIRATION

MAD LOVE, MADE EASY

THESE DAYS it feels as if honeymooners are venturing farther than ever, returning with tales of trekking in Mongolia or cruising to Antarctica. But for actor (and Mad Men alum) Christina Hendricks and Hollywood camera operator George Bianchini, who met on the set of the NBC series Good Girls, a destination close to home in Los Angeles was just what they needed. “To be honest, we had a bit of decision fatigue after the wedding,” says Hendricks. “We just wanted to go somewhere warm and 100 percent relax.” They let their close friends decide the destination for them—and the Esperanza, Auberge Resorts Collection, in Cabo San Lucas, did not disappoint. Here, the couple, who married in New Orleans in April, extol the virtues of the classic fly-and-flop getaway. Besides, who…

MAD LOVE, MADE EASY

The Surf Is Their Turf

ON AN EARLY JUNE MORNING off the southeastern shore of Siargao, pro surfer Ikit Agudo skillfully maneuvers her board through the waves. This teardrop-shaped island, long a domestic secret but on the verge of becoming a hot spot, has always been home for Agudo, who was born and raised on Siargao, in a community she describes as uniformly friendly and thoughtful. During the morning we spend out on the sea, I see friends and strangers saluting one another on the lineups. Experts guide amateurs; fellow surfers extend invitations to break bread together after the session. All paddle out together to face the ocean as one. Surf culture is an integral part of Siargao, where palm-flanked roads are lined with hammock-strung hostels and scrappy board shops. Local surfers, as well as…

The Surf Is Their Turf

IN ONE 15-SQUARE-BLOCK swath of this metropolis on the Pacific, you can catch exhibits from cutting-edge contemporary artists, have dinner at one of the country’s best Vietnamese restaurants, browse rare books and prints, or shop for one-of-a-kind housewares, fashion, and ephemera at effortlessly cool vintage boutiques—all against a cinematic backdrop of midcentury architecture that feels frozen in time. The neighborhood isn’t in Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Seattle, though. It’s Honolulu’s Chinatown, about five miles west of tourist-saturated Waikiki, near the courthouses and government buildings of downtown. With travelers to the Aloha State making a greater effort to engage with local life beyond the beaches and resorts, many are giving Chinatown, also known as the Chinatown Arts District, a closer look. That’s especially important at a time when Chinatowns across America…

A Family Affair

AT THE VERTIGINOUS edge of a rock face, I find a wooden chair and sit down. Below, a creek snakes its way downstream. Ahead, an impenetrable tangle of pine forest is home to all manner of bird and beast. It’s not hard to understand what drew director Francis Ford Coppola to this cinematic corner of western Belize, where in 1981 he bought a derelict hunting lodge. It soon became a family retreat and later, Blancaneaux Lodge, a 20-room hideaway loved by in-theknow adventure seekers. For Coppola’s own children, Blancaneaux Lodge was a paradisiacal coming-of-age setting. “I’d hop around on rocks and swim in the river with my brothers,” recalls his daughter, the director Sofia Coppola. “I feel so lucky to have had these jungle adventures.” It was this deep connection with…

A Family Affair

THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT

IN GRENADA the air smells of cinnamon and cloves. Whenever I step off the plane in the aptly named Spice Isle, the country where much of my family is from, the first waft of that beautiful aroma tells me I am home. My childhood was shaped by the savory and piquant flavors of Grenadian cuisine: a cake called cassava pone; curried lambi (not lamb, but stewed conch); and buss up shut, colloquially named after the “busted-up shirt” appearance of Caribbeanmade roti. This island country is the size of Detroit yet manages to be the world’s second largest exporter of nutmeg. Between the spices and its panoply of cultural influences—West African, British, French, Indigenous, and Indian—it’s no surprise that the food here is so memorable. Historically, travelers have had limited access…

THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT

The BVIs Are Back

During my 25 years living in Bermuda and St. Croix, I’ve visited the British Virgin Islands countless times—and have had a frontrow seat to the region’s recovery from the devastating hurricanes of 2017. With its boutique hotels, superyacht marinas, and laidback beach bars looking better than ever, now is the time to visit. Start by hopping onto a nonstop flight on American Airlines, which now operates five per week from Miami to Tortola, the country’s main island, where ferries are easily accessible. Nearby is Peter Island, the BVIs’ largest private island, where the ultra-luxe Peter Island Resort is planning to reopen this month following a massive six-year rebuilding effort. Rum-fueled Painkillers are again being poured on tiny Jost Van Dyke, where the boutique hotel The Hideout recently opened next to…

The BVIs Are Back

Barbuda on the Rise

Though the name of the country is offcially Antigua and Barbuda, historically, most travelers, including me, have visited only Antigua, without giving a second thought to its smaller neighbor. But with the recent opening of an international airport and several hotels on the way, little Barbuda, with its pink-sand beaches and Frigate Bird Sanctuary, is finally coming into its own. Next year the long-awaited Robert De Niro–backed Nobu Beach Inn opens on Princess Diana Beach, a sliver of sand on the island’s pristine southwestern tip, named for the iconic royal who used to escape here for a little peace and quiet. Further out, in 2028, Rosewood Barbuda will unveil an intimate 50-suite resort across 85 secluded acres, as well as an outpost of its signature Asaya Spa. Not to be…

Barbuda on the Rise

WEST SIDE STORY

PUERTO RICANS REFER to the island’s west coast as Porta del Sol—“the sun’s gate.” My father grew up in the area, in the city of Aguadilla, and used to tell me stories of secret beaches, towering coconut palms, and roadside stops for fresh mango ice cream. Until recently most visitors here were swell-chasing surfers and sanjuaneros, but a wave of development that began in the once low-key surf town of Rincón after Hurricane Maria has rippled outward to smaller cities nearby. Visitors are getting a fuller picture of Puerto Rico beyond beloved San Juan and the resorts on the eastern shore. Keen to see it for myself, I went for a visit. In the laid-back northwestern town of Isabela, I checked in to Casa Bajura, an airy bed-and-breakfast that opened last…

WEST SIDE STORY

ON A FAMILIAR curve of road between fishing villages on the north coast of Tobago, I have the unique experience of feeling hummingbird feet on my hands. I’m at Shurland James Hummingbird Nature Park, a bird sanctuary with an alfresco café located near the entrance to Main Ridge Forest Reserve, the world’s oldest protected tropical rainforest. My family is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, and I’ve visited my grandfather often since he returned in retirement, but this was my first time exploring the rainforest. Tobago, the smaller of the two islands—it’s only seven and a half miles at its widest—has an abundance of dreamy, accessible shoreline. The water is tempting, but Tobago has striven to expand its identity to include ecotourism and off-ocean activities. On my last visit, curious, I…

It’s Better in the Bahamas

In my two decades of visiting the Bahamas, I’ve watched it grow into the Caribbean’s unoffcial cruise capital, and 2025 promises even more excitement for visitors arriving by sea. A new $300 million passenger port in the capital city of Nassau will bring numerous new lines, many of whose itineraries include stops at their own private islands nearby: Carnival will dock at Celebration Key during its three-night Carnival Conquest voyage, which departs from Miami, while MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia will check in at Ocean Cay during its seven-night cruises from New York to Nassau. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Pearl will embark on threenight cruises from Miami Great Stirrup Cay by way of Grand Bahama. Not that all the news revolves around private islands: After a period in Mexico, Disney Cruise…

It’s Better in the Bahamas

the sun was burning high and bright on a pellucid morning off Australia’s Kimberley Coast when I stepped onto Ngula, more commonly known as Jar Island. The dull yellow of sand and sandstone contrasted with the vivid blue of the Timor Sea all around me. At my back was a rocky outcropping where millennia ago the island’s traditional land owners, the Wunambal Gaambera people, lay their dead. Before me, a cluster of billion-year-old boulders contained clues about how they lived. As I passed through these monoliths, I saw that they bore traces of serpents and individuals in headdresses. At more than 30,000 years old, these paintings are considered the oldest figurative rock art in the world, though their age and significance are still debated. “The thing about the Kimberley,” said…

where it all began

in the now faded photo: my mum, demure in an off-white, gold-trimmed sari, hands half-hidden in a swirl of henna; my dad, suit wrinkled, sporting Jackie O sunglasses borrowed from my auntie to block out the Mombasa sun. It’s August 4, 1973, their wedding day. I stand in the same the now faded photo: my mum, demure in spot 50 years later, under the whitewashed arches of Tamarind, then and now “the best seafood restaurant on the whole coast of Kenya,” Mohamed, my taxi driver, tells me categorically. The views from here have not changed much in the last half century. Across the glinting blue of the creek, on Mombasa Island, colonial mansions hide behind a tangle of trees, and the boxy flat-roofed buildings of Old Town, discolored by the…

where it all began

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Inside Boca, a breezy, biophilic tapas restaurant in the heart of Dubai’s Financial District, the after-work crowd is drinking at the bar. Downstairs, I’ve joined friends for dinner in the private dining room located in the restaurant’s wine cellar. Many bottles in the collection are from Morocco, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. We start with oysters harvested from Dibba Bay in Fujairah, the easternmost of the United Arab Emirates, on the Gulf of Oman. Opened a decade ago, Boca has become a pioneer in using ingredients sourced from across all seven emirates. The oysters share a menu with only-in-the-Emiratesi nside Boca, a breezy, biophilic tapas restaurant in the heart of Dubai’s Financial District, the after-work crowd is drinking at the bar. Downstairs, I’ve joined friends…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

even six or seven years ago, the whispers about Lanzarote still came with an element of implied surprise. “It’s actually really cool,” I remember a photographer friend telling me before I went with my partner in 2018. We ended up staying among the palms and black-ash vineyards at Finca Malvasia, part of the first generation of cool boutique hotels, and falling for the island’s big skies, duotone volcanic landscapes, and singular brand of nature-facing modernism. ven six or seven years ago, the whispers about Lanzarote still came with an element of implied surprise. “It’s actually really cool,” I remember a photographer friend telling me before I went with my partner in 2018. We ended up staying among the palms and black-ash vineyards at Finca Malvasia, part of the first generation…

ACTOR CYNTHIA ERIVO on MOROCCO

About 10 years ago I went to Morocco with my sister for a girls trip. We stayed at Fellah, a hotel just outside Marrakech. The hotel I stay at always has to have a gym, and this one was great—it was in the open air and had a boxing instructor who I trained with a lot. One day he realized that nobody else was turning up except me and my sister. So when I mentioned off and that I like to run, he said, ‘Well, we could run together if you want. I could be company, and I could show you around Morocco.’ I didn’t think twice about it. He was so kind and I felt safe with him. This was the start of us going on six-mile runs together.…

ACTOR CYNTHIA ERIVO on MOROCCO

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