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On a short road trip around the tip of the Cape, I’d been fortunate to be shown a lighthouse from the hillside road which runs along the coast. Working my way down to the beach, I eventually found the Kommetjie lighthouse and Slangkop Nature reserve, which form part of the Table Mountain National Park. A short walk along the boardwalk, with the slow setting sun and great weather made for some amazing views with the lighthouse in the background!

The two owners of Galapagos Safari Camp dreamed up the idea for this luxury tent camp while sitting in a tree and admiring the views on the 135-acre farm where the lodge now sits. Opened in 2007 in the highlands of Santa Cruz’s transition zone at 1,575 feet above sea level and bordering Galapagos National Park, the camp is modeled after African safari camps but sports an Ecuadoran theme. The main lodge, complete with a 15-foot Balinese teak dining table and a glass wall looking out to sweeping vistas of the Pacific Ocean, anchors the rural property. The luxury tents are connected to the lodge by a volcanic rock path and sheltered under three layers of covering to protect from sun and rain. They sit on elevated platforms and are outfitted with balconies and en-suite bathrooms with hot showers. Part of the owners’ vision for the property has been to rid the former cattle farm of invasive species, allowing the endemic plants that are better protected in the national park to once again flourish. These measures will increase the activity of the giant tortoises that occasionally make their way onto the property.

Don a headset, approach an exhibit, and wirelessly listen to African thumb piano or Mongolian throat singing at the vast Musical Instrument Museum. Besides browsing some 15,000 artifacts that represent different musical genres, visitors can catch a concert, take a drumming class, or recharge at the café, which serves global fare made from local products.

There are no boats here, where the Han River flows into the Yellow Sea--this is the watery mine-laden western limit of the DMZ. On a trip to Korea in the mid-1990’s, one of my uncles took us to visit Aegibong, a 500-ft.-high hill that presides over the estuary. From the top of the hill we could see across and into North Korea. The first thing that struck me was the lack of trees--the mountainsides are completely deforested, except for the inaccessible fringe of riverbank. As far as we could see on this clear early autumn day, the slopes above the golden rice paddies were denuded of trees. When the wind blew in the right direction, we could hear propaganda from the loudspeakers on the north bank. A few months later, Kim Il Sung would die, and the North Korean famine would intensify; it’s estimated that up to 1 in 10 North Koreans perished during the mid-to-late 1990’s...all of this while Seoul, just to the southeast of the scene in this photo, would continue to grow into one of the most vibrantly capitalistic cities anywhere... South Korea would morph into the most Internet-connected country in the world, while the North would devolve into a place where doctors have to scrounge in the hills for edible weeds...

When you first show up at Bodega, you could easily mistake it for a popular neighborhood taqueria. Between the Airstream trailer serving tacos and the picnic tables, it looks like a low-key spot. It is that, but as you see the Ubers full of models and clubgoers arriving and disappearing into the small taco joint, you get a sense there might be something more going on. Look around for a guy with an earpiece at the back of the room and tell him your friend sent you, and you might just get directed to a back door that looks like an entrance to a Porta Potti. Pass through here and you’ll enter a graffiti-filled men’s washroom. It’s only after passing through yet another door that you will enter one of South Beach’s hot hidden nightclubs....

Lose yourself in the fantasy of living life on a small estate in the foothills of Table Mountain at Stellenberg Estate. This private garden is exclusively open to the public one weekend each year (usually the first weekend in November) and is worth the visit if you’re traveling to Cape Town during this time. One of the oldest properties in Cape Town, has been called home by several prominent families over the years. Fortunately, despite changes of ownership, the property managed to escape the ‘Victorianization’ many other homes in the region underwent and retains its classic 18th century Cape Dutch feel. The house is off-limits to visitors and that’s okay because the main appeal are the gardens. The estate is divided into different gardens, each with their own unique characteristics: a white garden, a walled garden, a formal medieval garden, an herb garden, and more. After wandering through each of the areas of the storybook home, there is a small corner of the property where they serve refreshments. Both savory finger sandwiches and sweet cakes are offered, along with coffee and hot or cold tea. There is a small entrance fee, but expect no more than R50-R60 ($6). After all the wonderful inspiration the garden provides, you will be tempted to purchase a plant or two as you walk through their nursery before exiting. The Stellenberg Nursery is open to visitors Monday - Friday, 8:30-16:30.

Founded in 1913, this famous botanical garden was the first in the world dedicated to its country’s own flora. The spectacular, 90-acre plant haven forms part of a nature reserve that borders Table Mountain National Park. Besides numerous gardens and forests—some of which you can traverse on high via the futuristic Boomslang (Tree Snake) walkway—Kirstenbosch has a greenhouse, a restaurant run by the popular Moyo group, and a nursery for green thumbs who want to take a piece of the garden home with them. Spend five minutes here and you’ll realize why Kirstenbosch’s displays at the Chelsea Flower Show in London often win gold.

Hillside Farmacy is a farm-to-table restaurant in Austin built around a pharmacy theme. While it may sound odd, the execution is brilliant, with incredible food and wonderfully eclectic design. The restaurant space was formerly the home of a 1920s pharmacy owned by Austin‘s first African-American pharmacist. The decor features authentic apothecary items (from a different 1920s drugstore)—a vintage collection of medicine bottles, antique cash registers, tin ceilings, and wooden cabinets. But it’s the “F” in the deliberately misspelled Farmacy that nods to the emphasis on simple, fresh food. The restaurant works with local food purveyors and regularly changes the menus around the highest-quality seasonal ingredients. Local cheese, homemade pate, artisinal breads and pastries, raw bar, charcuterie are all available here. Dishes include bangers and eggs, buttermilk bisquits and gravy, and bison tartare. Other perks include an old fashioned soda counter and a shaded outdoor patio. If I were a local here, this would definitely be one of my favorite go-to places.

Cape Town already feels like it’s at the tip of the world, but the sensation is magnified at Tintswalo Atlantic, where guests get cozy in suites just a few feet from the ocean. Park in the lot just off famed Chapman’s Peak Drive and take the hotel van, which winds its way down a steep road and drops guests at a collection of semi-detached units. Each is themed after a different island—Zanzibar, Antigua, Sicily, and, oddly enough, Robben (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned). The details are thoughtful, however, from the elaborate, wood-carved headboards to the seashell-encrusted bathroom walls and idyllic paintings. It’s hard to find a setting more romantic and remote. In the unlikely event that you want to venture out, there’s a shuttle that whisks guests to Cape Town, just over 30 minutes away.

The suburb of Rosebank has the best of both worlds: it’s home to major commercial hot spots, but it also boasts peaceful pockets of lush lanes. The understated Clico Boutique Hotel sits in one of the latter areas, but guests will be surprised to discover that it’s just a few minutes’ walk from some of the city’s liveliest eateries and shops.

It’s all about personalized attention at Clico, and the nine rooms make it easy for staff to attend to guests’ every whim. The chef can customize menus, and the staff will dote on guests with a smile—even making sure they toast the sunset with a glass of Veuve Clicquot in hand. When staying in a hotel named Clico, after all, one can rest assured champagne will be flowing freely.

The magnificent avenue of oak trees that greets visitors at Boone Hall Plantation is, on its own, a Charleston must-see. After taking it in, guests can walk through the plantation mansion or take a driving tour of the grounds, which cover 738 acres. If the car feels too restrictive, opt instead for a garden tour, which highlights a collection of antique roses and a striking butterfly pavilion. Depending on the season, you can visit the U-Pick Fields to harvest your own strawberries or stock up on tomatoes and peaches at an adjacent farm stand. At Boone Hall’s Gullah Theater, historic reenactors recount the dark days of slavery and celebrate the African American culture that marked plantation life in centuries past. .

If eating huge plates of pork, deciphering local slang, and snowshoeing through the woods of Québec can’t bring two siblings together, what can?

Husband-wife duo Yves and Claudine Camdeborde got their start as industry pioneers with their restaurant La Régalade, the city’s first “neo-bistro” (a trend marked by high-quality cooking at an accessible price point), which they ran for 12 years. Since 2005, their acclaim has come from their Relais Saint-Germain hotel-restaurant combo located in the beating heart of Saint-Germain. The hotel blends quaint Parisian style with a just-like-home atmosphere.

The design goal was to preserve the 17th-century soul of the building, keeping its original, exposed beams and stones and blending antique furnishings and old parquet floors with avant-garde decorative elements and rococo textiles hand-picked by Mme. Camdeborde. The result is an urban inn that guests would want to return to year after year. Each of the 22 rooms bears the name of a celebrated writer inspired by Paris—from Madame de Sévigné to Marcel Proust—and a unique aesthetic theme (Asian, African, Louis III) in a nod to the neighborhood’s literary past. What unites them is an intimate vibe that instantly makes guests feel at home.

Set in a renovated 18th-century Milanese palazzo on a private street close to Milan’s Via Montenapoleone, the Bulgari is one of Milan’s most distinguished residences. The hotel’s enormous private garden dates back to the 14^th century, and the interior is awash in sophisticated materials like African black marble, Italian stone, and teak. In short, the place oozes class. The rooms—designed by the architectural studio Antonio Citterio, Patricia Viel and Partner—are tasteful, modern, and surprisingly adventurous. Located along dimly-lit corridors, the rooms come in various color schemes and feature an array of designer furnishings and conveniences, including not one but two plasma screens, Tivoli radios, and exclusive Bulgari bathroom products. Balconies overlook the surrounding villas, and gardens have been redesigned by landscape architect Sophie Agata Ambroise and feature patio furniture and a dedicated bar service. The Bulgari gardens serve as a natural extension of the nearby Botanical Garden and provide private relaxation amid Milano’s bustle. The hotel also has a high-end restaurant and bar, and a comprehensive spa. All guests get access to a personal shopper, personal trainer, luxury car rental, and even assistance with packing and unpacking. In addition, the concierge can arrange everything from hydroplane trips around Lake Como to personal shopping excursions around Italy by private plane, limousine, or yacht.

As the camp’s name indicates, the main reason to stay here is to catch the Great Migration, the annual movement of more than one million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebra and gazelle making an 1,800-mile circuit through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti National Park, and into the Maasai Mara in Kenya. At the camp, large, tented chalets on stilts have wraparound decks with a 360-degree view of the landscape and its denizens. The lodgings blend into the surroundings on the bank of one of the great migration obstacles: the Grumeti River, with its many crocodiles, hippos, and boulders. Herds pass through the vicinity from August through November, and the Elewana’s northern Serengeti location miles from the main concentration of game lodges gives it a sense of privacy rarely achieved in the far more visited western and southern park corridors. One further advantage: The camp is within driving distance of the other great wildebeest crossing point, the Mara River, on the border region between the Serengeti and Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Park. The atmosphere at the lodge is cheerful and relaxed, and the huge tented suites, which are divided by canvas walls into bedroom and bathing areas, have comfortable queen or twin beds, wood floors, colonial-style leather chairs, African textile accents, and, unlike most mobile migration safaris, hot water and electricity 24/7.