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Coffee lovers should head straight to Kafenio & Deli when arriving into Messinia. Located in Costa Navarino’s Agora, the coffee shop serves up frappes and cappuccinos as well as traditional Greek coffee that’s been slow-brewed on hot sand using a hovoli. This piece of equipment helps to keep the coffee rich in both flavor and smell. Greek coffee tends to be strong with a creamy top, satisfying even the most aggressive java craving. Pair your beverage with a Greek sweet and play some backgammon for a relaxing and culturally immersive afternoon.

Just a block away from the Palacio de la Moneda, the Chilean Government Palace, this culinary oasis offers tasty treats and killer coffee in a downtown setting. Known for its breakfasts, burgers, tea time, and heady java, you can rub elbows with local politicians fueling during the work week. Blue Jar is also one of the few coffee spots to sell the coveted “Keep Cups,” to keep your latte warm for the road. Almirante L. Gotuzzo 102 at Moneda Phone: 56 (2) 2696-1890

In Java, puppetry is a serious art form that tells stories central to the culture. The puppets are also playful, colorful and so fun to see. Museum Wayang is on the west side of Jakarta’s Fatahillah Square, the modern name for the Dutch colonial square. Its collection of Javanese wayang puppets and dolls borrowed from China, Malaysia, India, Cambodia and elsewhere shows the fascinating connections within Asia that go back centuries. The gift shop has some great wooden puppets you can take home. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.

The wax resist dying technique of batik is one of the symbols of Indonesian culture. Although it actually came from Java to Bali with the Majapahit Kingdom in the 14th Century, the Balinese now consider it as much part of their culture as the Javanese. You can find beautiful batiks all over Bali but one of the most impressive batik makers in Bali is Pak Tjok Agung who has a workshop and small shop in his home village of Pejeng near Ubud. This isn’t on the main tourist trail and purposefully so. Pak Tjok uses natural fibers and dyes and local workers to try to support the local community without the need for tourist dollars, which makes Pak Tjok’s textiles sustainable as well as stunning. Pak Tjok’s workshop is about 15 minutes north east of Ubud in the village of Pejeng. www.tjokagung-indigo.com

On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, catch a performance of Devdan—Treasure of the Archipelago. The 90-minute show, inspired by Indonesia’s cultural diversity, is a kind of Balinese Cirque du Soleil. It features a fusion of traditional Indonesian dance with modern contemporary dance and aerial acrobatics. While highly entertaining, the show also offers an insightful introduction to the history and diversity of the cultures of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Papua.

Bright and early, just before the sun comes up over Mount Bromo, Mount Semeru and Mount Batok, with ample rolling fog and an epic eruption for good measure. We climbed Mount Penanjakan in our Toyota 4x4 pre-dawn in the headlights of some 1,200 other vehicles. Once at the viewpoint my travel partner and I decided against the same shooting vantage as everyone else - all 3,000 tourists, gah - and climbed down the hill for a better look (and a few square feet to dig in our tripods). As soon as the sun started to shine and illuminate the volcanoes in the distance, all the nuisance and discomfort of the day, all the pain and suffering associated with actually making the trip to Bromo, it vanished. We spent the next hour shooting one of the most incredible sunrises I have ever witnessed. Getting here is a bit of a package-tour nightmare, but so very much worth it in the end.

Stella Java, located at Mercado San Agustin, is committed to its craft, and features locally roasted coffees from EXO Roast Company, with beans sourced from small, shade-grown farms. The vibe is hip and relaxed, so you can chill out while feeling good about your coffee’s origins.

Opened in 2017, Hayes Street Hotel may occupy a modern building in Midtown, but the boutique lodging has made every effort to highlight the area’s historic past and the local makers who adhere to its traditions. A nod to the city’s former life as one of the country’s busiest printing centers, the lobby features poster art from famed letterpress studio Hatch Show Print, which has created musical renderings for the likes of Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley, and Loretta Lynn over its 140-year lifespan, while white porch swings invite you to sip a cup of joe from Bongo Java, Nashville’s oldest coffeehouse. Local bourbons, whiskeys, and microbrews make up the menu at the Hayes Street Bar, and guest rooms favor minimalism with hardwood floors and mint-green accent walls, their clean lines providing a serene backdrop for the city’s myriad pleasures.

When Nashville natives Ann and Jack Waddey decided to open a hotel within walking distance of downtown, they went all out to make guests feel at home. In lieu of a traditional reception area, visitors check in using their mobile device at the virtual front desk, and though daily housekeeping services are available, staff goes off duty at night. The property’s 24 residence-style suites feature bedrooms with separate living areas, each decorated with dramatic tropical wallpaper offset by white furniture, as well as full kitchens with stainless-steel appliances and penny-tile backsplashes; naturally, they’re stocked with hyperlocal goods like Bongo Java coffee, or whatever you wish should you opt in to the hotel’s grocery program. Rounding out the list of homey amenities are C.O. Bigelow products and velvety robes in the bathrooms, plus dry cleaning services and free parking.

The wild and rugged coastline of Sumba, Indonesia has yet to be discovered by most travelers to Indonesia due to the allure of other popular islands, namely Bali, Java and Lombok. Sumba has yet to be developed and there are only a handful of accommodations spread around this large island catering primarily to surfers seeking the fabled monster waves that break on its reefs. The beaches are long stretches of soft white sand and you will most likely have them to yourself. The villages on the island are very primitive and constructed of timber and tall thatch roofs. Sumba is serviced by air a couple times and week at tiny airstrips in either Waingapu or Waitabula. Cancelations are frequent and I ended up stuck on the island a few days longer than I had anticipated. Sumba feels like you stepped back in time a couple hundred years and it’s a real adventure.

To get from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, don’t take I-25 North--it’s busy and sterile. Drive east on I-40 to the backside of the Sandía Mountains, get off on exit 175, and head north on Highway 14, also known as “The Turquoise Trail.” You’ll wind through forest to plateau, through mining towns and old Spanish land grants. Halfway to Santa Fe you’ll come to Madrid. (Note--do NOT pronounce it the way you would the capital of Spain; here it’s “MAD-rid.”) In the early 20th-c., some four thousand people lived here; by WWII it had become a ghost town when the local coal demand dropped. By the 1970’s the town began to be reoccupied--artists moved in, galleries set up...it claims to have more artists per capita than any other town in the country. (The population is around 400.) And in 2006, the town served as the set for the John Travolta film “Wild Hogs.” Driving in from the south, you’ll note the brightly painted houses; just after the highway curves, find a place to park among the motorcycles and grab a coffee at Java Junction (they have a B&B upstairs)--their motto: “Bad Coffee sucks.” The morning I stopped here, the café had a welcome sign in German; some Mercedes businessmen were having a road-trip meeting...Madrid is alive and well.

The Borobudur temple, located 40km north-west of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. It’s made up of several levels and right at the top are these bell-shaped stupas, each containing a statue inside. The place is always crowded with visitors, including local children on school trips. But it’s definitely a place to visit, especially since it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The younger generation of Macanese entrepreneurs have been creating a new café coffee culture in the country. Run by a lovely local Keith - the only European certified barrister in Macau, he shares his passion for coffee, changing the menu regularly, doing small tastings and selling those exclusive beans at his beautifully done up little corner shop in the old Macau quarters. Definitely worth a visit and sometimes, if you’re lucky there’s walnut cake on the menu.

Banyan Tree Mayakoba is a bit of an anomaly along the Riviera Maya. Whereas other hotels emphasize their Mexican roots, giving a nod to local traditions and native ingredients in both food and spa treatments, Banyan Tree throws some Asia into the mix, with staff coming all the way from that distant continent to work at the hotel. Bedrooms in the villas draw inspiration from the Far East as well as Mexico, blending straight lines and lacquered finishes with the colorful patterns of Mexican textiles and talavera ceramic sinks. Very high ceilings help to keep the rooms cool, and many rooms have private patios, pools, or outdoor bathtubs.

It’s a trek that brings thousands of visitors to Indonesia every year. Wake up when it is still dark, ride in a jeep over unkept dirt roads, sleep-closed eyes barely taking in the throngs of vehicles, horses and animals that compete for space on the side of a mountain. Climb, higher than the jeep or horses can go. Your feet barely work and your imagination is going wild at what might wait on top. It’s a pilgrimage to worship a portion of nature’s majesty: the sun rising over the volcanic range that includes still-smoking Mt. Bromo. Visitors actually trek to the top of Mount Penanjakan for the viewing. There, under cover of darkness, you wait for dawn and the fireworks to begin. That second the sun breaks through the clouds, it’s all worth it. Every step you took to be part of a moment where French, German, Indonesian, American, Australian etc etc are all united in appreciation for the majesty of nature.