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Rugged Monhegan, aka the Artists’ Island, lies about a dozen miles out to sea, and is reachable only by passenger ferries. About 60 hardy souls live here year-round, most making a living from the sea. If you get a sense of déjà vu when visiting Monhegan, it’s likely because so many of the island’s icons and vistas have been painted by American masters, including Robert Henri, Rockwell Kent, Jamie Wyeth, George Bellows, Edward Hopper, James Fitzgerald, Andrew Wyeth, Alice Kent Stoddard, Reuben Tam, and William Kienbusch. Artists and art lovers come in summer; bird-watchers flock here in spring and fall. Hiking trails access remote rocky beaches and craggy headlands. Go for the experience, the art, and the hiking, and don’t miss the museum at the lighthouse.

When I hear the word lagoon, I don´t envision it being a place I´m going to want to swim. Laguna de Apoyo, located between the cities of Masaya and Granada, completely changed my mind. This warm, fresh water lagoon (actually the size of a lake) with a stunning view of the Mombacho Volcano, is the perfect place to spend a hot day in Nicaragua. You can access the water either from the public beach or through a hotel like Posada Ecologica la Abuela. If you access it through a hotel you’ll either have to pay $6 or spend about $8 at the restaurant. It’s an easy trip from either Managua or Granada, and you can hang by the Apoyo during the day and make an afternoon trip to the Artisan Market in Masaya.

Dubai isn’t just about shopping and architecture. The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding offers enriching and intellectually stimulating tours, meant to engage and inform visitors about Emirati history and culture. Visit the center for a communal Emirati breakfast followed by a walking tour of the surrounding Bur Dubai neighborhoods, where Dubai’s rulers have lived since the early 20th century. And if you’re eager to visit a mosque, the center runs the only mosque tours for guests of all faiths. The center is close to several historical and cultural attractions, including Al Fahidi Historical District and Al Bastakiya.

Part of keeping Austin weird means you might end up eating a five-star meal in an old gas station and laundromat. The 10-foot paintings of speakers aren’t the only things that blow your mind. The food is delicious—especially the fried olives and pimento cheese to start. Brick chicken is a crispy and juicy specialty of the house, and anytime you throw a burger on challah we’re in. Don’t forget to pick up a six-pack of beer from the bodega that shares a parking lot: It offers a great selection and is open late!

Smart tourists shamelessly copy locals. Westpunt, or Bándabou in Papiamento, is the Curaçao native’s go-to beach escape. Follow the road lined with giant cacti to the turquoise waters that are the turquoise-iest you have ever seen. (Beaches this beautiful warrant the making up of new words.) Playa Kenepa, also known as Kleine Knip, is probably the most stunning of the beaches: Its natural beauty is totally untouched, except for a few mobile vendors selling fried pastechi stuffed with Gouda cheese. Head to the cove at Playa Lagun to check out the coral reef, and get ready to don geeky snorkeling gear at Playa PortoMari.

Set stoically atop a handsome steed, the statue of Jean-Jacques Desalines bears every bit the exalted “Father Of A Nation” status you’d expect from the only person to have a holiday celebrated in his honor in Haiti. The statue is the centerpiece of a collection of memorials honoring Haiti’s heroes set in the Le Champs de Mars area of downtown Port-au-Prince. Here, big, broad boulevards intersect among a series of squares, parks, and wide open spaces, each bearing statues of Haiti’s legendary statesmen creating what’s easily the most impressive public space I’ve come across along my Caribbean travels. I got to tour around Champs de Mars on my last visit to Haiti in early-December 2017 while staying at the Marriott Port-au-Prince. Haiti’s newest and nicest hotel sits just a few blocks from the area, though walking to Champs de Mars from the Marriott isn’t advisable. What little sidewalk space exists between the two is jammed with locals selling all manner of goods along the road. There’s really just no room to walk until you get to Champs de Mars. Take a taxi then enjoy the sights, history, and local art for sale all throughout the various squares and parks.

After more than 15 years atop Boston’s fine-dining scene, Barbara Lynch’s No. 9 Park may be familiar, but never ordinary. Facing the Boston Common, this restaurant is split between a dress-to-impress bar where Beacon Hill pols gather for after-work cocktails and a dining room favored for special-occasion gatherings, from proposals and wedding anniversaries to Harvard-graduation celebrations. Expect an expertly designed Cat Silirie wine list and elegant French-Italian cuisine (the foie-gras-and-prune-puree-filled gnocchi is guaranteed to please, and go with the steak frites if you’re dining at the bar), with an atmosphere to match.

Around 11,000 humpbacks—a quarter to a third of the global population, by some estimates—visit Hawaii from November until early May. They migrate here to mate and give birth. Intensely focused on procreation, these marine mammals don’t eat and can lose up to a third of their body weight while frisking in warmer waters. Nonetheless, the gray giants remain impressive, reaching 52 feet long and weighing up to 40 tons. That bulk doesn’t deter them from spectacular aerial displays of breaching and slapping the surface with their heads, fins, or tails, though! Boat tours like Captain Dan McSweeney’s Whale Watch Learning Adventures remain popular, but you can also spot these amazing creatures off the western Kohala Coast or Holoholokai Beach Park, and from campgrounds in Waipiʻo or Pololū valleys.

This small, undeveloped beach with views to St. Kitts is for couples, not kids. Located down a short path from the highway, the beach has an unspoken rule to come back later if you see another car parked on the shoulder—sort of the Nevis version of the towel on the doorknob. Not only does this system preserve privacy, it helps ensure that Lovers Beach remains one of the most secluded spots in the Caribbean.

I’m not one to skip breakfast, especially in Italy, where thoughts of cappuccino, pastries, and local ham tend to rouse me early from slumber. But on my first morning at the Hotel Sant’Angelo, in the old quarter of Matera, I was having a hard time dragging myself from the creature comforts of my cave. Staying in a cave, it turns out, can be surprisingly pleasant. There was just one small window high overhead, but the room and adjoining bath were in no way dank—a testament to the natural ventilation that keeps the caves cool and comfortable. The wavy contours of the white tufa-rock walls conjured a feeling of being enveloped in some primordial womb. Yet there were modern amenities: luxurious linens, Internet service, a telephone. Fred Flintstone never had it this good. I might have snoozed until noon, were it not for an impatient mate eager to see the sights. We had arrived in the village the previous night after a long drive across the treeless plains of the Basilicata region, located at the instep of Italy’s boot. Matera is an enchanted world of Stone Age splendor. Known as the sassi (Italian for stones), the bisque-colored hilltop cave homes comprise one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth, according to UNESCO. The caves have provided shelter for more than 7,000 years. A millennium ago, shepherds inhabited them and carved churches into the rock; during the Renaissance, the area prospered and elaborate buildings were carved out, the excess tufa sculpted into ornate facades. By the early 1900s, the sassi had fallen into neglect. Families and their animals crowded into the caves for warmth, and disease was rampant. When writer Carlo Levi brought this tragic state of affairs to light with his 1945 book Christ Stopped At Eboli, the Italian authorities moved residents en masse to modern housing—leaving the sassi abandoned, save for the occasional crew brought by film makers (Pier Paolo Pasolini and Mel Gibson among them) in search of a biblical-looking backdrop. It was only in the 1990s that the Italian government encouraged people to move back. Residents revamped the cave dwellings as homes, restaurants, and inns. When the Sant’Angelo opened in 2004, it was the area’s first luxury hotel. The 19 cave rooms are sparsely but tastefully appointed with rustic wooden furniture. Some carved decorations—crosses, hearts, an owl—date back hundreds of years. Fossilized shells embedded in the walls reveal that the region once lay underwater. Eventually, my fiancé and I did emerge from our cave to wander the town’s ancient alleys. A local guide named Dora Cappiello took us into some of the 150 chiese rupestri (rock churches), where she pointed out wine troughs and frescoes of San Nicola, the patron saint of local shepherds. We also visited a cave dwelling that had been restored to resemble its state when the caves were equal parts manger and living space.
Simple, delicious meals punctuated our explorations. The curvy walls of Baccanti, a cave restaurant, created a private nook where we feasted on silky pappardelle pasta with a cinghiale (wild boar) ragu, accompanied by a dry, fruity red aglianico from the nearby Vulture wine region. Tired and sated after a full day, we headed back to our cave—on moonless nights, a flashlight or trail of bread crumbs is advised for the stumble back to the hotel—where the promise of a deep, sound night’s sleep awaited. —Amy Cortese Hotel Sant’Angelo, 39/0835-314010, from $211 for a double. This appeared in the March/April 2010 issue.

Did you know that the world’s largest spring fed swimming pool is located in the high desert in West Texas? I’d heard of Balmorhea on a previous visit to Marfa, so when the weather got relentless this time, I drove north, in search of cold water to dive into.

Arriving at Balmorhea after an hours drive through the arid high desert felt like a mirage. It’s almost like you don’t quite trust your eyes. The pool is huge and the water a deep color of turquoise. It’s paradise, except for those pesky little black fish that nobody had warned me about. As soon as you stop swimming those little buggers come to nibble at you like a swarm of underwater mosquitoes. It’s funny, and trust me, it keeps you moving!

I only went to Balmorhea for the afternoon to cool off, but they do have overnight options there. Even if you’re only there for a few hours, bring some food–as the options to buy anything good are thin.

Open daily from 8 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. or sunset, whichever comes first
Entrance fees: adult: $7 daily, child 12 years and under: free

>>>Warmest thanks to the awesome team at El Cosmico for another unforgettable Trans Pecos Festival of Music and Love–an annual gathering of friends, music, art, camping, sandlot baseball and a night sky full of stars in Marfa, Texas. Love you guys.

A prime specimen of the region, Garibaldi Fjord is known for its beautiful glaciers, which rise as tall as New York skyscrapers. The glaciers extend across a series of steep mountains and valleys, but they still harbor a rich ecosystem of plants and wildlife. As your ship passes by the fjord, watch for Andean condors, sea lions, Magellanic penguins and possibly even a pod of orcas. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a glacier splinter and calve, dropping an enormous chunk of ice into the sea. Fun fact about glacial ice: It has no air in it, so if you put a piece in a drink, it will sink to the bottom rather than float. Some glacial ice has remained in a frozen state for tens of thousands of years.

If your dream vacation involves the ultimate in luxury, the St. Regis should be at the top of your list. The 151 rooms feature hand-crafted chandeliers, original artwork, and macassar ebony furnishings, as well as Italian marble bathrooms that have soaking tubs and TVs hidden in the mirror. But the real draw is the service: All guests have access to the butler desk, which can fulfill requests both big and small, from unpacking your suitcase to delivering the morning newspaper, and designated pool chamberlains mist guests with Evian and deliver frozen-fruit skewers and coconut water at the 40,000-square-foot Pool Piazza, complete with red-striped chaises and waterside bar. While the promise of massages in the Remède Spa and afternoon tea in the English-style Astor Court make it hard to leave the resort-like premises, the hotel’s location a five-minute walk from the Buckhead shopping complex may sway you. And if you need help hauling your spoils to your room, remember there’s a butler waiting just around the corner.

For most of its history, the Whitney Museum, originally founded by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1931, was located on New York’s Upper East Side, in the building that now houses the Met Breuer. In 2015, it reopened in a new, larger space designed by Renzo Piano in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. The institution’s permanent collection is especially strong in works by leading artists from the first half of the 20th century, and as you might expect from its official name, American artists are particularly well represented—Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper, and many others. Visiting exhibitions tend to focus on living artists who are still producing new pieces; the museum’s Whitney Biennial (now taking place in odd-numbered years) is arguably the preeminent showcase in the United States for young contemporary artists. In addition to the galleries, the building has a number of outdoor terraces dotted with sculptures and offering views of Lower Manhattan and the Hudson River.

In a peaceful pocket of the vibrant Chelsea neighborhood, the High Line Hotel is a charming boutique with many stories to tell. There is the tale of the grounds once being home to a 17^th-century apple orchard, or the history of the cloistered seminary inspired by the architecture of Oxford and Cambridge. This Federal Historic Landmark (where “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” was written) softly transports guests to another era with its gas lamps, Gothic-inspired brick buildings, and original details including fireplaces. This property was thoughtfully created, from its historic preservation to the hand-selected furniture of antique fairs and vintage markets. With hardwood floors, whimsical prints, and tall windows overlooking the Parisian-inspired garden, these rooms feel more exclusive guesthouse than sleek hotel. Kick off your day with a latte from the Intelligentsia lobby bar.