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Arrifana beach is located on the western coast of Algarve, Portugal. Since it faces the Atlantic and has many huge bouilders that surround it, the surf can be quite wild at times. While it can be wild, Arrifana is also serene.The beauty stops many tourists at the top of the hill before their march down to the sand. You park at the top of the road and walk down. The descent is not easy. The way is steep and paved with the slippery little stones found all over Portugal. The path zigs and zags. You are rewarded when you finally reach the sand. The clear, clean waters shimmer under the brilliant sky.You will see swimmers in the more shallow waters and then there are the surfers! This is a very popular surfers’ beach. The waves are very powerful at Arrifana and surfers love that. After the beach ( or if you are adventurous enough to climb back up and then return), you can climb up to the restaurant for lunch. I enjoyed some local Portuguese dishes and a cold drink. Before I drove away, I stood at the railing atop the roadway and drank in the beauty and tranquility of Arrifana Beach. I could go back there next time I travel to the Algarve. There is a hostel in town during the season if you care to stay in Arrifana.

In a regal redwood grove along the Big Sur coast lies a place “where nothing happens,” according to its proprietors. The highway traffic noise disappears, the filtered sunlight takes on the quality of stained glass, and the earthy smell of the forest is enough to cleanse your mind of digital and other distractions. This quiet altar of wisdom and irreverence serves as a bookstore and art hub focused on promoting the works of author Henry Miller, who lived in Big Sur between 1944 and 1962. The library hosts events throughout the year, but especially from May to October, including concerts, lectures, and book signings. The annual Big Sur International Short Film Screening Series occurs outside, in the redwood amphitheater. In the winter, the library takes on the aura of a writer’s retreat, when time stretches endlessly forward and you can spend hours browsing books, nursing a cup of coffee, and watching the light and shadows change the landscape outside the windows. Unlike a library, there’s no borrowing here, but what you walk away with may just be richer than any physical possession.

Perched on a steep hill in the lovely neighborhood of Alfama, you will in no doubt leave with a great souvenir or gift. Sellers throw down blankets or rugs in rows and sell a variety of hand-made goods, antiques, books, clothes, military objects, etc. I took home two wonderful brass bottle openers and a couple of old world maps. Getting to the market is easy and the trip there is quite beautiful; take the Tram 28, or Tram 12 up the hill through the tight, and narrow neighborhood streets (becos). After you’ve spent all of your Euro, take a short walk over to the Santa Engracia Church, Museum of Decorative Arts, or the National Pantheon. Oh, and don’t forget to take in the views and snap a few pictures.

The Santa Monica Pier embodies what Southern California is all about: fun in the sun. Popular with tourists and locals alike, this iconic boardwalk adjacent to the Pacific Ocean—filled with all the amusement rides, midway games, fried food, ice cream and cotton candy you can dream up—is a fantastic place to spend a nice day. My favorite attractions are the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium and the world’s first solar-paneled Ferris wheel, which provides breathtaking beach and ocean views as you ride ‘round and ‘round. Be sure to dip your toes in the soft Santa Monica sand, too. Nearby, you’ll find the Third Street Promenade, a bustling entertainment district filled with wonderful eateries and shops.

Schwa is kind of a difficult place to describe; it’s such an eclectic bundle of everything, you just have to experience it for yourself. The exterior of the building makes it look like it should be condemned, but it’s actually structurally sound. Upon entering you’ll be greeted by the always hustling, yet always friendly staff, who will get you to one of the only 26 seats in the small but comfortable dining room. Music—usually heavy metal or rap—is played at a pretty high decibel level, and actually gets inside your brain at times, but for some odd reason it totally works in this place. Overhead the light fixtures are mini works of art that seem literally cobbled together, and to get to the bathroom you actually walk through the kitchen. But once you indulge in all that is unique and wonderful about the place, then you can settle in and indulge in the Michelin-starred food. Anything is fair game here, from Fruit Loop–inspired courses to a curried paste that came in a real-deal petri dish, to the crab that was perched on top of a glass of smoke (you removed the top to inhale the flavored scents—and then ate the crab). And we were told not to play with our food as children! Schwa’s chef Michael Carlson surely did not heed that advice growing up, and as a result we get to reap the benefit of his creative food fantasies coming to life.

No, you don’t have the wrong address—this is indeed a downtown office building and parking garage. But don’t be alarmed. Walk through the door, and Café Poca Cosa’s stylish interior tells you immediately that this is no boring strip mall Tex-Mex joint. Neither, fortunately, is it an overly precious nouvelle-cuisine bore. It’s been voted “Best Mexican” in Tucson by locals, who know that chimichangas were born in this desert town. That said: you’ll find no chimichanga combo-plate here. Chef-owner Suzana Davila changes the chalkboard menu twice a day. Her concentration is on fresh ingredients and innovative dishes that translate regional cuisines rather than betray tradition. National publications have sung her praises, but Ms. Davila still checks on her own customers and eats lunch in the dining room with everyone else. She’s a self-taught native of Guaymas who can concoct over two dozen varieties of mole. Complex sauces, refreshing drinks (such as pineapple-basil agua fresca), and Baroque masks in red niches await you. Come for a late lunch on a weekday if you want to avoid the justifiable crowds. Have an open mind (and mouth), and discover how great contemporary Mexican cooking can be. Tucson can be proud of its plentiful taco trucks and Sonoran hot dog stands, but Poca Cosa celebrates the variety of Mexican cuisine for when you want to sit down in style. Buen provecho!

There are many places to view Flamenco in Granada. There are large shows in Sacramonte that cost 25-35 Euros and have a flare for showing the dramatics and storytelling of the dance, and there are shows that have no dance and play in dark underground pubs. There is every range of Flamenco played and performed. Le Chien Andalou is easy to find, unlike some places father into the Albycin, it is cheap at 7 euros, and the food and drinks are neither life changing nor horrible. The music changes every night, I have been a few handfuls of times and have witnessed a sampling from slightly better than mediocre to quite incredible performances. It is often wise to stop by and make a reservation as the space is limited in this little wine cellar room full of short stools and low tables. I recommend this place for those wanting to experience Flamenco to either be intrigued by it, to fall in love with its depth and soul, or to walk away at least saving 20 euros while discovering it was not to your taste. For those with a bit more adventure to explore the streets of the upper Albaycin, and a with a bit more of a budget for delicious food (or if Le Chien Andalou has left you wanting to experience more flamenco) then I recommended: Restaurante, Flamenco Jardines de Zoraya(from a past highlight, and one of my favorite spots for Flamenco, Food, and the best Sangria!)

If these walls could talk they’d recite plans for military campaigns and tales of love, lust and betrayal that make this former residence and imperial seat of the Ottoman Empire so intriguing. Walk the dazzling tile-and-mosaic-lined corridors, see the jewels the sultans wore, the baths where they washed, the rooms where they entertained, the quarters that housed their concubines, and the kitchens that created feasts for 5,000 residents.

During my last stay in Seoul, I spent most of my time in the historic heart of the city north of the Han river. I did take a Sunday afternoon, though, to walk around the Gangnam district—the chic high rise–dominated neighborhood south of the river. (As recently as a few decades ago, this area was still rice-paddies.) Just around the corner from Bong-eun-sa temple (which dates from the 8th century), this striking building caught my eye: the headquarters for the Hyundai Development Company. Designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, it’s known as “The Tangent.” In the architect’s words, “the Tangent is a project that is about the relationship between the ever-changing circle of nature and the straight line of technology.” (Those words could also succinctly describe the recent history of postwar Korea.) In my mind, though, because this structure reminds me of one of my favorite artists, this is the Kandinsky building in Seoul. And across the street, beneath the Korea World Trade Center tower, is the COEX mall, Asia’s largest underground shopping center. Grab a bite in the food court and get a feel for the youth pop-culture vibe; a K-pop dance competition just might be taking place on a nearby stage. To get here: Take Subway Line 2, exit Samseong (COEX) station.

Manhattan can, famously, feel like endless rows of apartment blocks and office towers for most of its length. At least above 14th Street, a regular grid of streets and avenues, bisected only by Broadway, has transformed the city into a dream for real estate developers. The green spaces interrupting the pattern—Union Square, Gramercy Park, Madison Square Park—are few and far between, with one enormous exception: Central Park. Running from 59th Street to 110th Street, and between Central Park West (Eighth Avenue) and Fifth Avenue, it is one of the world’s largest urban parks, measuring some 843 acres. It is the masterpiece of the 19th-century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted working in collaboration with Calvert Vaux. Inside its borders are stately allées and naturalistic scenes, ice-skating rinks (in the winter), an enormous reservoir, and a faux castle. The park is hugely popular, and so to call it an escape from the bustle of the city is often not accurate, especially on mild summer days and the first warm ones in the spring when thousands of residents head to its playing fields, bike and run along the road that loops the park, and enjoy picnics on the Sheep Meadow or one of its other lawns.

Less than an hour from Guadalajara, Lake Chapala—Mexico’s largest lake—offers a relaxing respite from the big city. Visitors can enjoy drinks or a meal at one of the many restaurants on the pier, watch the sunset from a sandy beach, or rent a boat to the Island of Scorpions for a different view. There are plenty of boutique hotels around the lake should you be interested in an overnight stay.

To get to Lake Chapala, catch a direct bus—they leave every 30 minutes from Guadalajara’s Old Bus Central. The air-conditioned ride through the mountains of Jalisco takes somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour, depending on traffic, and costs approximately US$5 for a round-trip ticket. Once you arrive at the Chapala bus station, the lake is about a 10-minute walk away on the main street.

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.

Facing the Arabian Sea and the Gateway of India monument, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel blends Moorish, Florentine, and Indian architecture. The historic palace wing reopened in 2010 with 243 new rooms and 42 suites, including one that houses the sitar on which legendary Indian musician Ravi Shankar composed his Concerto No. 1. George Harrison checked into the Taj in 1966 to take lessons from the maestro.

Foodies from all over flock to Mama’s Fish House for ocean-to-plate dishes in a postcard-perfect setting. At this tiki bar meets restaurant, the fish is delivered daily by local anglers and many dishes showcase regional ingredients like Maui onions, Hawaiian chili pepper, and Hana ginger. As a young couple in California, owners Floyd and Doris Christenson fell in love with Maui while on vacation. In 1960, they sailed back across the Pacific, navigating only by sun and sextant, and anchored back on their dream island, where they eventually opened Mama’s. Today, the hot spot can be crowded and pricey, but few begrudge the premium for the fresh fare and stunning panoramas. Make a reservation well in advance for an ocean-view table.

While in Italy, you won’t want to miss the medieval hill town of Erice. One of the best things to do while there is take the funivia, or cable car, from Trapani up to this hilltop town for a thrilling 10-minute ride. First Trapani telescopes into view, followed by the harbor and the salt pans to the south, with their sheets of salt in various stages of evaporation, and then the blue mounds of the Aegadian Islands out at sea.


After the ride, enter the city gate and follow the vertical, cobblestone streets to the crest of the hill and the ruins of Castello di Venere, a 12th-century Norman castle. Walk the castle walls for stunning views of Sicily’s north coast, as cove after cove of deep blue water disappears into the horizon.


Once done, head down to the heart of the hill town to explore its small shops and restaurants, such as Ceramica Ericina, which sells traditional handmade Sicilian ceramics. Pieces range from plates and serving dishes to wall decorations, and most are Majolica ceramics, which use a unique enameling process to create brilliantly painted designs.