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Wherever your travels may take you around the world whenever you ever see anyone sporting this distinct hook bracelet, you’ll know they possess a special place in their heart occupied by the island of St. Croix. There are many, many imitations and evolutions of the Crucian hook bracelet (some better than others), but this is the original and, in my opinion, only truly authentic version. Pick one up and Sonya’s, wear it wherever you go and you’ll be surprised how many new friends you make.

I hope that every traveler has the opportunity to experience sunrise from a temple in Bagan - one of the most astonishing places on earth. In general, the history of Burma is amazing. Specifically, the history of Bagan is unlike any other on earth. It’s a little dizzying, in fact - tens of thousands of temples built on a dusty plain by kings, emperors, war lords, and chieftains that stretch on and on until the buck up against the horizon. The best way to explore Bagan is to get out on foot and wander - preferably in the presence of a knowledgeable local guide.

Want to impress your travel friends and show off your passport prowess? Then don’t miss getting a passport stamp from the southern most city in the world - Ushuaia Argentina. Once you make it all the way down there to the tip of Argentina - but sure to stop in at the tourist office near the port and get your passport stamp that will say Fin del Mundo - End of the world. They have different sized and stamps to choose from - a fun way to remember this unique location.

Equal parts fine-dining restaurant, cocktail bar, and antique gallery, Ji blends Chinese, Japanese, and Balinese culture with modern Japanese cuisine and cocktails. The restaurant is located in Hotel Tugu, one of the first luxury hotels in Canggu. An Indonesian collector rescued an ornate 18th-century Chinese temple from destruction in Java and had it rebuilt here to house the restaurant. Ji’s menu features exquisitely prepared sushi and sashimi platters, as well as items that reflect influences from Japanese communities in Peru, China, Korea, and other countries outside Japan. The Dragon of Ji roll is a showstopper. As for cooked seafood, you’ll be torn when it comes to the smokey salmon zaru soba with home-smoked salmon belly and citrus broth. Be kind and share the delicate dish with your travel companion? Or keep it all to yourself? An extensive sake, wine, and cocktail menu is available.

Finding a fun bar that’s popular with locals is almost a travel imperative: While hotel bars have their charms, local bars offer travelers a way to explore a destination through its people. This beach bar at the heart of Sandy Ground fits the bill. Mellow by day, the vibe picks up at night, with dancing out on the sand, occasional live music and DJs, plus famous full-moon celebrations. On Sunday afternoons, grab a fish taco and a beer and join the crowd watching the football or basketball game on the huge outdoor screen.

Visitors seeking an immersive-history experience can get a chance to travel back in time and check out the homes, stories, and daily routines of early Philadelphians, from everyday citizens to the city’s better-known inhabitants from the past. Buildings along Elfreth’s Alley, the country’s oldest continually occupied residential street, reveal the lives of the city’s earliest residents. Most of the houses on the block are private homes, but houses numbered 124 and 126 have been preserved as a public museum. Guided tours begin in the Museum Shop (Number 124). Private tours of the Alley and Museum House are available all year round.

It was raining when we arrived in Donostia-San Sebastian, but the skies cleared on our second day, and we rode the funicular railway up Mount Igueldo to take in the view back on the city, La Concha Bay, and the empty beach. The “low” travel season had just begun, and the strange little children’s amusement park on the mountaintop had shuttered up for the fall and winter, adding just the right disorienting touch of weird desolation to the Basque country panorama.

Movie director Francis Ford Coppola had traveled the world, but when he visited Belize in the 1980s, in search of a “jungle paradise” like the one where he had filmed Apocalypse Now, he was taken by the untamed land and bought Blancaneaux, the first of two resort properties he would eventually own in Belize. (The other is Turtle Inn.) Initially, Blancaneaux was a family retreat, but by the early 1990s, Coppola decided to turn it into a small luxury resort. Today, guests with deep pockets enjoy visiting Blancaneaux for its sense of exclusivity; travelers have to really want to stay here. An hour’s drive down a bone-jarring road away from civilization, one doesn’t just happen upon the resort. Accommodations are gigantic villa- and cabana-style lodgings lavishly decorated with handmade furniture, textiles, and crafts. Hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and swimming are a few of the activities for guests on-site at Blancaneaux.

For many travelers to Greece, there’s a conundrum: Do you concentrate on the mainland—Athens, Delphi—or do you spend your time cruising the islands—from fashionable Mykonos to holy Patmos? With Grand Circle Cruise Line, you don’t have to make that decision. The first week of the 15-day Treasures of the Aegean: Greek Island Cruise, Athens & Istanbul itinerary includes the monasteries of Meteora, perched atop rock formations; the town of Kalambaka, Thessaly, where you’ll discover a Byzantine tradition when you stop at an icon-painting workshop and meet one of the artisans; and the majestic ancient sanctuary of Delphi. Then you depart on a cruise to the Aegean’s most beautiful islands aboard a 50-passenger small ship. You’ll call at ports including Amorgos, Delos, and Naxos, where you’ll sit down for an island dinner with some of its residents. While you’ll be following the routes of ancient heroes, Grand Circle assures that travelers also experience modern-day life in the country from those who live, work, and play here. Exclusive Discovery Series events take you deeper, show you more, and give you an unfiltered look into daily life whether you’re dining with a Greek family during a Home-Hosted Dinner, or participating in a cooking class in the mountain village of Arachova.

The first new building to be constructed on the Bund in 60 years, the terraced, granite Peninsula opened in October 2009. Celebrating the city’s Roaring Twenties, the standalone hotel creates a grand sense of arrival with a sweeping driveway. Art Deco design elements occur throughout the property, and traditional decor employs lacquer, marble, granite, wood, and original art. Rooms and suites come with spacious dressing rooms with a full-length valet box for discreet delivery of laundry and packages; they also feature Peninsula’s industry-leading, intuitive in-room technology, with room functions controlled at the touch of a button, and VOIP telephones that allow guests to make free local and international calls. For arrival and departure in style, book the hotel’s Rolls-Royce Phantoms or 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II. The property also has China’s first hotel private yacht, a British-built Princess 54 model.

Why we love it: A lakeside retreat that blends indoor comforts with outdoor splendor

The Highlights:
- Singular amenities like a movie theater, aquarium, and marina
- A shuttle to downtown McCall and nearby Brundage Mountain
- Spacious suites with lake access, fireplaces, and more

The Review:
This lakeside resort combines luxurious amenities—like a 43-seat movie theater and a spa with outdoor heated saltwater pools—with the rustic ambience of a summer camp. In fact, kids (ages 4 to 13) can participate in the lodge’s Camp Sharlie lineup of daytime activities, while adults can rent boats to explore Payette Lake, mountain bike on nearby trails, or play a round of golf on the award-winning course. In the winter, there’s even skiing and snowshoeing close by, and no matter the season, nights typically end with s’mores around the fire pit.

The 177 guest rooms evoke the surrounding forests with bark-inspired wallpaper and carpets patterned with graceful tree branches; suites also include perks like lake access, outdoor patios, large soaking tubs, and fireplaces. In addition to a private beach on the lake, the lodge is home to a heated pool and hot tubs, all of which are serviced by an outdoor bar in the summer. There’s also a play zone bordered by a 2,000-gallon aquarium filled with colorful coral and reef fish, and an analog game room with classic board games, a foosball table, and a giant Connect 4. While the lodge shuttle delivers guests to downtown McCall for dining and more, you’ll want to plan at least a few meals on-site. The Narrows restaurant specializes in steaks and wines to match, while The Cutwater serves casual meals, including a Sunday brunch with signature huckleberry pancakes.

Co-owned by French-Cambodians Nathalie Saphon-Ridel and Romyda Keth, the elegant Khmer Attitude was the first concept store in Siem Reap when it was opened way back in 2000 in Raffles Arcade. The women’s aim with Khmer Attitude (and Saphon-Ridel’s Galerie Cambodge in the same arcade) was to showcase quality Cambodian-made fashion, jewelry, accessories, silverware, silk, gifts, and objects that weren’t available anywhere else. The women work closely with Khmer designers, master craftsmen and artists to source and produce beautiful things that are luxurious in their materials used and excellent in their workmanship. Other than Romyda Keth’s Ambre, Eric Raisina, Garden of Desire, Jasmine, Theam’s House, and a handful of other boutiques, you won’t find exquisite things of this quality elsewhere in Siem Reap.

Walking along the winding streets of central Copenhagen, you will invariable chance upon the 17th-century Round Tower, with an observation deck that affords great views over the city and to Sweden in the distance. To reach the top, you walk up an interior spiral ramp with no stairs, designed to allow horses and carts in earlier times to ascend to the library and observatory, and today kids have great fun racing up and down the cobbles. The tower is also the site of an annual unicycle race. The record round-trip time so far: just under one minute 50 seconds.

“They get a little cranky if you get too close to their heads,” warned my tour guide at Crococun Zoo. I was in the reptile pen standing near—no straddling—a 6 foot, rescued croc wondering what on earth I was doing when my guide smiled and suggested I squat down and pet him. Crococun Zoo is really a rehabilitation center for exotic animals on Mexico’s Yucatan coast. If you visit, you will find monkeys, parrots, boa constrictors, lizards, deer, wild dogs, coati and more. Most of the animals can be fed or held, and I am generally fine with that. In fact, I enjoy letting 10 foot long snakes wrap their thick bodies around my neck. I love adventure. But at Crococun, you can literally walk among the crocodiles. You can step right over them. Believe me, the $28 you pay to get in the park is a small price to pay to pet the tail of a crocodile. Just make sure they are well fed.

Set on the banks of White Rock Lake, this 66-acre sanctuary offers scenic trails, blooming gardens, and peaceful green spaces for when you want some quiet time with nature—plus kids’ areas, holiday events, and a packed calendar of festivals and concerts for when it’s time for something a bit livelier. Take in the vibrant hues of the Jonsson Color Garden, Crape Myrtle Allee, and gardens dedicated to roses and camellias, or do some contemplating in the Palmer Fern Dell or the McCasland Sunken Garden. Opened in 2017, A Tasteful Place is a 3.5-acre garden focusing on fruit, veggies, and edible herbs and flowers; tastings, demo, nutrition sessions, and cooking classes are held throughout the year. Don’t miss some of the main section’s events, too, such as the annual Dallas Blooms fest and summer concert series.