AFAR

WHEN WE LAUNCHED AFAR, most of us weren’t worried about “overtourism.” We were in the midst of a global recession, which kept travelers at home and hit the travel industry hard. Instagram, which now gets blamed for making certain spots too popular, h

Anissa Helou Writer Sacred Supper p.74 Memory serves: “Growing up in Beirut, I remember the atmosphere of Ramadan—the restaurants where the food was laid out for the breaking of the fast, and of course the activity of the sweets makers, butchers, and

AS BOTH A BER-MUDIAN AND eighth-generation Gosling, Malcolm Gosling Jr. has rum in his blood, figuratively and, during summer happy hours, literally. Gosling’s Rum is more than Bermuda’s oldest family-owned business and the local rum of choice—it’s a

Laucht has a rather unconventional tip for beginners and experienced photographers alike: Go camera-less before you shoot. Why? “Sometimes it’s helpful to explore for a few hours without your camera, to avoid being driven by the need to capture every

Planes get delayed, reservations blundered, restaurants overbooked. Sometimes it rains on your only beach day. “Travel inherently involves uncertainty,” says David Gelles, a New York Times reporter and the author of Mindful Work: How Meditation Is Ch

After setting up in London, Paris, Rome, and Milan, this U.K.-based home-sharing and vacation rental platform set its sights on the U.S. Its new collections in New York City and Los Angeles include Tribeca art lofts, Silver Lake bungalows, and mansio

Sarara Camp in Kenya is operated by the seminomadic Samburu people, and profits go directly to community and wildlife protection initiatives. In Australia’s remote Nitmiluk National Park, the indigenous Jawoyn people own Cicada Lodge, which offers gu

Lisa Gross, founder of League of Kitchens (LOK), believes food can be a great cross-cultural bridge. She recruits immigrant women, many age 50 or older, to lead cooking lessons and tours in their own neighborhoods. The service, currently limited to N

At its best, travel connects us—across walls literal and metaphorical. That’s what Mark Twain meant when he wrote that travel is “fatal to prejudice.” But what would Twain make of us now, 1.4 billion travelers and counting, boarding millions of pollu

Pop quiz: How did pinot noir get its name? And why is it known as “the heartbreak grape?” These are just two of the questions you’ll have answered during a “wine experience” focused on the popular varietal at Puerto Rico’s stunning Dorado Beach, a Ri

Miles of pristine beaches, crystal-clear water, and sun-drenched shores offer reasons enough to visit Pensacola. But look deeper and you’ll also find a wealth of historic, adventurous, and culinary discoveries around every corner of this Northwest Fl

Every month, we at AFAR receive hundreds of emails announcing hotel openings. And every day we’re asked by friends and colleagues, “Where should I stay on my next trip to…?” In this issue, we’re answering that question with our first-ever Stay List,

AT THE GRAND CAYMAN MARRIOTT, their philosophy around hospitality and how they pamper their guests and make them feel like they are at home is all in the spirit of CaymanKind. The team at the Grand Cayman Marriott have been individually handpicked fo

IT WAS JUST BEFORE sunset, and the square of Al Hussein mosque in Cairo was packed. People were sitting at outdoor tables at the many restaurants and cafés lining the square, but despite the crowds, no one was talking. And although the tables were la

I GREW UP IN A QUIET neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, quiet enough to play on the streets. There were about 30 houses in the walled estate. There was only one entrance, a gate manned by security guards. They weren’t armed, but they were gruff with out

IN SHANGHAI, a restaurant open for 10 years is considered old, and a house that’s been standing for 30 is practically a landmark. “Everything here is fast,” says Wayne Zheng, director of guest experience at the Middle House, a sleek boutique hotel th

THE EMAIL ARRIVES on a Wednesday afternoon. Subject line: Spin the Globe REVEAL! I hurry home to meet the school bus, and my twin 14-year-old sons and I gather in the kitchen. For four months we’ve been exhilarated by the idea of traveling somewhere—

“Find some nice people and sit close to them.” The man who told me this was tending a fire in the middle of a Swedish forest, the flames that illuminated his graying blond locks making him look like a hippie Viking. On the embers in front of him, he

“THE VENICE OF TO-DAY,” wrote Henry James back in 1882, “is a vast museum… and you march through the institution with a herd of fellow-gazers.” Ah, Henry, Henry. If you only knew. A century and a half after James wrote those words, some 30 million vi

WHEN I LOOK BACK on the start of the trip, I realize I was selling van life to my kids right up to the loading of the old Eurovan. “Look, a sink!” I exclaimed, as though I’d spotted a rare Javan rhino. “And these seats fold into a bed, and the top po

“Life is too short to sink completely.” I glimpsed this phrase spray-painted on the overturned hull of a half-sunken fishing vessel on my speedboat ride between St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport and the Caribbean island of Anguilla