No other city in Southeast Asia has a neighborhood like Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Not Saigon, Not Bangkok. Not Singapore nor Jakarta. Only in Hanoi, Vietnam’s bustling northern capital, are the buildings packed so tightly that even rain is challenged to find a way through the gaps. Weathered wooden homes that defy centuries squeeze in next…
Pop culture portrays the Amish community as a living time capsule, a throwback to a simpler time, and to an extent, that’s accurate. Many Amish drive horse-drawn buggies instead of automobiles, play board games instead of PlayStation and meet face-to-face instead of texting. They set themselves apart from the English—anyone who is not Amish—with their…
On July 4, 2026, America celebrated its 250th birthday in New York City, not with rockets blasting into space or a parade of driverless cars on Wall Street, but with the largest Parade of Sail ever assembled. Leading the way were three dozen tall ships from around the world. Sails billowed in the breeze…
What images come to mind when you think of Vietnam? A peasant in the conical nón lá hat, harvesting rice from the fields? Colorful lanterns dancing from the masts of river boats or the corrugated eaves of Taoist temples in ancient Hoi An? Perhaps you dream of karst peaks that erupt from the placid waters of deep-blue Ha Long Bay?
All are part of the visual culture of the country I now call home. But I believe nothing says “Vietnam” more than the áo dài. The sleek silk gown is as much a statement of Vietnamese fashion and femininity as is the kimono in Japan, the sari in India or the cheongsam in China. At once draping and clinging, accenting the Asian woman’s natural curves, the áo dài teases with restraint and decorum, promising nothing but implying everything. As worn by Vietnamese women, who learn to walk gracefully at a young age, it is at once marvelously modest yet incredibly provocative. A man who isn’t stirred is either dead or recently divorced.
Ever since the pilgrims’ arrival in 1620 America has dreamed of expanding westward. A Promised Land existed beyond the Appalachians, across the fertile Ohio Valley and on the other side of the Great Plains. America’s Manifest Destiny was to turn a continent into a country. But America’s first frontier was the Hudson Valley. The Hudson River may run north to south, but in concert with the 19th-century Erie Canal, it became the highway to the West, providing a detour past the natural obstacles that hampered expansion. During its turbulent history, the Hudson River Valley has experienced war, inspired great works of art, witnessed treachery and powered the growth of one of the world’s most dynamic cities. Some say the Mississippi River is more famous, but you’ll find no more history-rich river (and few more worth visiting) than the Hudson. Read More
By Kerrick James This summer Americans began celebrating Route 66, America’s Mother Road. It was formally established on November 11, 1926, in the heart of the Roaring Twenties, when newly affordable automobiles like Ford’s Model T and Model A offered unparalleled freedom. Its mythic aura and worldwide fame have only swelled since the 1930s, when…
The bifurcating channels of the Essequibo River that wind through Guyana’s Iwokrama rainforest are nature’s highways into the deepest, densest and most remote part of the jungle. Macushi Amerindian Mark Andries navigates this complex matrix of waterways searching for Hoplias aimara, more commonly referred to as the wolf fish. For Guyana’s indigenous people, the wolf fish is akin to caviar. For visiting anglers seeking Andries’ guidance, catching the ferocious freshwater predator is a bucket-list experience. Read More
Our 10-minute taxi ride from central Porto is a muddled maze of twisty, narrow, and steep-hilled cobblestone streets that ends in the historic Miragaia neighborhood, a couple of blocks from the Douro River. Families stroll with dogs and children scamper as sunset nears. A pickup game of basketball is about to end. Tourists board the…
I hadn’t been in New York City more than a week before I got a text from a friend who’d also just moved here: “I just walked under Madonna.” She’d decided to give an impromptu concert in Times Square, which somewhere around 350,000 people walk through on an average day. Of course, being new to…
By Cynthia David Medellín’s past will break your heart. Its present will uplift you. In the last decade, Colombia’s second-largest city has evolved from one of the world’s most dangerous to a modern, vibrant, and safe metropolis. To witness the transition first-hand, start by wandering through Comuna 13 with a local. Tour guide Alex Caro…