Life in Newfoundland is tied to the sea. For nearly 500 years, people here pulled a seemingly endless supply of Atlantic cod from the waters of the Grand Banks, then one of the world's richest fishing grounds. But by the early 1990s, industrial bottom trawlers had decimated cod stocks, and in 1992, the Canadian government instituted a moratorium on cod fishing, devastating the industry and ending a long-standing way of life.
"Guadeloupe is not a resort island; it is a living culture, a living experience. Even the landscape tells a story. The scent of burnt sugarcane fields before harvest. The volcanic silhouette of Basse-Terre. The lunar stillness of Pointe des Châteaux under a full moon. This is not a backdrop; it is part of the lived experience."
On an empty beach at the bottom of the world, the waves that roll over the sand are midnight blue and lit by the stars and a waxing moon. I'm only vaguely familiar with the constellations that hang above Great Barrier Island, known for centuries to the Māori as Aotea, some 56 nautical miles northeast of Auckland, New Zealand. I'm not all that used to seeing them so clearly,
Picture yourself standing on a small platform in the middle of a Quebec forest, balancing on what feels like an oversized bird perch. The moment your weight settles, something magical happens. A bird call rings out, blending seamlessly into an ethereal soundtrack that seems to rise from the forest itself. Welcome to Human Perches, the latest installation from Montreal design studio Daily tous les jours that's making us rethink how we experience nature.
The Northeast Passage was expected to open first due to the Coriolis effect. As the world turns to the east, in the Northern hemisphere, flowing water will veer to the right. Warm, salty Atlantic water flows into the Arctic Ocean through the Barents Sea Opening between Norway and Svalbard, and the Fram Strait between Svalbard and Greenland, then bends right along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia.
When a city or country is in the spotlight, it's logical to expect an uptick of interest in visiting there. Each of the locations where a season of The White Lotus was filmed has seen a corresponding increase in tourism, for instance. Being the subject of news headlines and heated negotiations isn't quite the same thing as being the setting for a prestige TV series, but recent data suggests that Greenland is also seeing more international visitors than usual.
I'd been on the island for less than a week when I opened my glove box looking for sunglasses, only to find the wrapper of my emergency granola bar torn open and the corner nibbled, right next to a neat little pile of mouse droppings. As I inspected the rest of the car, I was mortified to realize it was likely more than a single mouse. I texted the friend I was housesitting for in disbelief. "Ugh, I'm sorry! That's so island," she wrote back.
The idea that hiking trails are a tool for conservation is based on a simple premise: people protect what they know. That requires making conservation areas accessible. There's no point telling people you only protect what you know, if you don't give them the tools to know. The trail is this tool. People who hike, people who camp, these people often become defenders of the environment.
In the pristine High Arctic sits the Kitsissut island cluster, also known as the Carey Islands, nestled between northwest Greenland and northeast Canada. The surrounding seas are perilous, and traveling there is difficult even with modern boats. But new archaeological evidence suggests ancient humans managed to sail to the islands, too. Early settlers lived on the islands between 4,500 and 2,700 years ago.
The hot, dry and windy conditions that enabled the fires to blaze across huge areas in January were made about three times more likely by global heating, researchers from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) consortium found. Parts of Chile and Argentina are experiencing significantly drier summers as a result of human-caused carbon emissions, with rainfall now 25% lower in early summer in Chile and 20% lower in the affected region of Patagonia.
Easily accessible from major U.S. cities, the Exumas remain refreshingly uncrowded, making them one of the Caribbean's true hidden gems, at least for now. As the wealthy look for privacy in paradise, and the world's most sought-after resort groups like Aman and Rosewood prepare to plant their own flags there in the coming years, everyone seems to have their sights on the Exumas.
"They say that the Azores is made up of eight islands and an amusement park," my guide, Fernando Brazil, joked as he drove his Land Rover past one of the island's many colorful chapels, known as impérios. Brazil explained that Terceira holds more festivals than all the other Azorean isles combined. Most revolve around the impérios, which are dedicated to the Holy Spirit and can last up to 10 days, with concerts, parades, and bullfights.
And I'm not alone in this thinking. "Lisbon and Porto are amazing, but Portugal's soul is often found in the smaller towns and rural regions where life moves much more slowly," Sheree M. Mitchell, a Travel + Leisure A-List Travel Advisor, shared. "We send clients all over the Alentejo, Douro Valley, Minho Region, as well as the Azores and Madeira, where the real local magic happens."
Lanzarote, the easternmost Canary Island, has long been one of its most beloved. The undulating rugged hillsides give it an almost otherworldly feel, thanks to a mix of over 300 volcanoes that punctuate the horizons, inky lava fields, palm-filled valleys and a pretty jumble of idyllic white villages. For every golden beach, there's another with jet black sands, and then there's the dramatic Timanfaya National Park, and the striking La Geria wine region, where typical vineyards are usurped by alienlike vines growing in craters.
The best places to visit in May take advantage of that elusive window of perfect weather as spring turns to summer, when it's not too hot and it's not too cold-all you need is a light jacket. That frees up essential space in our carry-ons (big puffy jackets and thermal leggings can stay home, finally), creating more room for souvenirs from wherever we may go.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/TAL-blue-lagoon-iceland-EURORELAX1224-d406b5c5a2844d54b0cad8f73793722b.jpg)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/TAL-header-exterior-torel-terra-brava-TORELTERRABRAVA0126-81145b14e0fa4a14b111d4a9aac28838.jpg)
