Sommaire pour Mar/Apr 2018 de AFAR

•“I’m just old enough to remember what it was like to travel without a cell phone,” says Sara Clemence, a freelance travel writer and former travel editor of the Wall Street Journal. “There were advantages and disadvantages, of course, but now everyone is taking selfies, checking Facebook, texting somebody—and missing out on the destination around them.” This bugged Clemence so much, she wrote a book on the subject. Away & Aware: A Field Guide to Mindful Travel (Dovetail Press, 2017) is packed with practical advice on how to draw technological boundaries and reconnect with a destination through analog means. We caught up with Clemence at her home in New York City to ask what inspired the book and how she learned to stop worrying and put down her phone. As…

THERE’S ACTUALLY A secret ingredient to cha ca,” Hung told me after the server walked away from our table. Hung, a friend and Hanoi native, was introducing me to his city’s classic dish at the restaurant Cha Ca Kinh Ky. “But if I told you, you wouldn’t want to eat it.” Soon the server returned to deposit on our table a constellation of flavors: a mound of rice noodles, a dollop of shrimp paste, some fish sauce, a couple branches of baby basil, a small bowl of peanuts, and a large bowl of bright green dill and spring onions. Another server brought a frying pan filled with turmeric-laced chunks of ca lang, or Hemibagrus—a genus of catfish— and placed it atop a small portable burner at the center of our…

1 Chileno Bay Resort Mexico The beachfront Chileno Bay Resort may be among the most luxurious new retreats in Cabo San Lucas, but it exudes a down-to-earth vibe. Its 60 guest rooms and 32 villas feature outdoor showers and floor-to-ceiling windows that showcase ocean views. The beachside bar sells tacos and artisanal tequilas. The resort also has one of the area’s few swimmable beaches. From $675. chilenobay.aubergeresorts.com 2 Coral Caye Belize Film director Francis Ford Coppola and his wife, Eleanor, own the low-key, thatch-roofed Turtle Inn, which recently debuted Coral Caye, a lodging on a private two-acre island. Sheltered by the Belize Barrier Reef, it lies a 25-minute boat ride from the main resort. Two cottages with verandas and beach decor can accommodate up to 12 people, and the central…

As the sun pounded down on my pale forehead, I strutted onto the terrace of Orsan, a mostly local haunt hugging Dubrovnik’s marina, to meet my friend, Ivan Vukovi?, a tour guide. I was 30 minutes late. And that was intentional. Ivan put his palms in the air as I approached and then mimed looking at his watch. The waiter immediately put an espresso in front of me. “I think I figured out the secret to fjaka,” I said. “Being late is not fjaka,” Ivan said, letting out a chuckle. I sighed and took a gulp of coffee. “Neither is drinking your coffee like that.” Ivan took a tiny sip of his coffee. For the next hour, he nursed his espresso, micro sip by micro sip, and I sat there…

THE OTHER DAY, my three-year-old daughter looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Mama, you’re not listening to my words.” She was right. She had caught me in the act: I was mindlessly scrolling through news feeds on my phone and not paying attention to her. I wasn’t listening to her words. Board a subway car or walk down the street: People are tethered to devices as never before. American adults spend nearly five hours a day on smartphones, and an astounding 11 hours a day in front of some kind of screen, be it a personal computer, television, tablet, or phone. At AFAR, we believe that travel offers the chance to step away from the never-ending noise and distractions of modern life, and actually connect with your fellow…

•Sims and Kirsten Harlow Foster were once among the stressed-out Manhattanites they now try to lure from the city. The husband-and-wife team recently opened the DeBruce, an inn located on 600 acres in the town of Livingston Manor in the Catskill Mountains, a two-hour drive north of New York City. Sims, who was born in Livingston Manor, and Kirsten are part of a group of entrepreneurs who are reviving this historic vacation area, dubbed the Borscht Belt during its mid- 20th-century heyday, when hundreds of local resorts catered to Jewish families. The food-focused DeBruce is one of four inns the Fosters have opened in the western Catskills to create an immersive escape for nature-starved city dwellers. “In today’s fast-paced digital world,” Kirsten says, “we crave a more grounded, analog lifestyle,…

Venice “Giudecca is a much quieter, more local island. I especially love Artisti Artigiani del Chiostro, where you can stroll around a serene courtyard and watch glassblowers, mask makers, paper artists, and other artisans at work and buy directly from them.” Hong Kong “Po Lin Monastery is a lovely escape from the buzz. You can also share a vegetarian meal, sitting at communal tables, at the monastery’s restaurant.” Paris “Atelier Brancusi at the Centre Georges Pompidou is often overlooked. It’s a re-creation of Brancusi’s workshop, full of his minimalist, soothing art.” Milan “I love the heart of the Brera neighborhood, with its narrow pedestrian streets and cool shops. There’s great people-watching from benches and cafés, too. Everyone there has such style.” Charleston, South Carolina “The city has a number of…

I FELT EVERYONE watching us. The children sat and looked at us warily, having momentarily stopped their hunt through the trash. Two men broke off their conversation on the steps of a building across the road and now stared silently in our direction. Amit, my friend and guide, stared back. A woman carrying a large bundle of yellow cloth on her head crossed the road and then looked sharply up, noticing us, startled, before hurrying off. All around, I felt the day-to-day life in Shadipur Depot—a slum on the outskirts of New Delhi—stop and take note of our arrival as we stood on the corner. “There,” said Amit a moment later. “That must be him.” A man walked toward us from one of the side streets. He wore a bright…

EAT Orsan Located on the harbor of Gruž Bay across from the cruise ship terminal, Orsan serves fresh seafood and wine from the nearby Pelješac Peninsula. Go for a long lunch. Marina Orsan, Ivana pl Zajca 2, restaurant-orsandubrovnik.com Gradska Kavana Arsenal It’s hard to say what’s more compelling about this romantic Old Town restaurant: the views (a historical trifecta of fortress, port, and city walls) or the food (the freshest seafood, the local wines). Mull it over between bites of sea bass and sips of a Croatian sauvignon blanc on one of the two terraces. Ul. Pred Dvorom 1, nautikarestaurants.com STAY Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik and Hotel Dubrovnik Palace The Adriatic Luxury Hotels group offers a number of lodging options in the city. The landmark Excelsior is a short walk from…

NOVEMBER 29. The morning after my 38th birthday. I’m in midtown Manhattan in a van that’s heading to a meditation center in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. I have meditated before, but not like this. When I arrive, I will take a vow to be silent in body, speech, and mind for 10 days. I am immersing myself in an ancient meditation technique whose ultimate goal is embodied in its name: Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are. I like to take big leaps, and, well, this is a big leap. It is 6:35 p.m. on day 4. For the third time today, I’m spending an hour sitting cross-legged on a cushion, eyes closed, without moving. Before the retreat, I’d never done this for more than 10 minutes, let…

Where’s our blue locator dot? Staring down at the blanket-size map of Sweden, I knew logically that a piece of paper couldn’t reveal our coordinates. But it wasn’t until that moment, sitting in a rental car at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, that I grasped how completely technology had infiltrated my consciousness. Without that little blue dot reassuring me that we were at least facing the right direction, I couldn’t figure out how to begin. You asked for this, I reminded myself. I had wanted to spend a week driving across Sweden without the help of technology. And fortunately, Jeannie, my travel partner for life, was game to forgo Google Maps for the paper kind, Yelp for actually talking to people, and our iPhones for an Instax instant camera with only 60…

•The century-old Swiss company Caran d’Ache has launched its latest line of notebooks (pictured, $54-$60), perfect for stashing into a purse or tote. They come in four colors, two travel-friendly sizes, and include the popular 849 ballpoint pen. For something sleeker, consider the Ecridor set ($250), a collaboration with Danish design brand Hay. It has a pair of slim blue notebooks and two pencils, plus an Ecridor pen (a Caran d’Ache staple since the 1930s). You’ve never looked so good jotting down train times or sketching the skyline.…

WE LIVE IN a world where we’re encouraged to take transformative trips—vacations we fill with experiences that broaden our perspectives and take us outside our comfort zone. But what if the biggest challenge is to do nothing? On a recent trip to the Shore Club in Turks and Caicos (pictured), a new retreat set along secluded Long Bay Beach on the island of Providenciales, I was surprised to find out how hard it can be to take it easy. To some, the beach getaway seems like a cop-out. I was in this camp until recently: A typical trip for me involves a dizzying list of restaurants and off-the-beatenpath hangouts. But this time, I was going to try to slow down. My daily schedule went something like this: Wake up. Eat…

Located south of Osaka on the Kii Peninsula of Japan, the Kumano Kodo trail system is one of only two UNESCO World Heritage pilgrimage sites. Nakahechi, the most sacred of the Kumano’s seven trails, was developed in the 10th century and connects three grand shrines known collectively as the Kumano Sanzan. There are a couple of ways to take on Nakahechi: a 72-mile route that includes a boat ride down the Kumano-gawa River and passes all three shrines, or the 42-mile route that writer Peggy Orenstein traveled, which begins in the village of Takijiri Oji, passes east through the Kii Mountains, and ends at the grand shrine Nachi Taisha. Depending on which route you choose, the trip typically takes three to six days to complete, and while the hiking can…