Conde Nast Traveler September/October 2019

CULTURE + CHARM In Charleston, daily life is accompanied by a gentle harmony of church bells, rustling palmetto fronds, and lyrical sea island accents. Church steeples—not skyscrapers—dot the skyline, and a tangible connection to the past permeates the community. For more than 300 years, the Charleston area’s evocative beauty has inspired artists, travelers, writers, and musicians. Discover the people, places, and traditions found only in Charleston. History loves company. LUXURIOUS STAY With the perfect combination of beautiful beaches, world-class cuisine, and an endless supply of engaging things to see and do, it’s no wonder the Charleston area is consistently named a top U.S. destination. Choose among top-rated luxury hotels, full-service resorts, a quaint villa on the Atlantic, or small, private bed and breakfasts and charming historic inns to experience Charleston’s signature hospitality. LOCAL FLAVOR The…

RECENTLY, I RETURNED TO IBIZA, a place I have been to many times. But on this trip I wasn’t with the people I usually go with, and I wasn’t in an area I really knew. It was an odd sensation. Like looking at the reflection of your face in the back of a spoon. Kind of your face, but also kind of not. Our hotel was in the Old Town. No one stays in the Old Town really, although with its wonky cobbled streets and castle on the hill I can’t work out why. Its peeling walls, its melted-butter-colored houses, all the laundry strung like a code of linen, a bark, a song, a yelp. One evening, sitting out on the street having supper, I looked up to a second-floor…

In 2020, 2 billion people will travel to islands, deserts, jungles, glaciers, and volcanoes at the far corners of our planet. A few may even see its fragile beauty from space. Our earth is still a wonder, all the more so now that the clock ticks on its preservation. But the way we—the nomads born of a peripatetic generation—journey upon it is ever evolving. The digital age, globalization, immigration, and technology have lifted not only borders but our wanderlust, pushing us farther, increasingly hungry for novelty and the solitude of wilder frontiers. Now, with much of the world reachable, gentrifying, brag-snapped, and posted, we have begun to turn our journeys inward to become meaningful explorers of ourselves and find a more profound connection with our planet. But this is not…

The thing is, you can just go. You don’t need permission. You don’t need to ask anyone what they want to do, or eat, or see. The only schedule and budget that matter are yours. The only moods that need to be indulged, negotiated, bolstered? Yours. Sometimes it’s a difficult question: What do I want? We’re used to compromises, to accommodating others. But ask yourself. If the answer is “I don’t know,” that’s not a problem—it’s an opportunity. Driving alone in New Zealand, I passed a sign for glider rides. I don’t know. Might be scary. I drove on for 10 minutes, turned around. Then I was in the tiny cockpit of a sleek, engineless plane, a pilot behind me, no sound but the wind, nothing between us and the…

THE OUTDOOR DIVERSIFIER JENNY BRUSO Self-identifying as “fat, femme, queer, a former indoor kid,” Bruso caught the hiking bug seven years ago on a date near her hometown of Portland, Oregon, but began to notice how much she stood out on the trails. The great American wilderness just wasn’t very diverse—or so it seemed from advertising imagery and boots on the ground. So in 2016 she founded the Instagram community Unlikely Hikers, showcasing nonwhite, queer, trans, and gender-nonconforming hikers; now she partners with the U.S. National Forests, leading groups to Mount Rainier and encouraging others to hit the trail, like trekking drag queen Pattie Gonia. Grassroots power at its most inspiring. THE EXPERIENTIAL EVANGELIST OZZY YERLIKAYA E.M. Forster’s prescription to “only connect” can be tricky to put into practice when traveling—it’s easy to leave a…

LAGOS, NIGERIA It’s one of Africa’s liveliest creative scenes, with ART X Lagos, October Fashion Week, and multiple Afrobeat stars. The Wheatbaker hotel hosts rotating art shows; try Nok for ramped-up street food. MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA The light rail chugs by 19 breweries (including Falling Knife), while the Korean short-rib pizza at Young Joni is one reason Ann Kim snatched the James Beard Award for best Midwest chef this year. SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, MEXICO Heard of it? Didn’t think so. While we gringos are schlepping through Mexico City, this former gold- and silver-mining capital is a hit with domestic visitors for its Baroque Templo de San Francisco de Asis. AALBORG, DENMARK This former industrial hub in the sunny north is now at the forefront of urban sustainability, reviving its waterfront with architectural hits. Take the train from Copenhagen…