Inhoudsopgave van Fall 2024 - AFAR

Traveling with kids is not always easy. On a recent trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with my three boys (age 8 and twins age 3), one tried to board a flight to Seattle, another dusted our seats with pretzel crumbs, and the third nicked his finger in the luggage carousel. But it was all worth it once we arrived; I will never forget the looks of wonder on their faces as they released baby turtles into the sea. Family travel can have immense benefits for the whole clan. In a 2023 survey from the Family Travel Association, 82 percent of respondents said the experience brings them closer, 79 percent said it enriches a child’s education, and 73 percent said it makes them better global citizens. A third believed it…

I WAS PERHAPS a little nervous for our voyage through Greece’s Corinth Canal, the narrowest and deepest manmade canal in the world. Our yacht, Windstar Cruises’ 312-passenger Star Legend, was about 63 feet wide. The canal was just 18 feet wider. This was a rarefied experience. Only a few small-ship cruise lines operate through the canal, just a handful of trips each year that are mostly for repositioning purposes. But for travelers, a trip through the Corinth Canal is an opportunity to experience an engineering wonder that is arguably more thrilling than the Suez: The nearly four-mile-long, lockless trench was begun under Roman Emperor Nero’s rule in 67 C.E., completed in 1893, and recently reopened after a few years of repairs. Today, the one-hour crossing lets travelers see the historic…

Opened in October 2023, Cambria Hotel Detroit Downtown is one of the more recent in a string of new hotels that reuse older buildings. At 154 rooms, it adds much-needed space for visitors downtown now that the city is attracting more large-scale conventions and events. As executive chef, James Sumpter oversees the hotel’s multiple food and beverage options. These include Cibo, a Mediterranean restaurant; Detroit Taco, a fast-casual Mexican spot; and the recently opened rooftop bar Cielo. “I’VE BEEN THE EXECUTIVE chef for Cambria Hotel for about two years. The journey through construction and opening the hotel was, let me say, an undertaking. The building was the old WWJ radio station, one of the original radio stations with only three letters as opposed to four. That old building is where…

ON A SUNNY SPRING DAY, I stood at the top of a steep hill in Nepal’s Himalayan mountain range. I turned to look at the path I’d just trekked. In the distance I could see the tall pine forest and glacial river I had traversed. Behind me was Pema Choling, a 17th-century Buddhist monastery in the vivid colors and distinctive architectural style seen throughout Nepal’s Khumbu region—reds, greens, golds, and a repeating pattern of squares and flowers. Recalling the instructions that my group’s guide, Pasang Temba Sherpa, had given me two days prior, I spun the 32 prayer wheels on the front wall: clockwise, with the right hand, and with a positive thought for the universe. I was on the second day of a 12-day trek run by local hospitality…

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, we published the first issue of Afar. As cofounder and CEO, I’m so proud of what we have been able to accomplish in the years since. Since our inception, we’ve sought to make a positive impact on the world through high-quality storytelling that inspires, enriches, and empowers travelers who care. We’re guided by our purpose: to make the world a better place through travel experiences that benefit the traveler personally, support the communities visited, and are sensitive to the effects on our planet. The media industry has faced significant business challenges since we launched. Recently, the remarkable Zita Cobb of Fogo Island Inn in Newfoundland, Canada, told me something that resonated: “It has become increasingly clear to me that it matters very much how things are owned.”…

These days, Detroit is often considered in terms of rebirth, revival, and comeback, a path forged and realized after the city’s bankruptcy filing in 2013. But that straightforward trajectory—from hopeless cause to creative hub—is a reductionist way to view the place that gave us both Motown and the automobile. Most Detroiters will tell you not to call it a “comeback,” because the city isn’t going back to how it was. Instead, locals hope that Detroit’s ongoing redevelopment leads to a place with more equal opportunities for its diverse population. This progress is most visible in its adaptive reuse projects, where husks of historic, sometimes derelict, buildings are being transformed into new centers of culture. Take Michigan Central, a Beaux-Arts–era abandoned train station that reopened in 2024 as a 30-acre “innovation…

I’D TAKEN solo trips off the grid: Finnish Lapland, Okinawa, far reaches of New Mexico. And I’d long desired to visit the Peruvian Amazon, part of the world’s largest rainforest. But when it came time to book, I hesitated. No electricity? No cell service? Just … me? It all seemed a little too out there. But I pushed myself outside my comfort zone, and three months later, found myself at a lodge on the Ucayali River, the headwater of the Amazon. “You here alone?” asked another female guest. “Brave.” I didn’t feel brave that first night when I noticed a spider the size of my hand on the bed. Or when I heard a thud on the thatched roof, followed by scratching from an unknown source. Still, I felt an…

The SkyWheel You can’t see all 60 miles of Myrtle Beach’s ocean views at once, but a ride on the SkyWheel is the closest you can get. It’s the largest observation wheel on the East Coast, and with their new sunrise flights, you can enjoy coffee, pastries, and views of the sunrise over the Atlantic in a private climate-controlled gondola. Brookgreen Gardens It’s on many must-see lists in Myrtle Beach for a reason. Brookgreen Gardens became the first public botanical and sculpture garden in 1932 and currently displays American art, 250-year-old live oak trees, palmetto palms, a butterfly garden and more. Its Lowcountry Zoo and historical trail also exhibits and protects native species and historical sites. J&L Kayaking Tours With the Intracoastal Waterway, you can get out on wake-free water…

I SMILED as I passed the Palm Court. Inside, a DJ was playing music, and guests were roaring with laughter and clinking their glasses. Signs of a good night, I thought. It wasn’t the first time during this Danube River cruise that I felt like I was enjoying life on the boat just as much as—if not more than—the excursions to some of Europe’s most beloved cities. Over the past few days I’d been sailing from Budapest to Vienna on Riverside Luxury Cruises’ Riverside Mozart, and I’d noticed something else too. Extravagances like champagne and caviar had become part of my regular diet, I’d grown accustomed to spa treatments with high-end products from Natura Bissé, and I’d been spoiled by the amount of breathing room on board. Riverside is known…

TWENTY SUMMERS AGO, my husband, Matt, and I swam down the Aare River in Switzerland with a dog named Arcas. I don’t love dogs, which has always felt like a moral failing. But Arcas was special. He belonged to one of our closest friends, August, who is Swiss German and was spending the year in Bern. Arcas was a puppy then, a rust-red farm dog with one ear up and one ear down who was a little afraid of the water. Fed by the Bernese Alps, the Aare is known for being cold, fast, and milky blue. It runs through Bern, the capital of Switzerland, past the elegant domes of Parliament and the Gothic cathedral tower that anchors the medieval-era Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We walked a…

WHERE TO EAT Dining in Detroit starts with its eponymous rectangular, deep-dish pizza. The place to try it is Buddy’s—because it’s where the square, fluffy local pie was first created, by using steel pans from an automobile factory. Meanwhile, several new hotels are serving notable fare too: At the Godfrey Hotel, Hamilton’s elevates classic American food, while Hiroki-San, located in the Book Tower, features ingredients imported weekly from Japan. Sweet tooths can be satisfied with chocolates from Bon Bon Bon, a cult-favorite salted maple pie slice from Sister Pie, or a nostalgic cone of frozen custard from Huddle Soft Serve (with sprinkles, of course). For East African eats, head to Baobob Fare and order the 24-hour-marinated samaki (flash-fried fish with sweet plantains, stewed yellow lentils, and sautéed onions). The restaurant…