Lina Zeldovich

Slightly up north of Madrid and Barcelona, nestling at the foothills of the Pyrenees, lies the region of Aragon, rich in history and natural beauty. Here, green hills hug the soaring mountains and dense forests open up to flowering meadows. Down in the valleys, ancient castles hide among the olive groves, endless vineyards disappear into the horizon and centuries-old villages bask in the Mediterranean sun all summer long.
Aragon’s historical claim to fame reaches all the way to America. Known...

A smiling Korean woman plops a dollop of multicolored batter on a sizzling pan, where it quickly transforms into a crispy pancake. She cuts the golden-brown circle in two, places the half-moon pieces into espresso-size paper cups, and hands them to my husband, Dennis, and me. “That’s a mung bean pancake—a staple,” says our guide Michelle Hong, who is leading our small group on a food tour of the more than century-old Gwangjang Market in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. “It’s made with mung beans, rice, minced pork and kimchi."

After surviving colonisation, deforestation and enforced labour, Costa Rica’s Indigenous people are reviving traditions and ecosystems lost to the centuries – and visitors are welcome to join in

Do-Re-Mi,” sings my guide Amelia Höring, who’s standing in the middle of Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, Austria. Most guides don’t sing on city tours, but here it’s fitting—this year, Salzburg, where The Sound of Music was filmed, celebrates the 60th anniversary of the much-loved movie.

This centuries-old Korean subculture of free-diving women is almost gone.

Yun Yeun Oak, an 80-year-old Korean free diver, brings a tray of seafood to my table. She puts it down and names the contents of the little bowls, each holding a different type of today’s catch. “This is a sea cucumber, this is a sea pineapple, and this is sea urchin,” she says in Korean, as Michelle Hong, the tour guide from Intrepid Travel, translates. The food is so fresh, it still carries the ocean scent with it. I...

I am walking on a centuries-old cobblestone street in Alquézar, a medieval village in the Aragon region of Spain’s Pyrenees, looking for a family-owned bakery Panaderia O'Forno, famed for their rare treat. Called dobladillo, it’s a thin, crispy folded pastry filled with almond paste and Alquézar is one of the very few places to relish it...

Nearly 200 years before slavery was abolished in the US, Black freedom-seekers journeyed south instead of north to a place that promised freedom.

In October 1687, a dugout canoe arrived at the shores of St Augustine, then a settlement in Spanish Florida and now the oldest continuously occupied city in the mainland US. The canoe carried eight men and two women, one of whom was holding a toddler in her arms...

A jewel of Asia, Singapore boasts a uniquely rich fusion of four cultures: Chinese, Indian, Eurasian, and Malay. Originally called Singa Pura by a prince who spotted a lion-like creature when he came ashore, the name means the Lion City, symbolizing courage, excellence, and strength. With bold architecture, high sustainability ratings, top-notch service and gourmet cuisine, Singapore delivers on all counts...

A smiling Korean woman plops a dollop of multicolored batter on a sizzling pan, where it quickly transforms into a crispy pancake. She cuts the golden-brown circle in two, places the half-moon pieces into espresso-size paper cups, and hands them to my husband, Dennis,and me. “That’s a mung bean pancake—a staple,” says our guide Michelle Hong…

Ben Brandao remembers his first official introduction to comb jellies vividly. It was 2017 and he was running kayaking tours in Cape Canaveral, Florida, taking people to see bioluminescence—a phenomenon in which some creatures emit light. In late October that year, two buses full of geneticists pulled up at the shore to join his tour.

“Next stop is ‘The Fountain of Youth,’” announces my trolley driver as we begin rolling along the winding road in the heart of St. Augustine. “Get off here if you want to test its salubrious qualities.” I followed his directive, eager to visit the legendary Fountain of Youth, with its miraculous healing powers a staple of St. Augustine’s lore.

French Courchevel and Swiss St Moritz may the most famous of the European ski resorts, but they’re also crowded and pricey. Smaller and less-visited Alpine villages offer more authentic regional experiences, more affordable lift tickets, shorter lines, uncrowded slopes and boundless trails that start or end at your hotel — and sometimes even at your room.

A playful black-and-white capuchin monkey jumps across the wooden walkway right in front of me. Her companions leisurely walk on the walkway banisters, not minding people holding their breaths while filming the show with their phones. It’s just another day in the Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica, where some wild creatures are so used to humans that it see...

I’m sitting at La Flor de Lis, an artisanal restaurant in Zaragoza, the capital of Spain’s Aragon region, poking at my unconventional appetiser: rabbit meat with tomatoes, sprinkled with pine nuts vinaigrette and a dollop of thyme-infused ice-cream. The dish calls itself a salad, yet I never thought I’d see such ingredients together on the same plate. I work up enough courage, savour a mouthful—and find myself in awe. The melting ice-cream, whose sweetness is balanced by thyme and the vinaigr...

Long flights, especially overnight flights, are the bane of travelers’ existence. The basic economy seats that barely recline and the ever-shrinking legroom add to the discomfort. No one enjoys being twisted into a pretzel for hours, but if you’re flying to Europe, Asia, or Africa, you’re in for, unfortunately, a long flight. The good news is that there are a few ways that you can make...