One of the joys of a visit to Japan is the opportunity to experience a traditional green tea, or matcha, ceremony and tasting. On a spring visit to the island of Shikoku, my tour group was exploring the grounds of Matsuyama Castle when we came...
Editor’s note: Candace Rose Rardon is an American writer, photographer and artist who sketches as she travels. These sketches, combined with the stories behind them, poignantly portray those moments of encounter and illumination that become the stepping stones of adventure, inner and outer. We are...
Two decades ago I enjoyed one of the most memorable meals of my life on a sun-swept terrace in the village of St-Paul de Vence, in southern France. Today, on a similarly sun-swept day in northern California, I’ve been perusing my journal from that long-ago...
Bay Area-based writer and editor Amanda McKee didn’t know what to expect when she embarked on her first trip to Bhutan. The Himalayan kingdom is famed for its policy of Gross National Happiness, but beyond that, it’s a blank on most travelers’ maps. In this...
On June 22, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) voted to recognize Botswana’s Okavango Delta as its 1,000th World Heritage Site. The Delta now joins a select group of the world’s most treasured cultural and natural sites, including the Pyramids, the Great Barrier...
Last month I had the grand pleasure of leading a small group of impassioned and intrepid travelers through Kyoto and Shikoku, Japan. We experienced a splendid spectrum of delights, from visiting with monks and pilgrims at venerable temples and shrines, to making omochi rice paste...
Northern California’s spring-like weather whetted my wanderlust last week, and I found myself rummaging through wine-spattered, curry-stained journals to relive some heady adventures past. In that quest I came across the following remembrance of the Hindu monument of Pambranan, on the Indonesian island of Java;...
Editor’s note: Lonely Planet’s anthology “A Fork in the Road” presents 34 stories that explore the intersection of travel, food, and cultural revelation. Below we excerpt one of the collection’s highlights, a learned and loving celebration of Sri Lankan cuisine by Madhur Jaffrey, regarded by...
My earliest world-wanderings were undertaken through others’ words. As my mother’s voice wove magical word-carpets, I was transported to Narnia by C. S. Lewis, the Sahara and beyond by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and Great Places by Dr. Seuss. In high school and college I journeyed...
About two hours into our first hike, I stop dead in my tracks. To my right, a herd of guanacos perches on a rocky hillside nonchalantly nibbling on grass. To my left, the modest Aviles River tumbles down a small-scale slot canyon toward the Chacabuco...