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I Took a Solo Trip to This Pacific Northwest Island and It Left Me Feeling Renewed — Here's How to Plan a Relaxing Visit

Courtesy of Embrace Whidbey and Catano Islands Rivulets streamed down the inside of my head-to-toe rain gear. It was the start of the rainy season, and I was seeking solitude on Whidbey Island. But it shouldnt be. Deception Pass State Park.Credit:Courtesy of Embrace Whidbey and Catano Islands It was a dramatic entrance, with the fog thick and the rain coming down in sheets. Belathee Photography/Courtesy of Captain Whidbey This was my first plane trip since the pandemic....

I Took an 'Oyster Safari' During a Road Trip Along Denmark's Coast — Here's How You Can, Too

But I wasnt searching for the Big Five in Tanzania. The next morning I drove west, then south along the coast. My first stop was Blavand, a town on the windswept Blavandshuk headland. From left: Hjerting Badehotel, an inn on the Ho Bay in Esbjerg, dates back to 1914; lobster with tomatoes and herbs at Henne Kirkeby Kro, an 18th-century inn in the town of Henne.Credit:From left: Courtesy of Hjerting Badehotel; Anders Schoennemann/Courtesy of Henne Kirkeby Kro...

I Took an Alaskan Cruise to See Bears, Killer Whales, and Secret Beaches — Here's How You Can, Too

On an Indigenous-owned expedition cruise, one writer sees Alaskas majestic wilderness with the people who know it best. I was setting off for a beach walk onshore with 10 other passengers, plus expedition leader Simon Hook. Just as the engine revved up, Hook pulled back the throttle. Part of the Boundary Ranges, which flank the Alaska-Canada border.Credit: David Swanson My heart pulsed as Hook wheeled the craft around and slowly motored parallel to the whales' path....

I Took Dagne Dover’s Seattle Carry-on to St. Thomas — Here’s Why It’s My New Go-to Suitcase

Weindependently evaluateall of our recommendations. If you select links we provide, we may receive compensation. Softside luggage is so back! Credit:Travel + Leisure A practical suitcase that also looks the part? Had I found a unicorn? Maybe, but I had to put it to the test to know for sure. Credit: Dagne Dover How did they pull this off? It was evident that Dagne Dover poured over every meticulous detail when it came to design....

I Took My 11-year-old Son on an Off-grid Winter Adventure in Alaska — and It Was the Best Trip We’ve Ever Taken

Learning the elements of survival on an Alaskan wilderness adventure. SEAN PENG/dancewithlight.com The far north is a good place to be alone with ones thoughts. We arrived at the homestead in time for a lunch of gamy and flavorful moose stew. Jenna Jonas leads a team of sled dogs near her Alaska homestead.Credit:SEAN PENG/dancewithlight.com An outhouse, protected by birchbark walls, stood about a minutes hike away. David stopped to point out the tracks of lynx and otters....

I Took My Dad Fishing in the Florida Keys — and Found Outdoor Adventure, Beautiful Hotels, and Intriguing History Along the Way

Nina Ruggiero/Travel + Leisure My dad and I don’t speak every day. He lives on the East Coast, and I live on the West. We’re lucky if we see each other once every few months. Credit:Nina Ruggiero/Travel + Leisure But four years ago, we started a tradition: taking one father-daughter fishing trip a year. In Alaska, we took a float plane over Misty Fjords and kayaked with humpback whales. (Read: I really wanted to witness my dad handling his first-ever jet ski....

I Took My Daughter Camping in the Hebrides in Search of Our Scottish Heritage — Here's What We Found

A mother and daughter are transformed by a sojourn in western Scotland. Wind whistled between the tethers, and waves crashed just below. He came with his young son, and was grieving the death of his wife. The Hebridean Sea Safari camp on the Isle of Jura.Credit:Murray Orr Orwell called the island un-get-at-able. It was as if wed found ourselves inside an illustration in a book of fairy tales. The history of my people bears little resemblance to theScotlandof the American imagination....

I Took My Family of 3 on a Weeklong Vacation to Mexico City for Less Than $3,000 — Including Flights and an Overnight at a Cliffside Hot Springs Resort

If you press links we provide, we may receive compensation. Here’s how we did it. (Kids fly free on major U.S. airlines until their 2nd birthday.) Credit:Evie Carrick/Travel + Leisure I was especially excited to experienceMexico City’s food scene. Cost:$1,729 For this trip, flights accounted for almost two-thirds of our total budget. Tickets to Mexico City from our regional airport were $687 per adult. Additionally, we had to pay $355 for my daughters one-way return ticket....

I Took My Family on a Bird-watching Safari in Botswana — and It Was the Trip of a Lifetime

Wed spotted giant kingfishers, pied kingfishers, and woodland kingfishers (the boys are big on kingfishers). But one little sucker remained elusive: the violet-eared waxbill. In the pictures I saw, the bird looked like a figment of the imagination. Clockwise from left: The black-winged stilt uses its long beak to harvest insects and crustaceans under the water; giant eagle owls are a large species known to play dead when confronted by predators; African fish eagles have one of the most distinctive calls of any African bird; the three-banded plover inhabits wetland edges, where it forages for insects in the mud; cattle egrets perform an elaborate mating display with their ornamental wing plumes....

I Took My Family Skiing in Switzerland’s Crans-Montana, and It Was the Best Vacation We’ve Ever Had

I mean, not 100 percent Im not an animal. I am theoretically capable of experiencing joy, wanderlust, and many other positive human emotions. Im talking about the other part of me. Etang Grenon, a small lake at the heart of the Swiss municipality of Crans-Montana.Credit:Clara Tuma Its sort of our place. For the past year, my family and I have been living in Madrid. When a school break comes around, no one talks aboutskiing in Jackson or Steamboat or Tahoe....

I Took My Family to Copenhagen, and It Was Our Best Vacation Yet

ASMUS HJORTSHOJ/COURTESY OF DANISH ARCHITECTURE CENTER; Hanne Fuglbjerg/Courtesy of Danish Architecture Center What is that? But it manages to make this seemingly academic topic engaging for younger visitors. Inside, get oriented with a giant aerial map of the city streets and canals. An interactive exhibit at Copenhagen’s Danish Architecture Center.Credit:ASMUS HJORTSHOJ/COURTESY OF DANISH ARCHITECTURE CENTER; Hanne Fuglbjerg/Courtesy of Danish Architecture Center The twisting four-story slide designed by Carsten Holler is also sure to elicit screams of delight....

I Took My First Cruise in 20 Years — Here's Why This Sailing Was the Perfect Reintroduction

Here’s what I learned hopping aboard my first ship in 20 years. Its a big day, he added. A big day indeed both for himandfor me. Credit:Courtesy of Azamara This was my very first cruise in 20 years. In September, I stepped aboard theAzamara Questfor itsseven-day Croatia Intensivesailing. Stacey Leasca It was a trip I met with both excitement and confusion. Stacey Leasca What do I pack? Which shore excursion do I choose?...

I Took My Kids on a Luxury Vacation on Italy's Amalfi Coast — Here's How You Can Do It, Too

But for one T+L editor, bringing the kids along made the trip even more fun. It all began, as things often do when you’re a child, with a story. Last spring, a book called “Pompeii…Buried Alive!” Guest rooms at Sorrento’s Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria overlook the Bay of Naples.Courtesy of Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria became the subject of intense fascination for my daughter, Stella, and her little brother, Leo. But then it dawned on us....