Why do we travel for water?

The place was still in the grip of its long dry season.

All around us, a landscape of parched, golden grassland was dotted with villages.

travel + leisure editorial director and editor in chief at the beach

Buffalo grazed in the fields.

Along the road we passed young men riding bareback on lean, sinewy horses.

The rice fields were punctuated with billowing white flags to scare the birds away.

pull quote from Elizabeth Rhodes

pull quote from Paul Brady

Alisha Prakash’s headshot and a quote that reads “I have this magnetic pull to the water – almost the hypnotic lapping of waves on a beach, the susurrus of a river, and the stillness of a lake that beckons play with a kayak or canoe. It’s my refuge, my good-for-the-soul break I crave each year."

pull quote from Erin Agostinelli

The Water Issue

Two people kayak in the crystal clear waters

A family kayaking and paddle boarding on a lake

Crystal Symphony Seahorse Pool & Jacuzzi

Article image

Aerial view of three people skating on a frozen lake in Sweden

Ice walking the Maligne Canyon in Jasper, Canada

A cruise ship sailing on the ocean

landscape of bog pools and wetlands

Standing atop Fort Jefferson watching the sun set and the Milky way come into view over the calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico

Islands and boats made from totora reeds on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia

Aerial view of a man walking on Botanical Beach in Canada

Coffee drinks on ice and roasted coffee beans in Costa Rica

Overhead view of a rocky coastline and beach in Scotland

LimeOut floating bar and restaurant in the US Virgin Islands

fish swimming in the sea

wavy line

View of a beach and water through a walkway

Aerial view of a couple on a beach in St Croix

Moai statues on Easter Island, Rapa Nui, Chile

An Isle Pioneer Inflatable stand up paddle board floating in a lake

person walking on sandy beach