When I travel, I want to be Marco Polo, a pioneer encountering little-known people and places. I want to feel the exuberance of newness rather than the comfort of well-trodden paths. I want to be transported to a world unlike my own, where I am emotionally, visually, physically stimulated by...

First, there is fantasy Fiji: azure waters, palm-speckled islands, pristine beaches and locals calling out "Bula!" meaning "Hello, blessings, hello!"

Then there is exotic Fiji: a village where the descendants of the ancient Lapita people still make pottery; another where locals wade in tidal flats to gather and boil salt;...

My Tunisian friend, a Muslim, summed it up very succinctly. There are three scenarios that are possible in Libya after the fall of Gaddafi.

1. A real democracy
2. Radical Islamists take over, which he said would be bad for Libya and the whole region.
3. A civil war, like in Iraq.

Quebec City has its act together. It's upbeat, safe, historic, culturally rich, easy to navigate, friendly—and has so many eateries, drinkeries and festivals that it seems to be in party mode all year long.

I just spent a week in Quebec, parlezing French and compiling a hit parade of my...

Three words made me want to go to Churchill in the summer: snorkeling with belugas. Three words made me terrified of going to Churchill in the summer: frigid Arctic waters.

Let's put it this way: I once wore a parka in Hawaii. I...

It's safe to guess that you are not booking travel right now to the Middle East or North Africa. Your eyeballs are probably exploding from scenes of riot, devastation, repression, shooting, looting, murder, mayhem and burning. You'd much rather frolic on a beach, sample new foods, swim, sun, sleep and...

We are a force to be reckoned with. We have passports, luggage, maps, guidebooks, ipads, ipods, and an insatiable curiosity about the world. We go to ceremonies in Brazil, on treks in Patagonia, take cooking lessons in France, hunt truffles in Italy, meet Aboriginal people in the Outback, visit temples...

Sometimes you have to go back into the past to understand the present. While we are all riveted to the images coming out of Egypt, there is a larger and very significant change happening right now that begs to be put into a larger context. It escalates the protests in...

Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, is burning. There are riots in the street in the tourist town of Hammamet. Police opened fire. Young demonstrators were killed. The president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, said he would order the police not to fire live ammo. He vowed to stop censorship,...

There's this organ in the middle of my chest that obliges me every second of every day by beating. It can be wounded, disarmed and stunned, but it keeps on doing its job. And it only asks me for one thing in return: "stay open," it whispers. "Just stay open."...

When I count my blessings, I include, after love, health, friends, work, quirk and fun, the luxury hotels I have been fortunate to stay in as part of my job. From Hong Kong to Honduras, and from South Africa to Scottsdale, I have spa-ed, soaked, swum, wined and dined in...

To mosque or not to mosque, that is the question. Once again, the lines are drawn in the sand, people are polarizing and taking sides... but there is another way to look at this.

Last year, I traveled to Syria, which has been depicted in the media as the...

As I rode on a bus from Voss to Gudvangen in Norway, the friendly driver announced, "There's a Viking Market this weekend in Gudvangen. Some Norwegians like to amuse themselves by getting dressed up like Vikings, but it sure doesn't sound like fun to me." That would have discouraged most...

Brava to Elizabeth Gilbert for putting experience back in travel. She didn't go to the three I's -- Italy, Indonesia and India -- to look at buildings. Her heart may have been aching, but it also managed to be open to what was happening around her as well as inside...