My long awaited issue of Conde Nast Traveler arrived this week! Check out my favorite notes and highlights from this month’s edition.
Traveler publishes 11 times a year, and my March publishing could not have arrived at a better time. This week I took some much needed rest time to kick back, relax, and actually read through the articles, rather than just pinpoint articles that piqued my interest. I know, I’m not being graded on annotations, but I wanted to take time to reflect and select (a phrase I’m going to copyright, mark my words, literally) what I enjoyed most. The magazine gave me a lot to think about, both in terms of living in my present and getting excited for the future. Not bad for a book made almost entirely of pictures, right?
- Letter from the Editor. First off, let me give it up for a #GirlBoss: Editor-In-Chief of Conde Nast Traveler is Melinda Stevens! We love to see female leadership (I followed her on Instagram so I could see more of it). In her letter, she discussed what became the primary theme of the entire magazine: finding beauty in the ordinary moments. She mentions a trip she took with her family, during which she got into an argument with her husband. It was during the argument that she looked up at her surroundings and realized how insignificant the little things can be, when compared to the extraordinary things around her. Again, this would come up frequently in this issue: how small we are, and how small our problems and minutiae day-to-day tasks are, when compared the vast expanse of earth. It was a beautiful sentiment.
- King George Street. If there’s one word to describe Tel Aviv, it’s “bustling.” It feels like the busiest city on Earth! I’ve only been once, but I remember it just feeling so lively, in every stretch. King George Street is described as a “hidden gem,” where things are just as pretty but somewhat quieter. There are coffeehouses, local jewelers, and an amazing vegan restaurant (fun fact: Tel Aviv has more vegans per capita than in any other city on earth). Reading about King George Street made me miss Israel, and I mentally decided that I want to go back for my 36th birthday.
- Local is the way. Each article, about spots in every corner of the earth, had an underlying theme of picking the smaller, boutique places. Sure, there were ads for mainstream cruise-lines and hotels, but the articles themselves advocated for local restaurants, boutique hotels hosted in former mansions, and green, organic everything! Clearly, eco-tourism has gone mainstream.
- Astro-tourism is also a thing! A prominent feature this month was a story about a contributor going across the southwest to enjoy different stargazing locations. It’s an arduous, delicate thing to plan (can you stay in certain parks past sunset? Is the trip ruined completely by clouds? How can I enjoy all that I can while still respecting the native land?), but the view of the stars all lit up at night, with no bustling city lights to block them out, is worth it. Again, you get a sense of how vast the world around you truly is, and how small you truly are.
- Tucci Gang! “Traveler” concluded with a small blurb from actor Stanley Tucci (who will be hosting a CNN feature about traveling in Italy this year) discussing his favorite parts of Iceland. Funnily enough, Iceland has been at the top of my sister’s travel list for a while; we keep making mental plans to make it a reality once travel restrictions lift!
There’s plenty more that I didn’t mention: honeymooning by yourself in Japan, a family trip to Egypt, and a mother-daughter vacation in Munich, among others. It certainly gave me a lot of ideas for the future: Iceland with my sister, a wellness weekend with my girlfriends, Israel with Aaron, and I would totally do a mom-and-sister trip to anywhere Nordic. I actually feel myself being drawn to Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden these days. We’ll see where that goes… hopefully soon!