Growing up in the 1980s, summer camp promised endless adventures and limited supervision. When I was a kid, I went to camp in Colorado every summer for two weeks. It was the first place I rode a horse, shot a bow and arrow, and got my ear pierced – safety-pin-style – and where I had my first kiss. Over the years, those memories have been faded into the cycle of adult responsibilities, but I’ve always longed to rekindle that not-a-care-in-the-world feeling, even just for a little bit.

Get ready for the Tesla Model S of cruise ships. This month, sustainable-expedition leader Hurtigruten unveiled its plans for a zero-emission, all-electric vessel set to sail along Norway’s coast in 2030. Not only is the new design super-sleek, but its plans call for the longest battery power of any ship to date, with the potential to travel up to 350 nautical miles (around 400 miles) between charges. That’s the same range as the 2023 Model S, only in a 443-foot, 500-passenger vessel.

As Earth Week wraps up, we take the time to remember that stewardship of the Earth should be in our thoughts always. By introducing us to other lands and cultures, travel gives us a deeper appreciation for our planet and all it contains. Our visits make an impact on the destinations and on the Earth as a whole, and we strive to ensure we leave places better than we found them. Several destinations are particularly adept at making their tourism offerings eco-friendly.

Americans are traveling at an unprecedented rate this year as the post-pandemic surge continues. After huge lulls in 2020-21, they’re dusting off their passports and getting ready to set out. In a lot of cases, they’re discovering those passports are expired or about to expire. In record numbers, they’re applying for renewals with the State Department.

We all missed travel a great deal when international borders were closed and rigid COVID protocols were in place. So much so that 85% of respondents in an American Express survey said they were planning multiple trips this year. No doubt some of those are reschedulings of journeys canceled in 2020 as the world shut down. Finally, we have the opportunity to roam freely once more, and we are taking advantage of it.

Asian countries have been among the most cautious in ending COVID restrictions and freely welcoming travelers once again. We’ve already mentioned how in-demand Japan is, and that it’s essentially full for the summer. If the Land of the Rising Sun is on your radar, the time is now to start planning for late 2023 and 2024 to secure space. It’s not the only Asian country enjoying a surge in popularity with most travel requirements removed.

Anyone who loves Paris watched mournfully as the roof of Notre-Dame burned in April 2019, with the Gothic cathedral’s spire falling before the flames went out.

Whoever you travel with, you don’t come back without some part of you changed. There are many ways to travel, and many possible companions, and we celebrate them all. But there’s nothing like solo travel to make you take a long look at your life and do some self-examination. Perhaps it’s coming in the wake of a major life change, maybe you just need some time to yourself, nobody else’s schedule lined up, or maybe you’re just single and this is how you like to travel. Whatever your reasons, there can be a lot of advantages to solo travel.

Yes, you’re sure to get a couple of stares as you board a plane with little ones. They probably won’t be perfect angels the whole flight. There’s a lot of stuff to pack for them, and you might forget a thing or two. A shift in time zones might screw up their sleep patterns for a few days. Despite all this, traveling with kids is absolutely, positively worth it.

Sustainable travel has grown steadily in popularity over the last several years, and as big advocates of the practice, we are thrilled. Some of our favorite companies to work with are the best of the best in the world of sustainable travel. We were very excited to see that a new study by World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Trip.com Group and Deloitte found that 69% of travelers are actively seeking sustainable trips. About 75% of travelers are considering traveling more sustainably in the future, and 60% have chosen sustainable options for their travel in the last couple of years.

There’s a reason so many great cities are built along rivers. They provide natural highways to go from the city to the country and to other cities. They offer majestic views. Beyond the practical, rivers make life along them much more pleasant. So it’s no wonder so many travelers take to river cruises. They can bring you into the heart of a destination, telling the story of the place along their bends. Some of our favorite lines have introduced new ships and itineraries that river cruise enthusiasts should check out.

Finally, Japan is fully open to visitors who are on an organized tour or traveling on their own. And while there is no longer a daily cap on how many travelers can enter the country each day, Japan is open to the whole world and a lot of people are trying to get in. As a result, there is a logjam, and our partners on the ground in Japan advise us that they cannot take any more bookings before autumn.

With the world back at our fingertips, we’re anxious to explore as much as we can this year. Our lists have only gotten longer since a significant stretch of downtime, and we could only check so many boxes off in 2021 and 2022. The world is full of places and cultures to savor, which is why we love travel so much. We limited ourselves to one place per continent for this list, only because we have to draw the line somewhere.

The easiest New Year’s resolutions to keep are the ones you really want to do, the ones that provide the proper motivation. Unless your heart is in it, odds are against anyone sticking with their resolution for the whole year. We’d be willing to bet you’d like to spend more quality time with your family. We imagine you’d like to spend more time away from work and its associated stresses. You’d probably prefer to spend your precious time relaxing and focusing on the things that matter with the people who matter most to you.

This festive season is an especially festive one. Hanukkah is under way and goes through sunset on Dec. 26, overlapping with Christmas and Kwanzaa this year. An exciting, if sometimes chaotic, year of travel is culminating with the first “normal” festive season in three years. The next year holds a lot of promise, with more countries fully opening and restrictions mostly a memory. We tell you this every year, but it’s not too early to start planning your 2023, even for the festive season. There’s still a great deal of pent-up demand.

Some people on your gift list are harder to shop for than others. A gift that’s more open-ended than most gives them the flexibility to almost pick their own present. With the growing tendency to prefer experiences over things, the Gift of Travel makes for a perfect stocking-stuffer. Trust us, they won’t want to return this.

Travel in 2022 has been something else. After pandemic restrictions that kept international travel down for two years, people were willing to put up with just anything to satisfy their wanderlust. And boy, did they. So many people tried to fit their revenge travel in that airlines and airports still short-staffed from pandemic-related layoffs and early retirements were overwhelmed. Flights were canceled by the hundreds, luggage was lost at an astounding rate, and the Transportation Department designed a new rule to compensate passengers who experience cancellations or lengthy delays. Amid inflation and huge demand, prices were at record levels. Things got so crazy at London’s Heathrow airport that they had to cap the number of travelers coming through each day, and the CEO told Forbes that disruptions could continue through next summer. Things aren’t all the way back to the way they were in 2019, but the 2023 travel outlook is much rosier. There are still some things to watch out for, however.

It’s Thanksgiving time. Which means it’s also time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday specials. We’re thankful for each and every one of you, and the best way we can show our appreciation is to share the best deals we’ve come across from some of our favorite Virtuoso-preferred suppliers. This way we can help you get started with planning your next adventure with us, a privilege we’re especially thankful for.

“I’m going on an adventure!” Bilbo Baggins yells exuberantly as he rushes out of his Hobbit hole through Hobbiton. It’s a feeling we all share when we’re getting ready to go on our own adventures. The anticipation builds as we imagine ourselves in an unfamiliar place, ready to challenge ourselves with new experiences and to see things we’ve only dreamed of. We can’t stop ourselves from telling everyone all about it, before, during and after the trip. That sense of adventure keeps us packing our bags again and again, and these are some of those adventures we most look forward to.

Town and country. There’s been conflict between the two from time immemorial. Even as Rome rose up to dominate the Mediterranean world and grow to a city of a million people, poets lamented the destruction of the countryside and its simpler way of life. Urban and rural are often pitted against each other, but they’ve always relied on each other. The cramped bustle of the city, the art, architecture, the culture, they’re all offset and fed by the bounty and sprawl of the countryside. The best of everything from the surrounding countryside gathers in the city to reach a larger audience, be it produce or talent, and the city takes that input from all over and hones it into something new, something great. When you’re traveling, a great way to gain a well-rounded sense of a place is to spend time in the city and the country surrounding it. These are a few of the best places in the world to do that.