Innehållsförteckning för Fall 2023 från AFAR

EMANUEL HAHN Photographer Born in the U.S., photographer Emanuel Hahn spent most of his childhood abroad and grew up in several countries around the world. One constant throughout his life: Koreatowns in American cities have always felt like home. In From K-Town With Love (p.80), an excerpt from his new book Koreatown Dreaming (Running Press, 2023), Hahn explores his connection to these neighborhoods. “Having a place where you can feel safe and be yourself without performing for other groups of people is very important,” he says. See more of his photography on Instagram @hahnbo. KATHLEEN RELLIHAN Writer For Epic Trips by the Numbers (p.51), Brooklyn-based writer Kathleen Rellihan hiked Switzerland’s Great Aletsch Glacier, the largest, longest, and thickest ice stream in the Alps. The experience was bittersweet for Rellihan: Glaciers…

A sea of ice surrounds me as I trek the Great Aletsch Glacier, located southeast of Bern in the heart of Switzerland—the largest, longest, thickest glacier in the Alps. In 2001, it was chosen as part of the first alpine UNESCO World Heritage site, and it’s almost too much to take in: Spanning 31 square miles and half a mile deep in places, the glacier has a total volume of more than 10 billion tons of ice. It’s so massive it can be seen from space. As I hear my crampons crunch solidly beneath me, I feel exhilarated. But as I look out over endless marbled ice dunes streaked with gray rock and see the deep crevasses we’ll have to navigate on this six-hour hike, I also feel a touch…

AS I EXITED HEATHROW this past summer, I was greeted by a life-size elephant. More specifically, a giant billboard that advertised how one of the world’s largest airports was switching to 100 percent renewable energy and sustainable fuels—or, in its words, “tackling the elephant in the airport.” When I looked for an Uber, the app offered the option to take an electric vehicle. As we drove into London, road signs stated that we were entering a designated Ultra Low Emission Zone. And at the Waitrose supermarket in Victoria, I spied a carbon-neutral IPA beer. As little as five years ago, it felt to me that sustainability was still on the fringes. Some individuals and organizations considered their carbon footprint, but the average traveler to London wouldn’t think too hard about…

Launched in 2016, the AFAR Travel Vanguard celebrates organizations that are making travel a force for good. Out of nearly 130 nominees this year, we selected seven honorees, including a nonprofit working to bring back an ancient wilderness, a luxury cruise line pioneering new green technologies, and a hotel brand that prioritizes art and artists. Read on to learn more about these changemakers.…

AFTER A PANDEMIC and a racial reckoning, as travel tiptoed back toward normalcy, the city of Baltimore saw an opportunity. Not everyone felt they could just pretend the last few years hadn’t happened. “When it comes to travel in the United States, the reality is that there are destinations where many individuals still feel unwelcome or even unsafe while visiting,” says Al Hutchinson, president and CEO of Visit Baltimore, the city’s official tourism board. So in 2021, Visit Baltimore unveiled the Warm Welcome program, which seeks to tell all visitors, regardless of who they are, that the city is a place for them. To date, more than 80 hotels, restaurants, museums, and other tourism establishments have signed up to participate in the program. It requires that they make a pledge…

FOUR SEASONS RESORT MAUI AT WAILEA Maui The 383 rooms and 72 suites here channel the ocean, which is on display through large windows. Guests can learn more about the sea through such adventures as the Wayfinder’s Journey, a catamaran trip for up to six passengers hosted by respected navigator Kala Baybayan Tanaka (pictured left), whose skills come down through her Polynesian forebears and her father, a master navigator. fourseasons.com/maui 1 HOTEL HANALEI BAY Kaua‘i This garden-filled, 252-room hotel opened in February 2023 along the two-mile-long Hanalei Bay. The property’s Seedlings program helps younger guests ages four to 12 understand nature and marine ecosystems through hands-on activities. The Marine Life Magic class takes them through tide pools to talk about fish and other wildlife and to introduce ecofriendly ideas like…

I’m usually OK with heights, but this situation is a little different: I find myself leaning over the edge of a 140-foot cliff with nothing but a rope and a harness to keep me from an imminent, gruesome demise. It’s the equivalent of dangling off the roof of a 14-story building, and a sudden rush of anxiety fills me as I realize what I’m about to do. I’m atop a craggy sandstone rock face in southwestern Utah, and I’m gathering the nerve to plunge down it in an epic rappel, the grand finale of an all-day canyoneering tour. This region is best known for Zion National Park, which draws adventurers from around the world with its giant, photogenic red boulders and awe-inspiring canyons. However, the magnificent geology continues beyond the…

TOUR THE CAPITAL(S) Situated on the Gulf of Oman, Muscat is the country’s capital and home to more than 1.4 million people. One of its best-known sights is the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Oman’s largest, which is an icon of the city skyline and features an intricate hand-loomed carpet and a massive chandelier. Don’t miss a performance at the storied Royal Opera House, another of the capital’s architectural landmarks. At sunset, walk the Mutrah Corniche along Muscat’s harbor, which is lined with restaurants and markets. To stay, check into the 162-room beachfront resort Chedi Muscat, which welcomes guests into a palm tree–filled oasis on the north side of the capital city. The hotel is known for its elegant design, expansive spa and beauty treatments, and six restaurants featuring cuisines from…

I JOINED INSTAGRAM in 2012. I was slow to adopt the app’s geotag feature, which can embed the physical coordinates of a photo as part of the post’s data. In 2017, Instagram made it easier for users to share and search for location-based content; by 2018—when it seemed like everyone was announcing online where they were all the time—I was tagging nearly every place I visited. But in 2020, an incident on Max Patch mountain in North Carolina made me rethink the way I call attention to the natural world. A relatively short drive from my home in South Carolina, Max Patch is a popular outdoor destination on the Appalachian Trail, because the 1.5-mile-long segment has minimal elevation gain, and the hike to the summit usually takes fewer than 30…

PANAMA IS HELPING travelers experience the country beyond its stunning beaches, popular surf spots, and eponymous canal. Included in the nation’s Sustainable Tourism Master Plan 2020–2025 are projects to reduce carbon emissions, protect marine environments, and educate travelers about their impact. But it is Panama’s work with its Indigenous communities that is perhaps the most groundbreaking. In 2022, a consortium of government agencies and nonprofits launched SOSTUR (a portmanteau of turismo sostenible, Spanish for “sustainable tourism”), a network that connects travelers directly with pilot projects in 10 communities across the country. “Before SOSTUR, these communities didn’t have access to the tourism market, so this allows them to develop their own tourism strategy that works for them,” says Fernando Fondevila, the CEO of PROMTUR, an organization that promotes tourism in Panama.…

IN 2022, Le Commandant Charcot, the latest ship from the French company Ponant, proved its adventure bona fides by becoming the first luxury passenger ship to bring guests to the geographic North Pole. That it did so while safeguarding the fragile environment made the sailing a game changer for expedition cruising. With its 123 plush cabins, fine dining options, and spa, the Charcot has all the trappings of a high-end ship. Under the hood is even more impressive: It is the world’s first luxury icebreaker of its class to run on a combination of electric battery power, liquefied natural gas, and low-sulfur gas oil. In all, that translates to 25 percent lower carbon emissions, and up to a 95 percent reduction in the fine-particle emissions that come from more conventional fuel…

I ’M INSIDE A LIGHT-FILLED, 14,000-square-foot warehouse that overlooks the Manhattan skyline in Union City, New Jersey. The smell of freshly baked bread from the panadería across the street fades as I take in the earthy scent of wet clay being fashioned into dinnerware. Designed in collaboration with some of the world’s top chefs, these dishes will eventually make their way to high-end restaurants and hotels across the country. Sixteen Jono Pandolfi Designs artisans are hard at work forming more than 50 different ceramic shapes, including mugs and dinner plates. A few of them lean over pottery wheels, making pieces from the company’s best-known collection: the Coupe. The line’s shallow, 10.5-inch entrée plate has a gentle curve that’s instantly recognizable by its classic white glaze—not too shiny but not too…

For the fifth time in an hour, Vili Črv, a former member of the Slovenian Olympic cross-country ski team and sometime hiking guide in Slovenia’s Triglav National Park, apologizes for the weather. As if the low clouds and mist are within his control. “If it were clear,” he tells me, “you would be able to see the Alps.” “What about those?” I ask, pointing to a range of snow-capped peaks. They look impressive to me. Črv shakes his head. If it were sunny, I’d be able to spot Mount Triglav, which, although a relatively modest 9,396 feet, is so dear to residents of this Central European country that it is featured on the flag. But it isn’t sunny: My nine days on the 167-mile Juliana Trail, a loop that takes…

SPANNING ROUGHLY THREE SQUARE MILES, Los Angeles’s Koreatown is home to the largest population of ethnically Korean people outside of Asia. Here, among blocks of strip malls, visitors can find storefronts dedicated to day spas, hanbok (traditional Korean dress), and some of the best Korean food in the nation, with restaurants serving such homey dishes as seolleongtang (ox bone soup), gamjatang (pork neckbone soup), and, of course, Korean barbecue. That’s to say nothing of the neighborhood’s animated mix of nightclubs, karaoke bars, and 24-hour businesses. In October 2020, photographer Emanuel Hahn moved from New York to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry. Looking for a way to feel creatively stimulated during pandemic lockdowns and also help promote small businesses in the area, Hahn began visiting and…

Riding the train is one of my favorite ways to propel my body through space: Since I’m not driving, I can enjoy the terrestrial delights that pass me by, and when I put on a good song, *poof* I’m in the opening credits of a movie. A railway enthusiast once told me that the Ethan Allen Express—a 7.5-hour ride from New York City to Burlington, Vermont—was exceptional. And so I avoided technologies old and new and stared out the window … and I let my mind wander. 2:25PM We’re off! It’s novel to travel with a whiff of dignity: a handwritten seat tag and no security scans. 2:45 Apparently there is a “good side” to be on for long train journeys. Of course, I’m not on it … but I soon snag a better…