Walking around Tbilisi, there’s a palpable energy, like a city on the cusp. Lush greenery twines around crumbling façades, young people smoke on corners, wine bars spill into the street, graffiti and ripped posters for upcoming art shows line the sidewalks, protests spark in the square each night, and it feels like there’s a thrumming underground party somewhere, a block away 

Then, take a dramamine and a day trip to Kazbegi

We had seen some recommendations to rent a car and drive up into the mountains. But unless you’re comfortable overtaking 10 trucks at a time on a winding, narrow mountain road... I’d highly recommend hiring a driver to take you high into the Caucuses, with some stops along the way. And packing a jacket!

We took this tour through Tinggly, which stopped at Zhinvali Water Reservoir, Ananuri fortress complex, Russian Georgian Friendship Monument, Gergeti Trinity Church, and lunch at Rooms Hotel Kazbegi

São Miguel Azores
Portugal

The Azores feel improbable - a geologic defiance rising from endless Atlantic blue. São Miguel, the largest of 9 islands in the archipeligo, offers a stunningly varied landscape, ranging from lush, hyacinth-speckled hills to otherworldly black lava caves, washed by the sea.

Some favorite places in Singapore:
The Warehouse Hotel
Ellysage
Tiong Bahru Food Center
Potato Head Singapore
Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay
Maxwell Road Hawker Center
Hajj Lane

Tokyo,
Japan

Logistics

Getting a Pasmo or Suica card is super helpful - it’s a prepaid cash card that you can use on any of the subway/train lines instead of buying separate tickets each time (different lines are owned by different companies). And you can even use it in some convenience stores / machine-order ramen restaurants

Stay

The Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo Autograph Collection
Muji Hotel (at the top of the 6-story flagship Muji store)

Eat & do

Golden Gai
a dense area of 6 alleys with probably 100 bars each one is super tiny and has a different theme. I loved a blues bar and a literary/film bar


Cafe de l'ambre
a traditional, wood-paneled coffee shop since 1948 - one of their specialties is an egg yolk coffee


Godaime Hanayama Udon
I had a delicious cold udon/tempura bowl here. There was a long wait (you write your name on a list outside) but it was worth it


Tsukiji Market
the iconic fish market / tuna auction has moved to another location, but the external market stalls are still along the water at the old site.


Shimakitazawa neighborhood
a bit out of the way, but calmer, with tons of vintage shopping and live music venues

• Frankie’s - Australian coffee shop
• B+B (Books+Beer) - a bar / bookstore - I think I bought the one book in English that they carried
• The Cage - a bar/music spot under an overpass with stalls for food and vintage clothes

Don Quijote Shinjuku Kabukichō
a chaotic, 6 story mall with everything you could want (and delicious bubble tea) … a bit overwhelming if it’s the first thing you do after the flight!


Roppongi Hills shopping center

• Kapital - a delightful clothing store (with a few other locations) - I had to go after reading this David Sedaris article
• Eggcellent - brunch spot
• Mari Art Museum - a fairly small/manageable modern art museum

Map

Kyoto,
Japan

Stay 

Kyoto Nanzenji Ryokan Yachiyo
I really recommend staying in a ryokan (traditional guest house) for the experience of sleeping on a tatami mat and having a traditional multi-course dinner/breakfast. We got a room with a private hot tub onsen and balcony, and it was incredibly serene

Eat

Tenryuji Temple Shigetsu
a vegan meal served in a temple. So delicious and flavorful. Make a reservation in advance - you have to call for dinner, but can make a lunch reservation online. Spend some time and see the grounds too - it’s worth it to get the garden plus temple ticket, to sit by the pond from inside the temple



Sushi no Musashi
a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant in Kyoto train station. Usually a line, but worth it for a fun experience!


Nishiki Market
a covered morning market - some sit-down places, and some places to just try little bites. As in the rest of Japan — it’s rude (and enforced!) not to eat while you’re walking

Kagizen Yoshifusa Head Shop
a sweets shop with a cafe in the back - you can get a bowl of matcha and a selection of mochi / other desserts


Okonomiyaki
Kyoto is a great place to try these savory pancakes. We went to Issen Yoshoku (kitchy/touristy, but fun), but also found Ginon Negiyaki Kana as another good option (more local/low-key)


Musoshin Ramen
delicious, quick ramen


Monk
I didn’t get here, but wish I had… the chef trained at Noma, and now makes Italian food in Kyoto. Make a reservation in advance!


Rutubo Izakaya
a pub/bar with a wide sake selection


Sentido Cafe
a small cafe in a mostly residential area - part of Kyoto’s 3rd wave coffee scene

Do

Higashiyama Jisho-ji (Silver Pavillion)
you can take the #100 express bus here. It’s a lovely walk through a rock garden, forest, and temple complex at the top of the Philosopher’s Path


Philosopher’s Path
a walkway along a small canal, there are little shops and cafes to explore along the way (including a paper shop that’s over 100 years old). There’s a quiet temple called Hōnen-in Temple that’s a few minutes off the path, if you have time. Monk is along the path too


Tenryuji Temp le
even if you don’t get the meal there, it’s a beautiful, peaceful spot. And it’s near the ︎


Arashiyama Bamboo forest
a walk through a bamboo grove, and has a lovely park adjacent to it






Inari Shrine
similar to the bamboo forest, if you make it past all the people taking photos at the beginning, it’s a meditative walk up a mountain through thousands of red shrines. At a point near the beginning, there’s a dirt path going up on the right - you’ll find a small temple up there, and a mostly empty path along a bamboo grove. At the end of it, stop at Kafe Inari for a delicious bubble tea and the coziest upstairs room 

          

Ishibe-koji Alley
this is a bit hard to find (with no English signage, but Google Maps will get you there), and feels like such a magical secret. It’s a beautiful, historic little area that’s super quiet and mostly residential. It honestly feels like stepping back in time in the winding, back streets, and was completely empty when I went there around 7pm.


Gion
historic, entertainment district. There are a ton of shops and restaurants along the Main Street off the bridge, but turn to the south and wander around the back streets — they’re usually quiet, and atmospheric with red lanterns filtering light over wooden buildings


Pontocho Alley
a beautiful street, along the bank of the canal in Gion. It’s prettiest/most atmosphere in the evening


Ukiyo-E World’s Smallest Museum
a one (small) room woodblock print museum that’s only open when the artist “feels like it.” It’s super tiny, but an interesting experience


Maiko Antiques
on the same block as the Ukiyo-E World’s Smallest Museum, a crowded vintage store with old Japanese ad prints (and much more)


Tokyu Hands
department store with rotating popups

Do


There are a few libraries in former churches, where you can browse French-language books under soaring arches:
Maison de la litterature

Library Claire-Martin

Walk the Governor’s Promenade along the ridge between the upper and lower parts of the city. It starts at the top of the funicular at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, and ends at the Plains of Abraham, which was a winter wonderland of pillowy snow

Near the Plains of Abraham, you can tour La Citadelle de Québec, and spend hours at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. It’s a sprawling complex of four buildings housing comtemporary, modern, and historic art 

Despite the bitter cold, the city is best taken in by foot – explore the Old City, with its thick stone buildings and wafting scents of warming fires. Go ice skating at the gate to the old city at a public rink (you can rent skates). Just know that the average skater has a fairly high proficiency, so you’ll be surrounded by people effortlessly spinning and gliding

Inside the old city, stroll through the Christmas Market, and explore little shops like the Boutique Le Sachem, which specializes in indigenous products

Saint-Roche is a young neighborhood with great shopping and bars. Maelstrøm Saint-Roch is a coffeeshop by day and bar by night, and is especially cozy

Eat

Dom
A vegan restaurant where everything was full of flavor

Cantook Micro Torréfaction

A coffee shop near our Airbnb that we stopped in each morning

Fairmont Le Château Frontenac
We ate breakfast in this storied hotel, overlooking the lower part of the city. There’s a buffet, but we ordered à la carte

Épicerie J.A. Moisan ︎
The oldest grocery store in North America (founded in 1871). They have great prepared food, but I also loved exploring their spices, condiments, and many maple syrup treats

Chez Boulay-bistro boréal
Nordic cuisine using local, seasonal ingredients

Les Cafés du Soleil
A coffee shop where we hid out from the cold winds from the water, with a delicious grilled cheese and a wide tea selection

Casse-Croute Chez Gaston
Poutine of course!

Saveurs du Monde 
Moroccan food, counter service

Every winter, right after the holidays, I get an urgent need to travel. The cycle usually means spending days reading all of the new year travel lists, researching the latest gadgets, and entering hundreds of permutations into Google Flights. What starts with excitement about the possibilities in the world  becomes a game of cobbling together the best itinerary and maximizing points, and then generally morphs into low-grade anxiety about the overwhelming options. 

So I decided to take a break from the blur of airport codes and get excited about traveling in my own city (while also semi-escaping it), and spent a January day in the Rockaways.

Ferry from Sunset Park
I love day trips to the Rockaways in the summer, which generally involve a long trip on the A train, a few stops on the S train, arepas, and a day in the sun. To feel more like an intentional escape, we started this day by slipping away on the NYC ferry, taking the route from Sunset Park to Beach 108. Lulled by the droning engine as we rounded the south of Brooklyn, we ate egg and cheese sandwiches from Cafe 58, a neighborhood cafe by the dock. The sea stretched out to the right, and Coney Island passed by on the left, the Wonder Wheel abstracted by salty spray. Eventually, the passage gave way to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Preserve, and we neared the north shore of the thin barrier island in Queens. 

Walking east along the southern shore, the beach widened in some places to feel almost like a desert, with the only other footprints those of the congregating seagulls. This is the territory of the birds, who stand guard among the washed up shells. 

It’s also the domain of the winter surfers, a brave and hardy crew who bob in the distance by the rocky promenade.

The winter sun gave the beach a dreamlike edge, or maybe it was the expanse of flat land and water, like a luxurious secret in a city of 8 million.


Empty land, and the metallic sound of waves


We stopped along the way for breaks from the wind. Rockaway Bakery provided pastries and coffee, and Zingara Vintage provided a very heavy sequined minidress, complete with shoulder pads. Our final destination was Rockaway Brewing Company, for chili cheese fries and cider. A few blocks from the 67th Street A train stop, it was a perfect (and warm) place to end the day, before hopping on the A train and finally settling into the beach read I brought.

Cartagena,
Colombia

Go to Cartagena for the colors, the architecture, the history, and the food.

We stayed in Getsemani, a neighborhood just outside the walled center. During the day, the streets are awash in color - ribboned with pennants, and spilling with flowers. Take some time to explore the narrow, quiet streets during the day while most of the tourists are in the walled city. Stop for brunch at Café Stepping Stone, or a snack para llevar at Colombitalia Arepas. Make sure you come back at night when it really comes alive, with music and people-watching in Holy Trinity Square. Get a table at Demente for delicious tapas, Malagana Cafe & Bar for a cozy rooftop and great chicken wings, or Di Silvio Trattoria‘s patio space for moody ambiance. If you’re walking between Getsemani and the center, go through the Parque Del Centenario and keep an eye out for monkeys scampering throught the trees (we heard there were also sloths, but didn’t see any).

Every walk into the walled city started with a trip to La Paletería for a popsicle. They have a huge variety of flavors, and I loved the limonada de coco, mandarina, and galletas de la abuela. The city is smaller than I expected, which means there’s time to explore nearly every street – don’t miss the Clock Tower, or the San Diego neighborhood, which feels somewhat low key, like Getsemani.

Of course, the Colombian coffee is amazing, and cafés offer much-needed breaks from the heat. Abaco Libros y Cafe was one of my favorite places to sip a latte surrounded by floor-to-ceiling books. Folklore Colombian Cafe is another great spot to try different brewing methods, and relax in the sunny courtyard. Epoca Espresso Bar offers a delicious brunch menu – plan to arrive early to snag a seat. The Museo Del Cacao lets you sample (and buy) the country’s chocolates – we ended up getting a delicious creamy corn drink.

The food is distinctly Caribbean, and you can get a traditional platter at the un-touristy Refresqueria la Estrella de la India. La Vitrola is a classic, upscale restaurant with live music - just make sure to make a reservation in advance. There are so many great food options that we didn’t get a chance to try – it’s hard to go wrong!

While nearly any street in the old city ends in the sea, the beaches are rocky and right next to the highway. We spent a day visiting the Rosario Islands. We started in Isla Barú, which was the most popular and crowded beach (and isn’t actually an island). From there, we took a boat to Isla Grande for snorkeling, then a quick hop to two more islands (I’m not sure which – I can’t find the brochure!). It was a lovely day, but I would recommend sticking to one beach - ideally Isla Grande for snorkeling options and more secluded, pristine waters than Isla Barú.

On our last day, we said farewell to the city from the rooftop of the Movich Hotel. You can enjoy the best views of the old town and the Bocagrande skyscrapers while sipping a delicious limonada de coco in the bar area, or buy a day pass to use the two pools.

Churches offered a cool respite from the Caribbean sun. Spend a quiet afternoon in Iglesia de San Pedro Claver exploring the light-filled church and courtyard. Don’t miss the spiral staircase behind the ticket booth, leading to a small gallery and great views of the pews. Bring a book and settle into one of the chairs along the mezzanine, tucked away from the bustle of the square outside.

Cartagena Cathedral is another great spot to admire the architecture and have a moment of reflection.

We stayed at the Hotel Boutique La Artillería, which is a good option for an inexpensive stay. The hotel is on a quiet street around the block from the bustle of Getsemani, and a 10 minute walk to the walled city. There’s a rooftop pool and beautiful breakfast courtyard, but the rooms were fairly basic.