Mestiza de Indias is an innovative, Maya-inspired regenerative farm in the middle of a region threatened by mass tourism and overdevelopment. Its founder has a lot to say about why food matters. Halfway between Merida and the coast in the Yucatán Peninsula, at the end of a winding dirt road through the jungle, a farm called Mestiza de Indias is trying to address some very large challenges with some seemingly small first steps. The goal: practice organic, regenerative agriculture that combines ancient Mayan knowledge and modern techniques. The farm, which our League of Travelers journey will be visiting this December,…

As Europe starts opening up to travelers again, it’s more exciting than ever to think about the cultural treasures that await. For me, one of the great joys of travel is having in-person encounters with great art and architecture — which I’ve collected in a book called Europe’s Top 100 Masterpieces. Here’s an ancient favorite:    The caveman man cave at Lascaux is startling for how fashionably it’s decorated. The walls are painted with animals — bears, wolves, bulls, horses, deer, and cats — and even a few animals that are now extinct, like woolly mammoths. There’s scarcely a Homo sapiens in sight,…

The geopolitical struggle between China and the Philippines has strangled Filipino fishermen’s access to some of their richest fishing grounds SAN SALVADOR ISLAND, Zambales, Philippines— “Kaya pa, I can still do it,” Rony Drio takes aim with his handmade speargun. A split second later, the sharp end pierces the wooden target set against a mango tree outside his home on the northern Philippine island of San Salvador. Drio, 56, has been spearfishing since he was a teenager and, like most men in San Salvador, is an expert marksman with the speargun, a classic fishing tool of the Philippines. He can…

For me, one of the great joys of travel is having in-person encounters with great art and architecture — which I’ve collected in a book called Europe’s Top 100 Masterpieces. Here’s one of my favorites:    Nowhere else does the splendor of Moorish civilization shine so beautifully than at the Alhambra — this last and greatest Moorish palace in Europe.  For seven centuries (711–1492), much of Spain was Muslim, ruled by the Islamic Moors from North Africa. While the rest of Europe was slumbering through the Dark Ages, Spain blossomed under Moorish rule. The culmination was the Alhambra — a sprawling complex of palaces…