I stepped off the boat onto a sliver of white sand barely visible from the water, and the lagoon around me looked like someone had spilled fifty different pots of turquoise paint. This wasn’t the Maldives—though the crystalline water and overwater bungalows made a convincing case. This was a motu in Bora Bora’s lagoon, French … Lire plus
After exploring more than 900 floating villages across Southeast Asia over two decades, I thought I’d seen every variation of water-based civilization. Then a local fisherman in Halong Bay mentioned a name that wasn’t on any tour itinerary: Cua Van. What we discovered there wasn’t just another picturesque floating village—it was a 733-person community preserving … Lire plus
I still remember stepping off the public ferry onto Fulhadhoo’s white sand, watching luxury resort seaplanes roar overhead toward islands charging $800 per night. The guesthouse owner greeting me quoted $61 for my beachfront room. Same turquoise water. Same powder-soft beaches. Same protected coral reefs. The only difference? I was standing in a real Maldivian … Lire plus
Twenty years mapping Alaska’s salmon arteries taught me that numbers lie. We catalogued over 900 streams from Ketchikan to Kotzebue, measuring flow rates and spawning densities with scientific precision. But Chichagof Island’s hidden bays revealed something our data sheets couldn’t capture: the eerie beauty of death feeding life, where October’s spawning salmon paint temperate rainforest … Lire plus
When New Zealand’s Department of Conservation rangers monitor Campbell Island each austral summer, they’re protecting something that exists nowhere else on Earth: fewer than 200 Campbell Island Teal, the world’s rarest duck species. These flightless birds survived extinction by a margin so thin that conservationists still lose sleep over every cruise ship proposal that crosses … Lire plus
Hidden in the Loire Valley of France, a 13th-century Carthusian monastery has transformed into one of the country’s most extraordinary villages. Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez isn’t just a place to visit—it’s a living museum where ancient monastery cells have become family homes, and cloistered courtyards serve as village squares. A village born from sacred silence What makes Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez … Lire plus
Twenty years photographing bamboo forests across Japan, China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia taught me something unexpected: size means nothing without soul. I’ve walked through sprawling groves spanning miles, yet none prepared me for what happens inside Arashiyama’s compact 400-meter path where towering bamboo creates what Japan’s Ministry of Environment officially recognizes as one of the … Lire plus
I stumbled onto this rope swing completely by accident, following a muddy side trail off the main Waihee Valley path that most hikers walk right past. The bamboo forest opened up to reveal a turquoise waterfall pool with a thick rope dangling from a massive banyan tree, and I realized I’d found what locals have … Lire plus
I spent two decades chasing bioluminescent bays across the Caribbean, dragging my camera equipment through crowded tour groups and competing for elbow room in waters that barely glimmered. At 50, I finally discovered what I’d been searching for all along—and it wasn’t in any of the famous spots guidebooks kept recommending. Mosquito Bay in Vieques … Lire plus
I stood on Miyajima’s shore at dawn watching the torii gate emerge from mist-covered shallows, its vermillion pillars planted firmly in wet sand. Six hours later, I returned to find the same structure floating impossibly above sapphire waters, waves lapping at bases that had vanished beneath the tide. This transformation happens twice daily at Itsukushima … Lire plus