Some of the moments you remember most from a holiday are the ones where it feels, in the moment, that everything is falling apart. In Greece, that might mean stepping off a ferry without your favorite sunglasses, following the wrong cobbled street back from dinner or watching one flip-flop drift towards the horizon while you stand helplessly in the shallows. Small mishaps can nudge you away from the version of a trip you planned on your phone and into something more spontaneous. You slow down, ask for help and often notice far more of the place around you. The Mishap Moment There is usually a brief moment of disbelief when you realize…

Santorini and Mykonos show up on almost every first-time Greece list, and they get bundled together so often that people assume it’s the same trip with a different ferry ticket. It isn’t. One island is built around a view you’ll still be thinking about months later. The other is built around long beach days and nights that end after sunrise. I can’t tell you which one is better, but I can help you work out which one suits you. Here’s how they compare. The Short Answer Pick Santorini for scenery, romance and a slower pace. Pick Mykonos for beaches, nightlife and a sociable, stylish crowd. Both are expensive in summer,…

The photos make it look effortless. A balcony, a turquoise sea, a skyline glowing behind the palms. Coffee at sunrise, a swim before work, sunset on the sand. Some of that is true. A lot of it depends on where you live, when you swim and what you sign. Dubai is also changing fast along the water. The city has only about 21 km of public beach today, and its master plan aims to grow that to 105 km by 2040. The plan also sets aside stretches for night swimming. So the beach you buy near today may look very different in a few years. Here’s what the glossy listings…

When most people think of Parma, they think of cheese. Big golden wheels of it, stacked to the ceiling. And ham, sliced so thin you can almost see through it. I came for the food too, honestly. But the most surprising thing I found just outside the city was not on a menu. It was a garden, and it was planted by a haircare company. Yes, really. Let me explain. Parma is one of those places that quietly takes food very seriously. UNESCO named it a Creative City of Gastronomy in 2015 and describes it as the gastronomic center of Italy’s “Food Valley.” Agri-food and gastronomy make up 30.5% of…

The Best Places to Visit Near Dubai When You Have a Car Ask a long-time Dubai resident what they do on a free weekend, and the answer usually isn’t mall shopping. More likely it’s a lake in the desert, a mountain road in Al Ain, a dam in Ras Al Khaimah, or a mangrove channel over on the far coast. Almost none of these places has a stop on the metro line, and very few are covered by tours that let you stay as long as you like. Having a car means you can choose where to go based on how much time you have instead of what is the…