Best things to do in Benin with kids

What could be more exciting for a kid to see than puffing volcanoes, crackling glaciers, dense rainforests and blinding white salt flats?

Global Fashion Collective (GFC) showed at Milan Fashion Week again this month, this time surrounded by glorious frescos in the 16th-century San Barnaba church. Led by Jamal Abdourahman, director of Vancouver Fashion Week, the second largest fashion week in North America, GFC is one of the top showcases of new talent from around the world, producing runway shows in various fashion capitals. In addition to Milan, GFC creates shows at New York, Paris, Tokyo and London fashion weeks and plans to add showcases in Mexico in 2024. As well as being a keen advocate of emerging fashion, Global Fashion Collective has partnered with a popular new makeup brand for all their runway needs. The healthy, mineral-based, chemical-free brand BullyBlocker, was founded two years ago by American businesswoman Donna Baker Brittingham and is fast becoming a top choice of makeup artists. Seven international talents were in the spotlight in Milan during an exclusive Spring/Summer 2024 runway presentations.

My daughters were 3 and 7 the first time I traveled alone with them. As I loaded our bags into the back of the car and headed for the airport, I wondered if I was making a big mistake. Their dad was very hands-on and helped a lot in those early parenting days, and here I was, heading off on a weeklong trip with two small children without him. What was I thinking? 

Mongolia is a very special place. Families who don’t mind stepping outside the familiar can explore nomadic lifestyles, see pristine nature, and try all sorts of adventurous activities with children.

Three life-changing words: New York City.

A recent visit to Governors Island came a few days after a conversation I’d had with my father in which he’d instructed me to act like a tourist in my own city. He’d started by asking simply how I was filling my summer weekends, and I answered honestly that most of my free time was spent reading in one park or another and going to bars in my Brooklyn neighborhood. “New York City,” he reminded me (with earnest intention to inspire, no righteousness detected), “has more things to do in it than you’ll be able to see in a lifetime.”

The three main gateway cities to Great Smoky Mountains National Park – Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville – share an abiding love for the patron saint of East Tennessee: Dolly Parton.

Most visitors to Central Switzerland base themselves in Lucerne in order to explore the glorious landscape that surrounds it, but don’t forget to make some time for the city itself.

The first time I went to Europe, I regretted the shoes I packed for the trip almost as soon as I got there.

A slice European, a pinch cosmopolitan New York and fully its own quirky, unique self, Montréal is Canada’s artsiest, coolest city, worth spending days and days exploring.

Switzerland’s largest city may not (yet) draw the crowds of its other Western European counterparts, but it has more than enough of its share of panache to lure travelers and keep them engaged, entertained, and edified. The eminently walkable city, in spite of streets that zig and zag, is also increasingly bike-friendly. To wit: in 2024, Zurich will host Cycle Week, the national biking festival, and serve as the location for the annual Road and Para-Cycling Road World Championships. But you don’t need to ride competitively to enjoy Zurich’s myriad charms—gorgeous waterfront location, historic Old Town, sophisticated shopping, and artsy neighborhoods among them.

Known as the “playground of Europe,” this small mountainous country offers a wealth of Alpine adventures, from skiing and sledding down powdery slopes to exploring an extensive network of biking and hiking trails. But there is more to Switzerland than its breathtaking scenery. Here are 10 of the top ways to experience it.