I grew up in Dubai and moved to New York 2 years ago. Here are 5 things I miss — and 5 I love about my new home.

The scent of burning wood filled my nostrils as I pushed through the large paned doors of Fore Street in Portland, Maine. The restaurant, with its tavern-like atmosphere and rustic wood and brick accents, instantly felt welcoming.

A Marseille neighbourhood has been crowned the “coolest in the world” in Time Out magazine’s annual ranking.

Last week, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm before ripping through six states leaving a path of destruction in its wake and killing more than 100 people. The record-breaking storm – which clocked 140 mph winds and a storm surge that reached more than 15 feet above ground in the Florida Big Bend region – has left millions to deal with flooded roads, flattened homes and buildings, and power outages. North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama have all made disaster declarations as emergency responders work to rescue missing persons and more than 1.2 million are still without power as of Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us. Popular North Carolina mountain towns – including Asheville – which have become top tourist destinations in the fall, have been reduced to debris as residents are left to rebuild their lives. Carrie Tucker of Charlotte, North Carolina, told Travel + Leisure in the wake of Hurricane Helene, western North Carolina is “completely cut off from life – no roads, no gas, no food.”

As a beer aficionado, I've been to my fair share of brew festivals throughout the US, several of which were "Oktoberfest" themed.

I grew up in New England, and have spent many summers visiting popular destinations like Nantucket, Newport, and York Beach.

People go to Giverny to see the gardens that moved Monet and to Arles for the fields behind van Gogh’s madness. They trek through the Louvre as if by magnetic force, seeking — what else? — the Mona Lisa selfie.

According to the trade group Cruise Lines International Association, 10% of cruisers go on three to five vacations at sea a year.

Japan is a popular spot for tourists, and a new initiative will make it easier – and more affordable – to visit than ever before.

Autumn is a big season for hotels, especially those that represent the winds of change. In New York City, Standard International debuts its latest hotel concept, The Manner—which feels less like the hedonistic Standards of yore, and more like any of the city’s growing number of fabulous private-members clubs. Across the country in California, a beloved Laguna Beach icon enters an exciting new chapter. Salt Lake City is finally getting a new lifestyle hotel—just in time for another ski season. And the country’s first ultra-sustainable, “carbon positive” hotel opens its doors in Denver to set an example for hotels everywhere. There’s a lot happening, and a lot to explore—where will you go first? These are the most exciting new hotel openings of fall 2024.

You can listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify each week. Follow this link if you're listening on Apple News.

There’s a refreshing fluidity and freeness to the best wine bars of New York City, which can appear in many forms—a sleek power-lunch hotspot, a cozy bar on the Lower East Side, or a tranquil backyard in Brooklyn. “To me, a wine bar serves limited food and is more focused on the beverage at hand,” explains Chase Sinzer, owner of wine bar Claud and Penny in the East Village. “It might feel more ‘casual’ in that it invites guests to maybe peruse the bottles on the wall or pour their own wine from an ice bucket.”

When the Van Cortlandt family acquired their sprawling Hudson Valley estate in the late 1600s, they couldn't have imagined that it would one day host a jack-o'-lantern festival with pumpkin sculptures including a Kraken, moving windmill, and Statue of Liberty.