I stayed on a private island off the coast of Panama. Take a look at the resort, where my room cost $980 a night.

If you’ve experienced enough of cosmopolitan Tokyo and need a change of pace from serene Kyoto, then you’ll need a list of the best things to do in Osaka, the spirited heart of the western Kansai region. Osaka is known as “the kitchen of Japan,” best known for signature Japanese delicacies like takoyaki, ball-shaped snacks often made with octopus meat; and okonomiyaki, savory pancakes made on teppan (Japanese metal grill plates). The city’s massive food scene features all types of dining spots, ranging from street vendors to Michelin-starred restaurants. Osaka is also an entertainment capital where you can meet Mario and Luigi at Super Nintendo World, part of Universal Studios Japan, or catch a baseball game at the Osaka Dome with over 36,000 fans from all over the world.

A new luxury brand with ties to Wyndham made its first U.S. appearance this week in Colorado.

In a bid to clamp down on overtourism and protect places of interest, popular holiday destinations across Europe and beyond have introduced various forms of a “tourist tax”. In recent years, this has come into play in destinations such as Venice, Lake Como, Brussels, and parts of Japan—and now, UK hotspots are following suit.

Erin Hynes felt sick to her stomach.

Sun-seekers, meet Star Seeker. One of the cruise industry's most anticipated new high-end ships is set to debut at the end of next year, and you'll only have one chance to catch it in the Caribbean.

New Zealand's government announced on Tuesday that it will triple entry fees for foreign tourists starting in October.

Koji, the mold that transforms soy beans and wheat into soy sauce and rice into sake, is so beloved in Japan that it has its own holiday. And lately, chefs have been finding new uses for the fungus, which has a fruity aroma and an ability to make “anything it touches better,” says Jeremy Umansky, 41, the owner of Larder deli in Cleveland. He uses koji for almost everything: to cure pastrami; to ferment Chinese-style black beans, which are ground and swirled into chocolate babka to embolden the chocolate; and to sprinkle over salads and fries in the form of what the restaurant calls Special K, a seasoning of dried ground koji. “It’s a harmonizer,” he says. Bartenders, too, are taking note. At Nancy’s Hustle in Houston, the bar manager, Zach Hornberger, 32, adds it to the nonalcoholic Silver Brining cocktail, a sweet-sour-salty mix of pickle brine, grapefruit and lime juices, koji and tonic. “It brings this umami background to beverages, and it plays well with citrus, taming the high acid notes and rounding the drink as a whole,” he says. At the restaurant Fête in Honolulu, the bar manager, Fabrice McCarthy, 41, infuses rum with shio koji (a slurry of koji, water and salt) and shakes it into a mai tai to add salinity — the effect, he says, is similar to how salted peanuts make you want to drink more beer. Ryan Chetiyawardana, 40, the owner of the bar Lyaness in London, experiments with koji in multiple forms — for one cocktail, he ferments parsnips with koji, which he says unlocks the sweetness and delivers “a huge tropical brightness.” While koji often plays a supporting role, at Paradiso in Barcelona, it wraps around the entire lip of the glass used for the Fleming, named for Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, another influential mold. For this fungus-inspired cocktail, which includes grapefruit, tequila and miso, the manager of Paradiso’s research lab, Matteo Ciarpaglini, 30, one-upped a classic salt rim with a fluffy cloud of koji, its floral fragrance accompanying every taste. —

I've always used points and miles as a tool to enjoy travel experiences that I could typically never otherwise afford to purchase. Over time, this has often meant maximizing my rewards to book first-class flights and fancy hotel rooms. But aside from staying in Waldorf Astoria hotels and booking first-class flights on Japan Airlines' newest A350-1000 aircraft, your points can also be used to book special events and exclusive experiences.

Passengers looking to embark on a 3 ½ year-round-the-world voyage on Villa Vie Residences' Odyssey cruise ship have been left hanging for the past three months.

I dodged designer dogs — like shih tzus and Pomeranians — in Panama City's Punta Pacifica neighborhood.

I moved to Japan from North Carolina with my husband and our young daughter in the spring of 2022. My husband is in the US military and this has been his first overseas assignment.

Six decades after hosting the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics — when Japan rapidly rolled out new infrastructure like its Shinkansen bullet train and accommodations like Hotel New Otani Tokyo to welcome the anticipated influx of foreigners — the country remains one of the most beloved leisure destinations in the world. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, 17.78 million foreign visitors arrived in the first half of 2024, breaking 2019's previous record of 16.63 million. And there are no signs of a slowdown: Japan aims to nearly double 2019's end-of-year record of 31.88 million tourists to a staggering 60 million annually by 2030.