Japan on and off the trail

Though her work on Saturday Night Live keeps her tethered to New York City, comedian Chloe Fineman can most often be found criss-crossing the country to film in Los Angeles or back to the Bay Area, where she grew up. Recently, for her campaign with Nütrl Vodka Seltzer, she got to see a new place: Mexico City. “First of all, my brain still can’t understand how it’s a three-hour flight from LA [and five hours from New York], so I could meet all my friends in the middle,” she says. “And it was the most beautiful city. We saw luchadores wrestling, and the food was unbelievable. Some of the best meals in my life were in Mexico City!”

Osaka is half the size of Tokyo but just as much fun. Lightning-quick shinkansen trains link the two cities in a little over two hours while nearby cities of Kyoto, Kobe, and Nara are an easy day trip. Osaka itself is home to its namesake castle, scores of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, and a belting street food scene. The central districts are defined by Honmachi, Dōtonbori, Namba (Minami), and Kita (Umeda) although Osaka Bay is a handy base for visiting Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan) and Universal Studios Japan. Mingling Japanese and Western traditions, these are the top-rated Airbnbs in Osaka’s coolest neighborhoods.

If it seems like everyone and their mother is trying to use points and miles to go to Japan these days, you’re not wrong. But can you really blame them? Between the people, the history, the culture, the architecture, the nightlife, the shopping, and of course, the food, Japan is an absolute dream of a destination for so many, including honeymooners planning their once-in-a-lifetime vacations.

A four-hour drive from Denver, the rural town of Granada, Colorado, is home to just 450 people—and, at the end of a bumpy dirt road, the now-empty barracks and haunting buildings of “Camp Amache.” Also known as the Granada Relocation Center, Amache was once an internment camp for nearly 10,000 Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes between 1942 and 1945. Now, after decades of preservation efforts by local volunteers, this site has officially become America's newest national park.

When the Ranch at Malibu opened in 2010 as a luxury health resort on 200 acres in California’s Santa Monica Mountains, its approach was somewhat radical: Guests signed up for a full week of group hikes, fitness classes, spa treatments, nutrition consults and communal, organic meals without caffeine, gluten, soy or dairy. The goal, says its founder Alex Glasscock, was “for people to mentally and physically reset and recharge.” On April 15, a second location, the Ranch at Hudson Valley, is scheduled to open near Tuxedo Park, N.Y., in a slate-and-stone lakefront mansion surrounded by state parks. Glasscock hopes the 25-room property, which he describes as “like a big, luxury dorm,” will facilitate connections between those who stay. Guests will do yoga under the ornate plaster ceiling of the former ballroom and, in Glasscock’s ideal world, come to dinner in their pajamas and robes. This new outpost offers a few additional treatments including colonics and energy healings — which incorporate techniques such as hypnosis and sound therapy. In winter, guests can sled or snowshoe, and in summer there’s paddleboarding on the lake. The Ranch has also relaxed a few of the restrictions: You can book three nights at the Hudson Valley property instead of the seven required in Malibu, and, in concession to the most common request of all, caffeine is no longer taboo — organic Nicaraguan coffee is served at breakfast in both locations.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tiffany Chan, a 32-year-old dog owner based in Hong Kong. This essay has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider verified Chan's receipts.

One of America's most beloved cruise operators, American Queen Voyages, has shut down.

Japan, slightly smaller geographically than California, boasts a much wider array of activities and attractions than most countries its size. Technically a volcanic archipelago consisting of four main islands, almost four-fifths of Japan is covered with mountains. The Japanese Alps run down the center of the largest island, Honshu. The highest peak and Japan's most famous mountain is Mount Fuji, a cone-shaped volcano considered sacred by many Japanese.

A trip to Japan offers travelers a range of unforgettable experiences, from sampling the rich culinary heritage to discovering remnants of the country's samurai past. What you might not know is that Japan is also a prime destination for outdoor adventure sports. If you are into skiing fine powder snow or diving with sea turtles, hiking sacred peaks or heading off on rural bike rides, Japan has all that and more.

Travelers can't get enough of Japan, voted the best country in the world in the 2023 Readers' Choice Awards. But until now, remote workers looking to live and work on the alluring archipelago were limited to 90-day stays.

If you’re on the lookout for a truly sustainable safari experiences that combines animal welfare with an unforgettable, immersive travel experience, then check out the tours offered by InsideAsia Tours and InsideJapan Tours.

EF Go Ahead Tours, a leader in experiential and educational travel, has launched a President’s Day Flash Sale offering up to $1,000 in savings for trips during late spring and summer 2024.