National Geographic

The memories of my first encounter with the California desert are so clear and intense that sometimes I wonder if I invented them, but I don’t believe so. I was hitchhiking across the States — it was the 1970s — and I was a young Englishman ‘on the road’, having read too much Jack Kerouac. My lift dropped me at a gas station near Barstow, a city in the Mojave Desert, in the south of the state. The car was air-conditioned and as I got out, I was hit by a wall of heat as strange and thrilling as anything I’d ever experienced. 

Many travelers have experienced the warming pleasures of a steamy soak at a Japanese onsen (hot spring) or a heated Turkish hammam. But they may not have jumped into the world of contrast bathing—the practice of alternating between intense heat (hot tubs, saunas) and intense cold (polar bear-style plunges or ice baths).

My eyebrows are both intact. My cheeks, however, feel like they’re being kissed by the fire of a thousand suns. Sweat beads are dancing on my upper lip and my contact lenses feel like they’re melting into my corneas. Chisato Miyata, our tuna roaster, remains entirely unfazed by the stifling, foot-long flames. Then again, she has been doing this for over 30 years. In front of me is a larger-than-life poster with semi-threatening dos and don’ts: ‘Do not spin the skewered bonito!!!’, ‘Skewer is very hot!!!’, ‘Please eat with wasabi or salt first!!!’ 

Thumping with a million mini heartbeats, the jungle never sleeps. Insects hum, monkeys squeal and birds trill to create a rapturous symphony. But in the humid equatorial rainforests, almost everyone needs a rest by midday.

“You have a lot of coats on,” says Anthony Taylor, founder of Melanin in Motion, an organization that encourages Black and Brown people to get outdoors. He gives me a once-over before turning to my travel partner with the same look. He seems both impressed and incredulous, but mostly concerned. “I mean, y’all are really overdressed for skiing,” he says.

Demand for plant-based food has soared in the UK in the past few years, thanks in part to the popularity of movements and campaigns like Veganuary. With the latter came a blossoming of the country’s vegan dining scene, which now spans from fine dining to street food. While some establishments focus on lifting vegetables to stardom, others use meat substitutes to entice non-vegans. The biggest change, though, is the diversity of cuisines available — you can now just about eat your way around the world, whether you’re after flavours from Asia, Europe or the Americas. For those contemplating a dietary switch, here’s a selection of fully vegan restaurants around the country to get you started.

Lima defies easy culinary categorisation. Peru’s capital, set above the towering cliffs of the Costa Verde, overlooks a sweep of Pacific coast from the gritty port city of Callao to the fishing village of Chorrillos. A city, a port and a gateway to Latin America, Lima doesn’t have a distinct geographical cuisine, it has dozens of them. Regional ingredients and cultural heritage, both ancient and modern, all mingle together, creating new combinations of flavours. 

Trying desperately hard to loosen my grip on the leather reins, while resisting the urge to cling on for dear life, I attempt to reason with my horse. Negotiating with a nervous 1,000lb animal would be challenging on a flat surface. On a boulder-strewn 45-degree slope, it’s almost impossible. Fortunately, Jonathan ‘Yoni’ Zapata, an accomplished gaucho, comes to my rescue. A few quiet words of reassurance and my horse is putty in his hands. 

Hidden beneath an overhang on steep cliff walls above the Pinturas River Canyon are more than 800 stencilled handprints and painted images of animals. Nobody fully understands why Patagonia’s nomadic hunter-gatherers crafted the graffiti, but we do know they were created around 9,300 years ago using mineral pigments mixed with blood and fat, and that they provide a glimpse of early life in the glacier-carved province of Santa Cruz.  

When people plan trips to national parks and protected areas across the United States, they hope to see the wolves of Yellowstone or the alligators of the Everglades. But talk to any bug scientist, and they’ll tell you that the best things come in small packages.

A Victorian favourite once billed as the ‘Queen of Welsh resorts’, Llandudno has kept much of the charm that made it so popular. The curving promenade framing Llandudno Bay, the aroma of fish and chips wafting in the air, pastel-coloured art deco houses lining the seafront and old-fashioned amusements on Llandudno Pier all combine to deliver a quintessential British seaside break. The town also serves as gateway to a wealth of natural attractions in Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park and water-based adventures in Colwyn Bay.  And a stay in Llandudno can be combined with a trip to Conwy, across the river of the same name, which has a mighty castle and Britain’s smallest house.

Roots tendril out of the grassy banks, piercing the surface of the water, while giant dragonflies skim the heads of water buffaloes cooling off in the 46C heat. Nearby, African sacred ibises stand regally in the shallows and vocal laughingthrushes nestle between the seven-foot reeds. My eyes are locked on the watery scenes — I’m hoping to spot a crocodile nostril or a slinking scale, at least. 

To walk across New Zealand is to experience some of the greatest landscapes in the world. From moss-carpeted forests to sun-drenched mountaintops with impossibly far-reaching views, the country is blessed with an almost unfair share of natural beauty, thanks to the volcanoes, glaciers and rivers that have helped carve out its environs over millions of years.   

Many of the issues that dogged the UK’s dining scene in 2022 did so throughout 2023 — particularly the high cost of food, which continues to have a big impact on how and what we’re eating. This is being felt most notably in the capital, where food costs are compounded by high and rising rents, contributing to what many food writers have cited as a sense that restaurants are playing it safe, at least within the city centre. As the Guardian’s food critic Grace Dent put it in her end of year review, ‘2023 seemed to be the year that London’s restaurant scene lost its edge. Outside the M25, I was eating far better’. This sense of caution can be seen among many of the trends widely cited for 2025, with humble ingredients and classic creations seeing a return in popularity. Perhaps this is why the martini is back in fashion and beans are more prevalent on the menus of hip restaurants — albeit both with fresh twists and interpretations. For all this, though, there are still plenty of exciting developments, such as the rise of music-led restaurants and fresh ingredients to explore, such as the fig leaf. Here’s what’s on the horizon for 2024.

Ice-skating through pine forests, across alpine lakes, and on urban canals and remote glaciers can be an exhilarating way to experience winter wonderlands. But with rising global temperatures, natural ice, or “wild ice,” is becoming a rarity.

Daybreak hesitates on the horizon as we make our bone-rattling journey across the prairies. Up ahead is a scene so majestic, even the shock of the 4am wake-up call suddenly loses its sting. Illuminated by the first mellow rays of buttery sunlight, a herd of over 1,000 mighty buffalo roams into view, a little overdressed for South Dakota’s balmy summer climate in thick woolly overcoats and Viking horns.

One of the biggest beef consumers in the world, Argentinians are masters of the asado — the South American take on a barbecue. But, with young chefs keen to diversify and refine the capital's culinary scene, a Porteño’s diet isn't just limited to steak and Malbec. Use your stomach as a compass to navigate Buenos Aires by visiting these spots.

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This traditional Thai soup uses a lot of herbs with healing properties and is often used to help with stomach and heart issues, and is a great addition to a gluten free diet. Tom Yam translates to "boiling" and "spicy" and is an easy, but flavourful, recipe for all occasions. 

What’s the first dish that comes to mind when you think of classic British pub food? Fish and chips? Steak and ale pie? A burger? Yes, to all the above. And chips, always chips — still one of the most popular pub foods. But how did this all come to be? And why have these dishes endured?

Hands clasped firmly behind his back, with the beady vigilance of a parade-ground sergeant major, Alessandro Ferrarini strides among his massed ranks of cheese.