Fear. Apprehension. Uncertainty. These were some of the feelings surging through me on my first post-vaccination trip. Not because I hadn’t taken a true vacation in nearly a year, but because it was my first time traveling since giving birth to my son.

Boarding a flight feels slightly more novel these days, and comes with a renewed sense of optimism. The sense of celebration was undeniable on JetBlue’s recent inaugural flight from New York-JFK to London Gatwick Airport, which was kicked off with a press conference, ribbon cutting, and British-themed snacks at JFK’s Terminal 5.

I was sitting in a tender in total darkness in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, clutching a ceramic cup of coffee in the hope that the heat and caffeine would wake me up. I had come to Indonesia's Raja Ampat National Park on a shore excursion to chase the elusive bird of paradise. The morning journey was perfectly safe, but as with all things in the predawn hours, it felt three times as long and 10 times as harrowing, especially now as we trudged through knee-deep waters from the boat toward Gam Island.

My favorite kinds of trips are absolutely packed. I like to take nine days worth of activities and pack them into a long weekend—like a barbecue lunch followed by three taco stops on a recent trip to Dallas—so I know I've experienced as much as possible. When I travel with a certain group of friends, we have it down to a science, consulting our spreadsheet that details what we’ll do down to the hour. But we had to approach a recent trip to Tucson completely differently.

The paella was a breaking point. I was in the middle of the most complicated group trip I’d ever planned—13 people, flying in from six different cities, all gathering in a seven-bedroom villa in Andalucia. We were there, ostensibly, on a joint 30th-birthday trip, a group vacation we’d been planning for years. As high school classmates, some of us had known each other for decades, and the group had grown to include significant others and even a not-yet-announced pregnancy.

Putting together our annual list of the best places to travel is a process that takes several months—we survey writers based around the world, talk to our A-List travel specialists, and look at the most exciting hotel and restaurant openings. While news and global events have a large impact on the places we choose, we also pay attention to cities that are worth revisiting: Philadelphia, in particular, may surprise you with the amount of growth and development it has seen in recent months. North America made a strong showing on this year’s list—more than a quarter of these places are within reach for a long-weekend trip from the United States.

With more than 230 miles of white-sand beaches and some of the world's most beautiful coral reefs, the Turks and Caicos islands are arguably the hidden gems of the Caribbean. They’re less than 90 minutes from Miami, and about a three-hour flight from New York City. Here, you'll find historic villages barely touched by tourism and crystal-clear waters full of marine life, plus pristine beaches perfect for spending long, relaxing days. The Turks and Caicos are also home to the world’s third-largest barrier reef, after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and the Belize Barrier Reef. This translates to miles and miles of swimmable water until the breaker—when the depth suddenly drops to 7,000 feet.

Tulum, a breathtaking stretch of sand along Mexico’s eastern coast, has a reputation as the ultimate place for an unplugged beach vacation for a good reason. In contrast to the mega-resorts of neighboring Cancun and the Riviera Maya, the places to stay in Tulum are all eco-friendly and laid-back. You'll spend your days here eating fresh fish tacos, doing yoga overlooking the water, and reading in a palapa on the beach. The main draw is Tulum's gorgeous beach, one of the best in Mexico, plus the casual vibe of downtown—these two distinct areas, about a 20-minute drive apart, are where you'll spend all your time. And unlike other beach getaways in Mexico, Tulum has several things to see, from historic ruins and the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve to world-class shops and restaurants. Plan your weekend with Travel + Leisure’s guide to this stylish vacation spot.

There are two main ingredients in vodka: grain and water. So when California’s drought threatened one of those things, Hangar One head distiller Caley Shoemaker—who is based in the state—decided to get creative.

To compile our annual list of the best places to travel in the upcoming year, T+L editors thoroughly and meticulously consider a variety of factors. Which under-the-radar gems are most exciting to our network of contributing writers and global correspondents? Which destinations are our A-List travel specialists fielding requests for? Which classic vacation spots are starting to emerge—but for entirely new and compelling reasons? Which global events and changes in travel restrictions have made certain destinations easier to get to?

Earlier this week, Celebrity Cruises made a major announcement: For the first time in the cruise industry, an American female would be captaining a mega-ship. Before she takes on the mantle this summer, we chatted with Kate McCue about her first cruise, making history, and the surprising thing she misses when she’s out at sea.

Before Alexandria Pellegrino started attracting the attention of discerning brides and wed- ding planners with her Marie Antoinette–inspired cakes, the artist (who graduated from both art school and Le Cordon Bleu) dabbled in such fields as welding and car airbrushing. Now she focuses solely on her over-the-top cakes. "Every step is labor-intensive, but I love that," she says. The Toronto-based baker draws a line at more newfangled additions.

Austria's monarchy officially ended in 1918, after World War I, but visiting Vienna today you'd hardly know it. The influence of the country's longest-ruling couple, Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Sisi, is still felt in every corner, especially as the city celebrates the 150th anniversary of one of Franz Joseph's most durable legacies: the Ringstrasse.

You don't have to be in the middle of a seemingly endless winter to dream of a warm escape. Jamaica ticks all the boxes for a quick trip—it's less than a 4 hour flight from the East Coast, it has beautiful sandy beaches, the hotels are some of the best in the Caribbean, and the locals are always friendly. Here, 14 reasons to further convince you to make Jamaica the destination of your next weekend getaway.

It's an indie director's dream: an actress who's intelligent and introspective yet charismatic, with wide eyes and long lashes that make her a believable romantic lead, plus an irresistible dash of quirk. Zoe Kazan has these qualities in spades (not unlike another actress who has the same first name but spells it Zooey), and she uses them at full force in her latest movie, What If.

Ellen Wong can remember her first movie memory, back when she was 11 years old, like it was yesterday. “We went to go see Titanic. It was my first experience of walking into a theater and feeling that energy in a room,” she says. “I remember feeling the entire theater go dark and everyone quieting from this hustle and bustle to a quiet silence. It was like a ride.”

As the chef at Le Bernardin, Eric Ripert faces a serious occupational hazard: He eats a ton of caviar. "I've done it every day at work for the last 20 years," he says. His distributor (and close friend), Hossein Aimani of Paramount Caviar, has the same problem. "It's part of my job — I'm guilty of the crime of eating caviar every day. Someone has to do it." The two connoisseurs have come together to create Eric Ripert Imperial Select Caviar, which they believe is the best in the world.

Not everyone can say they first discovered their true calling at Korean Catholic camp—but that’s where actress Jamie Chung first remembers catching the acting bug. “We’d break into groups, have a leader and put on these skits,” she says. “I had absolutely no fear. I loved the whole creative process and entertaining people and making them laugh.” But in high school, Chung tabled these passions to focus on her studies, not stopping until she graduated from college. “I could not see myself going into higher education, so I moved to L.A. and jumped right into things. I got a manager and started taking classes.” Sounds fearless, right? “I’m so ashamed of failure that I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing, not even my parents,” she says. “I didn’t even tell them that I booked my first job on a soap opera.”

No one wants to go through life known as “the Asian dude.” But for Harry Shum, Jr., it’s a dream come true. The 27-year-old plays football player and show-choir member Mike Chang on the hit show “Glee,” but he’s much better known for being “the other Asian,” a nickname dubbed by Jane Lynch’s scary cheerleading coach character, Sue Sylvester. Shum is no stranger to being a token Asian.

For as long as she can remember, Brenda Song has wanted to be an actress. “My imagination, as a child, was huge,” she recalls. “It’s all I wanted to do.” With parents who were “supportive of anything,” Brenda got her first role at age five doing a commercial for Little Caesars. A few short years later, a manager introduced Brenda to Elizabeth Sung, who at the time was directing a short autobiographical film and looking to cast someone as her younger self. Sung had met with 20 girls when Brenda came along.