INSTAGRAM – Kicking off this week is a tour around the vast lands of the imposing and magnificent African continent. From early sunrises and evening sunsets, to beautiful images of the African wildlife, theres so much to love about an African safari.See the slideshow.COMING UP NEXT: ISLAND HOPPINGInstatrip is a Sunday roundup of the best Instagram photos of the destination were featuring that week. Next up: islands. Tag your best Insta

New York City is a surprisingly good place to foster a newfound love of the great outdoors. Cyrena Lee heads to her favorite nearby campgrounds for lazy summer fun.NEW YORK CITY – I wasnt raised in a family that liked to go on nature-based adventures. (It took nearly a decade for me to discover the beauty of the beaches in Taiwan.) The summer camp of my youth was gymnastics camp, which meant that the serenity of the Pocono Mountains —

Think you need 40 years of specialized training, a 100-pound spacesuit, and endless astronaut training to have a cosmic experience? Think again. Wear your moon boots through the Atacama Desert; space is much closer than you think.ATACAMA DESERT, Chile – Travel south to one of the driest and most astonishing environments on planet earth. The varied and sparse landscape ranges from vast stretches of bone-dry desert to flamingo-flanked salt fl

Subtly luxurious lodgings and top-knotch guides come together to perfectly redefine safari. Contributing editor Christina Ohly has her ultimate bespoke safari experience.KALAHARI DESERT, South Africa – From the moment I arrived at the Johannesburg airport for the flight to Tswalu, a truly unique game reserve located in the southern part of the Kalahari Desert, I knew this one was going to be different. My family and I boarded their luxuriou

The road-tripping family behind Our Open Road, one of our 24 Best Blogs and Websites 2014, spent Christmas and New Years Day crossing borders in South America. After five months in Peru, the trio drove their old camper van across the border to Chile.Here are the gorgeous trip highlights.

Two worlds collide when viewing outer space from Earth at these four stunning destinations — some of which even make you feel like youre walking amongst extraterrestrial terrain. Gazing up at the galaxies beyond inspires a sense of awe and wonder at how small we are in comparison, especially when experiencing these views from a new continent. So astronomers and thrill-seekers alike, come get cosmopolitan to view the cosmos.Vieques, Pu

Earlier this summer, Fathom contributing koan editor James Sturz flew to Edmonton, Canada, and drove to Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies, and then took an overnight train to Vancouver, before exploring VIA Rail Canadas partnership with Yukon-based Air North. Along the way, he saw a beguiling amount of life — although not all of it, strictly speaking, was living.While on his Canadian Odyssey, James stayed at the Fairmont Ja

This winter, Jungles in Paris co-founder Darrell Hartman skipped the slopes in Whistler to go bird-watching in a small town less than an hour away, where more than 3,000 bald eagles kick back, spread their wings, and chow down.SQUAMISH, British Columbia – On any outdoorsy trip, I consider myself lucky to log an eagle sighting. But how about a place where you can spot dozens of them during a single stroll in the woods? Or even just on the dr

Surfers and hippies have long escaped to Vancouver Island to get away from it all. That sounds increasingly appealing to the rest of us, too.TOFINO, Vancouver Island – After a two-hour ferry and a three-hour drive across Pacific temperate rainforest, it feels like I have reached the end of the Earth. But Im in Tofino, a fancy, free-spirited fishing village on the west coast of Vancouver Island, land of pristine wilderness in the far reaches

After a difficult winter, Big Sur is back and better than ever, which is why we think its the ideal time to plan a long weekend to the rugged stretch of land on Californias central coast.BIG SUR, California – Each year, as the holidays fade and the dark days of winter set in, I get an unshakable urge to flee New York City for someplace remote and green with no signs of snow. This year, I had my heart set on a long weekend in Big Sur. Id bee

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the largest hot air balloon event in the world. Last year, Darlene Fiske reported for us on the festivities. This year, we found this mesmerizing time-lapse video by Joel Schat, so we asked him about his trip.ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – Shooting the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was an amazing experience filled with early mornings and, well, hot air balloons. Every day, I would wake u

Sisilia Tiseli, one of our 24 Best Travel Instagrammer 2017,  has a knack for capturing photos of far away places in a soothing color palette. The Amsterdam-based Polynesian takes us through her artistic process.Tell us a little about yourself.I was born and raised on an island in the South Pacific call Tonga. My family and I spent time in Canberra, Australia; then we went back to Auckland, New Zealand. After university, I moved to Syd

Universally recognized as one of the world’s finest image-makers, photographer Steve McCurry has a talent for capturing raw emotion in a single picture. We caught up with him after a trip to East Africa with Silversea Cruises, where he photographed one of the region’s last remaining mountain gorillas. This year I started a collaboration with Silversea Cruises to capture the world in photographs. Most of the regions I will visit, like the Ru

Just an hour south of San Francisco, Half Moon Bay is an easy weekend escape with vineyards, gourmet food, and dramatic cliffs reminiscent of Scotlands fabled bluffs.HALF MOON BAY, California – San Francisco residents are a spoiled bunch. When the weekend rolls around they depart their pastel-hued Victorian homes and scenic hilltop vistas for day trips and weekend getaways ranging from the picturesque (Lake Tahoes pristine waters, Big Surs

Before we had planes, trains, and automobiles, we got around on horses. They were the engine of our exploration — whether we were popping over to the next village to see what spices might have turned up via the Silk Route or crossing a continent with a caravan of anxious and hopeful pals to settle the Badlands.But since the age of the engine, human interactions with horses have been less about necessity and more about recreation. I di

Keen on trying out astrophotography on your next trip? Getting your camera settings right is one thing. Producing a great image is another. Fathom’s Daniel Schwartz talked to photographer Eric Adams about how he took this photo of the night sky, and how anyone can do the same regardless of camera gear or shooting conditions.Subject: Devil’s Tower National Monument, WyomingCamera: Sony A7RIITakeaway: Always be willing to experiment.Beautiful

The just-opened Troutbeck hotel is a unique Hudson Valley hideaway that’s at once historic, low-key, and luxurious. Christina Ohly takes a look around.AMENIA, New York — All the cool kids are flocking to the Hudson Valley — and for good reason. They’re drawn to the lush landscape, the fine cuisine, and the lack of traffic and pretense. So it has always puzzled me why there are so few — if any — really lovely, top-not

Head to one of the worlds most unforgettable stretches of coastline with our handy list of Big Sur favorites, including gems like our top spot for breakfast, the most scenic hike, and the best deserted beach.BIG SUR, California - South of Monterey, along California’s central coast, sits one of the most stunning and wild stretches of land in the U.S. A haven for artists of all generations, including literary greats like Henry Miller and Jack

Youll have to travel to the (other) end of the earth to find a hotel (and an innkeeper) more committed to their environment (and the people who make it) than Fogo Island Inn in Newfoundland. That its one of our Most Romantic Hotels of 2018 is just another reason to love it.NEWFOUNDLAND – Getting to Fogo Island in Newfoundland is no easy task. But as my friend and I lined up for the Change Islands Ferry for our last leg of the 24-hour journe

Some images have a way of haunting our day dreams and mood boards (and Instagram feeds), compelling us to find out the story behind the picture — like this island on Lake Bled, Slovenia.Maybe its just me, but I cant seem to spend any time on social these days without seeing one (now) familiar image: a charming bell tower perched upon a tiny, verdant island, surrounded by an immense, spectacularly blue lake. This is Bled Island, on Lak