Innholdsfortegnelse for Fall 2022 i AFAR

SISONKE MSIMANG Writer Author Sisonke Msimang has lived all over the world, from Johannesburg to New York City, but love brought her to her current home of Perth, Australia. In A Big Family (p.51), she reflects on how the COVID-19 pandemic forced her family to stop traveling and what that meant for her children. “[Lockdown] offered a way to process my questions around privilege and inequality, as well as my anxieties as a parent,” Msimang says. She published her first book, Always Another Country, in 2018, and is at work on her first novel. Follow her on Instagram @sisonke_msimang. TROY LITTEN Photographer San Francisco–based graphic designer and photographer Troy Litten documents his travel adventures and likes to find similarities among the different cultural landscapes he visits. In Off the Hook…

Counting is so 2019. Today, travel is not about ticking off 1,000 places to see before you die. It’s about delving deeply into a destination rather than skipping over it like a stone, about engaging with local communities, being mindful of your environmental impact, and spending time with loved ones. These trends hold true for individuals, tour companies, and private itineraries created by travel advisors. “The future of trips will be very personal,” says Erika Richter, spokesperson for the American Society of Travel Advisors—professionals who have seen their currency rise in the pandemic as champions of refunds and advocates for safe travel. “The emotional component of future trips will be just as unique as the person taking the trip,” Richter adds. Here’s what to look for in your next journey.…

THE SINGAPORE SUN is high in the afternoon sky, the heavy air sticky with humidity. I, however, am unfazed. I’m standing in the shaded comfortof ABCBrickworks, oneofSingapore’soldesthawkercenters, waiting patiently in line at the Jin Jin Dessert stall. And any moment now, I’ll be savoring the sweet, sweet chill of ice kachang. As the line creeps forward, I watch as local office workers—women in skirts and heels, men in short-sleeved shirts and pressed pants—return to their tables holding towers of shaved ice on a bed of beans (kachang means “bean” in Malay) and smothered in fruit, jellies, and neon-colored syrups. Many chilled and frozen desserts are available in this relentlessly hot island nation located one degree north of the equator. But ice kachang—which dates to the mid–20th century—holds a special place…

I have fond memories of a trip I took to Zanzibar a few years ago. After what felt like a string of activity-packed holidays, I decided to approach this one differently. My mood—and the unhurried pace of life on the island, located off the coast of Tanzania—dictated the itinerary. A friend and I took walks to the beach and talked about everything from horoscopes to heartache. We took our time at the fruit stalls, chatting with vendors and marveling at the fragrant mangoes. We befriended an auntie who, over spiced tea, told us stories of colorful characters in Stone Town. A week later, I had morphed into an improved version of myself, my shoulders unhunched and my face more prone to smiling. We’ve dedicated this issue to stories of slow,…

In 2016, we created the Travel Vanguard to honor values-oriented leaders making positive changes in the travel industry. This year, we’ve expanded our lens to focus on entire organizations that walk the walk to ensure that travel is a force for good. Out of more than 100 nominees, this year’s honorees include hotels, tour operators, a tourism board, a flight school, and a tech-savvy nonprofit. They work across all seven continents, and they’re grappling with everything from social and racial justice to accessibility and climate change. Read on to learn about the inspiring companies transforming the way we travel. UNITED AVIATE ACADEMY FOR DIVERSIFYING AVIATION IF YOU’RE A WOMAN or a person of color in the United States, your likelihood of becoming a professional pilot is slim: According to the U.S. Bureau…

DEPARTURE LONDON, ENGLAND LONDON ST. PANCRAS is quiet this morning. The cavernous railway station is empty of commuters, its coffee shops shuttered. I often travel from here—it’s a mere 10-minute bicycle ride from my home—though I rarely see it this early. But then again, I’m rarely embarking on such a long trip. Usually, I’d be at this station to take a train to the suburbs or the coast. Today, I fold in with the passengers queuing to take the high-speed Eurostar trains that will whisk us from the U.K. to Europe. I’ve joined them because I am lost—not physically, just philosophically. Six years after the referendum, I still haven’t come to terms with Brexit. As a Brit, when my country voted to leave the European Union, I was shocked and furious,…

MY DAD WAS INTO stories about pirates and heroes. Coastal regions of the South, thought to contain both, held a special place in his imagination. Those buccaneers, the way my dad told it, were seeking an escape from the conditions society placed on them. Piracy offered folks the chance to take control of their lives. Looking back, I think my father was trying to figure out how to do the same. In February 2012, after my dad’s cancer diagnosis, my family and I set out to visit the Dry Tortugas, a remote archipelago and national park in Florida, in search of something like the adventure my dad had always appreciated. The concept of a bucket list was foreign to my family; we were people of limited means who didn’t travel…

I AM THE CHILD of a freedom fighter and an accountant. My idealistic father left South Africa when he was 19 due to his anti-apartheid actions. My pragmatic mother was the top student in her newly independent country of Swaziland, now named Eswatini. I was born there, grew up in Lusaka, Nairobi, and Ottawa, and as an adult have spent most of my time living in major cities, including New York and Johannesburg. I see myself as a blend of my parents: a pragmatic idealist. I travel for practical reasons—and also because I love the bustle of chaotic streets, the rhythms of markets, and the feeling of limitless possibility. And yet, for the last eight years, I have found myself living in Western Australia, in Perth, where there is little…