Johanna Read

Costa Rica is known for its pura vida lifestyle and attitude. Pura vida means pure or simple life and Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula has what you could call extreme pura vida. The peninsula is one of the world’s five Blue Zones where many people live exceptionally long and healthy lives. Now, visiting Nicoya doesn’t mean you’ll automatically live to 100, but a trip there is likely to put you on the path to pure life thanks to its natural environment and abundance of healthy activities. Here’s ...

Excerpts from my TIME article on Rapa Nui, Chile, were included in this roundup in TIME for Kids.

New restaurants have been opening at a pace faster than Vancouver has seen in recent years, making dining here more exciting than ever. Choose from additional locations of local favorites, an Alberta eatertainment import where you can eat and play at the same time, and an all-new concept serving ancient Peruvian fare in Mount Pleasant. Restaurants are also increasingly offering ways to give back, with one spot benefitting humanitarian relief in Ukraine and another folding gratuity into ...

Five of the best weekender bags available in summer/fall 2022.

Dubai is saying "marhaba"—welcome—to travelers with spectacular new hotel openings.

Sometimes even including a Suez Canal transit, these new Windstar Cruises will bring a maximum of 312 guests to ports in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.

The Kingdom of Bhutan reopens September 23, 2022 with a tripled sustainability fee and removal of the requirement to book an organized tour.

Travelers are again welcome in Samoa as the independent nation west of American Samoa fully reopened its borders on August 1, 2022.

Slovak translation of my original English article, This Beach Keeps Winning World’s Best Beach Awards, for Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/johannaread/2022/04/18/this-beach-keeps-winning-worlds-best-beach-awards/?sh=409ca53e9894).

One of Time Magazine's World's Greatest Places 2022's

I tested a variety of luggage billed to fit under the seat in front of you on a plane, and then wrote up my recommendations for USA Today's Reviewed.

Turkish Airlines celebrated its brand new Seattle-Istanbul route with a June 15, 2022, ribbon cutting ceremony. This follows the June 2, 2022 decision of the United Nations to accept the request to change the name of the country from Turkey to Türkiye.

Ghost gear and ghost nets — abandoned and lost fishing gear — kill and injure marine animals, smother coral reefs, pollute shorelines and damage boats. But the Sandals Foundation has a new program to turn ghost nets into soccer nets, linked to its just opened 16th resort called Sandals Royal Curaçao.

Bawah Reserve, in the remote Anambas Islands in Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago, is reopening to guests September 1, 2022. During the 2.5-year closure for the pandemic, they’ve been busy expanding to a sixth island, renovating and adding new accommodation categories, and even installed a new floating solar farm.

Almost every restaurant will happily serve up drinks—alcoholic or booze-free—regardless of whether there’s a food order. But there are times when something extra special is necessary when it comes to what’s in the glass and the atmosphere. Raise a glass to these dozen Vancouver spots that all offer something standout in the drinks department, from the city’s most innovative cocktails to more casual haunts for game day.