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Nearly 1,900 km northeast of Brisbane lies the Melanesian nation of Vanuatu, consisting of 83 islands in an archipelago. It has a population of approximately 340,000. Recently, I took a flight from Brisbane, and in just 2½ hours I was in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. It sits on Efate, the country's third-largest island at roughly 900 square kilometers, and by far its most populous. I intended to spend a little bit less than two weeks here and visit at least three islands

More than a decade after a brief first visit in 2013, I returned to Siem Reap this month to fully immerse myself in the sights, sounds, flavors, and layered history of the ancient Khmer Empire. Right from the moment I stepped out of the terminal, the lush green countryside set the scene. I caught an airport taxi for $30 into the city center, a 45-kilometer drive from the new Siem Reap–Angkor International Airport, which opened back in late 2023 to replace the old airfield clo

More than fifteen years ago, a friend returned from Uganda raving about her encounter with mountain gorillas, and ever since, that experience has lived quietly but firmly on my bucket list. This year, the stars finally aligned. Once I decided to make the trip happen, I dove into the planning: researching routes, permits, and tour companies. I eventually found Encounter Africa through a simple web search; they offered a five‑day chimpanzee and gorilla itinerary priced at $5,40

In my previous three visits to Malaysia, Borneo remained a distant dream—always on the list, never on the itinerary. This time, I finally crossed the South China Sea to explore the island of Borneo -- the third largest island in the world, shared by three nations: Brunei, which claims a sliver of sovereignty; Malaysia, whose states of Sarawak and Sabah hug the northern coast; and Indonesia, which occupies the lion’s share under the name Kalimantan. Flying in domestically to K