Travel

If you’ve ever flown in or out of Kennedy Airport, you’ve probably seen the Trans World Airlines Terminal, or the TWA Flight Center as it was called. Built in 1962, the shapely building was designed by the legendary architect Eero Saarinen to usher in the Jet Age, but has been unused since 2001, when the airline went bankrupt.

A softness in people’s eyes and a gentleness of gesture. This was my travel brief, along with a bit of adventure. I didn’t mind the details, but I was craving warmth of spirit above all else, something in direct contrast to the clamor of my orbit in Manhattan.

Sure, people normally traipse off to tropical paradises in the dead of winter, when the dry, hot days and brilliant beaches are most appreciated. But in Central America, nature and the travel industry offer some compelling reasons to visit the area in the off-season. Between May and November, travelers are likely to encounter an absence of crowds, a significant drop in prices, and unique experiences in its flora and fauna — hence, “the green season.”

Washington has been home since 1982, but Amagansett has been my summer escape since 1968, when my parents bought a small house on the bay side of the Napeague stretch. I’m still there every summer with my husband and son, reveling in that magical smell of the saltwater air. But I also love living in D.C., where I own a landscape-design company. It’s such a nice, clean, green city, and easy to get around. Here are my top picks for experiencing the nation’s capital like a local.

You can do something in Bhutan generally inadvisable elsewhere in Asia: inhale deeply.

This tiny Himalayan kingdom, squeezed between notoriously smoggy India and China, is said to be the only country in the world that is carbon negative, meaning that its forests are able to absorb more carbon dioxide than is emitted. Forests cover over 60 percent of this land and are sacred, as are mountains, rivers, and the earth. The population is small (about 800,000), but the power of nature is enormous. Humans know their place.

People joke that it’s ‘the new Sag Harbor,’ but the North Fork’s premier destination is still a world away from the Hamptons hustle.

The charms of Salt Cay, a small island in Turks and Caicos with hard-baked ground and little shade, hammered by hurricanes, and cut off from many of the conveniences of daily life, will not be immediately — or ever — apparent to some.

The dynamic Dutch capital’s reputation for stag parties, spliff, and sex tourism belies diverse offerings for those willing to stray beyond the tourist hot spots. There’s no denying the city’s palpable yet joyful tension between serene beauty and beery hedonism — visitors either come for the picturesque charm of higgledy-piggledy houses on narrow streets or for sweaty techno raves in converted factories — but Amsterdam has it all, from the arts and entertainment to design, food, and greenery.

Travelers flying out of London’s Heathrow this summer will be able to check in and board their flight without showing a passport or boarding pass.

The United Kingdom’s largest airport has announced plans for an immediate and full-scale roll out of a facial-recognition system costing approximately $65 million. In a press release, airport officials claimed this revolutionary biometric technology could reduce the average passenger’s journey time by up to a third.

I always pictured my first trip to Italy as a romantic getaway, maybe to celebrate a milestone anniversary after two children and a certain number of years of marriage.

Emerge from the subway on Canal Street in Chinatown, New York City, and be prepared for a wonderfully chaotic assault to the senses. Wizened grannies haggle loudly over all kinds of unrecognizable goods, younger women step into your path, whispering, “Handbag, Rolex, perfume.” Buckets of eels and brilliant blue crabs spill onto the sidewalk as customers clamor over fresh prawns and whole fish. Peking ducks hang in restaurant windows with skin like glass and the color of Chippendale mahogany.

Dollar, a beautiful white tiger around 2 years old, was serene, lazily lounging on the ground as I stroked her flank and gently rested my head on her 400-pound body, blissed as could be, all senses sharper than at any other time in memory.

Without warning, Dollar lifted her massive head and turned directly around. Eyes locked, our faces inches apart, time, the earth, and my heart stood completely still. We looked into one another’s eyes for a long, long moment. Terrified and exhilarated, I tried to will any lingering fear from my consciousness.

Cruising west along Highway 80, between Montgomery and Selma, my kids and I sang along loudly to “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around,” over and over, to get our off-key harmonies right. We were on a weeklong pilgrimage to the holy sites of the civil rights movement.

Traveling to London and worried about Brexit overload? Head straight over to Hackney, in the east end of the city, and simply enjoy London for what it really is: the world’s most ethnically diverse city.