It's impossible not to notice that much of our storytelling of late has explored themes of renewal and rebirth. We are looking to travel as a way to correct an imbalance, to restore a desired state, to get us back to where we want to be. Yes, that's always been true to some extent, and the stratospheric growth of wellness travel in the years leading up to the pandemic was proof, but right now for so many of us, travel's primary function is its ability to provide a reset.
It's a scientific fact that proximity to water has that palliative effect we're all looking for. Our heart rate goes down. Our breathing rate goes down. We feel better. We go to our happy place. I'd wager that many of you have only to think about certain bodies of water in order to feel calmer. For me it's the Puget Sound: the churn of a ferry's prow briefly upsetting the powerful stillness of the surface; the variegated blue of the Strait of Juan de Fuca stretching toward the sunset from a rocky promontory on the western edge of San Juan Island.
And everyone knows this about water, at least subconsciously. On Condé Nast Traveler's Instagram feed, pictures of the wet stuff consistently outperform all other types of content. Which is why this issue is full of it. In Why We Travel, every story is a water story, from way-finding in an outrigger canoe in Tahiti to falling for the onboard experience during a Caribbean cruise, from looking good on the beach in Grenada to discovering what Honolulu has to offer beyond Waikiki. And there's even more where that came from, with dives into Tinos, Puerto Rico, and Vancouver Island. Let all of them provide inspiration for your next watery vacation. Hours after this writing, my family and I will be getting on a plane to San Francisco, that beautiful city by the bay, and we'll visit some of my other favorite spots along the Northern California coast. I want you to make a plan to do something similar, whether it's on the water, in the water, or merely next to it. Your soul is calling for it.
This article appeared in the April 2022 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
