If you’re not careful in today’s social media-crazed world, travel can start to feel like a competition. Once you’ve finished checking into all the trendiest spots and snapping photos in all the right places, you might just realize you’ve forgotten why you booked that plane ticket in the first place. The only surefire way to avoid this modern-day traveler’s burnout is by taking the path less traveled.
When a travel writer friend of mine called one summer and asked if I wanted to go mushroom foraging in Estonia, I thought, why not? It wasn’t on my lengthy must-do list, but that was the beauty of it. After a day of hiking unmarked trails, stumbling upon tiny fishing villages, and diving into natural swimming holes, we found ourselves truly relaxed, sitting around a campfire in the middle of a forest I still couldn’t pinpoint on a map—never mind geotag on Instagram. We made a pact right then to add one off-our-radar destination to our travels every year.
Stacey Leasca
For this issue, team Travel + Leisure dug deep to find unexpected experiences for the most curious of travelers, from insider itineraries in uncrowded cities to lesser-known train journeys, isolated beaches, and quiet mountain towns. We hope it nudges you down the road less traveled. As poet Robert Frost famously told us, that could make all the difference.
— Nina Ruggiero, Senior Editorial Director,Travel + Leisure
