Nairobi’s Christmas markets are a highlight of the city’s holiday calendar. The Karen Christmas Fair is among the most popular, offering a mix of handmade crafts, unique jewelry, and festive home décor. Local food vendors serve traditional Kenyan delicacies alongside international holiday favorites, while live performances and activities for children make it a family-friendly event. Nairobi’s holiday fairs reflect the city’s cosmopolitan spirit, with a festive African twist.

Lagos comes alive during the festive season with a variety of holiday fairs. These events feature a vibrant mix of vendors selling everything from African-inspired Christmas decorations to bespoke gifts and clothing. Music and dance performances infuse the markets with energy, while food stalls offer Nigerian specialties like jollof rice and suya, alongside holiday treats. The markets also serve as community hubs, where locals and visitors come together to celebrate the season.

In Ghana, Accra’s Christmas fairs combine cultural pride with holiday cheer. Markets like the annual Accra Arts and Crafts Christmas Market showcase local artisans and their handcrafted goods. Vibrant fabrics, unique jewelry, and traditional Ghanaian art make for perfect holiday gifts. With the addition of live music and delicious local cuisine, these markets capture the warmth and joy of the festive season.

Windhoek’s Christmas markets draw on its German colonial heritage, offering a distinctive blend of European and African traditions. Festive stalls feature everything from German baked goods like stollen to Namibian crafts and artwork. The lively atmosphere, complete with carols and mulled wine, makes these markets a charming and unique holiday destination.

The Western Cape region of South Africa, particularly in Stellenbosch, is known for its artisan-focused Christmas markets. Events like the Stellenbosch Slow Market offer a mix of festive food, handcrafted gifts, and local wines. The scenic surroundings and relaxed atmosphere provide a perfect backdrop for holiday shopping and celebration.

Johannesburg’s Christmas markets are a microcosm of South Africa’s diverse culture. The Edenvale Christmas Market is a favorite, featuring everything from traditional African crafts to festive decorations and gourmet treats. With live music and activities for all ages, these markets are a joyful way to celebrate the season.

Across these cities, holiday markets offer a vibrant reflection of Africa’s cultural diversity, blending traditional elements with festive cheer. Whether you’re shopping for unique gifts, savoring local cuisine, or simply soaking in the atmosphere, these markets are a must-visit for anyone that enjoys learning how different places celebrate Christmas. 

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It boats serving “decolonized” food, meaning no wheat, butter, dairy, cane sugar, black pepper, chicken, beef, or pork—ingredients introduced during European arrival to the Americas. Instead, the menu is curated to include indigenous ingredients such as game meats, corn, and wild plants sourced from local and national indigenous food producers. 

The drink menu does deviate from the decolonized model a bit in that it serves coffee and alcohol from women-owned, black, indigenous, people of color producers, with primarily Indigenous-produced wine from California, Mexico, and Māori wines from New Zealand. 

The restaurant’s staff is comprised of a majority of people from Native nations such as Anishinaabe, Mdewakanton and Wahpeton Sisseton Dakota, Navajo, Northern Cheyenne, and Oglala Lakota and is now owned by the non-profit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), also founded by the head chef and original co-owner of Owamni, the Sioux Chef, Sean Sherman. 

Having attended a presentation of his, Sherman’s vision is one where Indigenous people reconnect with their original food traditions, ways of cooking, and thus revive a part of their culture stripped away by colonization.

While the Owamni does accept walk-ins to be seated at the bar, it is recommended to book reservations weeks in advance for a place in the dining room. The experience and the view of course does not disappoint. 

In case there are issues getting a reservation, NATIFS does host another culinary endeavor in Minneapolis’s Midtown Global Market, the Indigenous Food Lab which acts as a “a professional kitchen and training center” following the vision of Sean Sherman , where you can get a delicious grain bowl or salad of decolonized food to whet your appetite for when you are able to dine at Owamni.

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A simple venture to even parallel roads and avenues in the French Quarter will be enough to encounter its journey to reconcile so much of its complex past to its present. There will be shops selling voodoo dolls, vampire decor, oddities and curiosities among the many other gallery storefronts. Another intriguing find is the year-round ghost tours to its many haunted buildings such as the LaLaurie mansion and passing of New Orleans’s cemeteries featuring prominent figures including a Voodoo Queen. The Historic Voodoo Museum is of course a stop not to be missed in this exploration. Even if you don’t readily gravitate towards the macabre, but you want to just lightly dabble in some thrills, there are plenty of swamp tours offering a rush of suspense where one can see alligators in the wild, eating some chicken or the marshmallows the boat captain uses to draw them out. 

During spooky season, some of New Orleans’s locals put on a hearty display of the Halloween spirit by decorating their historic houses intricately. You can go on a walking tour to witness these Spanish moss-covered homes after eating brunch at a restaurant on the streetcar-lined Canal Street or on your way between eating the fresh shucked oysters at Mr. Ed’s Oyster Bar & Fish House and a beignet at Café du Monde. And if all this walking has got you hankering for more activities before inevitably conjuring the spirit of the green fairy at the Old Absinthe bar on Bourbon Street, you can hop on a steamboat tour on the Mississippi River for dinner. 

One thing is for sure that whenever you visit the city, there are plenty of activities to do whether you choose a spirited or spirit-filled experience and you just may run into the vampire community of New Orleans on your way, bringing your adventure full-circle. 

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**This maybe not for the faint of heart, there are plantation tours which explore the sordid, chilling history of slavery to attempt to apologize and honor those caught in its horror. The reality of its legacy is still something that the predominantly Black population of New Orleans has to grapple with on the daily basis. 

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Traveling to a wellness destination or retreat during the fall could push us to feel our best and inspire what we want our near futures to look like. Fortunately, there are several exciting opportunities a moderate plane ride away to spark some ideas.

In the island nation of St. Lucia, the world’s only drive-in volcano has become one of the hot spots for a wellness opportunity like no other since visitors can bathe in its geothermal black pools and mud baths at the location known as  Sulphur Springs. How unique would it be to leave rejuvenated from this experience and then go rinse off at Toraille Waterfall to re-energize for the next phase of this adventure? 

At the historic Diamond Falls Botanical gardens, you have the opportunity to restore your body either at public or private therapeutic mineral baths. On this site, as funded to be erected by King Louis the XVI of France, you can receive the same benefits as bathing at Aix-les-Bains in France to heal some chronic maladies. You may engage in any of these activities either on your own or with a tour guide through an excursion that includes some or all, often times with a delicious creole lunch.

For more prolonged healing tailor-made stays, a few days at Cayo Levantado Resort on a private island off the coast of Samana in the Dominican Republic  or a choice from various wellness retreats at the remote Isla Holbox in Mexico’s Riviera Maya could prove to be transcendental. 

Choose from four different paths to wellness while at your stay at Cayo Levantado where you can participate in specifically curated activities that Refresh, Restore, Relax, and Renew your being. You can learn to use the Wim Hof method during cold exposure, perform deep breathing techniques, engage in reiki alignment, aromatherapy, flotation relaxation, massage, sound healing, and meditations all while eating the freshest local ingredients and receiving personal nutritional counseling during your stay at all-inclusive luxury accommodations. 

Likewise, Isla Holbox , a small, secluded island off the coast of Chiquila, Mexico, is an up and coming wellness destination with many holistic retreats to choose from. It is less developed for tourism than other destinations along the same coast. The retreats and accommodations make use of the unique geography of where the Caribbean merges with the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Yum Balam Nature Reserve. Experience holistic wellness activities such as sound healing, meditations, ice baths, Ayurdvedic local cuisine, yoga, and ritualistic ceremonies. The easiest way to reach this destination is to fly into Cancun Airport, travel two hours by road to Chiquila and then take the ferry to the island proper.

By visiting any of these destinations and enveloping yourself in the activities that they offer, you are sure to depart in a better state of mind, prepared to incorporate the reflections and lessons learned in any plan you may make to ring in the next season.

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Immersed in lush beauty, exciting new sounds and flavors, an Amazon Rainforest adventure invites you to feel like an explorer of old, discovering wonders at every turn… That is of course, without the discomfort and inconvenience of braving the elements as you take on this unique destination with all-inclusive accommodations on a river cruise, perhaps?

Because it is a largely protected habitat, there are a few activities several tour companies offer that allow one to respectfully visit the Amazon Rainforest and leave its ecosystem unbothered. A typical itinerary consists of guided nature hikes to observe the rainforest’s biodiversity up close, boat excursions on a motorboat or canoe to see aquatic wildlife like pink river dolphins and various fish species, visits to local indigenous communities, an expedition to the point where the Rio Negro and Amazon River converge, as well as fishing, and educational talks from naturalists or biologists—all while relaxing in lodges or luxury cabins and having gourmet meals.

Amenities while on your trip can vary depending on what you choose, of course. Both Aqua Expeditions and Delfin Amazon Cruises offer high-end, luxury accommodations with gourmet dining and guided excursions. Delfin does focus more on tailored, intimate experiences. Iberostar offers a more familiar cruising experience with tours through the Amazon. Rainforest Cruises provides a range of all-inclusive options for travelers and specializes in more boutique experiences. Lastly, Amazon Nature Tours provides eco-friendly cruises focused on wildlife and nature exploration. Cost depends on what you want to focus on and can range between $3,000 to $10,000 per person for a week-long cruise.

Whatever adventure you do choose to marvel at the Amazon, you are sure to end up getting lost in its beauty and set yourself up for a breathtaking adventure.

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At the heart of this adventure lies a glimmer of curiosity—essential for any traveler. A wandering mind often daydreams of faraway lands when stuck in the monotony of routine. It’s not just the destinations that thrill us, but also the curiosity that each traveler brings, transforming ordinary places into extraordinary experiences. This curiosity peels back the layers of a place’s past, merging it with the present and creating a unique story for every adventurer.

However, the places we romanticize are often part of others’ daily lives. This realization begs the question: Can we infuse our regular lives with the same excitement, even when we can’t jet off to a new destination every weekend?

Consider this: if you’ve already visited all the local museums and historic sites, perhaps trying a new restaurant with an intriguing ambiance could transport you. Or maybe it’s time to explore that building with fascinating architecture that you pass by every day but never take the time to appreciate. Engaging in an unfamiliar activity just for the experience can also inject a sense of adventure into your routine. Sometimes, simply slowing down and allowing yourself to be present in your surroundings can recreate that feeling of awe or peace you chase when you travel.

Even amid previous commitments or the rush of daily routines, exploring and trying new things can still evoke the sense of wonder that travel brings. Two people can visit the same place—one will see opportunity while the other might miss it entirely. There is magic in every space if you search for it.

Invite curiosity into your daily life and dare to discover the overlooked gems in your everyday routine. Embrace the potential for unexpected adventures in the familiar. You might just find that the thrill of travel can be experienced without ever leaving your hometown.

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