By Julie Kunen The scent of warm spices wafted from the pilau steaming in its clay pot over a charcoal brazier in this restaurant in Zanzibar.  Cumin, a memory of Persia.  Black pepper and cinnamon, brought in dhows on the trade winds across the Indian Ocean.  Rice itself, from the Ganges River delta of South Asia.  Together, these ingredients define Zanzibari cuisine, a fusion not just of flavors but of waves of cultural influences washing over the island for millennia.  ...

By Jorim Alosa Editor’s Note: This story told by a Kenyan student attending school and learning about witchcraft in Uganda made me laugh and gave me insight about how complex belief can be. I hope you enjoy it. CMS IGANGA Of an old railway line and locomotive Corrugated iron sheet buildings now gutted and empty An area strewn with rubbish and rubble. There is a goat so skinny behind me That you can see its ribs And everywhere parking out ...

Editor’s Note: I got to ask travel blogger, writer, conference organizer, and travel guru Matt Kepnes of Nomadic Matt some questions about travel, writing, and books (some of my favorite subjects, and, luckily, his too). *This article contains affiliate link(s). Any affiliate link means that I may earn advertising/referral fees if you make a purchase through my link, without any extra cost to you. It helps to keep this magazine afloat and allows us to compensate our writers. Thank you ...

By Sallie Lewis Longoria It’s coming on Christmas, and up and down my street, twinkle lights glow softly, like summer fireflies. While my own home will soon be decked for the holidays, the house next door remains dark and shuttered, a lingering reminder of what I lost. My grandparents – who I called Honey and Popo – were many things to me. Friends, first and foremost, role models, teachers, travel advisors, and much later in life, next-door neighbors. Together since ...