One of the best road trips I’ve ever taken in North America was with my brother Jim in Mississippi. Starting in Jackson, we headed to Tupelo to visit the small birthplace shack of Elvis Presley. Follow Route 278 west and an hour later, you arrive at the home of writer William Faulkner and the attractive University of Mississippi campus in Oxford.
Continue to follow Route 278 west for a little more than an hour to reach the birthplace of the Blues, Clarksdale. The amount of musical talent that began their careers in this small town of 21,000 is remarkable. Muddy Waters was raised on the Stovall Plantation outside of town. Soul man Sam Cooke was born here, along with electric blues master John Lee Hooker, W.C. Handy, and Ike Turner, whose green house still stands on Washington Street. At the crossroads of Highway 61 and 49, early 20th-centruy bluesman Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil in exchange for a guitar. Muddy Water’s cabin is one of the highlights of the Delta Blues Museum, housed in a renovated freight depot.
Jim and I spent two nights at one of the most unique accommodations in the country, the Shack Up Inn. Set on the Hopson Plantation, where the mechanical cotton picker made its debut in 1941, owner Bill Talbot has converted six former sharecropper shacks into his own version of a B&B (bed and beer). Each rambling shack pays tribute to a blues legend, like the one we stayed in dedicated to boogie-woogie pianist Pinetop Perkins, who once worked at this same plantation.
Head south on Highway 61 through the heart of the Delta and you’ll find the zig-zag shaped trenches Union and Confederate troops dug during the Civil War’s bloody Siege of Vicksburg, now a National Military Park. Another hour of driving and you’ll reach that gem on the Mississippi River, Natchez. During its heyday prior to the Civil War, when cotton was king, Natchez had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the country. They built palatial estates that were largely spared during the Civil War due to its proximity to Vicksburg. The Union soldiers that survived that battle and made it to Natchez burned the cotton fields but left the homes intact. More than 150 of these structures still stand, including many that are still in private hands.
That includes the Monmouth Plantation, where mint juleps are served in a frosty silver cup promptly at 6:30 in the Quitman Study. Then everyone retires to the dining room, an ornate parlor adorned with long chandeliers and portraits of General John Quitman, who called Monmouth home in the 1820s. The highlight of this comfortable retreat, however, is the meticulously landscaped grounds, shaded by centuries-old oaks and their thick dress of Spanish moss.
From Natchez, it’s a two-hour drive back to Jackson, where we checked out the relatively new Mississippi Museum of Art in the emerging cultural district. Then we dropped off our convertible PT Cruiser and flew home. For the perfect 4-5 night drive through the Deep South, this can’t be beat.
Overshadowed by many of the other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, that sliver of land nestled between Mozambique, Zambia, and Tanzania called Malawi has seen a big surge in travelers this past year. They not only come for the wildlife-rich safari experience, far from the crowds of Maasai Mara, the Serengeti, and Kruger, but for the sublime post-safari beaches of Lake Malawi, the ninth largest lake in the world. Renowned African safari outfitters like Robin Pope are busy building new lodges such as Kuthengo Camp in Liwonde National Park. Likoma Island on Lake Malawi was just called one of the best beaches in the world by The Independent. "Stay at Kaya Mawa Resort, where each room was individually designed in partnership with a local workshop set up to empower single mothers, and the whole staff comes from neighboring villages," says the London newspaper. Lake of the Stars Festival is returning to the shores of Lake Malawi September 28-30, 2018 for its 15th anniversary. Book a room at the newly built Kabumba Hotel and listen to the sounds of Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit and Malawi’s Kim of Diamonds. If you need help with a Malawi route, guides, lodging, and flights, look no further than ActiveTravels. 
Every year for the past decade, I have been invited to speak at a magazine writing course at Emerson College on my life as a travel writer. One of my favorite props to bring to that class is a folder filled with at least 200 rejection letters that I pass around. I especially like the one rejection from Mad Magazine that simply checks off a box: “Didn’t tickle our funny bone.” When I first started as a freelance journalist back in the early 90s, you would send a query letter with a self-addressed stamp envelope. If the publication liked your idea, they would more than likely call you to do the assignment. If they didn’t like the pitch, they would send back a rejection letter. I’m not sure what masochistic strain of my personality persuaded me to collect these rejection letters, but I cherish them now. Many editors were encouraging, writing comments like “please send us other ideas.” One editor would simply write “Nope” on my pitch letters and send it back. 
When my wife and I launched our travel agency, 
Travel to Colombia has surged since the historic Peace Agreement was signed in November 2016, ending a half-century long conflict. 2018 saw a record 4.4 million visitors to the country, up a staggering 300 percent from a decade earlier, when reaching 1 million travelers was a lofty goal. This surge in demand has led to better international flight options, which should only continue to increase visitor numbers from abroad as long as the country remains stable. While Bogota remains the business and financial core of Colombia, it’s hard to resist the allure of Cartagena, a Spanish Colonial city that seems to be built with the traveler in mind. Behind the fortress walls are narrow streets, large plazas, 17th-century churches, and row after row of charming restaurants, boutique shops, and salsa dance clubs. Walking the pedestrian-only streets of the Old Walled City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is comparable to strolling the French Quarter of New Orleans. Bougainvillea flows from the terraces of the colorful homes, and under a historic clock tower, local merchants sell candy produced from tropical fruits such as guava, mango, papaya, and coconut.