This year marks the United States’ 250th birthday and it doesn’t get more Yankee Doodle Dandy than small town Bristol, in America’s smallest state, and home to the oldest, continuous Independence Day celebration in the country, dating back to 1785. But its patriotic vibe isn’t reserved only for one day in July — the center line on Hope Street, the town’s main thoroughfare, is permanently painted red, white, and blue, a federal exemption to standard traffic laws.

Go wild in 2026 and venture off well-trodden paths in the picturesque harbor of Cutler, located along the jagged, unspoiled coast of Maine.

I jump-started my summer travel by saying yes to an invitation by the World Sauna Forum to discover Finland through its bathing culture, at the heart of which is the sauna. Meant to be shared, in good company, the country’s sauna ethos is all about steaming, sweating, and dissolving into a wonderful kind of togetherness, among family, friends, and even strangers.

“Provence is a country to which I am always returning,” the English food writer and original influencer Elizabeth David famously said about this slow-paced paradise of jagged limestone cliffs, sharp sunlight, and an earthy, expressive cuisine.