Hannah Lott-Schwartz

Jordan Casteel’s new exhibition at the Denver Art Museum isn’t an interactive installation, per se, but something funny happens when you look at her portraits: They look back. The Denver-born, Harlem-based artist’s first solo show at a major museum, Returning the Gaze (February 2–May 26), honors the value of human connection with 29 paintings in which neither the subjects—staffers at a family-owned Ethiopian restaurant (Benyam, pictured), a security guard on a stoop, the manager of a Harlem wine shop and his friend—nor the eye contact is imagined. ...

IN PANAMA, ESCAPE TO THIS SECLUDED PRIVATE ARCHIPELAGO

At this getaway in the Gulf of Chiriquí 20 miles off Panama’s Pacific coast, the tide fills and empties the crescent bay dramatically, creating and eliminating white-sand beaches in turn and lending the archipelago its name: the dry islands. It’s a bit of a misnomer, given that the 14 volcanic isles that make up this privately owned paradise that opened in January are drowning in riches, as you’ll discover during your stay. ...

Yoga teachers weigh in on what they can’t travel without—plus, our favorite must-brings for every adventure. ...

The hottest stops and spots to indulge in the City of Glass, plus an island to hop to. ...

Jenna Stellar grew up motorcycle adjacent—in the sidecar of her father’s 1964 Triumph Bonneville 650. When she was just 7 years old, she rode along at Los Angeles’s Griffith Park Sidecar Rally with her dad, a custom motorcycle fabricator and decorated rally racer. Her three brothers raced. Her boyfriends all rode. But Stellar was happy to sit in the back and hold on tight. In her experience, that was a woman’s place in the moto world. “I think if I saw more women racing, I might have gone in that direction,” Stellar says. “Our subconscious minds need visuals when we’re young.” ...

Wine, wildlife, and natural wonders — the state of South Australia has it all, and in abundance. The Wine State, as it’s often called, boasts no fewer than 18 wine regions, including the world-renowned Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. Dramatic landscapes in the state’s Flinders Ranges outback and on Kangaroo Island (a short flight or ferry ride from the mainland) are vast safari lands with geology and native animals that reach back hundreds of millions of years in time. ...

The strict, grid-like layout of Adelaide may suggest that South Australia’s capital is rigid and uniform — but it’s anything but. Marked by a square of greenery, the CBD, or central business district, is compact, which lends itself to competition thus has bred creativity, particularly in the culinary arts. The beauty of Australian food is that it’s taken on international influence with elegance and is almost always (or at least in its best representations) infused with a heap of fun. ...

One of the longest stretches of coastal cliffs in the world separates Australia from the turquoise waters of the Great Australian Bight. Here, along the country’s southern edge, is where you’ll find the “Galápagos of Australia,” home to more unique species than in all the Great Barrier Reef. ...

From walking with kangaroos to swimming with giant cuttlefish, the animal experiences you can have in South Australia are worth planning a trip around. Here are some of the top experiences to cross off your bucket list. ...

With more than 17,000 miles of coastline on the mainland alone (and another 10,000 miles on the islands), Australia was made for road trips with an ocean view. You can drive across a plain so flat that a camel’s humps look like mountains, follow the curves of wild coastal bluffs, or even make tracks on miles and miles of beach. Take a day, a week, or more discovering Australia’s coast by Australians’ favorite means of travel. Here are five joy rides to get you started. ...

With more than 40 years of fandom behind it, the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land at Disneyland® Resort in Anaheim, California, opened to the public on May 31 for reservations-only visits, with general access beginning June 24. ...

Denver may be laid-back, but its airport has a wholly different feel. Nearly 65 million travelers pass through Denver International Airport (DIA) each year, making it one of the busiest in the world. It’s also the second-largest airport anywhere, with plans to grow. DIA kicked off a $1.5 billion expansion last year and recently added a train with direct service between the airport and downtown so you no longer have to spend long layovers in a terminal. ...

There are few places in the world where you can have it both ways: suntans and snow angels, palms and pines. Southern California is one of them. Here you can take your cue from the popular hot/cold spa-therapy trend and alternate between extreme temperatures to reenergize your system. ...

Each year, nearly 80 million travelers pass through the Windy City’s Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the sixth-busiest in the world. Though you’ll need a layover on the longer side to get to downtown and back (say, a minimum of five hours to play it safe), the “L” train is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to dip your toe into Chicago; it’s just $10 for an unlimited day pass. ...

Martin Riese doesn’t sip water—he slurps it. But only after swirling it around in stemmed glassware, sniffing it, and examining it with his every sense. If the liquid in his glass were another shade, any shade at all, onlookers might guess he’s a trained sommelier tasting wine—and they’d be half right. Riese is a water sommelier. ...