You’re smart, capable, and gosh darn it, people like you. Yet, when the job requires you to commit something to writing, even if it’s just a simple internal email, you panic. Your defense mechanisms kick in and try to save you. The result? Really bad writing. Now for the good news: you can become a better writer by remembering these 7 things …

Tanzania. It’s been on your list since college, when that guy climbed Kilimanjaro instead of getting a job. Yeah, that guy. What a guy. Should’ve been you. Now that you’re planning your honeymoon you actually have a chance to go. To satisfy the wild African adventure envy you’ve been harboring all these years. There's only one problem …

Juan Felipe Lozano Sanz is an internationally certified barista. That means he pays himself to drink coffee. “It’s a tough life, do not cry for me,” he says with a smirk. The owner of Caffa Colombia, a coffee café located just seven miles north of Bogotá’s Museo de Oro, Juan Felipe grew up with privilege but opted out of safer career paths in favor of military service, daring travel to remote regions of the Amazon, and a business he believes …

“Have you seen James Cameron’s Avatar, the blue guys? In the Amazon … it’s like that, just crazy. Like really magical. There are animals so crazy that your mind cannot even grasp them. There is this bird, pitch black. But you turn your head a little bit, the sun hits it in the right way, and it turns bright blue. And you’re like, WHAT? You move a little. Black. Bright blue. Black. And when it flies, it kind of shifts black blue black blue.” — Juan Felipe Lozano Sanz, Owner Caffa Colombia

Just outside the bounds of Washington, D.C., beneath the ruddy noses of our nation’s administrators, there are acres upon acres of rolling hills and hundreds of bucolic vineyards boasting mature vines, reliable harvests of serious wine grapes, and remarkable award-winning vintages often snubbed by fans of Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. When I arrive at the Chrysalis Vineyards manor house, I find Jenni McCloud reviewing plot maps in what should be her living room but has given way to …

“The first guy who picked us up was Kenny,” Jake recalls. “He had a cool truck with a surfboard in the back, he was a total surf bro. He told us he’d hiked Kalalau with a girlfriend once and it was so magical that you wouldn’t be surprised if you saw a unicorn out there.” With a coveted trail permit in hand, Jake and his wife Erika had waited that morning for a taxi ride to the trailhead. When they learned the taxi wasn’t coming, they decided to hitchhike, something they never ever do …

It would have been so easy to stay there on Las Olas beach. “We’ve got two lounges reserved for you ladies,” said the gal at reception. “Just see Gino under the blue umbrella.” If Gino was anything like the tanned and bedazzled characters checking in beside us, we would have had a wild time. But “we ladies” had a different kind of wild in mind …

Sarah is a morning person. She’s up at daybreak, dressed, accessorized, and effervescing around the office before most of us have found our espresso cups. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. What is a shame, however, is that Sarah not only beat you to the office this morning, she also beat you to Australia, mate …

If I had to be honest, I would say our trip to Greece was the direct result of an early mid-life crisis. After years of climbing the ranks in the chaotic world of advertising, I was ready to do something meaningful and lasting with my life. So when the agency’s owner asked me to choose 20 people from the staff to let go in an upcoming re-org, my response was, “Yeah, no. That’s not happening.” The next morning, I submitted …

“If you asked 100 golfers where they wanted to play ... you know what 95% of them would say? Augusta National. But they could never get on,” replied Mr. Bobby Lott when I asked where he dreamed of teeing off some day. Mr. Lott was not complaining. On the contrary, his answer showed reverence for the hallowed course where the annual Masters Tournament is held. “I don’t know if you were The Pope whether they’d let you play golf there or not,” he continued. And then, as though he were actually considering the possibility, he finished with “They might ...

As it turns out, two days in Cartagena are plenty. Not for the pigeons on the rooftop adjacent to my Movich Hotel balcony. Those winged 50 Shades of Grey sexpots …

I am standing thigh-deep in the clearest water I've ever seen in my life marveling the pretty saffron- and sage-colored rocks beneath my feet when a voice …

“Swees?! Swees?! Churman? Ingleesh?” queried the effervescent young man who ran along side us as we walked into the chaos of Marrakech’s night market. Fresh faced and …

“This time, it’s going to take more than a manicure and a massage,” Lisa said when she called from her home in California. Her timing was perfect. My husband, Marcus, and I were emerging from another brutal …