One of Miami Beach’s most iconic and Instagram-worthy attractions is its collection of colorful lifeguard towers. On my recent trip, I set out to walk the length of Miami Beach to see as many of these artistic structures as I could. I managed to visit nine of them, but with 36 of them scattered along the shoreline, there’s plenty left to explore.

I had never knowingly had Vietnamese food, but one look at the menu and I knew it was a place I needed to be. If you could measure a restaurant's worth by entry, the line outside suggests an upcoming acclaimed experience. Modest in size, Tâm Tâm is the definition of a local treasure and the kind of place I prefer to find myself when it comes to food.

Chicago is a city in which you’ll find many Southern restaurants because The Great Migration brought the food I’m so accustomed to in Virginia up north and then across the country. Dining at these restaurants always feels familiar in that way, but I also have come to expect and enjoy the surprises that evolution and a geographical change can bring to such classic and time-honored dishes.

Caye Caulker is a 5.5-mile scenic island off the coast of Belize with the friendliest people, amazing marine life, great food, and brilliant sunsets. You’ll definitely get to know people before you leave, and it’s truly a joy to do so. Life moves slower here, and that’s part of the charm. Barefoot strolls along three main streets, a tray full of jerk chicken, beans and rice—it’s so easy to feel at home.

There are at least eleven villages surrounding Lake Atitlán, and you might visit them all for different reasons. I made it to four during my trip to Guatemala and was amazed at how each village could be described as having its very own personality: Panajachel with its familiar vibe, illusory San Juan La Laguna, beguiling San Pedro, and reticent Santiago.

Guatemala is fairly simple to navigate, even with limited Spanish. It can be as cheap or as expensive as you’d like depending on how you travel, but it’s important to note that your money can go a long way here. Convenient transportation like tuc tucs and chicken buses or meals at the local market rather than at restaurants are both ways to stretch your money.

In The Bahamas, a tour guide with a sense of humor may convince you to try something that looks and feels similar to a worm. In my case, the tour guide refused to tell me what I was trying and made me eat three before he even gave me a hint. Would you try conch pistols? They’re said to be an aphrodisiac, but I’m still deciding if the bragging rights were worth it.

Nassau cuisine is particularly interesting because chefs make use of ingredients that are not common everywhere. Like most islands, you'll find that seafood is popular, and in The Bahamas, mainly conch, snails that are indigenous to the Caribbean. Many dishes are jerk or cracked (deep-fried) and full of flavor, and conch is always the star of the show in salad, stew, or fritters.