My travel resolution in 2024 was less of a bucket list and more of a challenge: to travel to places that would push me out of my comfort zone. To be honest, I didn’t even know what that would entail at first. As a travel reporter, I generally feel at ease on the road.

With the clarity of hindsight, I can say that leaving my comfort zone in 2024 meant vacationing in a frozen tundra, swimming at the edge of 355-foot-tall Victoria Falls and visiting a destination synonymous with overtourism-an issue that I find myself pondering frequently. I even braved a seaside writing retreat in Italy; if that sounds easy, imagine being an introvert and spending five days with an itinerary chock-full of workshops and meals shared with people you’ve never met. Gulp.

All these experiences taught me a lesson: As the world around us shifts in dramatic ways (and at a dramatic velocity), it’s even more critical to seek out opportunities to understand others and share our respective stories.

No matter where you go, you’ll almost always gain fresh perspectives when you step out of your comfort zone-whatever it may mean to you. That’s where the magic of travel happens.

Here are the four places I visited this year that reminded me of travel’s power to unite, teach, support local economies and connect us-with others and with ourselves.

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Venice, Italy

Venice has become synonymous with overtourism, so I expected it to feel unwelcoming as well as overwhelming. But I decided, having reported on the city’s challenges since 2020, that I ought to see La Serenissima for myself. My trip took place in May, just weeks after an entry fee for day-trippers went into effect.

As my airport water taxi neared the city on a sunny afternoon, the emerald canal waters, narrow streets and pastel-hued buildings took my breath away. It really is as picturesque as everyone says. In an instant, the overtourism narratives and the apprehension I’d felt completely vanished.

Over the three days that followed, I came to understand why so many people around the world wish to see Venice-and why they should if they have the chance. Staying overnight allowed me to not just escape the crowds but also spend time with Jane Da Mosto, an environmental scientist and founder of nonprofit organization We Are Here Venice, which is focused on safeguarding the Unesco World Heritage Site and its lagoon. As an activist, she’s known for pushing back against big cruises.

Da Mosto and I started our day with espresso at Ozio, a cafe tucked away from St. Mark’s Square. Then she led me on a walk around her hometown, moving deftly past groups of cruise tourists. We stopped at the Rialto Market, where she usually shops for fruits and vegetables, and along the way she pointed out the doors marked “locazione turistica,” which indicate the plethora of short-term rentals that have driven out Venetian residents. At her local deli, Rosticceria Gislon, she picked up a roasted chicken and invited me to have lunch with her husband and two adult sons at their home, which sits inside the 13th century Palazzo da Mosto, one of the oldest in Venice.

There, I learned that the annual Vogalonga lagoon race-which sees hundreds of teams hit the Venetian lagoon in kayaks and canoes-is set to take place on my last day in town. It ended up being a thoroughly local experience, with almost no tourists around and everyone cheering from the edge of the shore. It’s also a reminder that we shouldn’t write off iconic places as tourist traps.

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Livingstone, Zambia

Staying at Avani Victoria Falls Resort-within Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Livingstone, Zambia-meant that visiting the falls was as simple as walking out the back gate of the hotel, past a lush garden where zebras and monkeys roam, and crossing over into the park’s main entrance. The moment the roaring cascades revealed themselves was an absolute bucket-list moment. It’s one of the places my well-traveled father said I should see before I die.

During my visit, I learned from one of my guides that the waters themselves were low-even for dry season. Zambia has been hit with a severe drought this year, a problem that’s exacerbated by climate change and affects the country’s predominantly hydroelectric power. I wondered what would happen to Victoria Falls, one of Zambia’s main attractions, if the water slowed down further. The thought that this experience could be a fleeting one gave me the courage to dip into the Devil’s Pool, an appropriately named swimming hole on the knife’s edge of the falls. The only thing that prevents you from going overboard is a waist-high rock wall.

In Livingstone I also met the women behind Sishemo, a jewelry studio in Nakatindi Village, on the outskirts of town. They use discarded bottles of premium alcohol from the nearby luxury Sanctuary Sussi & Chuma Lodge to make bracelets and necklaces through a traditional African method that requires the use of an outdoor hearth. The more tourists buy and take part in jewelry-making workshops, the more they are able to support their families. What’s less obvious, perhaps, is how much travelers stand to benefit from these experiences, too. By visiting local enterprises that open doors and employment opportunities for women, we gain a world in cultural and creative exposure.

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Sicily, Italy

Sicily has risen in popularity since the second season of White Lotus, which was set all across the island. Unlike so many people who visited Sicily in 2024, that was hardly my inspiration. Yes, I squeezed in a weekend to roam the Instagrammable alleys of Ortigia and Siracusa, a World Heritage Site from the 8th century BC. But really, I was there for a women’s seaside retreat in Avola, 183 miles south of Palermo toward the east coast.

When you’re limited on exploration time, like I was, it’s key to avoid cruise crowds and pick experiences that help you get under the skin of a place quickly. I did that in Ortigia by booking a street food tour with Do Eat Better to sample Sicilian dishes like deep-fried arancini (rice balls) and pistachio granita in lesser-known corners. My small group of three travelers, plus our gregarious tour guide Maria Grazia, who was born and raised in Ortigia, ate slowly, passing by historic landmarks such as the ruins of the Temple of Apollo. Toward the end of the tour, Maria’s husband joined us for what felt like a day out with friends.

I spent the rest of the trip at Masseria sul Mare, an agriturismo, or farm hotel, with the women’s group: feasting, painting, writing and meditating to the sound of crashing waves on the nearby beach. It was unlike any trip I’d signed up for in the past. But it pushed me to rest and reconnect with myself. Especially when travel is work-as it is for reporters like me, but also for those with kids and peripatetic road warriors-embracing travel as self-care is critical. And I fell in love with Sicily.

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Fairbanks, Alaska

There’s one thing you need to know about me to understand why my luxurious igloo vacation at Borealis Basecamp was such a wild idea: Fearful of cold weather, I’ve spent the past 15 years living in the Caribbean region as a digital nomad.

My husband and I weren’t the only ones who thought of braving the interior of Alaska in the dead of winter: Fairbanks experienced a record 2023-2024 winter tourism season.

As it turns out, there’s a benefit to vacationing in Alaska in January: No place will ever seem as cold after you’ve experienced -49F temperatures.

Even in that weather, most of what you do is outside, like chasing the northern lights and going dogsledding. But (this will surprise nobody) I also loved the breaks indoors, especially when we got to see the Black in Alaska exhibit at the University of Alaska Museum of the North or learned about the native Athabascan peoples at the Morris Thompson Cultural Visitors Center.

On a lighter note, did you know you can visit Santa Claus’ house without leaving the US? It’s in the small town called North Pole, just 13 miles southeast of Fairbanks-and it doubles as a giant year-round Christmas store with counters for hot cocoa and other dessert treats. It’s undeniably a tourist trap, but still fun … and isn’t that also part of what travel is about?