I’ve been traveling often to New Mexico for over a decade, always to Santa Fe. It’s where I’ve long studied photography. This time, friends who have a home in Taos invited me to join them July 4th weekend to see Charley Crockett. Easy yes! About an hour and half drive from Santa Fe, and totally different vibe. Checked into the new Hotel Willa, walked down to my friends’ place, walked to the concert in the park, walked to dinner, lunch, brunch, shopping … I don’t know what took me so long to make it to Taos. It has a small-town vibe, almost an in-the-know vibe, attractive mix of New Mexico, Cowboy, Native, Style. Incredibly cool without pretention. It’s like it doesn’t know it’s cool. Which is the best type of cool. I love feeling like I truly discovered something. | Must Shop: Perdido & The Arc Anewara

There are over 100 islands and atolls that make up French Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean, so it always befuddled me as to why one would fly all that way to see just 1. Mentioned in my May Field Guide that honeymoon clients chartered a private vessel & skipper to allow them to sail at their leisure through these islands, which is a great way to go about exploring the destination. Next month I have a Ketchum-based family of 5 who’ll be splitting their time between the atoll of Tupai and the Tetiaroa atoll. Starting at the more well-known Four Seasons Bora Bora and then flying from there to a private island resort, The Brando, to end on a different note. | Intel: the founder of Cirque du Soleil, Guy Laliberté, has recently opened his private island (Nukutepipi Island) to travelers for exclusive use.