Hands up who’s drafted a revised bucket list of destinations during this pandemic? You’re not alone. In the wake of grounded flights and closed borders, the thought of prolonged travel restrictions saw many of us give thought to the places we so desperately want to visit, lest we’re locked down or locked out again. And that’s why we’ve written this issue while kicking back on the sun-kissed veranda of an overwater villa in the Maldives, dolphins sporadically leaping into view on the horizon.
Or so we wished. Now very much open for business, the Maldives is, however, back on our travel radar, along with fellow Indian Ocean islands, the Seychelles. So, if, like us, you're dreaming of paradise, now's the time to make it a reality. To help you plan the perfect stay, our in-the-know team of travellers has pulled together their preferred picks of island resorts (p18). Elsewhere in the issue, we feature bucket-list destinations Egypt (p36), Japan (42), and Croatia (p48).
