WHERE TO GO IN 2023

As tourists of all types are set to spend a record amount on travel this year, it's time to go big-because you're definitely not staying home

- Chris Rovzar

ADVENTURELANDS

○ CROSS 21ST-CENTURY FRONTIERS IN THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS Consider for a moment that the Arctic and Antarctica aren’t the last great unexplored realms of our planet. A once under-the-radar expanse exists in the heart of the South Pacific, almost 900 miles west of mainland Tahiti where a few sparse islets pierce the waves. Like Tahiti’s peaks on steroids, the mountains of the Marquesas archipelago are the dramatic remnant of cataclysmic volcanoes that erupted eons ago, and their craggy ledges and summits are now the subject of countless Instagram posts, sparking a surge in tourism. For Sven-Olof Lindblad, who forged his reputation as a leading purveyor of polar sailings, the South Pacific has become his newest obsession. (He even left his post as chief executive officer of Lindblad Expeditions Holdings Inc. in 2021 to focus more readily on the region.) Now he plans trips around the Marquesas archipelago on his private vessel, the 154-foot Hanse Explorer, to allow scientists and explorers to conduct underwater conservation studies. When he’s not using the vessel for scientific purposes, luxury guests can rent out the superyacht and see this hidden world for themselves; it’s the only private ship with a dedicated Marquesas itinerary.