3 Trips to Escape the Winter Doldrums, Including An Epic Cruise

Cruise ship Seabourn Quest cruising in scenic Drygalski Fjord, South Georgia.

The first time an editor assigned me to a cruise, I sniffed. "I'm an adventurer! I don't like to be told where to be and when, and least of all, with a bunch of strangers." I was astonished to be proven wrong, and to learn what, in 2026, an estimated 21 million U.S. travelers already know.

A cruise, especially a luxury one, is one of the most efficient, stress-free ways to see the world. I loved unpacking my bags only once, and delighted in the coffee bar 20 steps from my suite. Above all, I reveled in the silence of the open sea.

I became a true convert when I experienced an expedition ship, Seabourn Venture, one of the Seabourn cruise line's stunning purpose-built vessels. Expedition cruises are among the fastest-growing trends in travel. According to 2025's State of the Cruising Industry Report, the number of passengers on these highly immersive, customized sailings increased 22% between 2023 and 2024.

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The Venture and its sister ship, Seabourn Pursuit, were designed to deliver small numbers of guests to remote places that are unreachable by larger ships, and do it in high luxury. On the bow deck one morning, looking for dolphins in the waters off Brazil, a new friend explained, "Expedition travel is a whole new way to see the world. We've been waiting a long time for this."

Seabourn Venture is furnished with 24 Zodiacs — the rigid inflatable boats made famous by ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau — for viewing wildlife and exploring glaciers or narrow fjords. There are kayaks, too, which I paddled through a tributary of the Amazon River filled with clusters of giant water lilies.

Built to accommodate 264 passengers and a 120-person crew, the elegant, 558-foot ship was designed for maximum comfort. But these days, people also crave rich cultural experiences, with a learning component that satisfies a discerning traveler's curiosity. For me, the onboard expedition team was the transformational aspect of my voyage.

On my cruise up the Amazon and along Brazil's coastline were 23 experts in fields ranging from naturalists and cultural historians to marine biologists and ornithologists. Among the experts were two submarine pilots of the ship's two Dutch-built custom subs for exploration. They all offered lectures onboard, or shared knowledge on shore during excursions, and made the voyage fascinating and meaningful.

Winter expedition itineraries start at about $9,700, for a sail along Brazil and Argentina to the Falkland Islands, and range from 11 to 34 days, with cruises to Chilean fjords, the Pitcairn Islands and many to Antarctica. The rest of the year, expedition ships sail the remainder of the globe — Seabourn Venture alone, to 107 destinations across 23 countries. All (delicious) meals, alcohol, tipping, and some excursions are included.

My personal wish is to book passage on the upcoming Arctic-to-Antarctica voyage, a.k.a. the Pole to Pole: Grand Expedition. It is something I might have only dreamed of, but now, incredibly, is possible.

Explore Grenada

Six Senses La Sagesse, a 71-room hotel located on Grenada, the southern Caribbean island, opened in 2024, as the IHG Hotels & Resorts luxury brand's first property in the Western Hemisphere. Along with its focus on high-end wellness and sustainability, the company plants roots in locations that have cultural authenticity and a strong sense of heritage.

Natural beauty is also a priority, and much of La Sagesse was built on a headland above the Atlantic, with hypnotic views of the waves. The property includes a lagoon, flushed by seawater and ringed by mangroves, which promote biodiversity and create a shield from erosion. The landscape manager oversaw a major rewilding of the area, including over 10,000 new plantings, all species native to the Caribbean region.

The 38-acre island resort is dense with lush tropical greenery — coconut palms, trumpet flowers, wild ginger, coastal vines and fragrant jasmine. There are two small beaches on the property, offering plenty of water sports—snorkeling, paddleboarding, and kayaking.

But La Sagesse is surprising in a hugely appealing way: It is less a sandy beach resort than a place for deep connection to the natural surroundings, for privacy and intimacy, and of course, for exceptional food at three in-house restaurants, Callaloo, SeaFire and Panquai. The two picture-perfect pools are where I will find repose in my winter fever dreams; either that, or in the spa and wellness center.

Fort Frederick, a historical French fort in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada.

What I found most exceptional about La Sagesse, besides my bright, chic room with its own plunge pool, was to be immersed in the uniqueness of Grenada itself. My host and driver, 24-year-old Emron King, led me on a hike to a waterfall, stopping to pick a ripe cacao pod and crunch cinnamon leaves in my hand.

Grenada is known as the Spice Island, and is one of the world's largest producers of nutmeg, cloves, ginger and turmeric. It also produces top-quality chocolate, and Emron took us to a bean-to-bar production facility. I picked up a dozen bars to carry home, as well as spice packets from the market.

To me, La Sagesse is the getaway from the getaway, a glamorous but relaxed resort on a lesser-traveled, sunny island full of cultural heritage. Rooms start at $700, and if you book your trip before December 31 for travel before December 31, 2026, you may benefit from the Grenada Grand Edition offer, which includes a $1,000 resort credit. You will hardly believe the warmth of your welcome, from the mostly Grenadian staff.

California dreaming

There are many reasons to travel domestically, but the most compelling one for me is our national parks. They are a reminder of our country's vastness, geological diversity, and sublime natural beauty.

California's Joshua Tree National Park is barely an hour from the mid-century snazz of Palm Springs, and its charming airport. It's hard to conjure a more salubrious respite, and one that better clears the cobwebs from the brain, than a winter trip to the park on the edge of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts.

Joshua Tree is larger than Rhode Island, and its Suessian landscape of those titular trees and rounded, granite monoliths provide vistas that steal the breath at every lookout. There are countless trails for wandering or scrambling onto weather-softened boulder piles.

Stone Adventures can craft an outdoor experience, including hiking and rock climbing. In winter, layers rule: Down jackets in the morning, tee-shirts in the afternoon, and crisp, crackling sunshine over the mesmerizing scenery.

Located in the desert Southwest, near Indio, California, Joshua Tree National Park is where the Mojave and Colorado Deserts come together. With this unique environment, there is a large variety of plants, including both the joshua tree and cholla cacti. Unique rock formations abound in this unique geological place.

In the past, luxury accommodations were rare near Joshua Tree. No longer. Hotel Wren opened in 2025, just off the main drag in Twentynine Palms, a few miles from the north entrance of the park.

The 12-room boutique hotel is a reverently and stylishly restored 1940s roadside motel, with a center courtyard around a heated pool. Every detail presents a carefully considered design still-life: a mocha leather corner chair, linen curtains rippling over original casement windows, an in-room kitchen with earth-toned Japanese porcelain, a brick fireplace in the lobby. Rooms start at $299, but offers pop up occasionally.

The Wren seems to exist in a juniper-scented cloud, where the hospitality is easy and attentive. My experience there was both wildly comfortable and warmly comforting, as if it was not a hotel, but my own private desert hideaway

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Retirement Report, our popular monthly periodical that covers key concerns of affluent older Americans who are retired or preparing for retirement. Subscribe for retirement advice that's right on the money.

Marcia DeSanctis is a Contributing Writer at Travel + Leisure, and writes essays and stories for Vogue, Town & Country, Departures, BBC Travel, Air Mail, Creative Nonfiction, Lit Hub, Lonely Planet, Roads & Kingdoms and many other publications. She received the 2021 Grand Solas Award for Travel Story of the Year, wrote a New York Timesbestselling book about France, and has received five Lowell Thomas Awards for excellence in travel journalism, including one for Travel Journalist of the Year. A graduate of Princeton University and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, her book of essays, A Hard Place to Leave: Stories from a Restless Life, was published in May, 2022.