Writers and photographers share their favorite moments from their trips to report and shoot Hemispheres’ signature “Three Perfect Days” cover story
From the debut issue of Hemispheres, “Three Perfect Days” has been the signature travel feature that distinguishes United’s magazine. I was lucky enough to be there at the beginning, working as senior editor alongside founding editor in chief Kate Greer, whose original concept was to give United’s flyers an alternative to the usual assortment of travel stories in favor of a fully vetted, chronologically tested itinerary based on insider information from expert local writers. “Three Perfect Days” has gone through decades of evolution and refinement since, and over the years this influential approach to curating a sophisticated travel experience has been widely emulated—even blatantly imitated—but never equaled.
Thanks to a worldwide network of authors and photographers (not to mention Hemispheres’ editorial and art staff), United customers have always been able to rely on “Three Perfect Days” to evoke, and ultimately inspire, their actual trips. Individual articles, and the series itself, have won numerous awards over the years, and “Three Perfect Days” even supported a TV program that ran on the Travel Channel for three years and was syndicated globally. As we look forward to a new, digital future for the series, we can’t help but look back at some of the perfect moments we’ve savored while bringing so many perfect days to you.
—Randy Johnson, Hemispheres senior editor, 1992–1996; editor in chief, 1996–2009
A New Friend in Panama
Travel is a wonderful window into other places, but even more so into other cultures and viewpoints, and the people Hemispheres allowed me to meet expanded my world and mind. One of these people was Zaira Lombardo, owner of Papiro y Yo in Panama City, who, after we finished making her portraits, took me out with her team for the best margaritas in Casco Antiguo and a rollicking conversation on things local and global.
—Chris Sorensen
An Elevated Stay in South Africa
Reporting the “Three Perfect Days” on Johannesburg was an absolute dream. After spending a couple of days in the city—soaking up the art and culinary splendor while also reckoning with the country’s fraught history—my family and I ventured to Kruger National Park for a safari. We saw lions, elephants, zebras, rhinos, and more antelope than I knew existed. On our last night, Micato Safaris, the fantastic tour operator I worked with to plan the trip, surprised us with a stay at the &Beyond Ngala Treehouse, located in the middle of the game reserve and totally off the grid. I’ll never forget lying on the rooftop platform bed with my family, under a blanket of stars, as lions roared below in the darkness.
—Ellen Carpenter
A Glowworm Cave in New Zealand
I’m not a thrill-seeker in my daily life, but I realized early on in my travel-writing career that I’d need to dive into any experience, or I’d really be missing out. I vividly remember reporting in New Zealand and going to the Waitomo Caves, a series of underground tunnels lit by the otherworldly bioluminescence of glowworms. The guided tour started with me holding a rubber inner tube behind my back and then jumping butt-first into a dark hole that looked like a manhole above the abyss. It was terrifying, but in that moment I flipped a switch in my brain and just decided to trust the guides and go with it. Once underground, we careened through icy rapids in near-pitch darkness, in caves populated by enormous insects called wetas and eels that grow up to five feet long (and bite). The experience ended up being pure magic, and it recalibrated my entire approach to travel and, in some small way, life in general.
—Nicholas DeRenzo
A Late-Night Card Game in Palau
My favorite Hemispheres reporting moment was a mistake. In Palau, a Micronesian archipelago widely known as a divers’ paradise, I accidentally booked a rural hotel with no other guests on an island that couldn’t have been more than an acre in size. A boat delivered me there and said it would return in two days. There were no trails, no TVs, no swimming pools, no roads, no shops, no restaurants. I drank a ton of powdered coffee and then lay in a hammock and stared at a tree, thinking, Oh my god, what have I done? That evening, the property’s Filipino handyman, Gary, took pity on me and let me help spearfish for dinner in the island’s tiny lagoon. Later, Gary dug out a deck of cards and a six-pack of Red Horse beer, and he and I and an older man who just went by “Uncle” drank and played cards in the moonlight while a warbling old radio played covers of rock ballads and critters chittered in the lagoon as if humans had never existed.
—Jacqueline Detwiler-George
A Flock of Parrots in Belize
Birdwatching is huge in Belize, so I knew it needed to play a role in my “Three Perfect Days” story. I set out early with birding legend Roni Martinez to Black Rock Lodge, hoping to spot the emerald toucanets and hawk-eagles for which the area is known. As soon as we stepped into the lodge’s open-air riverfront restaurant, a flock of squawking scarlet macaws came soaring over the river—something that had rarely, if ever, been seen there. Guests, guides, and locals alike whooped and cheered, and although the moment didn’t make it into the final story, it remains one of my best memories of Belize.
—Ali Wunderman
A Parking Lot Savior in Andalusia
Getting stuck in Ronda, Spain, while reporting the “Three Perfect Days” in Málaga, is a vivid memory. At first, I was merely stuck in horrific traffic. Then I literally got stuck, under the ground in a parking garage, when the machine that lifts the gate broke. Everyone was honking at me, gesturing, then yelling in Spanish. I was fumbling my phrases, trying to explain that I didn’t break it, and, worse, I couldn’t fix it. The line of cars behind me grew and grew. Eventually an attendant appeared out of nowhere and fixed the machine by pushing 50 buttons and then whacking it. The best part of the day was arriving, finally, at the La Fonda Heritage hotel in Marbella and sinking gratefully into the softest bed on earth.
—Jenny Adams
A Tiny Car in a Giant German Factory
At the ginormous BMW World in Munich, I was offered a unique chance to drive around the packed exhibition hall in a 1950s Isetta—the original front-opening bubble car. The thing was so tiny I could barely squeeze into it, let alone see anything or steer. I just remember trying not to hit any of the million-dollar vehicles while hundreds of visitors first started to film me and then began leaping out of the way, screaming.
—Boyd Farrow
A Hot Soak in Snowy Idaho
This image of Burgdorf Hot Springs in Idaho shows the writer, Hannah Lott-Schwartz, and my wife, Jenny, who was “modeling” for the story. We took a snowmobile 10 or 15 miles from McCall in a driving snowstorm and 10-below weather to the backcountry resort, and when we arrived we found we had the place to ourselves. The water was around 100 degrees, a stark contrast with the temperature outside. This particular image took a few attempts to get because my drone was too cold to fly—but I think it was worth it.
—Aaron Colussi
A Quiet Moment in Petra
The ancient rock city of Petra, in Jordan, is packed with tourists and touts from sunup until dark, and it lay in deep shadow for most of the day, with only a small slice of direct sunlight in the midmorning. Through patience and luck, I was able to capture a seemingly quiet moment with editor Ellen Carpenter and her son, Calder. The sun was where it needed to be, and the dozens of visitors and guides all faded beyond my frame for just a moment. This shot truly expresses, I think, the wonder and discovery that is so closely tied to Petra.
—Scott Suchman
A Tokyo Guide for Everyone
Before I went to Tokyo, I bought an unusual guide: a small but thick red book, An Official Guide to Japan, printed by the Japanese government railways in 1933. Wherever I went in Tokyo, I showed it to all kinds of people—concierges and waiters, yes, but also tourists and strangers. Shared with locals, it was more than just a sign of respect for Japan’s past; it helped us bond over feeling like strangers in that strange land that is time itself. It was a beautiful reminder that journeys are not only about where, but when. A new friend looked up his neighborhood and read that it was known for fireworks. He laughed. “It’s still true!” There is a saying that we live only to discover beauty, that all else is a form of waiting; the beauty of the way his eyes lit up in that moment was worth the near-century of waiting.
—Richard Morgan
A Secret Samba Spot in Rio
When I went to Rio de Janeiro, I brought along my college roommate Rob. One night, we went to check out Lapa, an area that’s known for having the best party scene in the legendarily festive city. Avenida Mem de Sá overflowed with revelers, not totally dissimilar to what Rob and I used to see on Del Playa Drive during our days at UC Santa Barbara—although here the backdrop was an 18th-century aqueduct, the Arcos da Lapa. The caipirinhas flowed, the hour got late, and at some point we did something you’re absolutely not supposed to do in Rio: We wandered down a dark side street. In the shadows, we found a narrow bar that was packed with Brazilians. A thunderously loud samba band played in the middle of the low-ceilinged room, and we joined the crowd in singing, clapping, and dancing. The room shook with the energy of it. I knew, in that moment, we had found the real Rio.
—Justin Goldman
A Different View of New York
I’ve been a New Yorker for 17 years, and the New York City shoot was a rare chance to see my city through a traveler’s eyes. I explored a lot of spaces that I’d never been to, including Kenzo Digital’s installations at Summit One Vanderbilt. One of the gifts of photography is that you sometimes get entry to spaces without the crowds. This room is extremely popular during normal operating hours, but we were granted permission to arrive before opening. Watching the sunrise over the city and experiencing this ethereal artwork totally alone was something I will always remember. This image, in my eyes, captured the renewed magic of a city that was just starting to feel like itself again, post-pandemic.
—Michael George
A Second Line in New Orleans
While on staff at Hemispheres, I was lucky, shrewd, and greedy enough to photograph eight “Three Perfect Days” features. No experience provided the same kind of immersive, joyous thrill as a New Orleans Second Line. Brass bands blared, DJs worked the crowd, paradegoers strutted, and smoke wafted from charcoal grills along the route. Getting paid to dance while taking photos—what more can you ask for?
—Sam Polcer
A Walk with a Countess in Venice
The morning I spent in Venice with Enrica Rocca—countess, cooking teacher, raconteur—was wonderful. First, she ran me around the Rialto Fish Market, bartering with vendors while casting aspersions on squid and scallop. Next came All’Arco, a standing-room-only bacaro selling finger food and wine to locals. Later, in a run-down alley, Rocca gestured up at a line of brick buttresses keeping the tottering buildings apart. “I love these,” she said. “This … game of arches.” And there it was, a small point of light in a city bustling with superstars. I’ve rarely seen anything lovelier.
—Chris Wright
An Appalachian Outlook in Virginia
I brought my friend Kelly along as my assistant on the “Three Perfect Days” shoot in Virginia, and we had a packed schedule, waking before dawn to capture sunrise and going deep into the night visiting lively cocktail bars. We were also driving for hours and hours, which sounds implausible, but you realize how big Virginia is when you drive it corner to corner. On the last day, we hiked up a mountain for a Shenandoah Valley vista. We reached the top and congratulated each other for surviving the one-hour hike from the parking lot—much to the amusement of two hikers who were in the middle of a months-long trek on the Appalachian Trail. The view was magnificent, and the four of us enjoyed the sunset together, before Kelly and I hiked back down in the moonlight.
—Jennifer Chase
A Perfect Picture in French Polynesia
While shooting the Islands of Tahiti, I was scouting Huahine with writer Jill Robinson and our guide. We started walking along a pier at Huahine Lagoon, and I noticed a group of kids swimming. I immediately went into travel-photographer mode, twisting Jill and the guide around on the narrow pier so I could snap photos of the swimmers. The kids soon realized what I was doing, and they began showing off, jumping off the pier one at a time. We started collaborating with hand gestures and smiles. Eventually, one of the girls happened to sit perfectly at the center of the pier, and I clicked the shutter. So often, I work with photo editors, art directors, models, and assistants to plan and execute the perfect cover shot—but sometimes the best photos find you. You just have to be in the right place at the right time.
—Tanveer Badal
