She designs wallpaper in a city that is no wallflower. But in New York her work fits right in. Picture walls covered with fruit doves or a zig-zag created with thousands of pencils. 

In my new Insider for The Globe and Mail, Payton Cosell Turner -- one-half of design duo Flat Venacular -- shares five places to find inspiration in New York. Art, books, drinking pumpkin ale in the dark. I hope it inspires you too. 

“We are not sauerkraut.” So says Henrik Tidefjard of his company, Berlinagenten, which sends travellers and trendsetters beyond the museums and monuments.
 
In my new Insider in The Globe and Mail, read about Tidefjard's picks of cool places to explore in Berlin. There may be no sauerkraut, but you can expect Brandenburg tapas, cocktails created on the spot and an underground amusement park.

You know that time of the day when you start to fade and need a pick-me up? Well that itch used to be scratched with coffee (or let's admit it, an espresso cup full of chocolate chips.)
But in September I was lucky enough to attend the Canadian Tourism Commission's media travel conference in Charlottetown. 
I learned about cool things happening across the country from Friday race days at a BC ski resort to musical moments along Nova Scotia's Ceilidh Trail. And yes, I developed a mid-afternoon craving for the oyster bar. Missing those PEI mollusks!

It offers the excitement of speed dating, without the inevitable letdown. After all, who can be disappointed with the aroma of fresh roasting Hawaiian coffee beans or the crisp flavour of a sea-shucked oyster? 
Read my story from the October issue of up! magazine on Culinary Match, which takes you from Chicago to Charlottetown and beyond. So much better than a sparkless dinner date.

Illustration by Wes Dauncey