Senior Editor Leslie Forsberg went dog sledding and tasted moose meat during her trip to northern Alaska.

Winter Wonderland
The Joys of Discovery

There’s something about being outside amid trees piled high with pillowy snow on a crisp blue day, powdered sugar snow sifting down whenever you touch a branch, that brings to mind the song Winter Wonderland, recorded by Perry Como in 1946.

I find myself humming the tune whenever I head out into the mountains on cross-country skis, build a snowman with my daughter or, recently, when I went dog sledding in the middle of winter in a remote Alaskan village.

You know that part about, “In the lane, snow is glistening … ?” Of course I’ve seen snow glistening before, when the sun is shining, and the snow sparkles with the reflected light. I thought I knew exactly what the line meant …

… until I visited Bettles, Alaska, in January (see Gates of the Arctic: Adventures in Northern Alaska). While I was dashing through the snow, bundled up cozily in a dogsled, I beheld a sight that I’ve never seen before, and couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams.

The snow was glistening, all right, but not with a mere silvery twinkling. The below-zero temperature and the dryness of the air had formed ice crystals that shone with the brilliance of a full-blown rainbow inside each tiny piece of snow. The effect was a fiery, prismatic opulence that blazed brilliantly, the difference between a vintage black-and-white movie and one that has been restored through the miracle of Technicolor.

The effect of seeing thousands of firefly-like lights glowing in gemstone colors on the soft white velvety spread of snow literally took my breath away — and even muted the soundtrack of Winter Wonderland, if just for a moment.

It brought home to me that, as familiar as some things are that we take for granted, such as a romp in the snow, there are glorious mysteries to discover that we can’t even imagine, if we keep all our senses open while traveling.

Please join us this month for the joys of discovery in snowy landscapes ranging from Yellowstone in winter (Wyoming Hot Spot, by Heike Schmidt) to rural Wisconsin (Northwoods Winter, by Mark Shuman) in our special section, Winter Wonderland.

In honor of the holiday season, two of our writers take you along as they explore what Christmas is like in two very different places — a traditional German town (Snow-Globe Christmas: The Monschau Christmas Market, by Kimberly Lovato) and a Middle East shopping mall (Deck the Malls: Christmas in Dubai, by Susan Stafford).

At this time of year, many of us long to get away from ice on the car windshield and puddles of dripping snow on boots in the hallway. If you’ve hoped to someday find that perfect remote getaway lodge nestled high in the mountains where you can cross-country ski or snowshoe in basins of untouched powder, take a look at Snowy Solitude: Callaghan Country Lodge, by Eric Lucas. Or, if tropics are more your style, this month we bring you a warm-weather getaway to tempt you into finally taking that beach vacation you’ve been planning for years: Belize Breezes: Cayo Espanto Resort, also by Eric Lucas.

As always, there’s much more packed into this month’s issue of Go World Travel.

Since this month is typically pretty hectic, I hope you’ll take some time for yourself to relax and settle in with this, our latest issue of Go World Travel, and do some daydreaming about your next getaway … maybe it will even get you started humming Winter Wonderland.

Happy Travels!

Leslie Forsberg
Senior Editor