From the moment you step off the ferry, you're greeted by a landscape that's as much an outdoor gallery as it is a living, breathing art installation. Naoshima, often called Japan's “Art Island”, offers an experience with the same allure as Tasmania's MONA.

KALSOY ISLAND, Faroe Islands (AP) – The tiny Faroe Islands in the north Atlantic could be a poor choice for travelers with vertigo, seasickness or a fear of enclosed spaces. There are crumbling cliffs, sudden gale-force winds and hillsides so steep that even the sheep can tumble.

TORSHAVN, Faroe Islands (AP) – The farmers’ market looked – let’s be honest – sad. Conditions aren’t friendly in the Faroe Islands for growing food. Raked by north Atlantic winds and nibbled by thousands of sheep, the nearly treeless islands have poor soil and little room for planting. Potatoes and rhubarb are local staples.

Plans to stay and soak in the wintry wonderland at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim? You will have to wait.

ROME (AP) – For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, visitors to Rome’s world-renowned Colosseum will have the opportunity to walk through a hidden imperial passage that once allowed Roman emperors to reach the ancient amphitheater unseen.

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Amid the constant blare of car horns in southern Mexico City, it’s hard to imagine that Cuicuilco was once the heart of a thriving ancient civilization. Yet atop its circular pyramid, now surrounded by buildings and a shopping center, a pre-Hispanic fire god was revered.

NEW YORK (AP) – Debra Taylor has had a busy year or so: She’s going through a divorce while in the process of retiring – and she’s moving to Portugal from Southern California with one of her daughters.

So you’re booking your flight, and just when you’re about to check out, the airline asks if you’d like to pay a little something to offset your share of the flight’s pollution. Or, maybe you’re an environmentally minded person, and you’ve heard you can buy these things called carbon offsets.