I can’t surf. So instead of riding waves, I decided to ride the cliché of drinking Mai Tais in Hawaii—letting both the lore and the lure of a strong, tropical drink guide my navigation of the island of Kaua’i. The oldest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, it is widely regarded …

Everyone knows that Berlin is cool. But the particular essence of that “cool” is something a bit more complex and a lot less self-conscious than other cities with such reputations. Berlin isn’t striving for the title, it just likes what it likes and is still enthusiastically whirling and expanding out …