Choose Your Holidays

— Some tourist attractions can be easily experienced, by taking in a scenic view or driving down a famous byway. But other places must be explored to be appreciated, with layers revealed as you go. That’s how it is in Western Massachusetts, with sites like the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Quabbin Reservoir’s “accidental wilderness” and many other treasures — from great restaurants to unusual bookstores — waiting to be discovered.

Of course there are Walmarts, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts here, just like everywhere else. But you can also tune into the region’s bucolic, historic side by driving for miles along winding roads past small farms, town squares, and communities founded in the 17th and 18th centuries. One o

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— Perched atop a West Bank hill, the Binyamin region visitors center invites travelers to look past the military jeeps patrolling the surrounding area and enjoy nature, archaeological sites and bucolic vineyards.

Jewish settlers are promoting tourism to draw Israelis who might otherwise never set foot in the West Bank, an occupied area Palestinians want as part of a future state. P

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Nairobi — Africa’s the perfect place to come. The locals haven’t a clue who I am, and I love that.

Those were the words of the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, when he gave reasons for choosing Kenya as his ideal place to propose to his longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton.

And as the royal wedding took place on Friday at 11am (London time) at Westminster Abbey, Kenya was hailed as a romantic destination choice.

Previously known as the birth country of US President Barack Obama’s father, Kenya again featured as a romantic journey for Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The country provided the quixotic scene which Prince William proposed to his long-term girlfriend at Rutundu Log Cabin on the slopes of Mt Kenya in October last year.

But it may not be surprising after all that Prince William chose Kenya. H

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— Political assassinations in Tokyo. Censorship and the stifling of dissent. A nation hungry for oil and other natural resources. Kimono-clad women in department stores and boarding street cars. A smiling Babe Ruth posing for photos with Japanese teenage baseball players while on tour with other American all-stars.

Visitors to Pearl Harbor are seeing these snapshots of 1930s Japan as they stroll through the National Park Service’s new museum devoted to the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that dragged the U.S. into World War II. This is a significant departure from the old collection devoted to one of worst foreign attacks ever on American soil — what life was like in Japan at the time didn’t much figure into it.

The center, which officially opened last Dec. 7 a

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— It started with an ad on Craigslist: Free holiday on an organic farm on Long Island, work for your keep and enjoy wineries and great beaches nearby.

The farm would even supply transportation from New York City and bicycles to get around once you arrive. All a friend and I had to do was take the subway to a farmers market in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn and a van would pick us up. The entire experience wouldn’t cost a penny. I suspected it was all too good to be true. Perhaps some religious cult hungry for new members was trapping us with dreams of idyllic rural life.

But when we got to Williamsburg, it was clear that these farmers were genuine and making a lively trade at the produce market. W

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