We run a travel magazine, so we thought, why not make this also a traveling magazine and take it on the road? So we did just that, and put this issue together from Venice, Italy, where I’m now living. Part of the crew anchored things from our L.A. office while art director Bonnie Yoon and I designed, edited, tweaked the layout, and ate tons of Italian food and took frequent espresso breaks. All in the name of research, of course.

And yet, even in the glow of European springtime, there has been terrible news in Spain. The terrorist attacks in Madrid, like those in Bali, rocked a community that least expected such violence. On my first trip through Spain a few years ago, I passed through one of those same train stations. And I would go back tomorrow, because it’s important not to let the threat of terrorism destroy the benefits of world travel and cultural exchange.