Anger, sadness and loneliness — these emotions aren't flaws, they're feedback. Can you recognize them, or are you just reacting? Plus: Turns out a major way we all think about wine might be totally wrong.

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How to Be a Man Who Actually Understands His Emotions

How aware are we of how we’re feeling day to day? Or more importantly, why we’re feeling that way? For many men, those ideas remain a mystery well into adulthood. We only rarely tune into our emotions, and even then it can be difficult to understand what our body is trying to tell us, beyond, perhaps, mental flash cards reading “stress” or “anger.”

Emotions are essential to the human condition, and always have been. The issue is that our relationship to them has changed. In a hyper-stimulated, fast-paced world, too many of us are disconnected from our body and emotions. We’ve learned to override or suppress feelings rather than listen to them.

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It's high time you gave this country a second look.

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You’re Talking About Wine All Wrong

Is the way we think and talk about wine a form of cultural colonialism that hampers our ability to enjoy what’s in the glass? A provocative question, but stick with me.

Whether or not you subscribe to old-guard publications like Wine Spectator, the wine notes you’re most familiar with — and probably utilize yourself when describing wine — tread a well-worn path featuring fruits, flowers, spices, herbs and earth/animal notes that are deeply familiar to Western palates. But critics and winemakers can only offer notes that correspond with their personal experience, and the fact is, most prominent critics and winemakers were raised on a steady Western diet. That’s the big picture, in a nutshell. But there are other considerations.

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How to Spend a Perfect Weekend in Cartagena, Colombia

The city of Cartagena — or, more formally, Cartagena de Indias — was founded in 1533 by the Spanish. That’s half a millennium ago, with the name cribbed from the ancient city of Carthage. Of course, the area has roots stretching back much further than that, though even at this more recent starting point of nearly 500 years ago, the history is extensive.

Beyond its old quarter, Cartagena is now home to a vibrant and modern city. Oh yeah: you should also be prepared to eat very, very well. “Cartagena has more flavors than the rest of Colombia combined,” says Maria Angelica, a chef turned food tour guide who led me through the bustling maze that is Bazurto Market.

Fear not: you’ll sweat it all out, whether exploring the city, laying out with your toes in the sand, or dancing the night away.