A few of us at Blueshoon are really into food and cooking (ahem, Jamie and John) which is how this website fell onto my radar. If you love ethnic food, travel, or just reading about other cultures, you need to check out roadsandkingdoms.com if you haven’t already. If you’re a fan of Anthony Bourdain, this is a must-see website. In fact, he’s a contributor to Roads & Kingdoms!

Roads & Kingdoms is on online journal covering food, travel, politics, and culture. This isn’t just a professional blog. R&K is driven by professional journalism and photography. Think National Geographic magazine except online. The articles are even laid out in a magazine/book-style, making the experience of reading them more natural.

The website’s design and development also has a huge impact on its popularity. Their use of full-width, hi-res imagery really draws the user in. They use large typography throughout the site. Some of the large type even acts as imagery and they do a great job of breaking up large chunks of text with call-out quotes. The scrolling and hover actions provided by their front-end development is also very cool.

One thing I especially like about R&K is their photo essays; they are visceral and unapologetic. They give you accurate insights on what other cultures are like and their use of full-width images makes greatly impacts their message.

Another cool feature is their live webcams from around the world. If you’re wondering what it looks like in London right now, check out their live streams page and wonder no more.

Although R&K is a young site (2 years old), they’ve already been voted “Best Travel Journalism Site” by the Society of American Travel Writers. So visit roadsandkingdoms.com and see why it’s this week’s Wednesday Website We Love.