It hit 38 C (100 F) in Toronto this July. And that’s before the humidex (it’s a Canadian thing—if you’re American, you have the heat index) pushed it up to something otherworldly like 49 C. I know it’s taboo to think of winter in the midst of our too-short ever-sweet summers, but my mind couldn’t […]

If Trufflepig had a people’s choice award, it’s quite possible Amanyara would win it. After countless requests and rave reviews from our travellers, we simply had to see it for ourselves. In a Caribbean world of wicker, floral patterns and gingerbread trim, Amanyara is as alien as they come. It’s no wonder they picked a […]

I am a city boy. I thrive in concrete jungles, like the Barbican in East London, Soho in NY, or walking through the skyscrapers of HK. The thought of spending seven nights in a sea-faring vessel traversing the equatorial seas was not an immediately appealing prospect. Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands are in the vast Pacific, a […]

A private island is the ultimate canvas upon which to express oneself, as a visit to Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos Islands will attest. Consider the joy of a new room or a new house. As a designer, you get to start from scratch, create your idealized vision—it’s pure projection. Children, you might […]

I’m a sucker for an accent—it’s like a lens through which everything is filtered. And on a recent trip to America’s Lowcountry, while literally basking in the expansive local drawl, I fell head over heels for the Inn at Palmetto Bluff. First off, the sheer scale of the property is astounding. A 22,000 acre private […]

“Vamos a la playa!” is perhaps my favourite phrase in the Spanish language. It is a little like the Brits saying “let’s have a nice cup of tea shall we?”, meaning let’s forget what ails us and focus on something else. In Spain and the Spanish-speaking world of Latin America, this is totally justified—it conjures […]

If trekking in the tropics with weird and wonderful wildlife is your thing, pack your hardcore hiking-boots for Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. This 43,000-hectare park preserves the largest tract of Pacific coastal rainforest in Central America. The stats are impressive: over 500 species of trees, 400 species of birds (including most […]

December has hit (along with the snow), and suddenly everyone is in a planning panic for Christmas vacation. We know, we warn you to come to us far in advance for the good stuff. But in the eleventh hour, we can still toss a few truffles in your stocking. Huvafen Fushi, Maldives Huvafen Fushi is […]

Imagine an all-seeing, all-knowing force, constantly watching over you. It knows what you like, what you don’t like, where you’re from and where you’re going, and precisely where you are at all times. Sounds rather perfect to us. It’s a surprisingly large leap between four and five star service at a luxury hotel. There are […]

No place has ever made me so happy as Soneva Fushi. This truly is a fantasy island, where everything you are and know is left behind once you get off that seaplane. It is not a hotel, or even a retreat. It’s a world unto itself, where the Great Gatsbys of our age wander about […]

Parts of Croatia and Montenegro’s Adriatic coast combine some of the most stunning landscape and villages in Europe, with the very worst that cheap mass tourism has to offer. How do you see past the café umbrellas and postcard stands, to the original character of the place? Since the likes of Dubrovnik and Kotor decided […]

The best thing I ever did to improve my already stratospheric enjoyment of snorkelling was to buy an underwater case for my camera. For about $150 USD, you can transform your point-and-shoot into a mini-submarine, and your holiday snaps into a National Geographic special. It helps if you have picuresque friends, too. All the major […]

First things first, it’s pronounced ‘Why-Hecky’. And it’s a tiny island in New Zealand. Not the North Island, nor the South Island, Waiheke is it’s very own dot on the map. Okay, so it’s more of a speck. I think everyone knows by now (or has been told ad infinitum) that New Zealand is a […]

Don’t get me wrong – I love elephants as much as the next guy. Their behaviour is fascinating, their intelligence undeniable, and the little ones are just so darn cute. Observing them from the safety of a Land Rover is common on safari, though interesting as it is, one can’t help but feel removed. Walking […]

An hour’s ferry away from the cruise-boat/fridge-magnet/tourist nightmare that Dubrovnik is rapidly becoming, is the quiet and tranquil island of Sipan. Happily, it’s also a 10 minute drive and a 15 minute speedboat ride for those who don’t have the patience for the ferry. Either way, it’s a world away. The reason to go? Marko’s […]