Working in the travel business means I do a fair amount of flying, an activity I neither love nor loathe. The palaver and process that goes with it sometime vexes (like almost stripping for searches and unpacking laptops and undoing belts and being interrogated by surly, power-crazed immigration officers), sometimes fatigues. You do get to […]
While Paris’s 6th arrondissement might have a long and illustrious history in literary and artistic spheres, but it is its contribution to the world of sinful sweets that interests me most on this overcast morning. Bypassing the Café de Flore and its adjacent Picasso sculpture, I set off on my guided walk with Context to […]
There’s something to be said about being an original. Nearly a decade ago, Singita set the tone and claimed the style and design throne of South African safari lodges with the opening of Singita Lebombo. It remains the yardstick against which any lodge claiming to the best is measured against. Year after year Lebombo continues to […]
There are two things I’m always on the hunt for when I travel. An inspiring cup of coffee and a place that sells old stuff (aka antiques, aka one man’s treasure, aka junk). It’s surprisingly rare to hit the jackpot on both counts in the same day. But last Friday in London that’s precisely what […]
We all want to see lions, giraffes and elephants – these exotic animals have captured our imaginations from a very young age. For most tourists, a trip to Africa means a trip to see the lions, giraffes and elephants, but moving past this simple declaration they become quickly paralyzed by all the choice. This is […]
Over the centuries, Paris has given us a lot to be thankful for. And now, for design lovers, there’s one more reason. Merci (that’s me telling you the name of a store, not saying “thanks”). A ten-minute walk north from Place des Vosges, Merci is the new hotspot for contemporary design. It’s mildly easy to miss given that […]
In southeastern Turkey, not far (yet safely far enough) from the border of Syria, and about an hour and a half drive from the town of Adiyaman, lies the startling and stunning Mount Nemrut. Now a UNESCO world heritage site, this bald and rocky mountain is out-of-the-way Anatolia (the name for the Asian chunk of […]
Guatemala is a very colourful country. The markets are abundant with shades that would make a painter envious, the traditional dress of the local women is a multicoloured work of beauty and the gorgeous town of Antigua is jam-packed with brightly-hued houses. However, by far my favourite example of the colours of Guatemala is the […]
Hotels in Asia are synonymous with fantastic service, beautiful gardens, orchids everywhere and delicious food. And most of the time that is exactly what you get. The variety (and quality) of hotels in Indochina is mind-numbing. Some are much better than others, and we are constantly working to ensure that we make the right choices for […]
Whether you fancy yourself a building buff or not, architecture in Indochina will definitely impress. Ancient temples, traditional teak houses, brutalist Communist structures, elegant colonial mansions and mid-century masterpieces all make an appearance. It sounds strange, but it all seems to work, and the results keep each and every location unique and worth visiting. Of […]
There is a recurring theme for every Indochina trip we plan: food. Produce is literally farm to table, whether you’re eating at a roadside stall or the best digs in town. A typical day can consist of mind-blowing noodles on a tiny roadside plastic stool, and then hours later find yourself dining in a beautifully […]
When you think about Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, most think about temples, food, monks, more food and the hustle and bustle that the region is famous for. Long a favourite of honeymooners, retired couples and backpackers (I’m guilty of this one myself), it attracts a really diverse crowd. What some don’t realize however is that […]
The term ‘B&B’ often suggests charming accommodation in a sweetly renovated clapboard house in a bucolic setting (hey, is that Bob Newhart in the doorway?). But it isn’t always the case and if you’re looking for a more rugged and adventurous getaway, then you’ll want to try Frying Pan Tower located 30 miles off the coast of Cape […]
There’s a theory that suggests you must do something for 10,000 hours before you really master it. By conservative math, Trufflepig co-founder Jack Dancy has been planning trips to France for about 30,000 hours. Ooh la la. This partly explains why he’s so good at it and why he was once again named to Conde Nast […]
“Midnight is coming.” So began the rather ominous-sounding subject line of our first email from Game Control. This is what kicked-off the final week of preparation, anticipation, excitement and frenzy leading up to a once-a-year event called Midnight Madness, that stormed New York City this year on October 5th. On that cool autumn evening, 30 […]
The curation of randomness is about the only thing I like more than random discovery. So you can imagine how excited I was to serendipitously stumble on Busacca Gallery, a mecca for miscellanea. Just a few blocks from the top of Lombard Street (allegedly the world’s crookedest street) high on San Francisco’s Russian Hill, Busacca is pretty much […]