Travel Looking Forward

Over the next few weeks we will focus on inspiring escapes, four weeks of enticing travel encouragement. One of my most favorite Journeys was to the Maldives and despite the long trek, you will want to stay longer than planned! An overnight or two in Dubai to break up the travel, and off you go to the most gorgeous water in the world!

Four Seasons Kudaa Huraa, Maldives

If 2021 offers anticipation of escape, this is a time to dream, to explore and to savor the richness of international culture. Many of my most beloved Journeys over the last few years beckon me back for more. Life as we know it, slammed shut like an empty suitcase and the world is still far from normal. With the roll out of the Covid19 vaccine and super sanitizing procedures practiced by hotels and planes, it feels travel to distant lands will take off again. Travelers armed with Purell, wipes, masks, passports and packed bags will be ready to explore and create memories. The common cry: I can’t wait to escape, to return to favored hotels, yachts, islands and places I’ve always wanted to visit. Ostensibly, we will lose at least a year of tantalizing travel.

Are you ready to design inspiring Journeys? A few locations come to mind. We have adventure experts on hand as well if you need adrenaline based escapes! Private options may be the answer when you choose to fly, stay or sail next.

Maldives. It may sound exaggerated, but it is true: there aren’t enough superlatives to fully and accurately describe the staggering natural beauty of the Maldives. From the air, nothing prepared me for the extraordinary glimpse of the turquoise seas, the oval halo of atolls and islands, in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean, crystal clear seas in a thousand shades of indigo, accented by white sugar sandy beaches…it is breathtaking! The wonder of the Maldives is awe inspiring; nothing prepares you for the beauty.

The Maldives

Underwater experiences in warm gin clear sapphire waters – dive or snorkel, float with manta rays and swim with curious turtles! The Four Seasons Maldives properties offer the highest level of luxury, it’s time to begin plotting your 2021 summer and fall escapes!  Consisting of two hotel properties, Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraaavru, I love both for various reasons, and if you need an exclusive Private Island amid the indigo seas, the Four Seasons also has a scrumptious private island home, Voavah. Oh and to top it off, a private yacht to follow the surf and the manta rays! The utmost pinnacle of experiences.

Stand alone bungalows and over water bungalows – mere feet from the sea, I loved both. Bike along palm lined baths to the spa or to your sunrise yoga. I filled my dance card with two weeks of activities and could have stayed longer! SUP, extraordinary surfing, fishing, SUP Yoga, yes I managed to do downward dog on a board and lived to share my experience! The overwater spa experience is lovely at sunset and at Landaa, the focus is on spa healing with the four pillars of Ayurveda, Yoga Therapy, Wellness and Planetary Wellbeing – it includes a multi award-winning team of Ayurvedic Doctors, Naturopaths and Yoga Therapists – discover individual and shared experiences designed to cultivate care for ourselves, others, the oceans and the entire planet. We could all use a week of healing after this dreadful year!

The Four Seasons Maldives

A heavenly hideaway, a sublime sanctuary offering the utmost in privacy and iconic Four Seasons pampering at the world’s first exclusive use UNESCO hideaway, Voavah. A seven-bedroom private island Maldives home, the sojourn includes a 62-foot luxury yacht: Voavah Summer and a marine territory that’s utterly your own! The private island is a welcome addition to the two luxurious Four Seasons Resorts in the Maldives. Idyllic Island experience, the days fly by and I would encourage you to add more time rather than less…paradise is far flung, but worth the Journey! Four Seasons Maldives one of many reports! Our Preferred Partner status benefits our clients.

The Four Seasons Maldives Suite Views

Bhutan. Bhutan has been ranked number one in the world for Gross National Happiness, we could all use a massive dose of Bhutanese infectious energy!  My visit with Aman Resorts to the Kingdom of Happiness was nothing short of extraordinary. Brilliant blue skies at dizzying altitudes in the ancient Kingdom of Bhutan, we explored the Amankora Resorts village by village with the most extraordinary guides. Renew your spirits and cast good wishes across the Himalayan mountain peaks via vibrant fluttering prayer flags. Amankora has five lodges spread through the Kingdom and each lodge is a subtle suggestion of the white walled Dzongs.

The Bhutanese architecture is very colorful and replicated in farmhouses, temples and local shops. Amankora has kept it clean and simple, why try to compete with the majesty of the Himalayas, the bedecked local homes and the elaborately painted Temples? Make a pilgrimage between Bhutan’s Amankora Lodges —it’s not only their unique locations, their distinct architecture and amazing guides, it’s a combination of the authentic inspired lodges, the genuine cultural offerings at each location and the warm Bhutanese people that make a trip to Bhutan so memorable. The Bhutanese people are particularly quick to laugh, share their culture and welcome visitors. Bhutan has been ranked number one in the world for Gross National Happiness. Hiking, cultural and religious ceremonies, ancient paper crafts, my two weeks could have been extended – every day we encountered indigenous dances, performances and traditional ceremonies.  See my exuberant posts on Bhutan. We would make certain our brilliant favorite guide would accompany you everywhere.

Bhutan Buddha Dordenma Statue

Blessings in the New Year!

 

 

French Polynesia Headdress

In the travel world, there are organized Journeys known as a FAM, a familiarization trip to introduce you to hotels or countries. Days packed with movement, multiple site inspections interspersed with elaborate dining. Numerous whirlwind days when I often can’t remember what town we were in or which hotel. I prefer to create my own fam trips! Some Journeys are imprinted by the people you meet along the way, a simple act of kindness or generosity that make a site memorable. My Lindblad National Geographic Orion sailing adventure from Papeete to the Marquesas was extraordinary but memorizing the harbors and multi-syllabic atolls and islands was challenging! The charming people of each village fashioned my memories, especially the women wearing traditional flower headdresses. An enchanting recollection enhanced by their unpretentious beauty and ever so casual descriptions on making these, by my standard, elaborate floral hats. Beautiful, welcoming and humble women, a true joy to meet them.

French Polynesia Floral Headdress and a tattoo!

Passengers arriving in Tahiti are gifted with handmade floral leis when you arrive at the airport. Usually one spends a night in Papeete before embarking on an island adventure. The air at the nearby Intercontinental Hotel is heavily scented by trees and bushes that bloom year-round. However, it is in the remote Marquesas Islands where flowers are intricately woven into the fabric of everyday life. The beautiful women wear extravagant handmade floral headdresses. Often referred to as simply “hei,” the formal name for these headdresses is “umu hei.” A contraction of two Polynesian words, “umu” means aphrodisiac and “hei” is the Polynesian word for wreath. Women believe that wearing a crown of flowers heightens their sensuality and makes them more attractive to the opposite sex. Wouldn’t you agree they are charming?

Young girls learn their native traditions at the visitor welcome performances

You might also see a range of native flowers woven into the Tahitian headpiece, including hibiscus, frangipani or plumeria, and of course, the greatest symbol of the islands of Tahiti, the tiare flower. Everyone wears the fragrant white tiare flower behind an ear. If you wear the flower behind your left ear, the heart side, it means you’re married or taken or not interested in a relationship. Behind your right ear, it means you’re searching for love. And if woven in the hair and placed behind the head? That means “follow me”. The French post-Impressionist artist Paul Gaugin, inspired by the beauty of the Marquesas Islands and their inhabitants, did not fail to capture these flower-related practices in his paintings.

Flowers are an important part of the culture and history of French Polynesia. On the atoll of Fakarava, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and second-largest atoll in French Polynesia, we motored in to shore and rode bikes around the small atoll. Fakarava has 837 inhabitants; the main village is Rotoava. An outdoor Catholic Mass yielded a small parish of radiant bedecked women. Mass was a combination of French and local language, in a garden grotto due to construction on their church. Village women in brightly colored floral muumuu’s and straw hats festooned with brilliantly hued flowers quieted young children, fanned themselves and sang hymns. Some adornment made of dried leaves were just as attractive. It was Mother’s Day and the ladies would celebrate with a craft fair presenting their shell and bead jewelry. Photos and shopping, I was thrilled to spend more time with these artistic ladies.

Mothers Day on Fakarava at the craft fair

On the island of Fatu Hiva, our welcoming singers and dancers were also bedecked in splendid floral headdresses. A village woman described the simple process: she picks a few garden flowers and assembles an elaborate wreath in a matter of minutes, it’s very easy! Obviously, a clever islander with years of experience. One of my favorite decorated women played a guitar in the welcoming band, a massive green leaf headdress drew all eyes to her.

Fatu Hiva – what an amazing headdress and flower behind her left ear

Hiva-Oa, the second largest island in the Marquesas and where Gauguin is buried, presented a small museum shop where I discovered my woven headdress, the picture-perfect adornment for evening cocktails!

Hiva-Oa

Tahitian headpieces, or Tahitian flower crowns, are common throughout the islands of Tahiti. Worn by locals in order to celebrate a special occasion or simply, celebrate the beauty of everyday life. While some Tahitian headpieces can be very elaborate, it is not uncommon to see a simple crown made only from woven ti leaves.

There are many types of Tahitian headpieces beyond the simple flower crown. Typically, you will see the more elaborate forms only in Tahitian dance numbers. The headbands are sometimes woven with palm fronds or tapa cloth which gives the headpiece structure. Intricate designs and embellishments such as flowing raffia, feathers, mother-of-pearl, or black pearl, are often added as well.

Hiva-Oa local woman with garden flower headdress, which she assembled ‘in minutes’!
American Tourist who purchased her woven headdress on Hiva-Oa.