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Dec 7, 2023 | 
departures.com | Alex Frank |T. Cole Rachel |Hailey Andresen |Cooper Fleishman |Erin Dixon |Sophie Mancini | +2 more
Editors’ Picks Plus the coffeemakers, Yeti hard coolers, and spa treatments our editors loved this month. DECEMBER, OF COURSE, is the time for shopping, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed when faced with the prospect of buying gifts for friends and family from what feels like the infinite scroll of consumer options. Don’t overthink it: The best presents (in this writer’s opinion, at least) are beautiful, functional, straightforward, and fun.
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Dec 7, 2023 | 
departures.com | T. Cole Rachel |Alex Frank |Cooper Fleishman |Lisa Lok |Annie Lin |Jess Rotter | +1 more
THE PACE OF travel, spurred by the coming holidays, becomes increasingly frenetic, I am more grateful than ever for hotels that feel like an oasis of calm. Having spent so much of the past few months bouncing from place to place and haunting various airport lounges around the world, the pleasure of a beautiful hotel room and a super-comfortable bed have come to feel like one of life’s greatest joys.
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Dec 7, 2023 | 
departures.com | Laura Smith |Sophie Mancini |Alex Frank |Lisa Lok |Hailey Andresen |T. Cole Rachel | +3 more
’TIS THE SEASON to dine. For me, this month is always a toss-up between eating at home or dining out. If you’ve been tasked with holiday meal preparation, you’ll want to take every opportunity to escape your kitchen — and those pesky dishes that just won’t wash themselves. But is there anything cozier than a quiet meal at home on a cold night?
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Nov 29, 2023 | 
departures.com | Sophie Mancini |Alexandra Brodsky |T. Cole Rachel |Alex Frank |Annie Lin |Hailey Andresen | +4 more
I HAVE A column in our print issues called “Flavor Profile,” where I talk to chefs about their taste not just in food, but in all things.
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Oct 31, 2023 | 
departures.com | Hailey Andresen |Alex Frank |Laura Smith |T. Cole Rachel |Elissa Polls |JB Maza | +2 more
IF YOU ASK me, October is the optimal month for showering yourself with gifts. We are in the throes of a new season, back-to-school shopping is far enough in the past, and the holidays are still distant enough in the future that it’s possible to lean into a guilt-free shopping spree or a single indulgent purchase. This month, our editors are covering all the bases — from candles and adventure-forward experiences to fall attire and subtle self-care items.
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Oct 27, 2023 | 
departures.com | Sophie Mancini |Alex Frank |Laura Smith |Lisa Lok |T. Cole Rachel |Hailey Andresen | +3 more
Stays Plus, a new Ritz, cool Copenhagen hang outs, and Antwerp opulence. AS HIGH AUTUMN gusts in, I’ve been thinking a lot about spaces and their ability to transport you. It’s a nostalgic, cozy, glimmering time of year, and after long, dewy days outside, we’re finally moving back in. It’s the best time for wandering a museum, tucking into a restaurant, parsing through a shop, and yes — finding that perfect stay.
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Oct 26, 2023 | 
departures.com | Laura Smith |Sophie Mancini |Cooper Fleishman |T. Cole Rachel |Alex Frank |Elissa Polls | +3 more
Food and Drink Plus, not-to-miss wine in the Azores, department store omakase, and how to bring Italy home. I recently had an illness where I experienced a prolonged loss of appetite. Previously, I had found my appetite a burden — scarcely had I finished lunch, and I was already dreaming of dinner. I wondered, Wouldn’t it be nice if I didn’t think about food all of the time? Well, now I can tell you. It is not nice.
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Sep 27, 2023 | 
departures.com | Sophie Mancini |Alexandra Brodsky |Elissa Polls |T. Cole Rachel |Jess Rotter
I’M WRITING THIS on a flight back from London, where I took the first real vacation I’ve had in a long time. Before I went, I received a flurry of restaurant recommendations, each one posher and more dazzling than the next. I went to zero. I’m confident each would’ve stunned. But for whatever reason, fashionable food was not the priority this trip. The irony?
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Sep 27, 2023 | 
departures.com | T. Cole Rachel |Laura Smith |Hailey Andresen |Alex Frank |Lisa Lok |Elissa Polls | +1 more
AS A SELF-DESCRIBED king of staycations, I have spent the past year moonlighting as a tourist in my own town, spending a night (or two or three) in as many New York City hotels as I can. This not only gives me a sense of how all of my hometown stays stack up against one another, but it also indulges my love of hotels in general.
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Sep 27, 2023 | 
departures.com | Laura Smith |T. Cole Rachel |Alex Frank |Elissa Polls |Sophie Mancini |Hailey Andresen | +1 more
Editors’ Picks Plus, amazing skincare, go-to vintage, and a heavenly new fragrance. IT’S TRUE, YOU can’t buy happiness. But our corporeality is a singular fact of life. While we remain on this earthly plane, we have bodies and must figure out what to do with them, how to care for them, and where to put them. In my ideal form, I will have transcended this physical reality to concern myself only with life’s deepest, most meaningful arenas.
