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Dec 13, 2023 | 
departures.com | Erin Dixon |Skye Parrott |T. Cole Rachel |Hailey Andresen |Laura Smith |Elissa Polls | +5 more
Destinations Truly exceptional people, places, and things we experienced this year. I experienced many joys on Easter Island — from wild horses roaming my resort grounds to visiting the island’s iconic moai statues in the midst of a biblical sunrise rainstorm. But what I will never forget are the sunsets.
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Dec 11, 2023 | 
departures.com | T. Cole Rachel
Art The celebrated actor and activist invents a new life on the other side of movie stardom — as a painter. SHARON STONE IS many things, but timid is not one of them. She is undoubtedly best known to most people as an actor — one of the most visible and celebrated of her generation — but her filmography only tells a small part of her story.
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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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Dec 6, 2023 | 
departures.com | T. Cole Rachel
BEFORE HEADING TO Sweden to visit the factory and home offices of Hästens — makers of the world’s most luxurious beds — I make an out-of-the-way stop in Coimbra, Portugal. The city is home to the Hästens Sleep Spa, a boutique hotel that promises guests the ultimate slumber. Each meticulously designed, soundproofed room is not only optimized for sleeping (no televisions, soothing tea services in lieu of caffeination, an expansive pillow menu), but it is also outfitted with Hästens beds and linens.
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Dec 5, 2023 | 
departures.com | T. Cole Rachel
Destinations A once-in-a-lifetime private jet journey with luxury purveyors TCS World Travel. THERE WAS A moment on my recent trip with TCS World Travel that I momentarily forgot where I was. I found myself standing in the middle of a tropical garden somewhere in the Cook Islands as an expert botanical gardener handed me a fruit unlike any I had ever seen before, freshly plucked from a similarly alien-looking tree, and suggested that I take a bite.
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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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Nov 28, 2023 | 
departures.com | T. Cole Rachel |Sebastian Modak |Sophie Mancini |Patricia Garcia |Joshua Sanchez |Jane Lee | +2 more
HAVING SPENT SO much of my life in bars — both as a patron and, for the entirety of my twenties, as a bartender — I have strong feelings about what constitutes the perfect place to have a drink. A great bar has at least one of the following: an incredible selection of special spirits, a well-considered cocktail menu, or the kind of environment that makes it easy to hang out, whether it be for five minutes or five hours. If you’re lucky, maybe the bar has all of these things.
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Nov 24, 2023 | 
departures.com | Alex Frank |Hailey Andresen |T. Cole Rachel |Erin Dixon |Elissa Polls |Lisa Lok | +1 more
LIKE IT OR not, it’s November, which means it’s time to start thinking seriously about the holidays. As fall fully gives way to winter, we’re gearing up for the impending juggernaut of parties, massive meals (we see you coming, Thanksgiving), and the pleasure and peril of gift-giving. To get ourselves into the spirit, this month we’re shouting out things we’d love to give and the things we’ve recently been happy to receive.
