Monday newsletters all the time function prime 10 journey lists to encourage.
At the moment: My High 10 Journey Highlights of 2025
Initially, I need to want all Blissful Holidays, and a joyful begin to the New Yr, wherever you might be studying this from.
As 2025 attracts to a detailed, it feels pure to pause and replicate on the 12 months that’s ending. Very like the 12 months earlier than it, 2025 has been complicated and unsettling. Ongoing geopolitical tensions, persistent conflicts, and an more and more polarized world discourse continued to form every day information cycles. Wars in Ukraine and the Center East remained painfully current, whereas financial uncertainty, climate-related disasters, and the rising affect of misinformation reminded us how interconnected — and fragile — our world stays. Nature as soon as once more confirmed each its magnificence and its power, with excessive climate occasions affecting communities throughout completely different continents. Towards this backdrop, it has typically felt difficult to carry on to perspective and optimism.
That’s exactly why journey continues to matter so deeply to me. This weblog is, and can stay, a non-political area devoted to curiosity, inspiration, and the quiet pleasure of discovery. Journey has all the time been my means of stepping again and discovering moments of magnificence, calm, and surprise — even when the larger image feels overwhelming. In 2025, these moments got here in many various varieties, from distant islands and arctic landscapes to cities, plane cabins, and locations I discovered myself returning to. Under, I’m sharing my ten private journey highlights of 2025 — journeys that supplied perspective, inspiration, and a welcome sense of escapism throughout an in any other case intense 12 months. Early in 2026, I’ll additionally share what you’ll be able to count on from me within the 12 months forward.
As all the time, you’ll discover extra detailed data beneath the slideshow, together with journey reviews and YouTube movies. Be at liberty to share your personal ideas on 2025, or your private journey highlights of the 12 months, within the feedback part beneath.
10. A Winter Getaway within the Austrian Alps
My journey 12 months started within the Austrian Alps, and the defining spotlight of this winter escape was staying on the five-star Das Central in Sölden. Completely positioned in one among Austria’s most snow-reliable ski areas, the resort blends basic alpine appeal with up to date luxurious. Mornings started with sweeping mountain views earlier than stepping straight onto extensive, immaculately groomed slopes, whereas afternoons slowed into moments of consolation, swims within the rooftop pool, time on the spa, and Michelin-starred eating. The environment at family-owned Das Central is what actually units it aside: polished but relaxed, private with out ever feeling intrusive. Staying close by at Aqua Dome, one of many Alps’ largest thermal spa resorts, added a totally completely different dimension. Floating in futuristic out of doors swimming pools, surrounded by snow-covered peaks and drifting steam, felt surreal and deeply calming in a means that solely the Alps can ship.
9. Visiting the Caribbean’s most unique island
St. Barts stays one of many Caribbean’s most unique and seductive islands, identified for its turquoise waters, refined seashore golf equipment, and unmistakable French-Caribbean rhythm. That mentioned, in my private opinion, its pure magnificence doesn’t fairly match locations just like the Maldives, Seychelles, or French Polynesia. This journey stood out as an alternative for a way clearly it demonstrated the position service performs in defining true luxurious. Rosewood Le Guanahani St Barth, arguably having fun with the island’s finest location, delivered precisely what one hopes for right here: heat hospitality, easy ease, and understated magnificence. Le Sereno impressed with its minimalist design, distinctive beachfront setting, and calm, intimate environment. In distinction, Cheval Blanc St-Barth Isle de France was a disappointment — not due to its spectacular location on one of many island’s most interesting seashores, however as a consequence of services that felt underwhelming and repair that was inconsistent and surprisingly disengaged. Even the strongest resort manufacturers can not compensate when hospitality falls brief.
8. Flying Enterprise Class in Qatar Airway’s mini-QSuite
Flying enterprise class with Qatar Airways on the Boeing 787-10 from Frankfurt to Doha turned out to be one of many extra nice surprises of the 12 months. The airline’s so-called “mini Qsuite” provides a refined tackle the flagship Qsuite (which you discover on the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A350). The staggered 1-2-1 structure, mixed with sliding privateness doorways, supplies wonderful private area, sensible storage, and a robust sense of seclusion. The cabin feels fashionable and ethereal, enhanced by the Dreamliner’s bigger home windows and decrease cabin altitude, which noticeably lowered fatigue on a long-haul flight. Service was polished but genuinely heat, and eating felt refreshingly versatile, as meals are served on demand reasonably than on a inflexible schedule. This product might not carry the complete Qsuite branding, nevertheless it reinforces Qatar Airways’ popularity for quiet confidence and consistency at altitude.
7. Exploring Singapore & Staying at Bawah Island
This journey stood out for the dramatic distinction between city sophistication and full island isolation. In Singapore, staying at Capella Singapore — which gained world consideration through the Trump-Kim summit in 2018 — supplied a serene retreat the place colonial structure meets lush tropical landscaping. A keep at Raffles Singapore, lately awarded three Michelin Keys, added a layer of timeless grandeur and heritage few resorts worldwide can replicate. The transition from Singapore’s city vitality to Bawah Reserve felt nearly surreal. Accessible solely by seaplane, Bawah is amongst Asia’s most unique personal island resorts, with crystal-clear lagoons, vibrant coral reefs, dense jungle interiors, and a profound sense of remoteness. Sustainability is deeply embedded into each facet of the expertise, enhancing the sensation of concord with nature reasonably than detracting from consolation.
6. Flying in Emirates’ New Enterprise Class
Flying Emirates’ new Enterprise Class on the Boeing 777-300ER delivered probably the most comfy Enterprise Class seat I’ve ever skilled. Whereas the suites don’t function personal doorways, the brand new 1-2-1 structure provides wonderful privateness and a noticeably improved sense of non-public area. What actually units this product aside is its deal with resting high quality. Shortly after takeoff, each passenger receives a correct mattress topper, reworking the seat into an exceptionally comfy mattress. Mixed with Emirates’ polished service, refined eating, and robust onboard facilities, the expertise prioritizes relaxation above all else. Quite than counting on visible theatrics, this cabin proves that considerate ergonomics and real consolation matter way more once you step off a long-haul flight.
5. A Vacation within the Seychelles
The Seychelles as soon as once more confirmed why they rank amongst my favourite journey locations on Earth. The inside islands particularly boast seashores that rival the perfect on the planet, with powder-soft white sand, sculptural granite boulders, and water shifting via not possible shades of blue and turquoise. Staying at Mango Home Seychelles offered a relaxed, up to date base, providing sweeping ocean views and a robust sense of connection to the encompassing panorama. From there, the journey prolonged far past the acquainted to the outer islands, the place Waldorf Astoria Platte Island delivered a stage of isolation that felt nearly otherworldly, surrounded by untouched seashores and pristine marine environments. Experiencing each side of the Seychelles inside a single journey highlighted not solely the vacation spot’s outstanding range, but additionally how uncommon it’s to discover a place that mixes such easy accessibility with uncooked pure magnificence and a real feeling of escape.
4. A Weekend Break at Atlantis The Royal Dubai
Staying at Atlantis The Royal – Dubai’s most luxurious resort – felt like stepping right into a daring architectural manifesto reasonably than a conventional resort. Towering above Dubai’s shoreline, the property is dramatic, futuristic, and intentionally extreme in scale. Interiors are meticulously curated, with putting design parts at each flip, whereas the eating scene alone rivals that of a whole metropolis district. That mentioned, this isn’t a resort for everybody. With tons of of rooms and fixed exercise, intimacy will not be a part of its DNA, and the expertise can really feel overwhelming at instances. But there isn’t a denying how spectacular it’s, each in ambition and execution. Atlantis The Royal displays Dubai’s want to push boundaries and redefine what fashionable luxurious hospitality can appear to be when scale turns into a part of the assertion.
3. My First-Ever Cruise with Seabourn
My first-ever cruise turned one of the unexpectedly rewarding experiences of the 12 months. Crusing aboard Seabourn Enterprise, extensively thought to be the world’s most luxurious expedition cruise ship, I explored Icelan and the Faroe Islands in a means that felt genuinely immersive. Days had been spent navigating dramatic coastlines by way of Zodiac landings, stepping ashore beneath towering cliffs, glaciers, and windswept landscapes hardly ever accessible to traditional vacationers. What actually units Seabourn Enterprise aside is its expedition {hardware}. For instance, the ship is supplied with two custom-built submarines, permitting friends to dive beneath the floor and discover polar waters from a completely new perspective. Onboard, the environment was intimate and fascinating, with expert-led lectures by geologists, marine biologists, and historians including depth and context to every vacation spot. The stability between exploration and luxury was seamless, with refined eating, elegant suites, and attentive service offering a way of calm between adventures.
2. Exploring the Maldives with 4 Seasons
The Maldives stay my final imaginative and prescient of tropical escape, and having stayed in any respect three Maldivian properties from 4 Seasons Accommodations and Resorts, I skilled firsthand how otherwise paradise might be interpreted. 4 Seasons Kuda Huraa, positioned within the North Malé Atoll, feels vibrant and energetic, with a robust sense of place, wonderful browsing, and a full of life, social environment that makes it straightforward to attach with each the island and different friends. Extremely-luxurious 4 Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, set throughout the UNESCO-listed Baa Atoll, provides a totally completely different rhythm, outlined by expansive lagoons, distinctive marine life, and a deep connection to nature that encourages slowing down. On the pinnacle sits 4 Seasons Non-public Island Voavah, additionally in Baa Atoll, the place privateness reaches a completely completely different stage and the expertise feels nearer to staying in a personal residence than at a resort. What unites all three is intuitive, heartfelt 4 Seasons service delivered with out formality, making every keep really feel private reasonably than programmed.
1. A Keep at Soneva Secret, the Maldives’ Final Resort
On the very prime of my 2025 highlights sits an expertise that felt each deeply acquainted and genuinely groundbreaking. I didn’t go to the Maldives simply as soon as this 12 months, however twice, and it was throughout these journeys that my connection to Soneva Fushi as soon as once more proved why it stays one of many only a few properties I hold returning to. I’ve truthfully misplaced depend of what number of instances I’ve stayed there. Fushi’s barefoot philosophy, expansive jungle setting, and easy sense of freedom proceed to resonate, from biking alongside sandy paths to open-air villas that blur the road between indoors and nature. This 12 months, nonetheless, the expertise was taken to a completely new stage with Soneva Secret, which units unprecedented requirements for luxurious within the Maldives. With only a handful of villas, every supported by as much as three devoted workers members, together with a personal chef, the extent of personalization feels extraordinary, nearly surreal. It felt much less like staying at a resort and extra like briefly inhabiting a wonderfully curated personal world.
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