Portugal Is Giving Us More Reasons to Go |
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Ask me where to go in Portugal, and I won’t stop at the Algarve. I’m just as excited by the Douro’s wine estates, Lisbon’s art and pastries, and the landscapes of Madeira. I’d build your trip around a few of these places, with experiences that give you more than beautiful photographs to bring home. |
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Top Left & Right: Lisbon, Portugal | Bottom Left: Douro River, Portugal |
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Porto’s dining scene deserves your attention, with four restaurants earning their first Michelin stars in 2026. I’d pair a few nights in the city with time in the Douro Valley, making wine as much a part of the trip as food. A river cruise is a wonderful introduction to those terraced vineyard views, but adding a few nights on land leaves room for private visits to quintas, or wine estates, and long lunches overlooking the vines.
Lisbon has its own pleasures, including custard tarts at Pastéis de Belém and an afternoon exploring MUDE, the city’s design museum. From there, spend time walking through Chiado and Baixa with a guide who can uncover the stories behind Lisbon’s tiled façades and intricate black-and-white stone pavements. |
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Left: Melides, Portugal | Right: Sublime Comporta |
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Comporta’s appeal goes well beyond its beautiful beaches. Explore the dunes on horseback, cycle beside rice fields, or dine in a converted horse stable where the original stalls frame the restaurant. Its newest villas bring thoughtful design to the landscape, with wood-and-glass living spaces tucked among umbrella pines. I’d recommend a private-pool villa for families and friends who want room to gather, with the restaurants and services of a luxury hotel close at hand. |
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Top Left: Madeira, Portugal | Bottom Left: Reid's Palace, Madeira | Right: Vermelho Melides |
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A stay around Melides is a starting point for exploring the Alentejo’s villages, wineries, and historic towns. Évora becomes a European Capital of Culture in 2027, giving you another reason to venture inland. I can help shape your travel dates around the cultural program.
Madeira adds a little island adventure to your Portugal trip. Follow its levadas, historic irrigation channels winding through UNESCO-listed laurel forest, or swap your hiking boots for a swim in Porto Moniz’s natural lava-rock pools. In Funchal, a specialist tasting in one of the city’s historic cellars can introduce you to Madeira wines aged for decades, and sometimes much longer. |
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Let’s give Portugal a place on your calendar, not just your wish list. |
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Cascate del Mulino, Saturnia, Italy |
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What’s a “Glow-cation” and Why You’re Going to Love It |
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The wellness travel trend has moved beyond booking massages at the hotel spa. Now the treatments are the reason you’re vacationing. The “glow-cation” is about getting your glow on in a meaningful way, and returning from the trip with a plan to stay healthy and look great. |
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Banyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul | Seoul, South Korea |
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Travelers are heading to South Korea to experience K-beauty at the source, drawn by innovative skincare, high-performing ingredients and treatments that often cost less than they do in North America. The appeal is fine-tuning what you’ve got rather than surgery, with personalized advice on the treatments and products that suit your skin. Seoul neighborhoods such as Myeong-dong, Gangnam and Hongdae are filled with beauty boutiques, clinics and stores where you can explore the latest in skincare and stock up on products that are harder to find back home. |
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Chiva-Som Hua Hin, Thailand | Koh Phayam, Thailand |
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Thailand takes the glow-cation beyond skincare, with specialist retreats that take a closer look at how you eat, move, and manage stress. Fitness and body-composition assessments help inform your program, while nutrition consultations offer time to discuss your everyday habits. Your stay might include targeted facials, one-to-one movement sessions and traditional Thai therapies, with a wellness team adjusting the schedule as you go. I’d help you choose the right level of structure, so expert attention and time to enjoy the seaside setting both have a place in your holiday. |
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MAYRLIFE Medical Health Resort Altaussee, Austria | Euphoria Retreat, Greece |
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Europe offers a deeper approach to the glow-cation, using diagnostics and longevity science to shape the experience. At specialist retreats, your stay may begin with bloodwork, sleep or metabolic testing and body analysis before a personalized program of nutrition, movement, skincare and recovery is created around the results. Add in everything from hydrotherapy to newer biohacking technologies, and the traditional European wellness retreat starts to look much more like a health tune-up. You still get the beautiful setting and spa treatments, but you may come home knowing considerably more about your body than when you arrived. |
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Feeling your best is becoming one more reason to travel. |
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Singapore | Gardens by the Bay |
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A Better Way to Use AI for Your Next Vacation |
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The debate between using AI to plan your trip or relying on human know-how is better reframed as “How can AI help me work with my travel advisor?” Use it to clarify vague vacation ideas and identify your priorities, then bring those ideas to me. I can add on-the-ground knowledge, personal recommendations, and practical guidance to turn them into a trip that’s right for you. Here are a few prompts to get you started.
Getting ready prompt: “I’m planning to work with a luxury travel advisor. Ask me a series of questions to help define my travel style, including what makes a trip feel successful, what I dislike, how I like to spend my days, how much structure I want, and what kind of hotels or experiences make me happiest. At the end, summarize my travel personality in a way I can share with my advisor.”
Identify trip wants prompt: “I’m not fully sure what I want in a vacation. Help me identify my top priorities for this trip by asking about pace, destination type, hotel style, food, activities, privacy, budget comfort, weather, travel time, and who is traveling. Then rank my top five priorities and explain any trade-offs I should be aware of.”
Defining trip purpose prompt: “I’m preparing for a call with my travel advisor about a trip. Help me clarify the purpose of the trip: why I’m going, what would make it feel successful, what memories I want to create, and what each traveler may need from the experience. Summarize this in a concise paragraph I can share with my advisor.” |
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Bring your AI-inspired ideas to me, and I’ll help shape your trip with timely advice and a personal touch. |
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