around the world

I’m writing this note on a plane. Well, trying to. I’m repeatedly distracted, mesmerised by the sights playing out below me: flamingos wading in a lagoon, wind turbines dotted about in the bluest of oceans, tiny cotton clouds hovering over the greenest of fields, ice-capped mountains touching the heavens, and aeroplane condensation trails leaving doodles in the skies. I feel like a child drawing a map in my mind’s eye. Daydreaming in the clouds…

I always feel a deep sense of satisfaction writing this note or story while airborne, in real time, for a pressing print deadline. And how apt then, when it’s for a travel-themed edition. The thrill of being on the go.

This time, I’m on my way to the Venice Biennale in Italy. The past few weeks – and months – have been an especially busy but thrilling period of travel for our studio, as we have roamed about to gather and cover stories for this edition. And for later this year (and next) – can’t divulge all just yet. 😉 

We jetted off to Milan for Design Week, stopped over in Paris for a Monocle podcast to chat LOOKBOOK Studio and House and Leisure (print IS still alive), ventured by train to Cornwall for a story with a South African twist (p102), roadtripped to the Namib Desert (p236), wandered about on the shores of Shela in Kenya among the donkeys (p160), and meandered along the Okavango Delta in Botswana to find wellness on safari (p130). Oh, and we spent a night in a lighthouse (p170)… 

Travel is one of the best ways of finding the new and appreciating the old, and, as I always point out, it’s where all of our interests and focuses for House and Leisure converge: people, culture, craft, design, decor, interiors, architecture, art, food, wine and more! Life. In these pages you’ll see these things come to life, and through a very personal and evocative lens.

The spaces that we have explored and gathered for our LIVE chapter (p136) all intentionally conjure up feelings of a bygone era or of a favourite travel memory. We wanted this edition to feel like a child’s map of an island. Boat? Check. Castle? Check. Cave? Check. Lighthouse? Check. Train? Check. Fort? Check. Treehouse? Check. Treasure? You’ll have to wait and see… 

These are places with whimsical character, but also soul. Our focus is less on glossy new design and more on the mood and feeling of a space. Isn’t that what life is all about? Discovering new (old) things you never knew existed? Or that you’ve simply forgotten about, or neglected. That’s why it’s important for House and Leisure to feature places like the Matjiesfontein Hotel (Volume 6: ‘Explore’) or the Owl House in Nieu-Bethesda (Volume 5: ‘Retreat’) alongside the latest designer hotspots or objects. It’s a mix of the high and low that makes for a more layered and interesting curation, and a stimulating read. And that’s what travel is meant to be, too. The dust as well as the design. To venture off the beaten track, to see things off-centre, far-flung, remote. To roam.

*See you again soon for our spring edition (Volume 22).