Spotlight :: Desert Decadence in Dubai

[trip style = luxury + beach + urban +sightseeing]

A few months ago I went to Dubai for a four-day, jetset journey into the Middle Eastern desert {see deets RE my direct Emirates flight from Seattle here}. Aside from sharing 30 photos in December, I never wrote much about the flashy City-State on TS, struggling to find the words to describe my experience and the mind-boggling town that turns sand into palms-shaped islands and concrete into cloud-skimming skyscrapers. Note: the below photo is taken from the world's tallest building on floor 124, looking up.

Dubai turns impossible into nothing---a mere petite feat that can be easily surmounted, like a small hill. Except that hill is Mt. Everest AND the odds of reaching the top unscathed are fraught with an army of skilled workers {a whole topic in and of itself}, and worldwide recognition. Looking at Dubai projects---an indoor ski hill, the world's largest mall, the world's only seven-star hotel and the world's tallest building---it's like the Emirate empire has conquered Everest 100+ times, on a Wednesday morning. And then went out for lunch.

The oil-rich town is the greatest destination marketing story of our time. The projects are big, blingy and boisterous; international experts are brought in to execute them, and the result is something that's landed on most globetrotters'  bucket lists. Fueled by curiosity and a desire for the exotic, travelers are seeking Dubai's decadent desert in droves.

Here's a starter kit to Dubai I wrote for Fodor's.

More Dubai
My Flight
My Hotel
The Spa
30 Photos

[photos by @tripstyler taken as a guest of emirates]

First Look :: Dubai

[trip style = urban + active & adventure + sun + luxury]

I just got home from Dubai via Seattle last night and my mind is bursting with cityscapes, landscapes and wordscapes.

I'll start my full-throttle dive into Dubai Friday, but until then check out Trip Styler's Instagram for a quick photo tour.

[Photos by @tripstyler taken in Dubai as a guest of Emirates Airlines]

T+L's Travel Hotspots :: 70s, 80s, 90s & 00s

[trip style = any]

This month Travel+Leisure Magazine celebrates its 40th anniversary. Recently they reminisced about destinations, hotels and travel trends that were "hot" through the ages. Here are a few of the highlights from decades marked with disco, moonwalking, voguing and babies boogying to Bootylicious {on YouTube}.

'70s Wearing polyester, bell-bottomed pantsuits, there was a five-year period {1977-1982} when Americans flocked to Cuba; then the doors were closed. The two destinations on jetsetters' hotlists: Burma {also referred to as Myanmar} and Iran. In Mexico, Acapulco was still hot to trot before its slump, while Cabo's popularity was growing and developers were breaking ground in Cancun. Finally, Mickey and the gang set up shop in Florida when Disneyworld opened in the backwaters of Orlando.

'80s Excess was on the rise and along with the high-cut, neon spandex fitness trend, luxe health retreats followed suit. Speaking of suits, power suits gave way to power dining and the foodie travel trend started to sizzle. Crocodile Dundee drew visitors en masse to Australia's coastline and outback in search of kangaroos, crocs and shrimps on the barbie.

'90s Like voguing, volunteer vacations {aka voluntourism} became en-vogue and Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were opening their doors to adventurous vacationers, while a lucky few were lounging in newly built over-water, thatched-roof bungalows in the Maldives and Seychelles.

'00s The desert utopia known as Dubai moved up Travel Editors' must-visit lists along with the world's tallest hotel, sand skiing and palm-shaped, man-made islands. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the green movement spurs ecotourism and Buenos Aires is a steal while Europe is a splurge.

[images in collage sourced online]