Slideshow :: Best of 2014

[trip style = all] 

I know, I know; today we *should* be focusing on post-travel detox juices or healthy getaways to jump-start TS 2015, but in the name of zigging where others zag, and *hopefully* inspiring your 2015 travel plans, we're taking a step back before we move ahead.

Reminiscing about 2014 over the Christmas holidays, I was struck by how I'm keen to re-visit a bevy of the hotels and destinations that colored my year-in-travel. Waking up in Mexico on January 1st, and clocking my last set of air miles when visiting California in early December, 2014 saw me take about 40 trips.

Some were big, some were weekenders. Some were luxe, some were rustic. Some were zen, some were busy {with the addition of Baby Styler to the TS crew}. True to the Trip Styler mission, we covered every category of trip styling: active+adventure, beach+sun, food+wine, weekender, glamping, urban, luxe, steals, spa. 

Here's the best of the best. Stay + play details in each photo. 

Mexico. First trip of 2014 to Huatulco. 

Huatulco.

Huatulco. See my story on the destination's best beaches.

Huatulco. Picking up textiles for the Trip Styler Store.

Huatulco. I swear, guac tastes so much better when consumed in Mexico while sitting at a poquito table on the sand. Location: MediterraneO.

Hulatulco. The coolest restaurant of all on Maguey beach. 

Huatulco. Sundowner drinks at Maguey beach. 

Lake Tahoe. Finding a snowy hiking trail off the side of a road---sans guidebook or insider tips---leading to the area's namesake lake. 

Lake Tahoe. One of my top trip style = steal stays of 2014: Basecamp Hotel in South Lake Tahoe. 

Vancouver. Playing tour guide in my own city, and sharing my top bites, bevs and boutiques in a video. 

Vancouver. Eating a fresh catch of sushi at the Fairmont Pacific Rim's RawBar. 

Vancouver. Filling my stomach with haute fare at La Pentola della Quercia for Dine-Out Vancouver, a once-yearly restaurant festival. Note: La Pentola's Dine-Out menu is one of my festival hot picks.

Palm Springs. Spending my birthday in one of my destination muses. Pictured here, the must-stay Korakia Pensione. 

Palm Springs. The outdoor movie theatre at Korakia Pensione showing yesteryear flicks nightly. 

Palm Springs. One of two pools at Korakia Pensione.

Palm Springs. Playing petanque with Mr. Trip Styler at Korakia Pensione. 

Flying aboard Cathay Pacific---without question, one of my top three airlines worldwide.

The made-to-order noodle bar at Cathay Pacific's flagship {and trip-styled-to-the-max} lounge: The Wing in Hong Kong International Airport.  

Hong Kong. Luxuriating at the Four Seasons Hong Kong.

Hong Kong. Hitting as many restaurants, food stalls and sights as I can see in 48 hours. 

Thailand. Learning the art of Thai hospitality and Northern Thai cooking at the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai.

Thailand. One of the best desserts I've ever tasted: Sweet coconut soup with taro pearls at the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai.  

Thailand. Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai. 

Thailand. Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai. The rice paddy parade, an end-of-day procession happening every night at 4.50pm to commemorate the end of the work day on the resort's working rice field. 
 

Thailand.  Breakfast in the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai's {ritzy} rice barn.

Thailand. The Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai's main pool.

Thailand. Elephant-trekking and glamping where Thailand meets Laos and Myanmar at the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle. 

Thailand. Welcome beverages served in hard-carved cups at the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle.

Thailand. One of the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle's 15 luxury tents {this was my abode}.

Thailand. Trekking at the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle.

Thailand. Learning how to ride an elephant at the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle.

Thailand. My elephant and his mahout {elephant handler} at the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle.

Thailand. On my last night at the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle we lit lanterns and sent them into the sky. The perfect ending for a standout stay. 

Visiting Walt Disney World with my mom to eat my way around the world at Epcot. 

Walt Disney World. Where cream and crunch have a baby and birth this chocolate ice macaron. Find it in the France Pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase. 

Kuala Lumpur. Visiting Mlaysia's capital city and finding a gorgeous villa-hotel, Villa Samadhi, tucked into a treed district just outside the city.

Kuala Lumpur. Petronas Towers. Bonus points if you remember them featured in the movie Entrapment! 

Bali. Seminyak beach. 

Bali. Scoping out the best beach hotels in Bali. Pictured here, one of my beachside stays, the Anantara Hotel Seminyak. 

Bali. Seminyak beach.

Bali. Seminyak beach.

West Bali. 

West Bali. The Menjangan {read about it here}.

Bali. 

Bali. Near Jimbaran Bay. 

Bali. Sundara restaurant {and beach club} at the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay. 

Bali. The Michelin-level fare at Sundara in the Four Season Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay. 

Bali. Sundara.

Bali. RIMBA Jimbaran Bali hotel.

Bali. RIMBA.

Bali. RIMBA.

Bali. RIMBA.

Bali. Watching the sun set from the cliff-carved infinity pool at AYANA Resort. 

Tokyo.

Tokyo.

Tokyo. Maison Ladurée. 

Tokyo. Sitting at the eight-seat sushi bar manned by Chef Yasuda, one of the world's most famous sushi chefs.

Tokyo. Sushi Bar Yasuda. 

Tokyo. Where art and food fuse at Sushi Bar Yasuda.

Tokyo. 

Tokyo. Omotesando Koffee, found on a Tokyo coffee crawl.

Tokyo. The baked custard {my new go-to dessert} at Omotesando Koffee. 

Tokyo. The Trip Stylers joining in Japan's obsession with craft coffee.

Tokyo. So glad I was able snap this apropos scene. 

Canada's Sunshine Coast. Painted Boat Resort.

Canada's Sunshine Coast. The best breakfast baskets known to man at Painted Boat Resort. 

Canada's Sunshine Coast. Mushrooms, which I picked in the forest on a foraging mission with Chef Michael Riley from THE Restaurant at Painted Boat Resort. 

Canada's Sunshine Coast. Dog Styler at Painted Boat Resort.

Seattle. Road trip from Vancouver to San Francisco to finish getting footage for my Expedia video about what fuelled my wanderlust! 

San Francisco. Scoring a hard-to-get seat at State Bird Provisions. 

San Francisco. One of the most bold and beautiful coffee shops in town: Sightglass Coffee. 

Mexico: Investigating the luxe side of the Riviera Maya at the Banyan Tree Mayakoba.

Mexico. Bayan Tree Mayakoba. 

Mexico. Banyan Tree Mayakoba. 

Mexico. A spicy hot chocolate and stylish churro to start the day. Is there any other way? {Banyan Tree Mayakoba}

Mexico. Every suite comes with a personal plunge pool at the Banyan Tree Mayakoba.

Mexico. The I-could-live-here bathrooms at the all-villa Banyan Tree Mayakoba. 

Mexico. Tulum!

Mexico. Glamping at Papaya Playa Project in Tulum. 

Mexico. The simple and perfect bedspreads, designed by the hotel owner at Papaya Playa Project. 

Mexico. Walking to the beach at Papaya Playa Project. 

Mexico. Beach vibes at Papaya Playa Project. 

Mexico. Where I ate breakfast every morning at Papaya Playa Project {and yes, the meal did include papaya}.

Mexico. Beach club at Papaya Playa Project. 

Mexico. Picking my signature scent at Coqui-Coqui perfume house in Tulum. 

Mexico. Walking into Gitano, an open-air restaurant so eye-catching, I wish was my backyard. 

Oregon. Chasing the last bit of summer in Cannon Beach. 

Oregon. EVOO Cooking School. 

Oregon. Mr. Trip Styler and Dog Styler on Cannon Beach. 

Oregon. Attending the uber-informative and wildly fun cooking show at EVOO Cannon Beach Cooking School.

Oregon. Walking along the dunes at Pacific City beach.

Oregon. Dining in Portland {always a treat}. Pictured here: Maurice, one of the Top 10 New Restaurants in America {2014 edition} by Bon Appetit Magazine.

Whistler. Last trip before Baby Styler, aka "babymooning" at the Four Seasons Resort Whistler.

Whislter. Cornucopia. Whistler's {WAY fun} celebration of food + bev. 

Whistler. More Cornucopia festivities at Araxi Restaurant. 

Baby Styler arrives and seven weeks later we take our first big trip to California.

California. Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles, our base for LA exploring. 

California. This beaut:  SUPERBA restaurant in LA. 

California. Ace Hotel & Swim Club Palm Springs. 

California. Our desert digs: Ace Hotel & Swim Club Palm Springs. 

California. Baby Styler, stylin' in the sun. 

California. Ace Hotel & Swim Club Palm Springs. 

California. Ace Hotel & Swim Club Palm Springs. 

PS - I case you missed it, Trip Styler Sis went all Scandi on me, and wrote travel guides to Denmark, Finland and Sweden. 

[photos by @tripstyler]

Wintery Weekend in Victoria

[trip style = weekend getaway]

When you can't get away for a week, but you need an escape, it's helpful to have a few sure-thing weekend destinations in your back pocket. One of those places, for me, is Victoria, BC. This small capital city is at once charming and old-world while also hip and ever-evolving.

I arrived by seaplane on an icy morning after the season's first snowfall, and spent the weekend going out for breakfasts, browsing downtown boutiques, walking along the waterfront and stopping in for dinner and drinks at cozy tapas bars. Read on below for a few of my favorite spots to visit on a wintery weekend in Victoria.

Where to Eat

• Jam Café - Victoria is a breakfast town, where Saturday mornings spent lining up in the cold for pulled pork pancakes is a right of passage. My shared dishes this weekend included pan-fried oatmeal with blueberries and lemon curd and a blackstone avocado benny. Jam's morning cocktails, which include gin cucumber lemonade and bourbon caesar, take the edge off after a chilly wait outside.
• Hey Happy - The city's newest caffeine hot spot brews single-cup coffee in gorgeous ceramics by Mazama Wares with beans from Phil & Sebastian (Calgary), Ritual Roasters (San Francisco) and Heart (Portland). The hipster factor is high, with baristas in toques, a Gremlins thermos for cream and A Clockwork Orange screenplay for perusing.
• Bodega - From the owners of the always-hopping Tapa Bar comes bar-next-door Bodega. Open from lunch till late, this tapas, wine and sherry bar boasts friendly service, delicious cocktails and gorgeous charcuterie boards.
• Tacofino - From Tofino taco truck to West Coast taco empire, Tacofino's newest Commissary location is shaking up the downtown dining scene. You can never go wrong with the fish taco and chocolate diablo cookie.
   

Where to Shop

• Reunion - Formerly known as Rebel Rebel, this shop is stocked with some of our favorite brands like Cheap Monday, Pendleton, Levi's and Malin + Goetz. 
• Victory Barber & Brand - OK, OK, this is a barber shop, but they've got an incredible selection of grooming products in store and they're the nicest guys in town {OK, OK, they're my friends}. 
• Sitka - This local success story/surf shop/café is a must-visit for anyone looking for super-soft sweatshirts, waxed-cotton outerwear and locally roasted coffee.

How to Get There

Instead of travelling to the island by ferry and bus for several hours this weekend, I flew over with Harbour Air, the world's largest seaplane airline. A 35-minute flight put me harbor to harbor from Vancouver to Victoria. Besides the obvious time and convenience benefits, it's arguably the best way to see the coast. Flying standby, I caught the first flight out on Saturday morning after an hour in the lounge reading the weekend paper, drinking a complimentary Americano and watching the sunrise.

Trip Styler Tip: Sign up for the next Turbo Ticket release, when the airline releases a limited number of $25 standby tickets {not including taxes} available in groups of four. The tickets never expire and are valid everywhere Harbour Air, Westcoast Air and Whistler Air fly. I paid a total of $20 in taxes for return flights from Vancouver to Victoria and had no wait on the way to Victoria and a one-flight wait on the way to Vancouver.

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

Related
Weekending in Victoria
Spotlight :: 30 Hours in Victoria

[collages by @heatherlovesit & photos by @heatherlovesit & businesses mentioned]

Whistler's Cornucopia 2014

[trip style = food + wine + weekend getaway] 

Editor's Note: Have you checked out the online Trip Styler Store? Shop for handpicked finds from around the globe. 

Dear food, wine and wilderness lovers: 
I've written about Cornucopia, Whistler's celebration of food + wine, before and I'll write about it again. Because everything—especially fine wine and haute cuisine—tastes better when paired with fresh British Columbia air and mountaintop vistas.

Currently in its 18th year, Cornucopia 2014 kicked off last weekend and I was there to brush up on my 90+-point wine knowledge and my culinary curiosity for the second year in a row. To give you an idea of how much I love this highfalutin food fest, I only had Baby Styler four weeks ago, but didn't want to miss it, so Mr. Trip Styler was on daddy patrol while I jumped in and out of events. 

---------------------
The Tasty Bits 
- Cornucopia runs November 6 - 16, 2014.
- If you live nearby, there's still time to attend this coming weekend. I stayed at The {all-suite} Westin Resort & Spa due to its proximity to the events and free pet 'claws' for Dog Styler.
- Hotel rates start at $89. Stay and sip packages start at $77 per person, per night. 
- Tickets range from $15 to $250 per event. 
---------------------

If you wonder why you should head to Whistler for a trip style = food-and-wine-weekend in November, it's this: Cornucopia is a confluence of learning and letting loose, wine and wellness, nourishment and nibbling, craft beer and cocktails and—more than anything—it brings the best of BC and the world to your plate {and glass}.

While last year I sampled some of epicurean event's grand tastings, chef luncheons, food and wellness seminars and sizzling after parties, this year my weekend focused on wine tasting, a six-course dinner and culinary demos {see photos + details below}.

Over the course of my bon vivant adventures, I was reminded why the 11-day gastro-celebration is such a mountaintop experience. Expertise and access. Whether it's a chef passing on their restaurant's iconic recipes or where they source their ingredients, or winemakers hand picking the wines you should bring to special events, Cornucopia-goers get a peek behind the apron {or barrel} with direct access to the tastemakers who are normally working on menu development, judging wine competitions or traveling to Mendoza in search of the next big Malbec.      

And so I came home with book full of notes, recipes for holiday cooking, a list of wines that will turn me into my circle's resident "som" and chef email addresses in case I want to follow up after my lunch 'n learn with, for example, chef Eric Pateman of Edible Canada about a recipe {which I did}. That's Cornucopia. And that's why 6,500 people put it on their fall travel menu every year. 

A Trip Styler Taste of Cornucopia

Araxi Big Guns. This sell-out, seven-course event is one of Cornucopia's most sought-after tickets attracting good-time gourmets to taste the wines sommelier Samantha Rahn will pair with Executive Chef James Walt's fall harvest menu.

Araxi Big Guns. The setting.

Araxi Big Guns. Sunshine Coast-based Northern Divine certified organic black caviar with buckwheat blini and wild smoked salmon.

Araxi Big Guns. House-smoked Haida Gwaii sablefish sitting atop ruby streak and baby spinach in a ginger-orange juice sauce.

Culinary Stage Series: Edible Canada - Coast to Coast. Ingredients for the first course: Roasted carrot and beet salad.

Culinary Stage Series: Edible Canada - Coast to Coast. Roasted carrot and beet salad paired with local greens, Charlevoix cheese, Okanagan pear and maple-hazelnut vinaigrette. {I'm going to publish the recipe to this salad in our That Travel Meal series soon because it's hearty, heavenly and ideal for holiday entertaining. Stay tuned.}

Culinary Stage Series: Edible Canada - Coast to Coast. Eggplant torte topped in salted caramel, brandied cherries and fresh cream. Because it was so decadent {you don't really taste the eggplant, it appears more in the texture}, I only needed a few bites, and felt healthy as I ate it because of veggie-factor. 

More WOW Wines. A wine tasting featuring 12 wines hand picked for special occasions by a panel of four experts. Some of my standout sips:
 - Moon Curser Vineyards Contraband Syrah {BC}, $28.90 buy at the winery or private wine stores
 - Signorello Estate Padrone {Napa}, $169 buy at BC Liquor Stores
 - Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Les Boucherottes {France}, $75 buy at private wine stores
 - Beringer Luminus Oak Knoll Chardonnay {Napa}, $50 buy at private wine stores
 - Schramsberg Vineyards Blanc de Blancs {Napa}, $39.99 buy at BC Liquor Stores
 - Nk'Mip Cellars Mer'r'iym {BC}, $50 at winery or private wine stores

CRUSH gala, Cornucopia's flagship tasting event {think: Having the ability to taste a wine bar's entire wine list in one night}. 

Moi Cornucopia-ing.

Culinary Stage Series: Café Medina. A lunch 'n learn from the gents who run the restaurant and kitchen in my go-to and gratifying Vancouver brunch hangout.

Culinary Stage Series: Café Medina. Moroccan mimosa. Cava and reduced orange juice infused with fig, fennel, coriander, pink peppercorn, saffron, anise and cinnamon {read: I could drink this every AM}. 

Culinary Stage Series: Café Medina. Seared sockeye salmon marinated in homemade bitters, salt, pepper, mint and North African spices complemented by hummus, yogurt and local greens.

Culinary Stage Series: Café Medina. Ending the session with Medina's cult-following Liège waffles accompanied by a peach-bourbon-butterscotch sauce. 

[photos by @tripstyler, taken as a guest of Cornucopia]

Preggy Styler

[trip style = any]

Editor's Note: Have you checked out the online Trip Styler Store? Stop by for handpicked finds from around the globe. 

In case you missed last week's surprise there's-a-new-Styler-in-town-post, I've added a new member to the TS flight crew: Baby Styler.

To say that Baby Styler is well traveled is an understatement. Logging almost as many miles as an airline captain, he jet-set and road-tripped to more destinations in my womb than I visited in my first 20 years on planet Earth {too bad he couldn't start collecting frequent flyer miles nine months ago...}.

While I was a little {read: a lot} nervous to travel with him in my belly when it came to common considerations such as turbulence, adverse reactions to foreign foods or constant mountain-to-tropic climate changes, I got the go-ahead from my doctor for every trip, so I went. Since I travel frequently and am acclimatized to the lifestyle, I was fortunate enough {and very careful} to avoid any major issues on the road {unless you count the time I came within one meter of a boa constrictor in West Bali} though I always made sure I had access to medical care in case I suddenly needed it.

Doing every trip style—active/adventure, beach/sun, weekend away, food-focused, glamping, urban, steals, luxe, spa—over the course of my journey into babydom, I learned that traveling while pregnant is not about what you can't do {i.e. food restrictions, drink restrictions, spa restrictions, exercise restrictions, etc.} but tweaking the trip styles you love to fit your preg 'n' traveling comfort level. 

Here's how I made each trip style work during my womberlust:

• In Tokyo at one of the best sushi restaurants in the world, I chose the vegetarian omakase menu over the raw fish menu. 
• In Northern Thailand, I had a facial instead of a massage at the spa. 
• In Bali, I lounged under a palm tree versus in the direct sun. 
• Also in Bali, I consumed fresh-pressed fruit juices over poolside cocktails.
• In Mexico, I stayed in a shorefront glamping hut with air conditioning instead of one naturally cooled by the beach breeze {because midday temps reached 41 degrees C}.
• In Kuala Lumpur, where temperatures hovered in the 43-degree-C range, I stopped into malls and restaurants every 30 minutes to cool down, rest, re-hydrate and nibble while exploring the city on foot.
• On a road-trip from Vancouver to San Francisco, I became well acquainted with Washington, Oregon and California's highway-side rest stops.

Preggy Styler Photo Gallery

One month. Mexico.

One month. Lake Tahoe. 

Two months. Palm Springs.

Three months. Hong Kong. 

Three months. Thailand.

Three months. Thailand.

Four months. Kuala Lumpur.

Four months. Bali.

Four months. Bali.

Four months. Bali. 

Five months. Tokyo.

Five months. Tokyo.

Six months. Seattle. 

Six months. San Francisco. 

Seven months. Mexico. 

Seven months. Mexico.

Seven months. Mexico.

Seven months. Mexico.

Eight months. Oregon.

Eight months. Oregon.

Eight months. Oregon. 

[photos by @tripstyler]

Genius Pack Hack

[trip style = weekend getaway]

Editor's Note: We just added a new member to the TS flight crew: Baby Styler! More details to come shortly.

Packing light is not for every traveler and trip, but with many US carriers charging for checked bags, and now Canadian carriers following suit—I'm looking at you Air Canada and WestJet—traveling with a carry-on LITERALLY makes "cents." 

In addition to saving an average of $25 per bag, bringing a carry-on also simplifies packing and unpacking, reduces airport time and guards against the dreaded moment when your bags don't arrive on the carousel. 

Enter the "pillbox packing" method, found online by Nicole, a TS reader and contributor. Used by The Army and a slew of savvy packers worldwide, this one-minute pack hack eliminates anything unnecessary. {Use this method right, and your efficient packing can still be en vogue!}. 

I'm not suggesting you only pack a T-shirt, underwear, toothbrush and sox for your next one- or two-night getaway; however, I was totally inspired by the simplicity of this method, and have decided a few small modifications {ie: bringing a small toiletries case with make-up and skincare essentials, and wrapping a belt, sweater, skirt, tank top or necklace into the bundle} could take this pack hack from wishful thinking to workable, and still allow me to toss it into my tote. See top and bottom photos for the before and after.   

PS - Find the skirt pictured above in the Trip Styler Store!

Related
Overnight {Without the Baggage}

[photos by @tripstyler]