Bric-a-Brac 6
Expert packing tips, a chic vineyard spa hotel, a brilliant wine+culinary guide, plus our summer playlist!
This week I’m in Patmos (see below) and writing in real time (although I certainly wish it was a scheduled-in-advance post!) And since I’ve been on the road for almost two months, I’m getting a lot of questions about how I pack. However, all my packing is one big mess right now, and therefore totally unphotogenic, so I thought I’d wait to share my personal packing tips until I’m back, and instead, share with you tips from my friend, the master, Ann Mashburn. She’s a beautiful writer and designer (in fact, when I do post about my packing, you’ll see that most of my travel uniform is from her line)—and if you’re not getting her weekly newsletter, I hope you start to after reading the following.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
By Ann Mashburn
A friend dropped by my house the other day and nearly tripped over two kittens running between her legs. Before she could roll her eyes, I said, “I know—I never learn from my mistakes. It’s what keeps me young.” I was teasing, of course, because I am not so young… and I’ve learned a few things. Fifty-something years’ worth of trips and travel have yielded several true packing mistakes. Today, I consider myself a relatively expert packer. Regret is a terrible feeling, and everything I throw in my suitcase is in service of avoiding it at all costs. Because I can spiral in a matter of seconds. “Oh man… I WISH I had brought that slipdress.” Or “It is boiling… why did I only pack Blundstones?” Or “Ugh; this bag weighs a ton and I still don’t have anything to wear and we’re running to catch the train.” And then after a trip, it feels so wasteful to unpack all the unworn, still perfectly-folded items back to my closet. They had a long trip, lonely and squashed together, and for no good reason! I’ve made my point. It feels good to have the right things with you.
I was a fashion editor for a dozen years, took a domestic break to have and wrangle five daughters, and then jumped into business with my husband, Sid. We have a fashion brand based in Atlanta with stores in several cities, so we hop on and off planes to Europe pretty regularly for sourcing and manufacturing. In fact, one of the reasons we left New York and opened up shop in Atlanta was because of the major, wonderful, world’s-busiest airport here. (Plus the daffodils bloom in February, two months ahead of Yankee Mother Nature.) In short, I get it. When planning a getaway – beach, city, country, whatever – I have a few things that nearly ALWAYS go in my bag.
For me, shoes are the biggest deal, and the thing you should decide first. They take up the most space and weight in my bag, and my husband’s are even worse. Even just a single size 9.5 boot occupies a lot of real estate. He used to pack shoe trees in greener days… he’s gotten smarter along with me and now he stuffs his socks and briefs inside. At any rate, your shoe choices will determine the happiness of your trip. Trust me. For warm-weather travel, you’ve got to have flat sandals. My favorites are by K.Jacques – I am devoted to this family-owned French brand based in the very romantic Cote d’Azur. There are a few other coastal cities with their own iconic sandals — Capri sandals from Italy, Havaianas from Rio, Jack Rogers in Florida. These epitomize St. Tropez. A chic, lightweight sandal will earn its spot in your suitcase. One shoe – multiple uses. They aren’t too precious for the beach (leave the rubber flip-flops; these are more versatile), down the streets of your favorite walking city (I prefer them to ballet flats), and then can make it all the way to evening with low-key jeans or a little dress. I have even worn them with a long silk shantung dress to a fancy wedding. They looked chic, although the flat sole meant I was not quite as tall as I would have liked. Compromise is key when you're working with a carry-on... but on the other hand, they were excellent on the dance floor.
My other must-have is the classic driving moccasin. Other than being enormously comfortable, they have those little rubber grommets along the bottom that serve as safety patrol! They keep you gripped to the ground even on the bumpiest cobblestones. And while they aren’t exactly hiking shoes, they can go off-road…. I have scrambled down a rocky path while finding a shortcut to the beach. (I am married to someone who adores to go “off the beaten path.”) And they make excellent city shoes, as well. Comfortable, safe, practical, blah blah blah—can you tell I am a mother?—but the biggest reason to pack driving mocs is that they are stylish all over the globe. Tod’s in Italy is the most well-known maker, though there are dozens of brands (including ours) that riff on the car shoe. It was originally launched in the 1960s as a way to give car enthusiasts more control over the gas and brake pedals. To me, it’s like a Euro version of a preppy Topsider in New England. You wear them, and you feel like you belong.
And let’s face it—even when it’s for pleasure, travel in unknown places has enough of an unsettling effect. Who doesn’t want to feel like they look like they belong? Is it only me who pretends I actually LIVE in the country I am visiting? Those first moments in a new place—not knowing how to pay or what bus to get on or the regional version of “excuse me”—can be intimidating. In driving mocs, you will feel chic and international and unencumbered by time zone. You can also pad around the hotel. My size-6 feet never fit in those terry slippers at the fancy places—I feel silly taking the elevator up to the pool in them. And no one really loves to be barefoot in a hotel, do they? They are speedy in the airport if you are racing between flights (we love a tight connection) and easy to slip back on when your feet swell up on the plane.
Another must-take is a pareo. I can wear it to the pool or beach over that bathing suit with the white shirt I wore on the plane…. I can wear it in town wrapped as a city skirt with the sandals and a striped t-shirt…. I can lay it down on the rocks at that remote stretch of beach we hiked to.... (No cabana or towel man there.) I have used it as a makeshift tent for sunburned toddlers and wrapped a baby head to toe when our golf cart was zooming through a particularly mosquito-ridden stretch. If nothing else, it’ll add a big hit of pattern to your look. Handy and chic.
And on top… I am going to put myself out there and tell you to get used to the idea of wearing the same shirt again and again. I promise, you can truly get two or three days out of a cotton button-down shirt. If it feels sweaty, there’s always the hotel sink for a little evening scrub. Very European to hang it dry. (I had a friend who raised four children in a tiny Paris apartment with no dryer at all!) You can sacrifice variety for suitcase space and brain space. Save that for looking AT things. You only need a few tried-and-true things that make you feel great… not dozens. This is not the time for experimenting!
And my very last go-to: the little cotton scarf. Just the thing to tie around your neck for some variety on Day 3 of that cotton button-down. You can tie it on the handle of your tote bag, or around your wrist as a little accent. In your hair it becomes a ribbon. And when it’s tied on your head, you are chic beyond belief. But be warned: It is not the most flattering—you need to choose “interesting” over “pretty”—but I love it.
So there is my packing list, and there is my advice. Take it or leave it. Bon voyage.
JUST BACK FROM
Les Sources de Caudalie is one of my favorite spots for departing from Bordeaux. It’s a lovely hotel and spa in the middle of the Château Smith Haut Lafitte estate, but it's very close to the airport. Because we often have flights that are super early in the morning, I like to come here the afternoon before, have a lovely swim in their mineral waters, maybe a spa treatment (I never remember to book way in advance, and it’s a must!), walk through the vineyards, then have an epic meal in their restaurant (most of the produce comes from their beautiful garden). On our recent stay it was pouring, so we spent more time indoors than we usually do, and we got to know their bartender Romain. He’s fantastic—besides making a great cocktail, he knows so much about small distilleries and their spirits, from mezcal to local gins.
THE NAVIGATOR
Liz Caskey, Co-Founder, Liz Caskey Culinary & Wine Experiences
Tell us about you and your company. What do you do and what do you specialize in?
I started my company in 2004 in Santiago, Chile. We specialize in culinary and wine travel in South America. In January 2021, we expanded into Napa, California. The business started as a merging of my passion for travel and cooking. I landed in Chile in early 2001, so the Chilean wine scene as we know it today was in the process of being “birthed.” Living in a wine-producing region, the wine bug bit, so I went to sommelier school. As I visited wineries during the program and tasted many wines, I saw the potential to grow our Santiago market/cooking tour into a larger travel company, since most visitors were hitting the very large, commercial wineries like Concha y Toro. My husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) joined and we followed our curiosity and taste together. We grew beyond Chilean borders and wine regions organically into Mendoza (called by the wine, of course), then further into Argentina, Uruguay (which has a great albeit small wine industry), up into the very hot culinary scene in Peru and into Colombia. I have always been a cook and a storyteller, and I love to know how things are made. I experience the world, and travel, through this language of food and wine. Searching for that sense of place has always been the why.
What’s the entry level to talk to you?
We start with a very detailed questionnaire and brief call to make sure we’re a good fit to create a trip together. Custom travel is very much a collaboration, so it’s important to feel that out from the get-go. To start crafting an itinerary, our travel consulting fees start at US$250 per person, depending on the length, complexity of the trip, and group size. The travel consulting fee is applied to the total of the booked trip with us, although non-refundable if the trip doesn’t move forward or is canceled. There’s a lot of work, knowledge, and time poured into each and every itinerary that we have to cover to design a trip. Itineraries really vary greatly in price and by country, although generally start from $900 to $1,000 per person per day.
What is the sweet spot of your expertise?
We are passionate about food, wine and design, and how the local culture becomes accessible through them. We have a deep appreciation for how ingredients are crafted and the people behind them. We believe this is an essential need in any journey (we all need to eat sooner than later!) and accompany this with the best wine and amazing location. It is a great way to explore the world.
A favorite trip you planned that’s exemplary of your travel philosophy?
There are truly so many, although one that springs to mind immediately, and I actually was fortunate to co-host, was a trip to Chile’s Atacama Desert that crossed overland into northern Argentina and the wine region of Salta. We started in the Atacama Desert and set up a series of amazing meals and wine tastings within the context of natural/adventure excursions like an al fresco lunch overlooking the entire Death Valley above San Pedro de Atacama. The group arrived in 4x4s, we wined and dined, and then rode down the mountains on horseback, galloping at the end through the sand dunes. We crossed the altiplano, at nearly 13,000 feet, into the northern part of Argentina and descended into Purmamarca with its Rainbow Mountains and quaint whitewashed haciendas. We based in the high-altitude wine region of Cafayate, which is akin to the Grand Canyon meeting wine country. Here it’s all about outstanding high altitude wines like Torrontes, Malbec, and Syrah and jaw-dropping scenery from Dali-esque rock formations and canyons to towering Cardon cacti, vines growing at 3,500 meters above sea level, and ancient adobe villages where you can visit traditional weavers and farmers drying aji (chilies—side note: Salta is the only part of Argentina that loves spicy food!). Salta is intriguing, too, as there are ultra-modern outposts like the James Turrell museum at Donald Hess’s Colome winery, which is so remote. It’s a photographer and foodie dream.
You recently landed in Napa, California to expand your concept...tell us about this.
Given our wine background, we had a longstanding relationship with Napa and had visited many times over the years. It is truly Chile’s “geographical twin,” between the Mediterranean climate, wine country, Pacific, and even the Latinx culture. I always felt that if/when we put a foot back in the US, it would be here. Things aligned in early January to make the move and expand not only our travel concept to Napa and Sonoma, but also get a brand new project off the ground to bring South America into the US (more on that below).
Our approach to Napa and Sonoma are a little different than in South America—it’s even more food & wine centric here. It is also impressive how similar the wines can be when compared to Chile, so we felt it would be natural to connect the region as part of a concept of Wine of the Americas (uniting North and South). Given how “transited” Napa is and the sheer amount of wineries, it often can feel very overwhelming. The starting point has to be clarity in the wine—to not get lost in the wine “flashiness” and commercial nature of the valley. Napa is going through a bit of a passing of the torch right now, so it’s about mixing the classical places with the younger generation pushing the envelope. Our travel approach is still very tied to the local culture, so we look for what we love in South America, which is a connection to the place and the producers directly.
What is a place we should consider traveling to, that could really use our dollars, and what is a place we should pause on because it sees too many tourists?
Right before the pandemic hit, Machu Picchu was becoming quite overtouristed. It changed from being an archaeological marvel to a tourism cash cow when they switched from one to two daily ticket shifts (to its detriment). Part of visiting a remote, mystical, and natural place like this is the ability to find those moments when you are not fighting crowds.
The truth is that today, South America has been quite affected by the pandemic—more than the US or Europe. Even in the boom times, the region’s infrastructure was always in fragile balance, and Covid pushed it to the brink. Tourism does constitute a large portion of the region’s economies, but recovery will be slow-going, with many missteps, and on a longer timeline than in developed regions. South American governments, with perhaps the exception of a few like Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay, have been challenged to manage the situation and roll out vaccines that reach their populations, particularly those that are vulnerable and rural. Opening up means exposure with little resources to mitigate a new outbreak, like we are seeing now with the new variant. It’s a tough situation. Our advice to our guests is to start thinking about South America on a country-by-country basis, rather than as an entire region for travel (much like Europe v. France). Trips focused on one country (that is open) will be the future for the medium term. We also need to find ways to support communities that don’t require travel necessarily—which can be through supporting local designers, wineries, etc.
Underrated location, overrated location, personal favorite:
So many destinations to be discovered in South America! The southern circuit of Peru, from Lake Titicaca to Arequipa, is magical. Lake Titicaca is still very untouched and this sparkling sapphire lake is home to the Andean Aymara communities that have not changed in centuries with their agrarian and weaving traditions. There are even islands within the lake that you can only arrive by boat to visit with the weaving elders and their local culture (they barely speak Spanish). It feels culturally pristine. Driving overland to Arequipa, or taking the Belmond Sleeper train, is an odyssey across the altiplano with wide-open expanses roamed by wild vicunas and punctuated by towering volcanoes. Arequipa is a handsome, whitewashed city renowned in Peru for its food culture and considered one of the cradles of Peruvian (spicy) cuisine. The picanterias, homey joints, are ground zero to savor these dishes that are so revered throughout the country. There’s also (finally!) a great new Relais & Chateaux project to base there.
Personally, I am not a big fan of crowded touristy spots like Bariloche; I much prefer the Chiloe archipelago and Carretera Austral in Chile, which is untouched northern Patagonia and a very unique island culture that is reminiscent of the British Isles with its rain, rainbows, maritime culture, and myths. Our family is obsessed with Jose Ignacio and the “Uruguayan Riviera.” It is about 35 minutes east of Punta del Este on the coast and is this chic little fishing village with great beaches, food, wine, aesthetics, and the campo (countryside) nearby, with its gaucho culture. We fell in love over a decade ago and started to go every (South American) summer, which is usually in January or February. I will forever daydream about the chilled Albarino and grilled baby chipirones squid at La Huella, a favorite restaurant tucked on the dunes of Playa Brava. Of course, you have to stay at one of the Vik resorts, which are true works of art and very true to Uruguayan hospitality.
How, as a company, do you encourage your clients to be better travelers?
First, we are encouraging people to slow down and go deep into one country. Before the pandemic, there was some tendency to try to squeeze multiple countries and destinations into an itinerary and cover a lot of territory in a short period of time. People often don’t appreciate that South America is a huge continent and distances are considerable, even within a single country. Now, with the uneven government protocols across the region, it’s really necessary to focus on one (open) country as a travel strategy and maximize destinations domestically.
We will be launching a new membership in the fall called the LC Collection (currently in private beta) to bring small producer fine wines and gourmet ingredients that we visit in South America into our clients’ homes four times per year. We curate, source, import and deliver. The LC Collection was conceived during our endless (six-month) lockdown last year in Chile and ultimately created to solve an ongoing frustration we had observed with our clients for many years. They could never get the wines nor ingredients once home! We also feel, in this time of restricted travel, it’s a way to continue to support the many artisans we love and visit with our guests.
I also felt there had to be a way to extend the actual trip from the time on the ground. Travel is also about the connection to the place before and after a trip. Food & wine tether that experience. Most of the cultures that are so ingrained today (France, Italy and more recently Spain, for example) all got under our skin by bringing those ingredients—the wines and ultimately the culture into our homes. I also am one of those people who always prepares for a trip through books, music, recipes, and, of course, the wine, so I wanted a vehicle to rekindle the romanticism of travel by cultivating a sweet anticipation of the trip and connecting to the memories after. Wine, food, and memories go hand-in-hand.
THE PLAYLIST
I feel like everyone is a little sick of their summer playlists by this time in the season, so I made this to give you something new to listen to. I hope you like it! And tell me your favorite playlists and music in the comments!