Get To Know Andorra
Happy New Year! We’re thrilled to return to your inboxes for another year of travel inspiration. Up first: the Euro ski break you didn’t know you needed, four great trips for a digital detox, high-fashion jewelry designer Titya Tin’s travel picks, and more.
Where to Ski Next
Andorra is tiny. Smaller than Luxembourg yet larger than Malta, the principality is home to just 80,000 residents, about half of whom are citizens. Sequestered in the eastern Pyrenees, it’s one of the world’s few countries without an airport, roughly a three-hour drive from Toulouse or Barcelona. About forty minutes in a car will get you across it.
Where to Ski Next
Little shimlike Soldeu is the region’s top ski base. The town sits like a dark cluster of mushrooms at the foot of Grandvalira ski resort, one of Europe’s largest, with a cable car running directly to the slopes. On my first morning, I woke to clear and crisp skies, the sun laying a golden frond over the peaks. An overnight snow had left a few inches of powder, already engraved with the crazed script of animal tracks and a few early skiers’ cursive lines.
Four Vacations Made for Disconnecting
My life is a constant stream of buzzing, dinging, and scrolling. One quick email check-in often turns into hours lost to open tabs. Last summer, after realizing I hadn’t been offline for an entire weekend in more than four years, I ventured into Canada’s Northwest Territories in search of silence. I was nervous – the world wasn’t going to slow down just because I had decided to – but on day three of my weeklong rafting expedition on the Nahanni River, I settled into life without Wi-Fi.
Hey Car Lovers, Bookmark These Hotels
Guests gawk through oversize sunglasses as I drive a miniature replica of a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa past the valet at The Boca Raton, but what appears to be a toy car is actually a work of art. The handmade vehicle – with matching helmet – is from Hedley Studios, the in-demand British builder of drivable electric cars scaled to between 66 and 85 percent of their original size.
Titya Tin, founder of Cambodian- and Parisian-inspired jewelry line Tityaravy, shares what she’s been loving lately. Photo by Hong-Ly Lao.
Packing: My Arizona Love pouch, which holds all my skincare and sun accessories.
Planning: A lot of French novels, such as those by Karine Tuil.
Visiting: The Fondation Cartier in Paris – it’s magical, and helped me imagine my new collection, Sugarcane.
Dreaming of: Cambodia and New York.
The latest in highly recommended travel pillows. (Pair it with this most whimsical of weekenders.) Worth a scroll: these 1930s U.S. national park posters – or go see them IRL at New York City’s Poster House. New coffee table books celebrating The Mark and Oetker Hotels’ Le Bristol Paris are out now.
