Conde Nast Traveller UK June 2021

I WRITE THIS ON THE DAY WE COME OUT of lockdown. Shops and pubs and restaurants are opening, there was both snow yesterday and tropical sunshine. The weather is confused, I am confused; both of us caught up in some kind of cosmic bi-polarity. And yet this is what I know. A year after the going in and now a year later the coming out, a little list of what has given me pleasure over the past 12 months. Propagating plants. Chinese money plants make this very easy. They are hard to kill, have charming leaves like round disks and survive transportation even when they fly out of your bicycle basket. Having non-meat and non-fish-eating children (a result of Netflix’s Seaspiracy) is hard but satisfying work. The challenge is not drowning…

ZANELE KUMALO Writer, The Shopping Scoop (p58) ‘Curated virtual dinners, arranged with Soho House, have been a revelation. A peek into people’s homes, a tour of their cherished items, and more than a moment to chat with guests you may never have sat with around a real table – and it can feel just as intimate.’ Zanele is a South African writer, stylist and DJ STEVE TIDBALL The Tech Metamorphosis (p22) ‘The Wim Hof Method – I’ve been able to use breathing to reach a series of altered states. You can take your mind and body to different destinations – it’s like a holiday for your head.’ Steve co-founded futuristic sports-gear brand Vollebak ELLIE ROWSELL The Culture Hopper (p32) ‘I’ve been exploring every nook and cranny of Hackney in East London – my favourite place to go is…

Here we are a year on. A year of chasing tendrils of fresh global trends and hotel launches as they were buffeted by lockdowns and air corridors, a tangle of traffic-light systems and testing protocols. But still amid all this they burst through across the globe, unstoppable bright spots on the horizon. For some, such as dreamy Sussurro – a deeply considered place to stay which we’ve been tracking in Mozambique – the restrictions made for a stop-start dance that meant it just missed opening in time for our Hot List of new hotels. And so for every business mentioned in this issue, there are others still pluckily pushing on, almost ready for us, as we are for them. Reminders of the planet waiting to be explored again.…

A FEW YEARS AGO, AS IS AT OVERLOOKING the harbour in Sydney – I was living there and working at Time Out – an Italian chef, upon clocking my Glaswegian accent, looked at me and said, ‘Scotland? Great produce! But you don’t know what to do with it.’ This, I realised, feeling suddenly pale in the Australian sun, is the global reputation of Scottish cooking. Sure, our produce is world-renowned – salmon, shellfish, whisky – but there is little faith that we, as Scots, know what to do with our own bounty. It is, of course, nonsense. The people have known how to cook with their country’s wares for millennia – culinary craft has been honed throughout historic invasions, waves of immigration and the spice-laden kists of imperialism – but somehow…

Harder, better, faster, stronger – the Daft Punk anthem sums up the items created by garment pioneer Vollebak. Founded five years ago by twins Nick and Steve Tidball, both athletes and former ad men, the label is known for fusing Willy Wonka-ish innovation with scientific smarts. Utilising materials such as carbon fibre and copper, it is beloved by early adopters for what Steve calls ‘the most fascinating environments on and off our planet’. In partnership with Swiss textile pro Schoeller, Vollebak was the first to apply ceramic particles normally used on jet-engine blades to an ultra-tough T-shirt. Another top, made from eucalyptus and algae ink is next-level eco – it biodegrades in eight to 12 weeks. Products are rigorously tested, often by the label’s customer base, ‘the people shaping and…

THE SURVIVAL SHIRT Designed with ex Royal Marine commando Aldo Kane for use in unknown terrain, this water and dirt-repellent, bacteria-resistant model has an anti-mosquito collar, a multitude of gadget loops, reinforced stitching and shatterproof buttons. Planet Earth Shirt, £245 Wear it for: Amazon-rainforest trekking. THE LIGHT-SOURCE JACKET Due to an ultra-thin membrane that can be charged by any type of light (the sun, an iPhone torch), the fabric transforms to glow neon at night. Solar Charged Jacket, £395 Wear it for: remote mountain expeditions – it could prove a lifesaver visibility-wise. THE INDESTRUCTIBLE TROUSERS These high-performance pants are made from fireproof material originally developed for the military. They passed the Martindale abrasion resistance test for a lifetime of wear and tear without a single fibre breaking. Wear it for: wild camping – threads of kindling for firemaking…