12 Things to KNOW Before Driving the Sea to Sky Highway (2024!)
We Asked A Former Flight Attendant To Share Her Travel Skin-care Musts — And They're All Under $50
Travel doesn't have to wreak havoc on your skin. These favorites can help you keep your glow on the ground too. (Amazon)
You may have a few trips coming up in the sunny months, but if you're like us, you might be a bit out of practice when it comes to planning and packing. Your skin may also be feeling the drawbacks of a long winter — dryness, scaliness and general discomfort. We're here to help: We tapped a true expert in the field — a former flight attendant with many miles under her belt — to help.
Sakkara Barnwell has traveled to 14 countries across four continents, and she has some serious experience when it comes to choosing skin-care essentials that will keep her skin glowing even on a second layover. Take it from me, folks — her skin always looks incredible, even after she's just getting back from two weeks of nonstop travel! So whether you're visiting family a few states over or taking the European vacay of your dreams, you'll benefit from her wisdom and product picks below. Best of all? Prices start at just $8, and nothing is more than $50. So stow your carry-on, fasten your seatbelt and take in these skin-transforming travel faves.
(Already have your skin-care routine down pat? Check out some of our other adventure-ready recommendations from seasoned travel pros.)
Amazon
Let's start with this 16-piece toiletry kit, perfect for downsizing bigger bottles of the stuff you already love into TSA-approved minis. It contains four leakproof silicone squeeze bottles, four screw-top jars, two spray bottles, product scoopers, a funnel, a brush, labels and a clear bag to carry them in.
$8 at AmazonAmazon
"This cleanser leaves my skin feeling refreshed and clean, but not overly dry," says Barnwell, who uses it every day while traveling. Cetaphil is a favorite of thousands of Amazon users, and it's suitable for a wide variety of skin types thanks to its gentle, hydrating formula. Oh, it's also among our picks for the best face wash you can buy.
$13 at Amazon
Amazon
Hydration is the name of the game when it comes to travel-ready skin, especially when flying. "The air in airplanes is so dry," Barnwell says. She adds: "The idea of liquid lotion originally blew my mind, but with this product, my skin stays hydrated all day and there's no residue, even when mixed with other facial products. I love, love, love how light this is. It's worth the price — a little goes such a long way!"
$14 at Amazon
Amazon
Though she wants to keep her skin quenched, Barnwell doesn't want to feel weighed down by the skin-care products she chooses. This "makeup-gripping" sunscreen — one of our beauty editor's faves as well — is "very light wear on the face," she says. "You'll still feel bare-skinned!" Sunscreen is important for summer travel, and this SPF 40 favorite will keep your skin protected without feeling greasy or sticky.
$38 at Amazon
Amazon
"Light, fresh and helps tone my skin," Barnwell raves. A good toner like this one should be the first step in your skin-care routine, helping to exfoliate and rebalance skin while locking in that all-important hydration.
$31 at Amazon
Amazon
Barnwell uses this product once a week to help her skin recover from environmental contaminants amassed over days of nonstop travel. The peel reveals more radiant skin after each use, and it also helps improve skin texture thanks to the included salicylic, lactic and glycolic acids — all aim to leave skin softer and smoother.
$32 at Amazon
Amazon
Barnwell dubs this "the perfect bedtime moisturizer," adding that since it's not heavy, it "leaves my skin soft and moisturized but not prone to breaking out like other nighttime moisturizers." The gel consistency adds extra quenching goodness, leaving skin more hydrated after your beauty sleep.
$32 at Amazon
Amazon
This treatment deeply exfoliates skin, helping smooth fine lines and boost natural radiance. Getting a glow on the go sounds good to us! "This is one of my favorite skin-care products, period. The results speak for themselves — my skin was so clear within days of my first application of this," Barnwell raves.
$37 at Amazon
Amazon
Don't sleep on finding a good eye cream. Barnwell is obviously a fan of Laneige's Water Bank line for keeping skin moisturized on the go, and this cream targets eyes specifically to keep peepers perfect even after hours of tiring travel. "It really helps to combat puffy, tired-looking under eyes," she notes.
$43 at AmazonThe reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
If you have Amazon Prime, you'll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)
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What Should 'The White Lotus' Do Next? We Asked Designers, Somms, Travel Experts And More
After an impressive debut, HBO's critically acclaimed social satire The White Lotus returned for a second installment, offering viewers more dysfunctionally affluent guests and put-out staffers and a serious case of travel envy. The immensely popular series has amassed a cult following within the luxury world, many of whom have strong opinions about where the show should film next—and who could possibly fill the Jennifer Coolidge–size hole in their hearts. Ahead of season three's arrival next year, we asked top designers, travel advisers, jewelers, chefs, and sommeliers—plus a casting director, a mafia expert, and even a former mobster—to take a turn in the showrunner's chair. After all, who better to weigh in than those who spend their time catering to those "challenging" clients the show so successfully sends up? If you're reading this, Mike White, take notes.
Where would you set next season?"Palm Springs, like Hawaii or Sicily, is one of those singular locations where you have a dramatic landscape and this sense of reality versus fantasy. It evokes Hollywood glamour, but there's an underbelly. There are also a lot of over-the-top gays, which seems to be an important part of The White Lotus brand." —Jonathan Adler, potter, interior designer, and author
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The season-two White Lotus staff greet their guests in Sicily.
"If they were to do it in Iceland, there's so many riffs that they could pull just having a different climate. There's a big troll culture there, the northern lights, volcanic tunnels—things you've never seen or encountered before." —Jennifer Schwartz, managing partner at Authentic Explorations
Fjadrargljufur canyon in Iceland
"In Porto Montenegro, you have jetties with $100 million yachts, all the top Russian oligarchs, and debauchery on every level. When I think of The White Lotus, I think of people letting out their worst secrets or indiscretions. Porto Montenegro is an eclectic area of opulent wealth where people from around the world have settled— and a lot of them have baggage." —Lepa Galeb-Roskopp, fine-jewelry designer, founder of Misahara
If you had to cast yourself as a new character, what role would you play?"The family decorator that gets killed. Local designer gone missing? Where should I send my casting tape?" —Jeremiah Brent, interior designer, founder of lifestyle brand Atrio, and Queer Eye host
Who would you cast?"I think someone comedic like Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson from Broad City would be great. Who's going to replace the Jennifer Coolidge of it all? So maybe it's a duo, like Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston." —June Rodil, master sommelier and CEO and partner of Goodnight Hospitality
Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson
"Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Blunt, or Anne Hathaway. Ewan McGregor, Ryan Gosling—Rupert Everett for sure, and maybe even Meryl Streep." —Jules Maury, head of Scott Dunn Private
Do you have a vacation horror story a la The White Lotus?"When I was in Egypt a few years ago, someone was murdered in the hotel. Some wealthy businessman brought in a hooker who ended up stabbing and robbing him at a very glamorous hotel in the middle of Cairo." —Martyn Lawrence Bullard
"A huge group came in to celebrate someone's 50th birthday. The night before, they were all out on the patio drinking and having a good time. On the way back to the room, the guest of honor tripped, fell, hit his head, and passed away." —Leigh Anne Dolecki, president of concierge association Les Clefs d'Or USA
"We were hitchhiking in Thailand, trying to get to some restaurant that we had heard about from locals. Long story short, we ended up in the wrong car, and this gentleman decided to drive on the wrong side of the highway at full speed uphill. So, when we got to a red light we jumped out, but I left my cell phone in the car." —Matt Kammerer, executive chef at the Michelin two-star Harbor House Inn
Leopard
"A game ranger took a group out for a ride at night and said, 'I'll be right back, I thought I heard something,' and walked away from the vehicle. He didn't come back, and the guests started getting nervous. There's a radio in the vehicle, so at some point they called in. As it turns out, a leopard had jumped from a tree and killed him." —Lisa Beach, casting director whose credits include Wedding Crashers and Center Stage
Create Your Own White Lotus Plot."I imagine Jennifer Coolidge's husband turning up, but he's with another wife. Weirdly, she's not like that broken, older woman—she's far more confident, sassy, together, well-dressed. Maybe she could be Jennifer's niece or someone who lost their inheritance [from Coolidge's character, Tanya] because he inherited all her money. There could also be a Jeremy Irons–type character from Brideshead Revisited sitting in a corner with a book, and maybe he's really Jennifer's long-lost son and he's out to get revenge because he loved his mother so much.
"To throw it off a bit, there's always one of these families, but maybe rather than elegant, rich, refined people, they own car showrooms in Texas or somewhere in the Midwest. They arrive with their sugar-sodden children and are putting everyone's noses out of joint, but we all love them by the end, and they're the heroes." —Adam Brown, founder of resort-wear label Orlebar Brown, whose orange polo Cameron (Theo James) sported in the season-two opener
"There's a group of people that came together. They're on the Africa leg of an Abercrombie & Kent trip around the world, and they go by private charter to one of those wildly exclusive and expensive places like Singita. This woman in her 50s, maybe Viola Davis, is on this spiritual journey to Africa to discover her roots and really immerse herself in the culture. She has a name-change ceremony and goes to the sangoma, a witch doctor, who tells her fortune.
Actress Viola Davis
"Suffice to say, she finds herself, but as it happens, sometimes these single women get a very bad case of what the locals call khaki fever. That's when an American woman falls madly in love with their game ranger.
"The guide, who's the black-sheep heir to a South African diamond fortune, is going to be either Chris Hemsworth or Will Poulter. Somebody's going to get killed on safari, but you don't know whether they were eaten by a lion or thrown in front of one or bitten by a black mamba." —Lisa Beach
What hotel would you use as a stand-in for White Lotus?One & Only Kéa Island resort in Greece
"The Grand Hôtel de Cala Rossa in Corsica is one of the dreamiest hotels, and no one knows about it. When you go there, you're either Middle Eastern royalty or some major European celebrity. It's not like the South of France, where everybody's just nobody and pretends to be somebody—this is the spot where people really go to hide." —Sylva Yepremian, founder of jewelry brand Sylva & Cie
"The new One& Only Kéa Island would be fab, with all the Greek legends, intrigue, and so much to explore: a stop in Athens, a visit to Amanzoe en route, diving for treasures." —Jules Maury
What details does The White Lotus get right?"I was obsessed with Villa Tasca from Daphne and Harper's getaway in season two. The pool, the lounge, the citrus trees—everything about it was so dramatic and timeless. I love the idea of the historical murals on the walls reflecting the plotline." —Jeremiah Brent
"I think White Lotus shows the magic and the theater of staying in luxury hotels. Suddenly, wherever you're staying, as long as there are other guests, you find yourself in a live play where you get to know the other dramatic personae and speculate about them. That's what White Lotus captures so brilliantly, and I think a lot of young people who only do Airbnb are missing out." —Jonathan Adler
Ferretti 97
"The Ferretti 97, the boat they used in the show, is one of the most luxurious, so I think it was appropriate. They used it for the day trip from Taormina to Palermo. It's a five-cabin boat with six crew members. Last year, it was the biggest boat we had in Taormina." —Vincenzo Sorbello, manager and CEO at charter specialist Vento di Grecale
"I couldn't help but be inspired by the overall styling and representation of resort wear in both seasons. In season one, you've got your laid-back, casual costumes, then really big and bold designer fashion in season two. Funnily enough, our 2025 high-summer collection is inspired by the TV series." —Danny Ching, head of design at Frescobol Carioca
Jennifer Coolidge's always artfully dressed Tanya mingles with her new friends in Sicily.
"That man who was demanding the room [Jake Lacy, in season one], he went about it the exact opposite way of how you want to go about it, which makes it hilarious because we've all had guests who have done that." —Leigh Anne Dolecki
"Everyone paints Italian mobsters as old-world bigots, but although they never spoke within the guidelines of political correctness, they never judged people on the basis of color, religion, or sexuality. They only saw money, which, if it overrides hatreds, isn't such a bad outlook. The Genovese family's stronghold was Greenwich Village, and they either owned or controlled all the gay bars and clubs there for decades, long before ordinary Americans were ready to accept gays. In a strange way, the mob, by opening gay bars and clubs which were protected by mobsters, did more for gay rights than any other group in America." —Louis Ferrante, author and former member of the Gambino crime family
Where do you think The White Lotus falls flat?"It's a crime to stay at the hotel the whole time. It's like an insult to culture and the region, and kind of cringey to see that as a viewer. It's probably not top of mind [for the characters] to go wander down a back alley somewhere and see what grandma's cooking, which is unfortunate." —Matt Kammerer
"I think it was fantastic and genius for them to use Italian actors [including Simona Tabasco and Beatrice Grannò]. They were amazing, and the hotel itself is a gorgeous property. The thing that was just very confusing is the fact that they did a juxtaposition of the hotel and a beach that was two hours away. We have clients that come, and they're like, 'We want to go to the beach—where's the beach?' and there is no beach because the resort is on top of a mountain." —Jennifer Schwartz
"As a mom with an 11-year-old who has been to 31 countries, I would love them to have some younger role models—kids who learn languages, can sit at a table without a device, share their knowledge with parents." —Cari Gray, founder of private-travel specialist Gray & Co.
'The White Lotus' character
"The thing that was a bit confusing was the miles between the hotel and the other parts of Sicily. With a powerboat, going from Taormina to Cefalù, it takes about nine hours of navigation or more. But in the show, it only took, like, an hour." —Vincenzo Sorbello
"The idea that the drug dealer [Stefano Gianino] would belong to an influential mafia family from Palermo is a grotesque representation of the mafia. The mafia is a more complex phenomenon, characterized by people in power—politicians, businessmen. Imagine a plot with criminals and lawyers putting a strategy together to invest the proceeds of a crime. That would've been a better representation of the mafia." —Antonio Nicaso, author, professor, and expert on organized crime
What former character would you like to return?Haley Lu Richardson
"I would love Portia [Haley Lu Richardson] to come back. What if she inherits a little bit of Tanya's fortune, and then you see this kind of rags-to-riches story and how money can really damage a character? There was just a loving quirkiness about her that I really enjoyed watching. She was like a little mirror image of Jennifer Coolidge's character, so I could almost see her growing into something very similar." —Sylva Yepremian
Is there a fan theory you want to see play out?"The main one is, what's going to happen to Tanya's money? I feel like Belinda needs some sort of compensation, if not Portia." — Danny Ching
Jon Gries
"There are always these rather horrific scenes that shock you, so I quite liked the idea of Tanya's husband [Jon Gries] going into a meat grinder in the end." —Adam Brown
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The Blogger Turned UHNW Travel Agent
Tom Cahalan in St Barths recently
Tom CahalanToday's top private travel agents spend months on the road, road-testing trips or meeting property-owners and hoteliers at conferences, including the International Luxury Travel Market events. For clients who want to be the first to check-in, they have to keep ahead of new openings - and when to drop a property that has lost its magic. Some charge membership fees, none of them advertise. If they have websites, they contain almost no information on them. But if you can find one that will take you on, they will deploy infinite amounts of personal charm to get you into the world's most desirable hotel suites and villas.
Some work for just one family, others for a handful of clients. London-based Earth states on its website that membership is 'currently restricted to recommendations from existing clients or by invitation'. I know of one who was fought over in a divorce settlement. (The wife won.)
According to Deloitte last year, the luxury market - already worth $1.3 trillion - is set to grow by 7.6 % until 2030. While the concept of private travel agents started with Bill Fischer in the 1970s, their numbers are expanding fast.
And the career path? Often, it's completely unorthodox. For those on the U.S. West Coast, a stint in the entertainment industry is often a springboard. In some dynasties, it can be a keen grandchild who starts organizing travel for the family. In Europe, particularly Britain, private agents often start in high-end tour operators including Cazenove & Loyd and Black Tomato. However, no private travel agent has made the leap that Tom Cahalan has. After creating a highly successful ecommerce site for clothing retailers in 2013, he started blogging about his holidays. Paying his own way, his pithy critiques became cult reading in the hospitality industry. Interest in the blog posts led Cahalan to set up Dorsia Travel (named after the fictional restaurant in American Psycho where it's impossible to get a reservation) in 2017 with his wife Lucie.
Let's start with the blog. Why did you set it up? The Good, The Bad And The Luxurious was just a hobby at first and nobody knew anything about me so I enjoyed being brutally honest.Then I started to gain a following perhaps because there were so few platforms back then where the reviewer was remaining totally anonymous and paying their own way.
Soneva Jani in the Maldives
@ Tom CahalanYou always paid for your stays.
I'm glad I'm not beholden to anyone. I don't want to write mean things for no good reason, but people pay lots of money to stay in these hotels so sharing honest feedback with readers and Dorsia Travel's clients are always my priority. It isn't always the done thing in Britain, where Dorsia Travel is based, to be so upfront with negative feedback. I wrote about a number of my main hotel bugbears recently, and things guaranteed to annoy me include a charge for water or overly fussy staff who check up on you every three to four minutes.
Your reviews became cult reading for their trenchant opinions. How did hotels react?
I've only been banned from one hotel - a few years back I stayed at Sirai Beach in Kenya and loved it but I highlighted a few things I felt could be improved. When I wanted to stay in its sister property Sirai House I learned the owners didn't want me to stay as they didn't want to see anything critical about that property - one of their homes - on the internet. Given they had decided to commercialize these residences I thought their inability to accept criticism from paying customers was a bit pathetic, but ultimately I don't mind if people are unhappy with my reviews as they're always fair and honest. I thought Italy's Il Pellicano was hideous even though lots of people revere it. And I hated every single thing about Nairobi's Giraffe Manor but it is completely booked out so I can't imagine they're concerned about my review.
The Bulgari hotel in Paris
@ Tom CahalanNow you have a wife and young family, how has that affected your travel?
Since Lucie and I had our two daughters, aged one and three, holidays are a lot louder but it has really broadened our focus at Dorsia Travel. We always dealt with families, but now we're even more attuned to parents' needs because we know firsthand just how cautious you need to be when you've got little accident-magnets roaming around a property. We're also much more likely to travel to beach resorts and exclusive-use properties - handily, alongside family travel and safaris these are two of our other specialisms at Dorsia Travel. We're also really appreciative of hotels that show they genuinely care about children and their parents. I love places where under-5s eat free, for example, because it seems so wasteful to pay inflated prices for dishes they're going to spill on the floor rather than eat - we were so unimpressed at Bulgari Paris when we were charged €102 for a portion of fish for our eldest when she was only a year old.
Velaa private island in the Maldives
@ Tom CahalanAnd you now have a travel agency, Dorsia Travel? How did that start?
My wife Lucie previously took care of VIP clients at The Connaught hotel in London. As my blog attracted increasing numbers of readers, more and more people asked for advice and then increasingly asked me to book their holidays so we realized we could combine her industry expertise and my hotel knowledge to give hands-on assistance to the community of people that grew around the blog. It's been an enjoyable process because we traveled at the same level as them before we started working as travel agents, and we still do now. And we're hands-on for every part of the process - we oversee every aspect of every booking personally. What's sometimes challenging now is explaining to clients how ridiculously expensive a lot of hotels - particularly in Europe and the US - have become. We don't charge fees, but our clients spend a minimum of $5,000 a night - you'd think it goes far but then at the highest end of the market you have places like Italy's Villa Treville Positano charging €9,800 for a 61 sqm suite this summer.
The Zeffirelli Suite at the Villa Treville Positano
Treville PositanoHow has your travel changed now?
I'm off to One&Only Kea Island in Greece soon and I expect it'll be nice but I doubt it'll be exciting. I'm also planning a trip to the new Soneva Secret. I feel it's unlikely to be too different from the other two Sonevas in the Maldives but I want to have first-hand knowledge of all the major properties in the country so I can advise our clients. These days I prefer to stay at exclusive-use properties that are less known - I'm going to Ol Jogi wildlife conservancy and seeing the work they're doing to help protect wildlife is much more enjoyable to me than going to another generic luxury resort.
How do you cope with honest feedback from your guests
Regarding feedback, of course we're fine with it! Usually it's great, but of course there are times when a hotel doesn't deliver as expected - and for the amount of money people pay to stay at the world's top hotels it's unacceptable if things go seriously wrong. If that happens, we want to know about it as soon as possible so we can immediately intervene to make things right while they just focus on enjoying their holiday.
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