EDITOR'S LETTER:

When I was 18, I embarked on a round-the-world adventure, eschewing the usual starting point of Asia chosen by many of my friends, heading to Cape Town instead, to then slowly wind my way up the Garden Route, all the way to Zimbabwe to learn more about where my grandfather was from.

I put my itinerary in the hands of a rickety bus, I swam with sharks in Mossel Bay, befriended elephants in Knysna, surfed the waters Jeffreys Bay and bungeed jumped off Victoria Falls.

That trip has defined me in so many ways – never wanting to do things by the book, always wanting to see things from a different angle or through a different lens, to always look around the corner.

This issue, Uncovering The Cape does just that – a road-trip but off the usual dusty track, to discover a hidden and unhurried side to the South Africa’s coast.

This issue also features a rebirth of sorts, from Malta, which is undergoing a luxury emergence, to The St. Regis Downtown, Dubai, a new hotel claiming a stately-cum-contemporary position on the city’s hospitality map.

And as for the winter sun… you can chase it from the Middle East to the Maldives, Thailand to Morocco, with some of the world’s most incredible stays.

Enjoy!

Emily Baxter-Priest