“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends (including my sister) to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.

NAME: Jennifer Schelter
OCCUPATION: Founder, Director of Yoga Schelter and Yoga Unites. (We inspire transformation through life coaching, yoga, meditation, writing). I’m also a writer and a performer.
TRAVEL DESTINATION: Tulum, Mexico
HOTEL: Maya Tulum, www.mayatulum.com
RESTAURANT: The hotel has an amazing fresh restaurant with local fruit and veggies (guacamole heaven) and the best home made granola in the world. Also try Hotel Margarita’s restaurant (just down the beach.)
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO GO: Anytime… especially in March for Yoga Schelter’s Radiant Retreat.
BOOK IT: Mayan massage with Fabian Rios, the best local Shaman and massage therapist. He can tell you the “message” he gets about you and your life direction from the massage.
DON’T MISS: Don’t miss meeting Ann Randolph at the Radiant Retreat. She’s one of the funniest, wisest women in the world.

Headstands in the waves. Photo Jennifer Weymouth.

Sandy footpaths all throughout Maya Tulum. No shoes required! Photo Kate Schelter.

Sleep tight in your own little palapa. Photo Kate Schelter.

All the palapas have round roofs made of local palm fronds. Photo Kate Schelter.

The yoga palapa where meditation, yoga and writing happens. Photo Kate Schelter.

Sometimes yogis are inspired to do yoga on the beach. Photo Jennifer Weymouth.

Radiant Retreat bliss!!!!! Photo Kate Schelter.

“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.
NAME: Chadwick Bell
OCCUPATION: Fashion Designer and Creative Director, Chadwick Bell
TRAVEL DESTINATION: New Orleans, LA
HOTEL: Hotel Royal
RESTAURANT: August
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT: April, May
INSIDER RECOMMENDATIONS: Have brunch at Brennan’s and there is great antique shopping.

“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.
NAME: Aimee Mullins
OCCUPATION/TITLE: Bon Vivant
TRAVEL DESTINATION: Petra, Jordan
HOTEL: Movenpick Resort, Petra, Wadi Musa, www.movenpick-hotels.com.
SLEEP UNDER THE SKY: If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, lodge at Captain’s Desert Camp, www.captains-jo.com, a Bedouin camp 20 minutes away in the desert (where Lawrence of Arabia rode under the night sky.) Bring thermal pajamas! Make sure to watch the spectacular desert sunrise.
RESTAURANT: Petra Kitchen. Learn to make Mansaf for lunch, the local dish of lamb, rice and yoghurt.
BAR: At night, go for a drink and a sheesha at the Cave bar, a 2000 year old Nabataean tomb with ancient cave writings all over the walls.
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT: Early spring or September/October.
YOUR INSIDER SECRETS: Do book a private horse ride through the Siq (the crescent canyon) and ask the local Bedouins about sourcing antique silver signet rings with family crests carved in turquoise, agates, and carnelian.
ROMANTIC, INSPIRING QUOTE: I made some great friends in Jordan. I had dinner at the Palace with Rania and Abdullah, they took me on a Harley [motorcycle] ride through the desert Kings Highway!!

Camping at Captain's Desert Camp, Petra.

Petra, Jordan.

Take a horse ride through the Siq.

Nightime candles.

Candles under the moon.

Watch the sunrise while camping in the dessert.

Have a drink and a sheesha at the Cave bar, a 2000 year old Nabataean tomb.

An ancient signet ring.

“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.
NAME: Chris Benz
OCCUPATION: Fashion Designer
TRAVEL DESTINATION: Mykonos, Greece
HOTEL: Belvedere Hotel
RESTAURANT: Interni
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT: First two weeks of July.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Rent ATV’s and explore hidden beaches all over the island!

Mykonos beach. Photo Andrew Testa for The New York Times.

Belvedere Hotel.

“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.

NAME: Amanda Ross
OCCUPATION: Fashion Stylist, www.amandaross.com
TRAVEL DESTINATION: St Petersburg, Russia
HOTEL: Astoria www.thehotelastoria.com
RESTAURANT: Restoran
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT: July, during white nights.
MUST SEE: Don’t miss where Dostoyevsky wrote Crime and Punishment, where Raskolnikov and the old lady lived. Also, I saw Prokovievs Ballet of Romeo and Juliet. Most divine theater, costumes and sets I’ve ever seen.
INSIDER ADVICE: Do everything [my friend] Richard Story from Departures magazine told me to do:

Hermitage (Gold room, Leonardo room, Matisse and Picasso)
Shatush Restaurant
Marina Gisich Gallery
Bistrot Garçon
St. Catherine’s Palace
Pavlovsk Palace
Mikhailovsky Palace

St Catherine's Palace

Restoran

Ornate interiors of The Hermitage

Street life

“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.
NAME: Rufus Albemarle
OCCUPATION: Designer
TRAVEL DESTINATION: The New Forest in South England, United Kingdom, a nature reserve named the “most environmental destination in the world,” is a huge tract of land that borders the Beaulieu Estate (pronounced BEULEEE) belonging to the Montagu family and is only a stones throw from Solent and the Isle of White, where the Royal Squadron Yacht Club has been host to J Class Yacht racing for the last century.
HOTEL: Limewood, www.limewoodhotel.co.uk. What makes “Limewood” so exceptional is the level of detail that has been afforded this Hotel. The interior decorator David Collins has done a masterful job and it is truly comfortable. Pavilions around the main hotel are like mini two-story suites, with wood burning stoves, so you can stay in your own “folly” and venture into the main hotel when you feel so inclined. The rooms (suites) in the Hotel are all spacious. Robin Hutson Hotel guru and co founder of Hotel du Vin and partner in Soho House has made sure that nothing has been missed.
GETTING THERE: Limewood is neatly nestled in The New Forest and only 1 1/2 hours from London, or 20 min by chopper, from Heathrow airport.
RESTAURANT: The hotel plays heavily on its cuisine. Alex Aitken (the former proprietor of and head chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant Le Poussin) heads up the hotel’s two restaurants that offer “forest food”: locally produced and organic.
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT: This is an all-round-the-year hotel; you could use it as your country house with access to the best sailing in the world.
FAVORITE ACTIVITY: This is a supremely comfortable hotel in the most beautiful naturally wild location. There is nothing better than a long walk after lunch through the Moors in the mist to then return to the hotel and indulge in the spa.

Limewood

Walking through the Moors.

The Royal Sqadron Yacht Club once upon a time.

The Royal Sqadron Yacht Club today.

Draw a nice hot bath and have a soak in your tub at Limewood.

“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.

NAME: Holly Dunlap

OCCUPATION: Fashion Designer

HOTEL: Nkhotakota Safari Lodge, www.nyasalodges.com

RESTAURANT:  Nkhotakota Restaurant

BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT: August – October

ARTS & CRAFTS: Walk down the beach to the Nkhotakota pottery studio where you can learn ceramics and make your own designs.

“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.

NAME: Kevin Thompson
OCCUPATION: Production Designer for Film
TRAVEL DESTINATION: Palm Springs, California
HOTEL: Ingleside Inn, www.inglesideinn.com
RESTAURANT: Lyons English Grille
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT: New Years
DON’T MISS: Melvin’s Bar at the Ingleside Inn

The pool today at The Ingleside Inn, Palm Springs

Toms Shoe Drops go to Argentina, Ethiopia, South Africa and the USA.

I love Toms Shoes. I have about 4 pairs right now, and have worn through about 10 since I first met my dear friend Blake Mycoskie, who started the company 3 years ago. They are my “go to” shoe without fail. As I got to know Blake better, I became more and more interested in the cause: for every shoe sold, a shoe is then donated to a child in need. One for one.

In the summer of 2007, I did a large gifting of Toms to about 500 friends, family and colleagues. I was so excited I had to share them with everyone I knew. The card I attached said “Happy Summer! A child in need will receive a pair of shoes in your name.” At that point I knew I had to live up to my pledge and go on an official “shoe drop” with Friends of Toms — the actual trips where groups of people go into the field and personally put shoes on children’s feet, one at a time.

My first day putting shoes on kids in Buenos Aires. I don't speak Spanish but the kids were all smiles.

So, last January, I headed to Argentina for the first time and we donated over 1,500 pairs of shoes. One. At. A. Time. There’s no magic or quick fix here.

The experience was really fun as the actual field work is mixed in with travel, exploring, and bonding with the group over bumpy bus rides into the jungle and long conversational meals. But when you actually get down on your hands and knees and put a tiny red shoe (smaller than your hand) on a little girl’s foot, it’s the kind of experience that makes you feel like crying. Good tears, like the kind you get when you spot a man proposing to his girlfriend in Central Park, or when you cheer the runners on in the marathon. There’s something inherently good-natured, right down to the bone and it pangs your heart. It’s a feeling of connectivity that runs very deep. Oprah would probably call it The Zone or something but I just call it “Awesome!”

Step 3: A succesful shoe drop for a small nomadic tribe in Misiones, Argentina.

Toms founder, Blake Mycoskie, leads the next shoe drop at a community center. Kids clamor to get inside.

Measuring a boy's foot to get him the correct shoe size.

The Toms Shoe fits!

Another success!

Think about giving Toms Shoes to your loved ones this holiday season.

“50 Best Travel Destinations” I asked great friends to share their favorite travel spots around the globe, both close to home and far, far off the beaten path. Herein are their responses.

NAME: Jennifer Missoni
OCCUPATION: Actor
TRAVEL DESTINATION: Trans-Siberian Railway, www.transiberia.com
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT: Spring
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Stop in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Drive 8 hours into the desert with a private guide and driver. Spend $100 per person (including food) for a week camping with nomads, riding camels and wild horses in the middle of nowhere.

Trans-Siberian Railway routes.

Mongolian nomadic countryside.

Inside a trans-Siberian rail car.