Hey travelers,

Places like Sedona sit at the top of a lot of people’s desert wish lists, and for good reason: dramatic landscapes, vast sunsets, hikes that turn into something spiritual.

The red rock formations are spectacular in person. People come from all over just to stand at Cathedral Rock, feel the famous energy vortex, and take in the summit views. It’s every bit as beautiful as promised.

The catch is timing. Summer is usually when most people are looking to get away and reset, and that’s when Sedona can be hardest to enjoy at its best. Temps sit in the high 90s and sometimes climb past 100 degrees from June through August.

Santa Fe, New Mexico is where I send people next, or instead, depending on the time of year.

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If what you loved about Sedona was the energy healing and the crystal shops and the sense that the desert was healing you, Santa Fe has that same current running through it, just braided in with a serious art scene and some of the best food in the country.

The capital city sits at an elevation of 7,000 feet, more than half a mile higher than Sedona, and that elevation is what keeps summer comfortable instead of one long hot stretch. Summer days usually top out in the mid-80s with nights that drop into the 50s, so it’s the kind of place where you actually want the patio table outside and can also enjoy your hotel’s fire pit after dinner.

Santa Fe has something for every kind of traveler: the outdoorsy, the artsy, the wellness-focused, and the foodies.

Walk the Plaza, where you’ll find turquoise and silver spread out on blankets by the artists who made them, and the smell of roasted green chile drifting out of almost every kitchen you pass.

For the hikers, Bandelier National Monument has Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings carved into volcanic rock, connected by trails and ladders you can climb, and high desert views the whole way up. Ghost Ranch, an hour north, lets you hike the same landscape that shaped Georgia O’Keeffe’s work.

The art scene spans from Canyon Road’s galleries showcasing traditional Southwestern and contemporary works, to the original Meow Wolf, an immersive, interactive space full of playful mind-bending designs built for touching and exploring.

Travel + Leisure just voted Santa Fe the #1 city in the U.S., citing exactly this mix: the Native American and Hispanic culture, the adobe architecture, the green chile, and the high desert scenery. It’s definitely not a secret, but the prices haven’t caught up to the accolades quite yet.

There’s no shortage of great places to stay in Santa Fe, whatever vibe you’re going for.

Bishop’s Lodge, an Auberge property, spreads across 317 acres of foothills outside town with subtle nods to the state’s ranching roots. You’ll find rooms and casitas with warm, contemporary design, a spa set into the hillside, horseback riding, and enough space to properly disappear for a few days.

Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi, in the heart of Santa Fe’s Plaza district, is an intimate, polished stay steps from the galleries and museums. Handcrafted furniture, fireplaces, and local art fill the rooms, and it’s backed by a Michelin Key award and an on-site restaurant worth planning a dinner around.

El Rey Court, a reinvented 1936 motor court on old Route 66, has become one of Santa Fe’s most stylish boutique stays. The original adobe-and-timber architecture remains intact, now dressed up in hip, colorful Southwestern design, plus a lively on-site bar with wood-fired pizza and live music by the pool.

Santa Fe is one of the few desert destinations that works for peak summer, but spring and fall are just as good.

What’s On My Radar

A place, opening, or experience worth knowing about.

Folegandros, one of the quieter islands left in the Cyclades. There’s no airport, so arrival is by ferry only, the whitewashed clifftop Chora is car-free, paths lead up to the sunset-lit Panagia church, and time slows over long, lazy lunches. Gundari opened there in 2024, the island’s first luxury hotel, with 27 suites and villas built into the cliffside, swim-up bar at the edge of the pool, and an organic farm on-site. The restaurant is run by Lefteris Lazarou, Greece’s first Michelin-starred chef, and the whole thing landed on Condé Nast Traveler’s 2025 Hot List within a year of opening.

Worth Packing

One thing that earns its spot in the bag.

Cowboy hats are having a real moment, and the only way that works for travel is if it survives the journey, preferably without wearing it on the plane. Monday Swimwear’s Exuma Hat is raffia with a wire brim, so it’s packable and holds its shape after being folded into a bag. It works at the beach, in the desert, or wherever summer takes you.

If a last minute summer trip is calling, I'd love to help you build it. Gold Dust Travel is where to start.

If someone came to mind while you were reading this, feel free to forward it their way.

— Kelsey, founder of Gold Dust Travel

Hey travelers,

Mykonos is the Greek island summer that most people picture. The beaches are beautiful and the energy is electric. The windmills, the whitewashed streets, the dinners that turn into dancing. It delivers.

What’s changed is that delivering it has gotten expensive. The dining scene has tilted toward high minimums and beach clubs feel more like velvet-rope experiences than a great afternoon at the water. The shopping is designer and the harbors are full of megayachts. And even at those prices, you’re still sharing the streets with tons of cruise ship day-trippers. Greece introduced a €20 per-passenger levy on Mykonos last summer just to manage the volume of cruise visitors.

The island still has what made people fall in love with it. It’s just increasingly built for travelers who can spend their way to the best version of it.

Which is why I keep sending clients to Paros instead.

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It was voted the #1 island in the world by Travel + Leisure in 2025, so it's not a hidden gem. Paros has something close to what Mykonos had before the scene shifted, and it's still offering it at better value. For now.

The water here is even clearer than what you'll find on Mykonos. The Blue Lagoon, reachable only by boat, is the kind of turquoise that makes you understand why the Greek islands end up at the top of bucket lists. Beaches range from Kolymbithres, known for its striking granite formations rising out of the sea, to secluded coves and spots built for water sports. The beach clubs are here too, for long leisurely afternoons with cold drinks and lively music.

And if you're coming for the energy, Naoussa has it. It's the hub of the island, a real fishing village that got chic without losing itself. Narrow whitewashed streets, boutique shops, a harbor lined with restaurants that fill up every night. The evenings here are vibrant. The waterfront tavernas are made for long dinners that spill into the night, with table dancing and white napkins twirled overhead.

Through all of it, Paros has managed to hold on to a Greek feel that other islands have slowly given up.

If you want a day away from the coast, Lefkes is a medieval village in the hills that most visitors (wrongfully) skip entirely. It has terraced marble houses, a quiet central square, olive groves running all the way down the slope, and authentic dining.

And when you want to leave the island without going too far, tiny neighboring Antiparos is the island’s boho alter ego. It’s laid-back, charming, and just a 10-minute ferry ride away.

Where you stay in Paros depends on how close you want to be to the action.

I've stayed at Cosme Paros and it earns the recommendation. It sits right on the beach with an infinity pool overlooking the sea, a beachfront restaurant and club, and a service level that makes you feel looked after. It's walking distance to Naoussa but set apart enough that it has its own quiet.

Parīlio is the design pick if you want something inland and more intimate. It’s a member of Design Hotels with 33 suites set in a valley of amber fields above Naoussa, with an acclaimed kitchen that makes it easy to just stay put for dinner.

And Andronis Minois, on the western side of the island, is a Small Luxury Hotels of the World property with 44 suites by the sea, Olvo restaurant for dinners over the Aegean, and a quieter pace than the Naoussa end.

The best time to visit Paros is early June or late September, when Naoussa is lively without being overrun and you’re not fighting the meltemi winds. September is when the water is at its warmest.

Built This Week

A trip I just put together.

A California coastal road trip for a client who wanted a real summer vacation without leaving the country. The route runs north from San Diego, with a couple of nights in Santa Barbara for beaches and wine tasting. Then up to Cambria Beach Lodge, a boutique stay right on Moonstone Beach, before visiting Hearst Castle and making the iconic Big Sur drive up Highway 1, which reopened earlier this year after nearly three years of closure. Bixby Bridge, McWay Falls, the views that make you pull over again and again. Ending in Carmel-by-the-Sea, the charming storybook village with a ban on chain restaurants.

It's a road trip summer, and California does this better than anywhere. Windows down, beautiful weather, and the scenery shifting from dramatic coastline to wine country to sun-soaked beaches, all in one drive.

Worth Packing

One thing that earns its spot in the bag.

The Trtl neck pillow. I’ve tried many travel pillows and this is the only one that actually solves the head-bobbing problem on a long flight, without a lie-flat seat of course. It’s a wrap pillow with internal support that holds your head to one side so you can actually sleep, and it takes up almost no space in your bag compared to traditional neck pillows. I won’t fly to Europe without it.

Whether Greece has been on your mind or you’re thinking about a road trip summer, I’d love to help put something together. You can see how I work at Gold Dust Travel.

If someone came to mind while you were reading this, feel free to forward it their way.

— Kelsey, founder of Gold Dust Travel

Hey travelers,

There’s usually a very specific dream people are chasing when they book Tulum.

Barefoot, bohemian, a little wild, the kind of beach that feels like a real find even when it’s on every list. For a stretch, Tulum delivered it: low-rise boutique hotels in the jungle, the Caribbean a few steps away, long and relaxed dinners, somewhere that felt untouched by the traditional resort system. Gradually it became something different. Beach clubs with steep cover charges. Four-figure rooms at places that don’t necessarily deserve the price tag. A see-and-be-seen crowd that leans harder into the party than the peace.

And then there’s the thing the photos leave out. Sargassum, the brown, sulfurous seaweed that drifts onto Mexico’s Caribbean coast, has gone from a manageable nuisance to the variable that not so quietly defines the trip. Sometimes ankle-deep, sometimes thick enough to close the beach entirely. That dream of walking from your room across an uncrowded beach into clear blue water might not be the reality.

That trip still exists somewhere else: Puerto Escondido, on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico.

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Puerto Escondido is a surf town first and everything else second. Playa Zicatela, known as the “Mexican Pipeline,” is one of the heaviest surf breaks out there. The culture around waves like that is laid-back, unpretentious, oriented toward the water, and sets the tone for the whole place. La Punta, the calmer and more bohemian neighborhood at the southern end of Zicatela, is where the design-forward hotels and good restaurants have gathered, along sandy, mostly unpaved roads. There’s nightlife if you want it: mezcal bars, music that goes late, an eclectic crowd. But the nightlife doesn’t run the place. You can be in bed by ten and feel like you called it right.

The food is its own case for going. Puerto Escondido sits where Pacific coast seafood and mountain Oaxacan cooking meet: fresh-caught fish, mole negro made the way it’s been made for generations, tlayudas, and mezcal from small producers.

Since nothing worth knowing about stays a secret for long, the boho-chic town is growing faster than it was, which is why now is the right time to go.

The hotels here have distinct personalities, based on how barefoot you want your days to be.

Hotel Terrestre, a Grupo Habita project, sits about 30 minutes outside of town on a secluded stretch of coast: 14 off-grid villas by architect Alberto Kalach, solar-powered and self-sufficient, with slatted walls that let the ocean breeze through, and rooftop plunge pools overlooking the jungle canopy and Pacific Ocean. It's intentionally low-tech and genuinely unlike anything else.

Casona Sforza, also Kalach’s work, sits at the south end of town: only 11 rooms, where sun-drenched arches and vaulted ceilings meet contemporary bohemian flair, right at a private stretch of sand. Adults-only, sustainably built, and Wi-Fi that’s limited by design.

And in the heart of La Punta, Hotel Humano is one of the newest openings from Grupo Habita: 39 rooms around a palm-lined courtyard pool, a rooftop bar with sunset views, and energy that’s global, social, and a little sexy. The one to book if you want to be in the mix.

Getting to Puerto Escondido takes a little more intention than Cabo or Cancún, which is part of what keeps it the way it is. There are nonstop flights into Puerto Escondido (PXM) from Houston and Dallas, and the best window to visit is November through April. May to August if you’re looking for big surf.

Currently Obsessed

Something I can’t stop thinking about.

Hotel Wren in Twentynine Palms, CA, a 1940s motel reimagined into an adults-only desert retreat. I visited in March and it’s been in my recommendations ever since. Only 12 suite-style rooms that feel more like well-designed apartments than hotel rooms, each with a private patio, fire pit, and kitchenette. Minutes from the north entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, a pool made for floating and nothing else, complimentary light breakfast in the lobby each morning, and an on-site bodega called Windsong that’s stocked with local goods, wine, and snacks. Quiet, intimate, and a place you leave a lot more relaxed than when you arrived.

Worth Packing

One thing that earns its spot in the bag.

The square-toe Havaianas, not the standard version, are just elevated enough to go from the beach to lunch without a wardrobe change, they pack flat, and work for every trip you’ll take this summer.

If this got you thinking about your next beach vacation, I’d love to help make it happen. Gold Dust Travel is where to start.

If someone came to mind while you were reading this, feel free to forward it their way.

— Kelsey, founder of Gold Dust Travel

Hey travelers,

The Italian coast dream is a real one.

Positano, those Amalfi cliff towns, and usually a visit to the island of Capri. I understand why they fill up imaginations the way they do. Capri has the glitz and glamour, the legendary piazzetta, and the hotels hanging over water that is genuinely, impossibly blue. It’s cinematic in a way that earns the reputation, and the island delivered on it well enough that the whole world showed up.

On a busy summer day the island of Capri receives up to 50,000 arrivals, on an island of roughly 14,000 people. New 2026 rules now cap organized tour groups to help manage crowds in the narrow streets.

The beauty is still there. Summer just has a lot of company.

Sardinia in September is the same dream with considerably more island to it.

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Some of Sardinia’s beaches have earned the nickname “Little Tahiti”, and the water lives up to it in person, crystal-clear and that Gatorade shade of blue. The Costa Smeralda delivers the glamour: luxury hotels and the vibrant hub of Porto Cervo, with yachts in the harbor, designer shops, and aperitivo with a view. Mid-September is when all of it peaks. The August crowd thins, hotel rates come down 30-40%, and the sea stays warm.

The island of Sardinia is bigger than the Costa Smeralda, though, and that’s what makes it worth the trip.

Just inland, San Pantaleo is the artsy counterpoint: a hilltop town of artisan shops, galleries, and cafés on a stone piazza. Head further in and you’re in the Supramonte, a mountain range made for hiking, with small villages tucked into the landscape and a quiet that takes a moment to settle into. East toward Baunei, the coastline turns rugged, limestone cliffs dropping to remote beaches mostly accessible only by boat or a long hike in. Cala Goloritzé, on the Baunei coast, was named the most beautiful beach in the world in 2025.

The secret is getting out, and with Delta making the first-ever nonstop flight from the US (JFK to Olbia) this summer, Sardinia has never been this easy to reach for American travelers.

Where you stay depends on which version of the island you’re after.

Aethos Sardinia is the design-forward coastal choice, a boutique hotel in Cannigione with infinity pools and views over the Bay of Cannigione and the La Maddalena Archipelago.

Romazzino, a Belmond hotel on the Costa Smeralda, sits directly on the white sands of Spiaggia del Romazzino, with turquoise water, vintage 1960s coastal architecture, and a slow glamour to it.

Up in the San Pantaleo hills, Petra Segreta is a Relais & Châteaux property styled after a traditional Sardinian farmhouse, built of granite and stone set into the landscape, with a Michelin-starred restaurant on-site and the whole northern coast 20 minutes below.

Su Gologone is out in the Supramonte mountains above Oliena, famous as a restaurant long before it was ever a hotel, with a spring-water pool, local Sardinian craft and culinary experiences, and a stillness you don’t find on the coast.

September is when the island is at its best, and none of it is as well known as it’s about to be.

What’s On My Radar

A place, opening, or experience worth knowing about.

The Baby Grand just opened in Coronado, and it's now at the top of my list for a special stay. Consortium Holdings, the group behind the iconic Lafayette Hotel (iykyk), took a former motel on Orange Avenue and spent six years and $18 million turning it into 31 rooms packed with maximalist details like seashell headboards and tropical wallpaper, a lagoon-style pool complete with sand, and a hidden oyster and champagne bar behind a mirror wall. There's open-fire dining, lobby music composed by Swizz Beatz, and the whole thing is described as a place that feels lost to time. Rooms start at $350/night.

Worth Packing

One thing that earns its spot in the bag.

Everyone has opinions about checked luggage vs. carry-ons, but the bag that actually makes carry-on-only travel work is your personal item. I took my carry-on for two full weeks in Vietnam without checking a bag, and the thing that made it possible was having the right bag underneath the seat. Two I reach for depending on the trip: the Calpak Luka Duffle, which is structured enough to stay organized, and the Beis Mini Weekender when I need a little more room. Both also ride right on top of a rolling carry-on so you're not carrying the weight of overpacking.

Now you just need somewhere to take it.

If an Italian island summer has been on your list, I’d love to help you put it together. Gold Dust Travel is where to start.

If someone came to mind while you were reading this, feel free to forward it their way.

— Kelsey, founder of Gold Dust Travel