Wintery Weekend in Victoria

[trip style = weekend getaway]

When you can't get away for a week, but you need an escape, it's helpful to have a few sure-thing weekend destinations in your back pocket. One of those places, for me, is Victoria, BC. This small capital city is at once charming and old-world while also hip and ever-evolving.

I arrived by seaplane on an icy morning after the season's first snowfall, and spent the weekend going out for breakfasts, browsing downtown boutiques, walking along the waterfront and stopping in for dinner and drinks at cozy tapas bars. Read on below for a few of my favorite spots to visit on a wintery weekend in Victoria.

Where to Eat

• Jam Café - Victoria is a breakfast town, where Saturday mornings spent lining up in the cold for pulled pork pancakes is a right of passage. My shared dishes this weekend included pan-fried oatmeal with blueberries and lemon curd and a blackstone avocado benny. Jam's morning cocktails, which include gin cucumber lemonade and bourbon caesar, take the edge off after a chilly wait outside.
• Hey Happy - The city's newest caffeine hot spot brews single-cup coffee in gorgeous ceramics by Mazama Wares with beans from Phil & Sebastian (Calgary), Ritual Roasters (San Francisco) and Heart (Portland). The hipster factor is high, with baristas in toques, a Gremlins thermos for cream and A Clockwork Orange screenplay for perusing.
• Bodega - From the owners of the always-hopping Tapa Bar comes bar-next-door Bodega. Open from lunch till late, this tapas, wine and sherry bar boasts friendly service, delicious cocktails and gorgeous charcuterie boards.
• Tacofino - From Tofino taco truck to West Coast taco empire, Tacofino's newest Commissary location is shaking up the downtown dining scene. You can never go wrong with the fish taco and chocolate diablo cookie.
   

Where to Shop

• Reunion - Formerly known as Rebel Rebel, this shop is stocked with some of our favorite brands like Cheap Monday, Pendleton, Levi's and Malin + Goetz. 
• Victory Barber & Brand - OK, OK, this is a barber shop, but they've got an incredible selection of grooming products in store and they're the nicest guys in town {OK, OK, they're my friends}. 
• Sitka - This local success story/surf shop/café is a must-visit for anyone looking for super-soft sweatshirts, waxed-cotton outerwear and locally roasted coffee.

How to Get There

Instead of travelling to the island by ferry and bus for several hours this weekend, I flew over with Harbour Air, the world's largest seaplane airline. A 35-minute flight put me harbor to harbor from Vancouver to Victoria. Besides the obvious time and convenience benefits, it's arguably the best way to see the coast. Flying standby, I caught the first flight out on Saturday morning after an hour in the lounge reading the weekend paper, drinking a complimentary Americano and watching the sunrise.

Trip Styler Tip: Sign up for the next Turbo Ticket release, when the airline releases a limited number of $25 standby tickets {not including taxes} available in groups of four. The tickets never expire and are valid everywhere Harbour Air, Westcoast Air and Whistler Air fly. I paid a total of $20 in taxes for return flights from Vancouver to Victoria and had no wait on the way to Victoria and a one-flight wait on the way to Vancouver.

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

Related
Weekending in Victoria
Spotlight :: 30 Hours in Victoria

[collages by @heatherlovesit & photos by @heatherlovesit & businesses mentioned]

Gifts From Afar :: Holiday Sale

Oh the weather outside is frightful, 
But this sale is so delightful,
And if you've no place to go,
Shop our store, shop our store, shop our store!

So long Cyber Monday; hello December sale! Skip the mall and send your loved ones on a virtual vacay with 20% off gifts from the Trip Styler Store this holiday season.

From the beaches of Tulum to the medinas of Morocco, these one-of-a-kind finds have flown across the globe to reach your tree in time for Christmas.* 

A few of our favorite items include versatile kimonos from Tokyo, on-trend necklaces from Bali, vacation-ready clutches from Thailand and multitasking blanket scarves from Mexico {they triple as table runners and end-of-the-bed décor!}. 

Promo code: TSholiday2014 {20% off code valid today thru December 24th}

*North American orders placed by 11:59pm December 14th and local Vancouver orders placed by 11:59pm December 22nd will arrive in time for Christmas.

Oaxacan wrap & Thai envelope clutch

Tokyo blazer-kimono

Tulum beach-weave bag & Thai golden triangle purse & Dubai cashmere scarf {coming soon!}

[photos by @heatherlovesit]

If The Shoe Fits

[trip style = sun + urban + adventure]

I recently met some fellow travel connoisseurs whose custom-fit footwear company was inspired on the road. As a lover of shoes and sojourning abroad, I had to share Justine and Kendall's story and show off their ethically made soles {I have a pair (below) and wearing them is like walking on air}. 

While shopping along the boho-chic blocks of Bali's Seminyak stretch, Justine popped into a leather goods store and settled on a pair of boots. Unfortunately, they didn't have her size {normally making the shoe purchase a no-go}. "No problem, I’ll measure you and make you a custom pair!" the cobbler said as he pulled out a measuring tape. A week later, the idea for Poppy Barley came to her while thinking about her experience in the shoe shop: "Why can't women everywhere have the same custom experience?" 

When Justine arrived home from the tropics, she and her sister Kendall {below} set their sights on pairing the traditional business of handcrafted shoemaking with a modern-day online twist. That was 2012. Today, Poppy Barley receives orders online {and at pop-up shops}, a dedicated team of craftspeople hand-make the shoes at a studio in Mexico, and the finished product is shipped to customers all over the world. 

Trip Styler Tip: Custom-fit footwear is the ultimate personalized Christmas gift. Buy a gift card, or sneak someone's measurements and send in the order. If the shoe doesn't fit, they remake them. 

Curious how Poppy Barley continues to pair travel and shoes, we asked co-founder Justine how she settled on Mexico for her company's production, how she extends her work trips for pleasure, and which shoes she doesn't leave home without.

What drew you to Mexico for shoemaking?
We chose León, Mexico for its rich history in manufacturing footwear. For the last 400 years the city’s main industry has been shoemaking—giving us the deep talent pool of artisans we need to build a scalable custom footwear company, and a short 36 kilometre supply chain. Further, because Mexico is relatively close to Canada and the USA, it makes product development trips and shipping easier. Plus, our product falls under NAFTA, so it's duty-free!

How often do you go to Mexico for work?
I go to León three to four times per year. Most of the time, I stay at Nueva Estancia, a simple yet styled hotel with all the fixings close to where I need to be for work. On my last trip I tried AirBnB, which gave me a deluxe apartment for $75 per night {I could have brought the whole Poppy Barley team}. At least once per trip, I make a point of eating out at Argentilla, one of León's poshest eateries drawing the who’s who of the city. León has a lot of Spanish, Italian and Argentinean restaurants due to the immigrants who have come to work in the footwear industry. After my first trip I realized that you have to make a special request for Mexican food, otherwise most people go out for Italian food. {They eat Mexican food at home!}

Leon, Mexico

Do you ever extend your Mexico work trips and tack on a vacation?
Yes, so far I have visited Guanajuato {45 minutes from León} and San Miguel de Allende {2 hours from León}. Both are colonial-era towns that achieved great wealth in the 1850s due to the region’s silver mines, and as such, left an amazing heritage of Baroque architecture. The towns are set in valleys framed by mountains and have narrow and steep cobblestone callejones {alleyways}, shady plazas dotted with monuments and cafes, pastel-hued buildings and techni-colored flowers. Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende were re-discovered and settled in the 1930s and '40s by artists and writers from around the world; now they are home to students, retirees, and creatives. 

Guanajuato, Mexico

What trip styles do you favor?
My ideal vacations combine the Urban and Active/Adventure trip styles. I love to explore, and I get bored quickly on the beach. For my last big trip my husband and I traveled to Turkey, spending time in Istanbul, hiking the Lycian Way, and wandering the underground cities in Goreme. My next trip is a work-play combo heading back to Guanajuato and San Miguel, but this time I am bringing my husband!

Carry-on or checked bag?
Checked. I hate the rush to board the plane to secure room in the overhead containers for my carry-on. 

Which shoes always accompany your travels?
My go-to travel shoes are the Poppy Barley Black Python Classic Point, the Poppy Barley Chelsea Boot {above right} and my running shoes.

[photos via poppy barley]

Travel Beauty :: Holiday Palettes

The Christmas season is the most wonderful time of the year to buy beauty products. It’s when major brands release limited-edition palettes filled with possibilities. These holiday sets are not only great gifts, but also perfect travel companions. Whether your cosmetics fit into one small case or occupy a full closet, these palettes are an intelligent investment for an easy-to-pack, five-minute face.

Trip Styler Tips
- Look for palettes with high-quality brushes to get the most bang for your buck.
- If you don’t wear make-up, look for travel-size skincare and haircare kits.
- If a palette is filled with dark or bright shades you'll never wear, don't be seduced by a deal!

What to buy
Clockwise from top left: Urban Decay naked on the run – eyeshadow, mascara, eye pencil, bronzer, blush, lip gloss; Tarte bon voyage collector’s set & travel bag – eyeshadow, mascara, cheek stain, lip gloss, lip tint, finishing powder, face oil; Laura Mercier portable color palette – eyeshadow, eye liner, blush, lip gloss; Nars laser cut eye, cheek & lip palette – eyeshadow, bronzer, blush, lip gloss; Too Faced la belle carousel – eye shadow, mascara, bronzer, blush; Bobbi Brown deluxe eye & lip palette – eyeshadow, lip colour, brushes

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

More Travel Beauty
Travel Beauty Must-Haves
Here Comes the Sun
Face Masks for Frequent Flyers

[collage by @heatherlovesit]

Roam+Board :: RIMBA

[trip style = luxe + sun + beach]

What
Set back from Bali's verdant cliffs towering over the Indian Ocean, RIMBA Jimbaran Bali is a 282-room excuse to call your boss and tell her you're extending your vacation. If she protests, you might want to quit and stay awhile.

Completed in late-2013, the gleaming-white high-rise hotel struts a sleek aesthetic mingling clean lines, modern Balinese touches, and wow-factor like a crescent-shaped infinity-edge water feature jetting out beyond the lobby. Fronting the structure, six outdoor swimming pools—many with sunken sunbeds—cascade as if they were terraced rice paddies to create a styled stay that won’t leave you indebted to your credit card.

Starting at $159 a night, the luxe-for-less price tag is a mega-steal because this five-star stunner is 10x the architectural muse as hotels in the $300-$500 range.

Trip Styler approved.

Where
Jimbaran, Bali: An upscale hotel area perched over cliffs rising up from the Indian Ocean. RIMBA is 10 kilometers/7.4 miles from Ngurah Rai International Airport {DPS}, and is a 20-minute drive by cab or private driver.   

When
Cozied up near the equator, the weather in Bali is consistently hot 'n heavy year-round hovering around 30ºC/85ºF.  The major "when-do-I-go?" consideration relates to precipitation levels. Rainy season lasts from October to March covering the region in humidity and short-lived torrential storms. Bali's dry season—aka the best time to visit—runs from April to September and drenches the island in its signature vitamin D.

Who/Why
Modern hotels amuse your art and architecture leanings, and you feel right at home when other guests are sporting Karen Walker sunglasses and reading Contemporist dispatches on their tablets.        

Cost
Rates start around $159/night and include hotel-wide WiFi, bottled water, a free shuttle service within 190-acre AYANA Resort including its beach, pools, restaurants, and priority access to the famous Rock Bar.

Trip Styler Tip: Heading to Bali? Check out my need-to-know tips in the Expedia Viewfinder.

Photos

Infinity pool extending the lobby's reach.

Submerged lounge.

One of six pools.

Not your average pool chairs.

High design details at every turn.

More pool.

Where I spent my time {because of the rocking chair-style lounges}.

Rooms, each with their own unique driftwood sourced from nearby shores and carved by local artisans.

More Roam+Board
Villa Samadhi - Kuala Lumpur
Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle
Four Seasons Chiang Mai
Four Seasons Hong Kong
Korakia Pensione - Palm Springs 
La Gazelle d'Or – Morocco
Mandarin Oriental – Las Vegas
Hotel Lone – Croatia

[photos by @tripstyler except for 3rd and 4th snaps under photos]