Unpacked: World's 50 Best Hotels, Belmond Splendido, AlUla, Listener Q&A & more with travel editor, Lauren Ho

0:00Today's episode is supported by the podcast Hotels with History. If, like me, you think the most memorable hotels are far more than the beautiful bedrooms and impeccable service, you are going to love this podcast. It's hosted by Richard E. Grant, who some of you will remember from his own Travel Diaries episode, and he hosts alongside travel and hospitality expert Jules Perrone. Together they take you behind the famous facades, the scandals, the secrets and the guests who turned these buildings into landmarks. You'll find out how Claridge's ended up as the unofficial annex to Buckingham Palace, why a rock concert at Glen Eagles nearly brought down the chandeliers, and what the walls of Mount Nelson in Cape Town, the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, and the Waldorf Astoria in New York would say if they could talk.

0:45There are 16 episodes to work through so far, so search Hotels With History wherever you get your podcasts or listen at hotelswithhistory.com. Thank you to Hotels With History.

1:02Hello and welcome to the Travel Diaries Unpacked, your weekly weekend dose of wanderlust. I'm your host Holly Rubenstein and I hope you guys have had a great week. Today's episode has been a really fast turnaround because on Tuesday evening the world's 50 best hotels were announced and this is a list that I geek out over a little bit working in the travel industry. And so I thought it would be really fun to invite onto the podcast, the List's Academy Chair for Western Europe, Lauren Ho, to unpack this year's results. And of course, talk about the 20 years she has spent traveling the world and reviewing its most extraordinary places and hotels.

1:46Lauren is also the Travel Director of Wallpaper Magazine. She's a contributing editor at Country and Townhouse, and she's written for all the top travel titles. And she spends her entire life basically on the road. I don't think I've ever seen anybody who travels as much as she does so I thought she would be a fabulous guest for today's episode. So if you're not that familiar with the world's 50 best hotels concept it's essentially an annual ranking decided by more than 800 travel journalists, hoteliers and seasoned luxury travellers from around the world and it's all done anonymously so you don't know who the voters are except the academy chairs.

2:25Lauren chairs the Western European region and it was fascinating to speak to her just days after this year's list was revealed. She was still in Paris after the big ceremony and it is a really exciting milestone in the hospitality calendar so it was really fun to chat to her. And beyond 50 Best, we talk a lot about the destinations that Lauren has traveled to recently, from the ancient landscapes of Alula and Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast to the vineyards of Georgia. And I share my hotel of the week in beautiful Portofino, Italia. We answer a listener Q &A. It's a really, really fun episode. So I know you're going to enjoy it.

3:03Buckle up. Let's get started. Here's Lauren.

3:13Lauren, welcome to The Travel Diaries. It is lovely to see you coming to me from Paris. I am in Paris at the moment, currently staying at the Peninsula, but thank you so much for having me. I feel very special. It is my honour. Honestly, I have followed your travels for the longest time since I actually got into travel journalism and always admired the way that you can do a fabulous pose in a window I've kind of stopped those a bit now I think people were getting a bit bored of them but I appreciate that so you were in Paris for the announcement of the world's 50 best hotels list which I think everybody who suddenly works in our kind of broader industry gets very excited about how was it like how was the reaction in the room on the night it was this is coming out on Sunday the big the big night was Tuesday night I was watching remotely yeah the big night was on Tuesday night it's always such an amazing event to attend which I know you've attended in the past it's a very electric kind of atmosphere and just really so nice to have so many wonderful people from the industry friends new friends in one space and being in Paris this year was different we've held it in London in the past three years and everyone is obviously staying in a hotel so you bump into people and the community is just so wonderful the hospitality world I mean even watching it this year as an onlooker as the announcements came through and the different results were revealed.

4:57It was lovely to feel that community and mutual support. Yeah, for sure. And obviously, you know, when the winner is announced, there's just so much excitement and happiness in, you know, for our industry, which is always lovely to witness, especially in person. And it means a lot to these hotels, doesn't it, to be included? It really does. You know, for weeks before people get super excited for the event. And as I said, this year was the first time we've had it in Paris. And it was interesting to see how many people actually come and travel to the event, which is amazing. So can you reveal to us, for any of my listeners who aren't aware, what was voted the number one hotel?

5:46Well, that was Rosewood, Hong Kong. Rosewood, Hong Kong. And that was actually the winner last year as well, right? Yes, that is correct. I mean, what do you think that the top 10 hotels in this list tells us about what travelers are really valuing at the moment? Well, six of the top 10 are based in Asia. And I think that suggests an appreciation for, you know, the highly intuitive and polished service that Asian hotels do so exceptionally well. You know, I think together, all the hotels really share their own strong sense of place, you know, with a human connection, particularly hotels like Pasalacqua, and the authenticity like Mandarin Oriental Tianmen.

6:36So, you know, I think that these hotels stay with people and they're the ones that create a proper emotional connection yeah yeah exactly it's about that emotional connection I completely yeah completely agree let me just get up the list actually so I can see it as we talk about it so the top five were for my listeners in case they are interested actually I'll go through the top 10 10 Mandarin Oriental Bangkok 9 Shabla Yucatan that's in Mexico upper house Hong Kong was number eight seven was the Mandarin Oriental in Tiananmen that's Beijing area right um number six Rosewood Sao Paulo so that was the highest ranking hotel in South America and number five was the highest ranking hotel in Europe Pasolacqua and Lake Como which my listeners will have heard me wax lyrical about many times on the podcast number four the highest in the middle east atlantis the royal in dubai number three four seasons bangkok number two capella bangkok and number one rosewood hong kong gosh hong kong and bangkok have a really strong presence on this list is it just that they just do hospitality so well yeah as i was saying you know um of the top 10 six of them are based in asia i just really think that these hotels just suggest the appreciation for just the intuitive service that Asian hospitality does so well.

8:11Was there a hotel that was included in the kind of greater list this year that you've not visited yet that you are desperate to experience now? So I've visited quite a lot of them as you can imagine but the one that is on my list that I've always wanted to see is Amangiri. so now I really want to go and see it. Was that the first time it was in the top 50? Yeah it's a new entry. So I was very pleased to see it there because I've heard so much about it from friends in the industry in terms of how amazing the service is and obviously visually many of us would probably have seen photos of the landscape and that pool so I would really like to visit that property now yeah it's absolutely amazing we're really lucky to have one night there when um I was on a review trip um a few years back and for people who aren't familiar with it Amangiri is part of the Amman group which is you know a hugely popular uh luxury hotel group and it's in the middle of the desert um I think it's in Utah from what I'm in Utah yeah Utah yeah and it is dusty and deserty but it has this incredible architecture where the blank spaces in the walls create these huge visual windows that are like pictures we actually printed a photo from our stay there and have it on the wall because it is something about those colors the juxtaposition of the the kind of really deep blue that the sky goes in utah against the color of the desert is just amazing and there's this incredible pool built around the desert rock there it's it's really a total bucket list bucket list so you said that you stayed there yeah what made it special for you i'd like to know i think in particular um the spa experience which I guess Amon Hotels are widely known for was truly exceptional in the way that it connected to the history of the area so there are a lot of Native American practices that were integrated into both the kind of ritual of the treatments and explained as it was as it went along in a way that really made me feel connected to the past of Utah having also come in from Monument Valley and speaking to a lot of Native Americans while I was there as well and also the design is just so slick so cool and every every corner is designed to maximize the setting and I think all of those things combined make it such a unique property also the ability to be in such a dark sky region and have the sky light up at night when you're in such luxurious surroundings as well it's just a very unique proposition actually you know I wondered if it may not be that dissimilar to Alula which I know that you you know have a very strong connection to yourself I was actually going to mention that because I think that the landscape seems to be very similar.

11:34My husband is based in Alula. He works for the Royal Commission for Alula. So I do spend a lot of time in Alula visiting him and it is an incredible landscape. I'm assuming probably very similar to the Utah landscape at Amangiri with these beautiful rock formations that wow me every time I arrive and drive through, you know, the way the sunlight bounces off them. It's just incredible. Very dusty. This is in Saudi Arabia, for people who don't know Alula. And when you travel there, how do you get there? There aren't direct flights from the UK, are there at the moment? There are no direct flights.

12:16So Alula is based in northwest Saudi Arabia. It does have its own international airport. It's very small and very cute. The direct international flights are to and from Dubai and to and from Doha. The flights depend on the season, so they're not always super consistent. So you kind of really have to make sure that you can align with those. And then obviously there are daily flights from Riyadh and from Jeddah sometimes. So people can do a holiday to Dubai or Qatar and then bolt on a long weekend in Alula to see what it's like. Which is what a lot of people actually do. And especially given that, as you know, Qatar is such a big hub, people do fly through there quite often.

13:04So recently we had a friend visit last minute because she was from Australia. she was traveling back via Doha and she saw that the flight there was a flight on that day that left for Alula so she came to Alula last minute in the middle of August which I was very surprised by because it is extremely hot in the middle of August but you know that flight makes it easy because people are passing through Doha all the time and it's easy to hop on over I think it's two hours from Doha to Alula. So what would you say is the best time to visit? I would say definitely in the cooler months than in winter, which is around December, January and February.

13:49January in Alula is probably the busiest time of the year in terms of all the cultural and art events that are happening. The Alula Art Festival is on at that time and there are various other things going on too and the weather is a lot more pleasant at that time of the year also. And so for people who are kind of interested in visiting I mean I imagine a lot of my listeners will have seen Alula on social media because it is such a photogenic destination with these as you say huge red rock formations and just pure natural beauty and what's really interesting I've observed is how the hotels kind of integrate themselves into the landscape in this like very interesting architectural way yes um and I guess that's similar to what we were describing or you were describing about Amangiri you know the landscape really is incredible so it's and it forms such a great I guess canvas to create a hotel um so yeah the the hotels there I think that well there's banyan tree at the moment there's habitus there's the chedi and they all do it so well I'm sure you've seen the amazing pictures of all the pools that kind of sit against this amazing backdrop.

15:07If you go there do you typically just stay in the hotel or is there sightseeing to be done are there is there a town of Alula that you go to visit? Well Alula is known for its archaeological sites Hegra. For people who don't know, Hegra is an archaeological site with tombs from the Nabataean period, which are exactly the same as the tomb that you would find in Petra. Wow. And obviously, Petra in Jordan is extremely well known. I visited Petra, I think it was last year, September. and it's just across the border from Alula and it was the incense road that people used to pass through so it was part of the same the same era so there's those archaeological sites that people would come to visit the tombs which are amazing to see but what is even more amazing is that as you know Petra is so well known for these sites that people always visit them and they can get quite busy not at the moment in Petra though unfortunately due to the circumstances in the region but you can see the same tombs with a lot less people and it's really quite magical to experience.

16:25Wow that is such an amazing travel tip I think it's one of those places like get there before before it gets on everybody's everybody's radar. And there's lots to do I mean outside of the tombs and the archaeological sites. There's another one called Dedan, another archaeological site that they're currently excavating at the moment. There's Jabal Ekmer, which is the rock inscriptions. And then obviously you've got the desert wildlife too. They do take tours, people through the desert to spot the wildlife. What kind of things would you see? So you see a lot of oryxes. And those are gorgeous because they're white and they stand out so much against the desert landscape.

17:14I did ask why they were white and I believe this is because the sun reflects off them so it's not too hot for them. Oh, yeah. Very necessary. Yes. I'd expect animals to kind of slot into the landscape. So they are very beautiful to see. And, you know, the area used to have the many years ago, I think it became extinct with the Arabian leopard, which I believe that they're looking, there's a big program to kind of reintroduce them at some point. Oh, fascinating. And there's ostriches. Ostriches. Which I love ostriches. wow oh that'd be amazing to see yeah they've reintroduced and they used to be much more wild so um and ostriches are such funny birds to look at in real life um so yeah it's great the wildlife tours are amazing sounds absolutely fabulous I am dying to go there I'm gonna try and get there next year if I can um if I do do you have a favorite of those three hotels that you'd recommend I like them all, but I would say that if you're looking to get the Hegra tomb experience, the Chedi is the one that's located within that UNESCO space.

18:29And you can do tours directly from that hotel to see the tombs and the archaeological site. So that's a good location. yeah real real quickly zooming back to the 50 best list uh before we move on to my hotel of the week i was just wondering whether there were any new entries this year that you were particularly happy to see recognized i was actually really really happy to see peninsula hong kong on the list i actually personally have a very strong connection to hong kong my husband stephen was based there previously so I visited Hong Kong like I do Saudi Arabia now he also grew up there so we know a lot of people there spend a lot of time there and I obviously know the peninsula very well it's got amazing views and I was just really excited to see it on the list.

19:29I was really excited to see Forestis and it wasn't in the top 50 but that's what I was going to say is that the 51 to 100 list I've I personally also feel the 51 to 100 list is also very exciting when it's revealed me too because you know it it I feel as it gives the some of the hotels a lot of incentive and excitement to be on that list to be able to move up I guess yeah so you mentioned Forestus I was happy to see Forestus there Villa Trevile in Positano I was also really happy to see on the list um and the Carlton uh can I was also happy to see on the list and another hotel that was recognized in that 51 to 100 list was Belmond Splendido in Portofino Italy which is my uh travel diaries hotel of the week I was there a couple of weeks ago um it was actually the first trip that my husband and I have done since having two children so it was a big deal for us we went on our own son baby and it was an absolutely magnificent property I mean I have to say like I I'm amazed it's not in the top 50 and I'm sure it will climb its way up there um have you been Lauren?

20:55I haven't been it is on my list to visit also you have to get there I'm intrigued to know why it was such an amazing property for you I obviously know all about it and I've heard so much about it but for you personally I'd like to know what you what it was I think that it had a magical alchemy of all the different attributes of what makes a hotel special so first of all I think it's the location the setting Portofino is one of the most beautiful corners of Italy to situate it I think the nearest airport is Genoa we flew into Pisa and drove about an hour and 20 minutes or so to get there there were more flights for us and it has this picture postcard harbor which kind of goes out um in a c shape so it's enveloped by lush green hills um and the the greenness of the the trees so the the team at splendor doe told me is why the water there is such a magnificent greeny blue jewel tone that i found to be very specific to that region so i think once you kind of enter that little pocket of the the Gurian coast you're you're already in in a very romantic and magical setting and the Splendido sits on a hill overlooking all of that beauty so it's got that prime location it's like the Grand Damme standing there and it's a beautiful building it used to be a monastery and recently it I think it was last year the renovations were completed by martin brusnicki and he has done such an exceptional job of like pasal aqua preserving the historic element of the hotel you know showcasing local artisan soft furnishings antiques but then melded with all the modern amenities that you might want in a hotel so that it feels fresh and comfortable and luxurious and not fusty it had the most precise mosaic work throughout the suites that took my breath away then there's the pool I mean Lauren I could go on about this for a really long time this hotel there was a the pool is one of those iconic pools that looks out over the harbor you can swim up to its infinity edge and look out over the boats and yachts and it's just magnificent and then there's the food as well the food there was absolutely exceptional so in in all the the ways it was like the ultimate luxury travel experience it was frankly like faultless oh you definitely 100 sold this to me now so it's on it's moved up on my list it sounds absolutely incredible i think that it is just a very cinematic location and those are the kind of places that really get me excited today's episode is brought to you in partnership with airbnb as you guys all know i spend a lot of time traveling and we've listed our home on airbnb in the past while we've been away one particularly memorable time was when we set off on a seven-week road trip across the us we lived in central london at the time and our flat would otherwise had been sitting empty for all that time so we listed it on Airbnb during the trip.

24:31That journey became even more special because it was also when my husband and I decided to get married on a beach in Santa Barbara and we used some of the extra money from hosting on Airbnb to help pay for some really personal touches for the wedding like the flowers from the market that morning and a local photographer who we booked last minute. So in a small but very real way hosting became part of one of the most memorable trips of our lives. It wasn't about becoming a full-time host, it was simply a practical way to make use of our home while we weren't there. If you have a trip coming up, it might be worth exploring whether listing your space on Airbnb could work for you too.

25:05Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.co.uk forward slash host. Thank you to Airbnb.

25:17Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. A missed call doesn't feel like anything. No red flag, no notifications screaming at you. It just disappears into your call log. And nine times out of 10, that was someone ready to hand you money. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo, spelled Q-U-O, the business phone system built so you never miss a call. Here's what I like about it. All your calls, texts, and voicemails live in one place. So anyone on your team can pick up a conversation, see the full history, and respond fast. No more, wait, who talked to this customer last?

25:53And if you're worried about after-hours leads slipping through, Quo's optional built-in AI agent can answer questions and even book appointments while your team's offline. It's the number one rated business phone system on G2, and over 90 ,000 businesses already trust it to stay reachable. Money is on the line. Always say hello with Quo. Try Quo for free. Plus, get 20 % off your first six months when you go to quo.com slash tech. That's q u o.com slash tech. You know, where are you most recently back from? Where are some of the places that you've been traveling to recently, Lauren, because you are on the go nearly, I mean, how much of the year do you think you're traveling actually?

26:35It varies, but I'd say definitely over 200 days of the year on the road. We went over to Amala in the Red Sea, which is about a three hour drive from Alula. We went for the weekend to the recently opened Six Senses property, which I thought was incredible. It's brand new. And you being in the industry too, I'm sure you visited a lot of new hotels that are in soft opening phases, which I'm always very understanding about because I know it's a difficult period. but um well I mean a period in terms of uh you know trying to get things right but it was absolutely spot on the service was incredible the architecture of the property and the design had a real sense of place and for those who don't know Amala is a destination along the Red Sea that has a lot of other hotels that have opened or are opening, including Rosewood, Equinox, Clinique La Prairie.

27:44There's a harbour, I guess you'd call it a harbour, for yachts and things. So it's a proper destination that I think, you know, is going to also be wellness focused in terms of the various hotels putting forward their wellness propositions. But it was a lovely getaway from Alula. So that's also, we were talking about Alula earlier. You know, if you visited Alula, it's not very far and you can also make your way over to the Red Sea, which also has some incredible sea life. Oh, well, that sounds amazing. And then I saw that you were also in Georgia with John O 'Kelly, my other unpacked alumnus who uh who came on at the start of the series and he was just about to go to Georgia with you so how was that trip yes uh John and I you know we're part of the same industry uh that includes a lot of luxury hotels so um between the two of us every year we try and visit a destination that isn't on the luxury radar yet just out of interest um we feel also So that sometimes, you know, it inspires us.

28:55Well, for me personally, it inspires me to, I guess, fall back in love with travel, which is what my, you know, what is why I'm in trouble in the first place. So we like to go to quite random destinations. We're trying to get through all the stands. So we were in Uzbekistan last year. We're planning on going to hopefully get to Pakistan next year. But this year was Georgia. I've been before and I only visited Tbilisi at the time which was probably about 10 years ago and it left me so intrigued and wanting to go back to see more because I'd heard about the wine region and the amazing beautiful mountainous areas and as the Telegraph Hotel has recently opened in Tbilisi, which is part of the Silk Hospitality Group.

29:49It gave us an incentive to get to Tbilisi and then explore further from there, which we were super excited about. You know, the hotel is still, sorry, the hotel, the destination is still very much kind of quite raw, I would say, especially in terms of luxury hospitality. But I find that's exactly what makes it so interesting for me. And it was just a really nice week. What is Tbilisi like? Well, Tbilisi as a city, there's lots of hidden corners that I think you would really need to explore. For instance, hidden restaurants that you wouldn't ever be able to find if you just walked past. You'd really have to go down alleyways and through random doors to find things, which I really enjoyed about the city.

30:38There was a certain kind of energy amongst really cool, interesting people within Tbilisi. So John and I went exploring through food markets and shoe shining markets, which was quite random, a random find. Yeah, we decided we wanted to try, see what the public transport was like, which is always a must when you visit a city. So we went into the metro and we got out somewhere. And when we got out, there was this market where people were just cleaning shoes. So, you know, something along those things I found really interesting. But as a city, it is, you know, there's antique markets in the streets.

31:22It's very vibey. The weather was obviously lovely when we were there because we were just there, you know, towards the end of summer. You know, Mastis and Tbilisi, I would say, is more just about exploring it as a city as a whole and getting to all the corners of it. Yeah, yeah. It sounds great. And so from there you went, what was your next stop? So we went to Kaketi, to the wine region. Georgia is known for its historic winemaking. They claim to be the oldest country to have first started winemaking. I mean I say claim because I think quite a few countries do say the same thing but I think their winemaking history is about I think it's 8 ,000 years old they make wine in these huge clay pots which are buried underground and each family will have their own clay pots in their garden in their back garden for instance so they've got this long history of winemaking which I personally find very interesting.

32:27I'm not a huge wine person, but obviously having traveled so much, I've been to general vineyards. So this was just something different to see and experience. What did the wine taste like? I was just about to say, I think it's more of an acquired taste. I always questioned why Georgia didn't have so much of its wines available in the Western world. And being there and eating at all the restaurants they're very very passionate about their own wine but in more touristy places they also have a list of other wines from other countries I think they're aware that it can be quite an acquired taste I wouldn't I wouldn't know how to describe it because as I said I'm not a huge wine person but it does taste different is it mainly red or white it's orange well sorry they don't like to be called orange wine amber amber wine so you know that you know there was this trend of orange wine at some point oh yeah and so they prefer not to be called orange wine the color is amber fascinating oh how interesting so did you after having one glass order it again or not yeah I mean I think for me it's the type of drink that I could probably only drink a couple of glasses without feeling I guess ambered wine out but it was so interesting to be in that region and obviously the vineyards it's just rolling like a rolling landscape of vineyards in that Keketi region and with intermittent monasteries and nunneries here and there too which was great to explore that sounds wonderful one to add to the bucket list for sure so we go on to our final part of the episode Lauren which I think you are so well placed to help us with because this is our listener Q &A and this is Callie from Somerset and she's saying I'm looking for somewhere in Europe to take my parents for their 70th birthdays next spring can you recommend a celebratory spot that is luxurious and beautiful I'm prepared to splash out but I don't want to completely break the bank.

34:37Do you have any recommendations? I would think that if you're taking your parents away for a family holiday, depending on how many people are going to be with you, it's always nice to go to a hotel or a destination where there's lots to do to keep you occupied in various ways. And whilst I don't know if this is the type of Europe she's expecting, but I really think somewhere like Estelle Manor fits that kind of brief perfectly for a family trip that's special enough that won't break the bank too much, I don't think. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's got an array of amazing restaurants, including the Chinese restaurant there, which are very special.

35:23And then there are lots of activities to do throughout your stay, from I don't know axe throwing to kind of going to the to the aviary and with these amazing wild birds and then the spa is absolutely incredible and you know I think that that it's just if you're looking to spend time together as a family but also be able to do your own thing I think Estelle Manor is one of those places that would tick the box. That's a great shout So Estelle Manor is in the Cotswolds in England, which is one of the most beautiful parts of the UK. And it's also so well situated for being a base, I guess, also to explore those picture postcard, honey colored Cotswolds villages that surround it.

36:14so it's you can poodle around all the villages look in the lovely little kind of boutique shops um and there are lovely pubs as well nearby as as well as eating within the hotel itself um i haven't been there since the spa uh opened but i have heard it is you have to visit the spa it's pretty incredible yes and then obviously they've got an amazing pool heated as well heated outdoor pool which I always think is a bit of a kind of holy grail for UK hotels that's a really really good recommendation and as you said it is definitely luxurious and beautiful and they've got various different types of accommodation too you know they've got the beautiful rooms in the in the main house and then they've got the stable room so it's just it's just such a nice place with a lot of variety in terms of multi-generational trips great great choice And if you go there, you can say that you have stayed in one of the world's 50 best hotels because just looking at the list, it was number 43.

37:18So there we go. That's a lovely way. Lovely way to wrap it up. Lauren Ho, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. It has been such a pleasure to chat to you. I feel like we've only just scratched the surface of your incredible travel. So you have to come on again sometime soon. I really hope so. Well, thank you for having me. I really do feel very special to be invited. thank you for having me

37:44oh a huge thank you to the lovely Lauren Ho I feel like we could have talked forever as a hotel nerd I just wanted to pick her brains about every continent and what her favourites are so she'll definitely have to come back on I hope Georgia sounds brilliant doesn't it it's really coming up a lot on the podcast now so I think that that's a place that I'm going to be keeping my eye on for next year for sure You'll find links to everything we discussed in today's show notes and I'll link to the full World's 50 Best Hotels list in case you want to have a nosy. And of course, bum on Splendidome, my hotel of the week as well.

38:18If you want to find out who's joining me on Tuesday's episode, come and follow me on Instagram or TikTok. I'm at Holly Rubenstein. I'd always love to hear from you. And if you have a travel question you'd like us to answer in a future episode of Unpacked, do send it in. It's thetraveldiariespodcast at gmail.com or DM me on socials. If you enjoyed today's episode, go on, give it a follow, share it with someone else who loves travel. I'd be so grateful. Have a lovely rest of your Sunday, everybody, and I will see you on Tuesday.

39:06Hello, I'm Monica Reinagle, host of the Nutrition Diva podcast. Summer is here and with it, the hot and sticky weather. A morning working in the garden or maybe on the golf course can leave you more depleted than you realize. And plain water isn't always the most efficient way to restore the balance. That's where liquid IV comes in. Its science-backed formula is clinically proven to hydrate faster than water alone. Whether you're exercising, playing outside, or simply surviving a summer heat wave, it's an easy way to stay hydrated. Shop now at liquidiv.com. Liquid IV, hydration that goes wherever life takes you.

39:42Who says Halloween only lasts one day? With Wayfair, one night of Halloween becomes a whole season at home. From larger-than-life yard decor and moody lighting to festive accents for every room in the house, Wayfair has what you need to make Halloween feel like magic all in one place. because the best Halloween memories aren't made in just one night. They're made all season long. Shop Halloween decor now at Wayfair.com. Wayfair, every style, every home.