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A year in retrospect, another year soon to begin
Does anyone even really like to travel? I often hear people say they do but I’m not convinced they know what they’re talking about. Getting to the airport either means having to deal with traffic or dragging heavy luggage on and off buses and trains. The airport is full of overpriced, bland food and “luxury” brands offering bags and belt decorated with their own logotype. The aircraft cabin is usually cramped and lacking in oxygen, resulting in stiff limbs, headaches, and dry skin.
So why launch a travel magazine when it’s so much more comfortable staying at home?
I’ve always been curious about the world around me, wanting to learn more about the places where I live and that I visit. That’s why I for many years worked as a researcher at various universities, but the current academic format is ill-suited for curious minds. Better then to create our own platform, first as an Instagram account and website, later as a newsletter and since July this year, also as a print magazine.
The idea for the magazine developed organically, gradually we came to the decision that each issue would actually contain two magazines, one with a variety of articles on different subjects – stories about small hotels, conversations with artists, visits to biodynamic vineyards and other topics part of the slow universe – while the other part focuses on one particular place.
For the first issue, we visited the Bay of Naples, exploring Capri, Ischia, the Amalfi Coast, and of course Naples.
For the other part of the first magazine, we travelled to Greece to explore Dexamenes Seaside Hotel and met with Dimitris Karampatakis, co-founder of K-Studio, the architecture studio behind the transformation of a former wine producer into this elegantly minimalist hotel, perfectly situated on an otherwise deserted beach on the Greek mainland.
If I were to select our favourite hotels from the first issue, I would of course include Dexamenes but also add family-run Hotel Villa San Michele in Ravello, one of the places that we return to the most, both because of its welcoming atmosphere and its amazing setting by the Tyrrhenian Sea.
For our second issue, I knew I wanted to go even deeper in conversations than a regular interview, and so Luke Edward Hall and I decided to get to know each other through letter-writing.
We also collaborated with fashion brand Our Legacy, but instead of doing a standard photo shoot we asked their long-time stylist Nicole Walker to style herself and her partner, photographing the couple in the park of the royal palace Drottningholm, where they often walk their dog, an Irish rescue. The story was accompanied by an interview with Nicole as well as with the brand’s creative director Cristopher Nying.
We visited Lisbon’s Santa Clara 1728, part of the hotel group Silent Living’s beautiful selection of small hotels in Portugal, as well as Cali, the latest edition to Mykonos’ offering of luxury hotels.
As the subject of the other part of the second magazine, we decided on Cap Corse, Corsica’s northern peninsula. For years, I’ve wanted to stay at Couvent de Pozzo, curious about the B&B’s rich history (while also longing to try the pool, overlooking the sea). Cap Corse is a peculiar place, fiercely independent and with its own history and traditions. We loved staying here and would like to also mention Palazzu Nicrosi, a combined B&B and family home in the mountains, where they also make their own beer.
Currently, we’re completing the third print issue, due out in January, for which we travelled to Morocco’s Atlas Mountains but also visited Ghent and Venice, while meeting with an expert on niche perfumes and with a gardener on the new trend of wild gardening.
What makes putting together content for Lohi Journal so enjoyable? I’ve worked with many different things before – I’ve been a copy writer, curator of fashion exhibitions, and a senior lecturer at university – but this is by far not only the most challenging but also the most creative endeavour of my life so far. A large part of the pleasure is meeting so many new people during our travels, exploring new places through the locals.
In a few days, a new year will begin and I’m very much looking forward to seeing who we’ll meet and where we’ll go in 2025. But creating stories is only half the fun.
Sharing what we learn adds to the experience; knowing that someone reads our texts and looks at our images is what makes it all worthwhile.
I always enjoy reading your measured and insightful articles about the places and people you visit and share with us. Thank you.
I think about that same question, Does anyone even really like to travel? all the time! I am looking forward to hearing about your Venice discoveries. Happy New Year!