Volume 1, which debuted this week, circumnavigates the globe, from the North Pole (with a story about a tourism initiative to save the polar bears) to the South Pole (aboard a luxurious Antarctic cruise). The cover features a shot of the gorgeous, brand-new Portrait Milano in Milan’s fashion district. The back cover features a photo taken in London’s Covent Garden at the legendary One Aldwych, one of my all-time favorite hotels, which recently emerged from a glorious makeover.
Our London correspondent traveled to Italy to write about the best modern art museum in Europe that you’ve never heard of. (Hint: It’s off the beaten path, so you’ll need to take a detour.) We wrote about bespoke fashion designers in Edinburgh and Mykonos. We had a writer onboard the maiden voyage of The Ritz-Carlton’s new super yacht, Evrima. Dallas-based artist Jim Darling showed us the world anew with his unique perspective from 30,000 feet. We sent photo crews (with fashion stylists and models in tow) to Milan, London and Napa Valley. We rounded up the 101 must-visit hotels of 2023. For our Proust-inspired, travel-minded back-page Q&A, we interviewed filmmaker and philanthropist Kweku Mandela, whom we photographed in Mozambique.
I traveled to Laos to write about Amantaka, the Aman resort so special to hotelier Adrien Zecha that when he parted ways with the brand he founded years ago, he kept a piece of this property for himself — he visits every year for his birthday. I also flew to Thailand, where I joined up with the incredible rising-star chef of Capella Bangkok’s upscale Thai restaurant. She took me on a private street-food tour to explore the dishes and vendors that inspired her menus at the hotel’s Phra Nakhon, one the city’s hottest restaurants, overlooking the Chao Phraya River.
Every issue of OLTRE comes with its own Spotify playlist. To curate our Volume 1 soundtrack, we turned to the impeccable vibe masters of Vesper Bar, the luxurious new cocktail lounge inside The Dorchester in London. You’ll want to open Spotify and have a listen.
Every issue also includes The OLTRE Guide, our signature destination guide. For Volume 1 we offer more than 100 insider tips for wine tasting, restaurants, resorts, spas, adventure and more in America’s preeminent wine country: California’s Napa Valley and Sonoma County.
And we’re just getting started. We’ll publish quarterly for the first year or so. We’ll expand our frequency and introduce limited newsstand circulation in 2025, or perhaps sooner if our advertising demand continues at it’s current level. OLTRE have the most incredible advertisers. We regrettably had to turn away several pages of ads because every slot sold out.
The magazine does not have a website yet because, well, one issue doesn’t make a great interactive experience. But also because the magazine is intended to be exclusively available to the top clients of Global Travel Collection’s luxury travel advisors. You can, however, follow along on Instagram at @OLTREmag or, of course, @bradajohnson.
For more travel inspiration and photos, I invite you to follow me and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
