Travel tales: Olivia von Halle is the punk pied piper of NYC

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Travel tales: Olivia von Halle is the punk pied piper of NYC

Members of the Mr & Mrs Smith travel club share top moments from recent trips, including New York, Portugal and Mexico

Amelia Mularz

BY Amelia Mularz9 September 2017

To anyone who thinks family travel means early evenings and beverages of only the virginal variety, have a chat with designer Olivia von Halle. The queen of silky sleepwear recently attempted a hotel after-party of epic proportions (and personalities) while visiting New York City with her husband and 16-month-year-old in tow (more on this below). Likewise, Henrietta Thompson, editor-at-large of Wallpaper*, bucked baby expectations by bringing her one-year-old daughter along on a wine-filled jaunt to Portugal’s Douro Valley. Drea Sobieski, editor-in-chief of Elsewhere magazine, was kid-less in Cabo, but felt similarly awestruck by a holiday that proved to be even more than she’d anticipated. Read on for a taste of each of these expectation-defying escapes…

Roxy Hotel, New York City, NY

Olivia von Halle at the Roxy Hotel in New York City

Fast forward a few more hours (and drinks) and at some point well past midnight I’ve amassed half the club – including a group of girls I had met in the loos, an 85-year-old guy from Harlem dressed as a pimp, and a group of middle-aged ladies in their Sunday best for the Kentucky races – to come back to our room for an after party.

I open the taxi door and remember there’s a baby and a rather terrifying babysitter in said after-party room who would not be impressed by this rabble. Read more…

Six Senses Douro Valley

Henrietta Thompson at Six Senses Douro Valley in Douro Valley, Portugal

We were just a few kilometers from the airport when our minds were duly blown. In the late afternoon light, as we ventured further and further along the valley, with its winding roads, epic bridges, and hundreds upon hundreds of terraced vineyards: we were shocked. This place is jaw-droppingly stunning. More Bali than Balaia; pictures can’t do it justice. ‘Why didn’t anyone tell us about this place?’ we wondered out loud. We were already planning to come back and we hadn’t even arrived yet. Read more…

The Cape, Los Cabos, Mexico

Drea Sobieski at The Cape in Los Cabos, Mexico

Our new friends bid us farewell as we start the car, journeying back up the road that once seemed so long. Behind us, the rush of the ocean waves dwindled and once again we were soundtracked by speeding cars on the highway ahead of us. I tried to hold onto the sound of those waves for as long as I could on our journey home. I try to hold onto that sound even now, actually. It reminds me of the quiet, the calm, my love for Mr Smith, and the bliss we shared at the Cape. Read more…