The Leisure Letter

Picture yourself beneath the Waving Frond. A small spot of shade on a vast stretch of beach. Sweet, sweet seclusion. Here is the oasis that we seek – and as in all seeking, perhaps there is an element of escape...

There is a certain side we seek. Some call it the best side. I call it Poolside. It is here, in this serene space between land and water, that we discover a unique blend of opulence, relaxation, and obsessive allure.

The story starts way back when . . . and still further back than that. For the sake of modesty, we’ll dip our toes in just a few millenia past, at the deep end of the Mediterranean, where lies the fabled peninsula of the Balkans . . . Greece.

Leisure Letter 79 takes us in search of the evanescent Shangri-La, a locale sought by many and found by few. Join us on our search.

Pack Like A Dandy, What we never board a flight without.

On the advice of a dear friend I recently became engaged in sports. “You’re just too high strung,” he said. “These sports will help you.” It was good advice. There would be no football, basketball, baseball etc . . ....

The humidity is sweetly perfumed. Gardenia, plumeria. The air stirs softly along the breezeway of the Royal Palm Hotel. A fountain trinkles somewhere out of sight. A divine orchestration of form and space. Ornate, intelligent Spanish design. A lush courtyard...

So it’s the New Year and everything has changed so much for me since last year and it’s all because of this wonderful thing called sauna . . . The Finnish were the first people to utilize the sauna, so...

A list of the five best beaches not to miss on your next tour de leisure

From time to time I will wake up from my dreams and I will yawn, already tired of being awake. At such a moment I received a frantic dispatch from Tecate Jack, in Brazil. The message he passed along was nothing more than a rough draft, without plot or resolution. And yet it was all I needed to plunge back into my daydream.

. . . It went something like this: