Hotels Are My Second Home & Here's Where I'm Going This Summer

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Fora Author Henley Vazquez

Co-Founder

Henley Vazquez

    A well-manicured courtyard runs up to the shores of Lake Como and a classic villa-style hotel

    Image courtesy of Mandarin Oriental, Lago Di Como

    For many people, summer travel is a time for tradition—a visit to the same small beach town where generations have vacationed each year. Or an extended trip to explore a new European country each August. Maybe a road trip out West to check off another national park on your list. At Fora, summer travel is all of the above—and more. With over 100,000 summer bookings already, and last-minute trips popping up every minute, our advisors and our travelers are quite literally everywhere.

    Which often brings people to ask me: What are your summer plans? Mine, like many others, are also driven by tradition—the tradition of wrangling a busy start-up, trying to keep my kids entertained without school, and desperately seeking some down time despite the madness. So this summer I’ll be flying all over—for board meetings, hotel tours, and visits with my Fora community.

    Here’s the behind-the-scenes look at where I’m headed. It’s a different style of summer tradition for sure, but it’s the only way I’ve operated for the past four years, and I can’t complain (even when I occasionally get stuck in a middle seat).

    a white stucco building in front of a light-blue pool

    Image courtesy of Romazzino, A Belmond Hotel, Costa Smeralda

    For my adults-only getaway, I'm jumping on La Compagnie's delightfully affordable business class flight to Milan, a Fora partner rapidly becoming a favorite. For years I’ve been tortured with photos of Lake Como’s Mandarin Oriental, Lago Di Como and Passalaqua, and now I’ll finally get to see the real thing—perfectly striped umbrellas and all. From there it's a quick hop to Sardinia, splitting time between 7Pines and Romazzino. Italian lakes, mountains, sea, and pasta. Did I mention pasta?

    aerial view of a beachfront lagoon at dusk

    Image courtesy of Rancho Santana

    Next up is Fora Summer Camp at Rancho Santana in Nicaragua.  This is the first time we’ve tried something like this at Fora—basically “bring your kids to co-working camp!” Advisors and I will be working away while our kids enjoy surf lessons all day. Fun fact: I was living in Costa Rica, just across the border from Rancho Santana, when my co-founders and I started working on Fora, and my son and I would surf at the end of the day of remote work and school. This feels awfully full circle in a pretty wonderful way. 

    view from a porch overlooking a dock and water

    Image courtesy of The Pridwin

    If I can sneak out of the office early enough on a Thursday, I will try and spend a long weekend on Shelter Island, my preferred version of the Hamptons. It’s just a train and ferry ride away but somehow worlds away from the city. The Pridwin is calling my name, a Shelter Island classic reborn after a big renovation a couple years ago. I also managed to win some Cape Air flights in a water balloon toss contest (don’t ask), so I’m deciding between Winnetu or The Nantucket for some New England island time. 

    aerial view of a stone pool deck

    Image courtesy Six Senses Zighy Bay

    And lastly, because I firmly believe in the "I'm already halfway there" school of travel planning, my Dubai work trip will get the vacation add-on treatment. This will be my first time in Dubai, and I can’t let a 13-hour flight go to waste. After my retreat wraps in June, I'll make the two-hour drive to Six Senses Zighy Bay. I’m still debating if the paraglide arrival option is bucket-list material or pure insanity. I suspect a bit of both, just like my summer schedule.

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