JORDAN TURNER

Category: Travel

  • I WONDER IF IT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU: A NESPRESSO FEATURE

    I WONDER IF IT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU: A NESPRESSO FEATURE

    The thought process that formed this writing piece came to me this afternoon. I was sitting in a sunlit corner of my home, taking small, quiet bites from a bar of chocolate. In that moment of solitude, feeling content with life, I began to ask myself am I doing enough to take care of our Earth?

    I wonder if it has ever happened to you when you’ve found a state of euphoria. Maybe you’ve been swimming in the ocean or out walking while looking up at the sky and trees. Inside that sliver of peace and presence, you find yourself asking, how long will this last? How long will this part of our ocean remain plastic-free, or how long before we’ve cut those trees down? What a strange thing for us to have a sense of nostalgia for something that hasn’t directly happened yet.

    I am aware that I am asking many questions, for which you may not have answers right now. Allow me to provide you with mine. I will no longer be pulled from my small slices of utopia to be reminded of why our planet needs us.

    Where do I begin? How can I start? The questions are ringing. Start with something small that you do every day. Start a community compost, do better with your recycling, reduce your takeaway consumption. Or maybe, start with coffee.

    Working alongside Nespresso has opened my eyes to many things about the coffee industry we aren’t aware of, like the production of coffee itself. This knowledge has highlighted to me how important the work they are doing is as an industry leader.

    With research beginning in the early 2000s, Nespresso has woven a green infrastructure into their DNA: from the 24% reduction in carbon emissions since 2009, the availability of capsule recycling to 100% of Australian customers, Nespresso’s investment of over $860M into sustainability projects since 2014, to planting over 5.3 million trees across 9 countries and making every cup of Nespresso coffee, globally, carbon neutral by 2022.

    What spoke to me most was that Nespresso works closely with 122,000 farmers inside their AAA sustainability program. They aim to ensure high-quality and sustainable coffee sourcing and help protect the welfare of the farming communities and practices from the dangers of climate change and economic volatility. It paints a very human picture and pours a green and conscious cup of coffee. One that warms me with each sip and brings me closer to that slither of peace.

    When I choose Nespresso, I can see the environmentally friendly impact I’m making just by shopping consciously. I might tackle saying no to single-use plastics next or make sure I always have a reusable shopping bag. Whatever it is, I’ll be making even more of a difference.

    Nostalgia comes from a Greek word that means to return home. If we all mastered one habit to help our planet, it’d be easier to master another and another. We can make sure that Earth’s green gardens and growing trees sing so that the bees can once again tell the flowers to bloom as they once did. 

    We can make sure that there will always be something to return home to. 

    What will you start with? 

    In partnership with Nespresso.

     

  • WHERE THE WILD FLOWERS ARE

    WHERE THE WILD FLOWERS ARE

    One of my favourite projects of the year. Where The Wild Flowers Are is an editorial featuring Kim Jones’ Dior Men’s Resort 2021 collection. Photographed by Joel Tozer, shot in the Snowy Mountains, and directed by yours truly.

    Watch the video here.

    And Jordan, the king of all wild flowers, was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all. There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen. “And now,” cried Jordan, “let the wild rumpus start!”

     

     

  • ASAYA: AT ROSEWOOD HONG KONG

    ASAYA: AT ROSEWOOD HONG KONG

    There is a wellness experience nestled in Hong Kong that feels like you’re in a dream. It’s called Asaya, and it’s inside my favourite hotel in the world – Rosewood Hong Kong.

    As I write this, I still picture myself there. I can hear the delicate chime that signifies the beginning of treatments. It is a nice sound, one that wraps you in serenity.

    Much like everything at Rosewood Hong Kong, Asaya is unique and tastefully opulent. It’s a place where the circumstances are perfect for rejuvenating and grounding the only place you have to live: your body.

    It is designed to take you on a journey of wellness through nutrient-dense food, personalised treatments with hand-crafted oils, and a state-of-the-art bathhouse.

    The Asaya Kitchen was where I began my journey. The menu is created around a pescatarian diet, with a local-where-possible supply chain. Seafood is bought from a local fishing family each and every morning.

    Our food sits colourful on plates, and our drinks taste refreshing and fizzy. Both are filled with natural ingredients that astound with memorable flavours.

    At Asaya Wellness, the second part of the Rosewood journey begins. You are taken through comfortable questions about your treatment, which your specialist uses to personalise the experience.

    Within the massage treatment, your specialist will also help you create a personalised body oil from scratch. Of which it will also be used within your massage. This is a sincere highlight. It is very special and becomes something that you can also take home with you.

    Inside Asaya’s walls, peace takes over. Vines cover simple but textured walls. Chairs are purposefully placed among poised greenery. It is tranquil and quiet. There is a perfect feeling of balance here.

    The bathhouse, kept traditional with both a male and female area, is where the pre-treatment zen happens. You will find an infra-red sauna with marble seats to aid deep detoxing. There is a cold pod that will spray you with peppermint mist for cooling. And a hot bath that puts the final touch on a holy trinity of relaxing wellness.

    I haven’t mentioned how between these moments there are still sprinkles of little things that make Asaya what it is. The tasty elixir you receive on arrival, the treatment rooms with never-ending tea, or the change rooms that have fridges filled with fresh lemongrass water or pandan infused water.

    Rosewood has a touch for the exquisite, and Asaya is just that. A one-of-a-kind destination who’s guests won’t want to leave.

    Next time you are in Hong Kong, remember Rosewood and remember Asaya.

    You just may find you’ll be restored.

    Click here to see the digital editorial on Instagram.

  • VISIT NEPAL 2020

    VISIT NEPAL 2020

    I recently had an incredible opportunity to experience the vast terrains of Nepal with Tourism Nepal, and Rehan Shrestha. I was taken on a 10-night adventure through Kathmandu, Chitwan, and Pokhara. The colours, culture, food, kindness and spirituality of Nepal is spellbinding.

    I only hope you feel the same when you visit in 2020.

    Always,

    Jordan

     

  • HONG KONG: WITH MR PORTER & ROSEWOOD

    HONG KONG: WITH MR PORTER & ROSEWOOD

    From the moment I landed in Hong Kong, I was in a constant state of bliss.

    I had only visited Hong Kong once before, years ago when I was 19, but this voyage felt like my first time. And I wonder now whether that’s because I have a greater appreciation for anything that’s different to Western influence. This time I saw Hong Kong in all her grandeur. 

    I found the charm in her government housing and it’s colourful concrete recreational spaces. I looked to the sky and marvelled as the buildings cut geometric shapes amongst the clouds. I fell for the pastel colours that brightened every space, and the neon lights which glowed from shop fronts, building tops, and LED advertisements that constellated Hong Kong Island’s starry skyline at night.

    I live for beauty. I believe it doesn’t always have to be materialistic. There are many experiences which are beautiful. Words, sentences, and sounds the are beautiful. Textures, feelings, and energy. When you walk past a stranger in the street and smell Soleil Blanc. Even little moments like when sunlight cascades through a window casting beautiful shadows, or when it hits glass or crystal and plays with colour in its reflection. The euphoria of beauty – however fleeting it may be – is what I live for. 

    Then there is Rosewood. Warm and alive with heart, opulence, and absolute beauty. I roamed the hotel and its spaces, walked through it’s Grand Ballroom, and ran my fingers along an abundance of marble – too much, which is also never enough.

    I breathed in and lived Rosewood’s atmosphere. Hermes wallpaper, an original Picasso, silver trays of crystal glasses, and the books: giant coffee table masterpieces, Haruki Murakami classics, Chang’s Love in a Fallen City, and Botton’s Art of Travel among a few. 

    When I thought there couldn’t be anything more, I met Lotus. Who’s kindness and love for Hong Kong was as enamouring as Hong Kong itself. The Rosewood concierge team – which Lotus was a part of – showed me beauty in Hong Kong I didn’t know existed, and Lotus taught me more than I’d have ever hoped to learn within my few days. 

    Lotus showed us around Hong Kong. I couldn’t get enough of what I was experiencing. I watched and listened in rapt attention. I tried storing all the information I could from Lotus in little bottles to keep in my head, ready to open again whenever I wanted. I found golden nuggets from listening to her talk about Chinese Herbal medicine, and her education Master in Guangzhou. And things like the way she was taught to cook fish; “if it is fresh and killed in front of you it can be steamed, otherwise if it’s not fresh it is to be grilled.”

    The most encompassing learning of them all was of Qi. It’s the belief that everything that is, should be in balance – much like that of Yin Yang. There are thousands of Chinese herbs that tend to different ailments for, or workings of, our bodies. Yet I loved that Qi can also exist in a space, or in a home. I believe it exists in Rosewood because the flow and energy was something I could feel inside and out. 

    The discovery of food I’ve never eaten before. I had chicken feet, deep-fried milk which became a sweet and crunchy custard, wok-fried milk that felt silky on the tongue, as well as Nai Wong Bao, a steamed custard and cheese bun which was a signature to the Moon Lok restaurant we ate at in the Xiqu Centre. I also had You Tiao, a deep-fried dough accompanied with hot soy milk that was comforting to my travelling soul. 

    I made a promise this year to never stop doing things I’ve never done before, and I hope to continue this in more experiences that give me the feeling of gratitude as I write this. The feeling of which I find just as enveloping as beautiful. 

    Thank you, MR PORTER, and Rosewood, and Lotus, for sharing your city with me, and giving me the gift of Qi.  

     

  • MY PROMISE TO NEVER STOP DOING THINGS I’VE NEVER DONE BEFORE

    MY PROMISE TO NEVER STOP DOING THINGS I’VE NEVER DONE BEFORE

    The boarding location was Zagreb, Croatia, and I was coming off a sleepless, overnight bus from Dubrovnik. Although the 10-hour drive was in darkness, the endless, gigantic trees I saw under the moonlight became another reminder for just how small we are as humans in this world.

    I had thought I’d be able to catch up on missed sleep on the train to Budapest, Hungary. However, tickets for this service had been oversold. Walking through the train carriages, I found that all the cabin seats had been taken with travelers who all looked as rough as I had.

    The only space to sit now were the narrow walkways. Myself, and the others who weren’t as quick to board the train as those now dozing comfortably in cabin seats, piled in. Side-by-side, bag-by-bag, we sat crowded into the carriage and sat down anywhere we could.

    I found myself talking to the girl who sat next to me. Her name was Dani (pictured sleeping), she was 21, and on her way back from a weekend in Split. She first visited Split with her Grandfather who had passed the month before. She had a list of places they’d visited together and wanted to relive them in memory of him.

    Hours went by, and the carriage fell silent. Dani had fallen asleep. “Lucky,” I thought to myself. She didn’t have as long limbs as I to discover a position comfortable enough to find slumber. All you could hear now was an orchestra of the deep breathing of sleep and muffled music coming from headphones as you watched the country outside pass by.

    There was a breeze pouring through the open windows of our balmy carriage. The air was cool against our confined, overheated bodies. I felt full as I studied the scene around me. As uncomfortable as I was being cramped in a small space, I had an overwhelming sense of Eden. I couldn’t quite figure out why.

    It could be the relief of the cool air in the country. Meeting and connecting with strangers inches away from me, or seeing places of the world I had never seen or touched before. Maybe it was all of it; to be having experiences that I had never had before. Ah, yes. That was it!

    It was the feeling of connecting with a stranger on a train. Eating a type of food you’ve never tasted before. Smelling the aromas of gardens, and scents of streets you’ve never walked through. It was the feeling of waking up on a new day knowing you’re seeing something for the very first time. The silence around me now became a verve, and this moment became entirely my own. The newness, the unknowing, the unpredictability.

    The thought entered me like the air running through our carriage. It filled my lungs, cooled my blood, and imbued me totally.  This was my first time seeing Europe, I was 19. I left 6 months later, at age 20, with a promise to myself to keep on having this feeling.

    A promise to myself to never stop doing things I’ve never done before.

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  • PARIS: “TU AS LE SOLEIL DANS LA GORGE”

    PARIS: “TU AS LE SOLEIL DANS LA GORGE”

     

     

     

     

  • A MEMORY OF NYC – 10.10.17

    A MEMORY OF NYC – 10.10.17

    October 10th, 2017. “POP UP, NYC,” SZA said, announcing a free show at The Box in Manhattan. And, as the willing Queen New York is to her fellow Queens, she made sure she popped. The Box, a venue capacity of 250 at maximum, was met with thousands and thousands of New Yorkers, including my OG Shanice, and me, playing the wide-eyed Aussie in his Solange tour tee.

    It didn’t take long for it to get crazy – GOOD crazy. The streets filled, you weren’t able to see the floor.  The neighborhood had to be closed down. The NYPD filed in. The sky filled with two helicopters to assess how far the crowd was reaching. Rihanna arrived in head-to-toe Burberry. And, ultimately, the show had to be shut down.

    What followed is something that I’ll never forget. A small group of friends starts singing ‘Supermodel’, the opening to SZA’s debut album CTRL. And one by one, as if we were a pool of water that someone had dabbed with their finger, the crowd around joins in. The ripple goes out to the entire neighborhood, who all join in. We start with Supermodel, Love Galore, Doves In The Wind, to Drew Barrymore, working our way through the tracklist.

    People start creating makeshift percussion instruments, banging on metal bins, stomping the yard, clapping their hands. Few start to get on cars to scream to the sky, cupping their hands over their mouths to further the reach of their voice. An intimate concert becomes a block party. We begin dancing, all looking at each other, people who we’ve never met, catching eyes, sharing a moment and our love. We, smiling, collectively fill the air with the electricity that makes New York New York.

     

     

  • NYC PHOTO DIARY PART 1: BROOKLYN

    NYC PHOTO DIARY PART 1: BROOKLYN

     

    “…for in that city there is neurosis in the air
    which inhabitants mistake for energy.”

    – Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

     

     

  • TASMANIA: THALIA HAVEN

    TASMANIA: THALIA HAVEN
    There’s a dream waiting to be made reality nestled in the Rocky Hills on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia. Thalia Haven is the Aussie getaway of all getaways, and it’s waiting for you to discover.

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