Tayla Blaire

With South Africa being so vast, it can be tough to decide where to stay. Whether you’re looking to splurge or keep it simple, these hotels are primed to offer you the best of the best while making memories down south.
Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg
Book a stay at the Saxon Hotel in South Africa for an ultra-luxe experience. Renowned for its extensive wine cellars, the hotel is a haven for the finer things in life, especially after its interior design facelift by the talented Nelson Kubheka. Aft...

We did our own research for the best digital nomad cities and rounded up five destinations around the globe that get high marks for several top-of-mind factors for digital nomads, including affordability, agreeable weather and more.
Cape Town, South Africa
Digital nomad and PR expert Alice Draper believes Cape Town is the most scenically beautiful city in the world. “For digital nomads earning Western currencies, it’s extremely affordable, and you can enjoy a fantastic standard of living,” sh...

I wrote the itinerary copy for this tour by Distant Journeys.

Digital nomading marks a shift in how professionals are approaching careers and work-life balance. The number of self-described digital nomads skyrocketed post-pandemic. Here’s a look at 2024’s digital nomad statistics.
What is a digital nomad?
For much of the workforce, the days of being tethered to a desk in the workplace are gone. Work is what—and where—digital nomads make of it, bouncing from place to place, country to country.
Anthropologist and digital nomad expert Dave Cook, in his 202...

Next generation leaders are set to shake up the workplace as we know it. Gen Z are more educated, with early benchmarks showing that post-millennials are enrolling in college at a significantly higher rate than millennials did at the same age. They will also comprise 27% of the workforce by 2025, and that number will continue to climb as its members graduate and settle into their careers. But what do members of this generation value, and what will their leadership look like in the workplace?
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It’s standard practice to have multiple employees in every organization qualified in first aid so they can attend to physical injuries until professional medical help arrives. However, the same consideration is seldom extended toward mental stress and strain—otherwise known as mental health first aid—and that needs to change.
Gallup found that “19% of U.S. workers rate their mental health as fair or poor” and are four times more likely to miss work due to poor mental health than peers who rat...

Veganism isn't just a passing trend. In fact, plant-based foods with no trace of animal products are only growing in popularity. For some, veganism is an ethical choice, while others choose the lifestyle for its health benefits. From initiatives like Meatless Mondays to Veganuary, folks are finding plenty of reasons to try out vegan foods. This lifestyle used to have a much higher barrier of entry, as there were practically no restaurants that offered vegan fare, especially in the fast food s...

I wrote brochure copy for multiple itineraries for Distant Journeys.

Bridesmaids are spending hundreds of pounds to accompany their nearest and dearests on their big day
It’s an incredible honour to be asked to be a bridesmaid. Standing beside your loved-one on such a special day is the stuff memories are made of. Unfortunately, it can also be the stuff that debt is made of.
Let’s examine the average wedding. The bridesmaid dress, hair styling, make-up, manicures, pedicures, shoes, jewellery – and those are just for the wedding itself. Sometimes brides step in...

In October 2019, my husband and I booked a weekend getaway in the Pilanesberg, a Big Five game reserve in South Africa. Work had been really stressful, so we figured a trip to a nearby reserve for a few game drives (or safaris, as they’re commonly known) would be just what we needed.
While there are numerous luxury hotels surrounding the national park, we stayed at one of the more discount options to save a few extra dollars. The desire to save some money was also why we opted to do a self-dr...

Johannesburg’s dining scene will make you extend your stopover.
The power went out at Yeoville Dinner Club, but it didn’t stop us from feasting. By candlelight, we passed around bowls and platters that chef Sanza Sandile had laid out on the long, wooden communal dining table – Nigeria’s nutty, pumpkin-y egusi soup, and matapa, a traditional cassava leaf stew from Mozambique. They were delicious, complemented by the spicy tang of home-brewed ginger beer. Then all at once, we were illuminated. We raised our glasses and cheered to the lights coming back on.

The urge to apologize can be hard to resist. Of course, we all make mistakes and need a mea culpa moment sometimes — but that makes up a tiny percentage of all the times most of us apologize. It’s especially true for women: Society has conditioned us to apologize for doing anything that challenges traditional gender roles, from enjoying an active sex life to deciding not to become a mother.
So what happens when women change the narrative and “un-apologize” for defying societal expectations? O...

Latifah AlEssa saw a need for better mental health support across the Arabic-speaking world, designing a service that makes it easier to access quality help.
Born in Kuwait, Latifah AlEssa never imagined that her life would look the way that it does now. She expected to follow the more traditional path expected of women from her family: by 30, she would be married with children and unlikely to be working.
Instead, after training as a psychologist, Latifah founded Ayadi, an online therapy plat...

If an employer offered unlimited paid time off, most people would likely jump at the chance. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, private industry American workers (making up just shy of 85% of all workers in the U.S.) are given an average of 10 paid vacation days after a year of service and 20 days after 20 years. When that’s the standard, is it any wonder that employers can tempt potential employees with limitless holiday time?
However, it appears that organizations with unlimited p...