Gift Guide | 2023

In a world where we’re acutely aware of fashion’s carbon footprint, environmental offences and atrocious human rights violations, it feels important to spend time with garment workers through organisations like Saheli Women. To witness workers spending an entire day stitching a single garment, and to understand what this work means for them, their families and their entire village, is a truly transformative experience.

For now, Ethiopia remains a well-kept secret, which means you’ll feel as though you have the country to yourself as you explore. From meeting the remote tribes of the Omo Valley in the south and dancing the night away in Ethiopian jazz clubs in Addis Ababa, to exploring the 900-year-old rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and hiking alongside gelada baboons and Ethiopian wolves in the Simien Mountains, Ethiopia will surprise and delight at every turn.

For anyone searching for the quieter, lesser-known side of Europe, Georgia’s Svaneti region is the perfect find. Visit in spring and summer (early June to mid-October), though, and it’s one of the world’s best hiking regions, filled with ancient villages, tousled meadows upholstered in wildflowers, and excellent food and wine.