Louis A. W. Sheridan is a London-based creative consultant and photographer, as well as the Creative Director at Mr & Mrs Smith (aka curator of one of our favorite Instagram inspirations!). His work has taken him around the world, where he has photographed mountains, models and movie stars, interviewed shepherds, singers and psychics, and hijacked the decks at every opportunity. In and amongst all this he launched Discover & Escape – a shapeshifting creative agency hellbent on viewing everything through a travel lens.

Through Discovery & Escape, Louis has worked with brands like Matches Fashion, artists like Theophilus London, and designers like Giles Deacon. As well as content creation and editorial (for stunning hotels, including Aman Venice and El Fenn), Louis also works with hotels on recognising, reacting to, and shaping travel trends. For Louis, travel is both a career and a (semi-accidental) way of life.

Part of our Insiders series, this is your window into the worlds of the coolest people in Safara’s network. These are the contacts we’d hit up for travel inspiration, whether it’s a hotel recommendation, a new track for our in-transit playlist, the best mini-products to pack, or just to daydream about where we’d open a boutique island hotel (this changes with each Insider guide we read – we’re easily and happily influenced).

Read on for travel inspiration from Louis A.W. Sheridan.

Name three of your favorite hotels?

Sujan Jawai, Rajasthan, India. A tented camp in the wilds of Rajasthan, where leopards roam freely.

Le Bristol, Paris, France. If/when I’m made king, I imagine this is how I’d live 24/7.

Awasi, Torres del Paine, Chile. Horses, solitude, horses, world-beating food, horses, mountains. Patagonia is hard to beat.

What hotel room design element can you not live without? 

Enough sockets to charge a battalion of camera equipment, and windows that can actually be opened.

What are your favorite “offices” while traveling?

Anywhere with 4G – often far more reliable than wifi. I also love working out of hotel libraries/lounges – they’re criminally underused by guests and are often as well designed as the rooms/restaurants/lobby etc.

Where would you go for a digital detox or just generally to get off the grid?

Yorkshire is my reset button. Though Harbour Island has marginally better weather.

You travel a lot for work, was this something you were seeking in a career? And how do you make it as relaxing and fun as possible?

Travel was never the aim, though my work has always been about storytelling and I’ve found that the best stories present themselves if you keep moving. I can roll out cliches all day on the subject, but I genuinely believe that spending time with new people and places is one of the best ways to understand yourself and your place in the world.

As for making it fun/relaxing – I’m lucky enough to travel with my partner (a travel editor herself), which makes a huge difference. It’s a constant to and fro of ensuring we’re both present, while also recording anything and everything.

What are your favorite travel hacks?

If you’re traveling long-haul as a couple and the flight’s quiet, book the window and aisle seat and leave the middle free. Only a psychopath would choose the middle seat, so you’ll either get the extra space or at the very least, a close-up anthropological study.

Anxiety and burn out are big topics these days. How do you combat them, and how do you use travel to do so?

I have a first-world problem, in that this can happen in reverse for me if we’re on the road too much. Spending a good amount of time in one place can feel like a luxury and if things get really intense then the antidote is always screen-free downtime. That being said, living in London, anywhere with sun helps.

Do you have any tips or tricks for beating the dreaded jet lag?

Adapt to the mealtimes of wherever you are, even if you’re struggling with a sleep pattern. Eating at set times helps tell your body what time it is. And drink obscene amounts of water.

What is your favorite travel book?

A.A. Gill is Away – Gill’s acerbic writing style speaks to me more than most. He traveled far and wide, writing about some notoriously dull and difficult places and yet always found a story, because, there always is one. Even where I don’t agree with his opinions, I find his absolute conviction compelling.

What’s your go-to outfit for getting through security quickly, and still looking good?

I have a penchant for M65 field jackets, equally perfect for photographing on location and getting through airport security. Strategically fill each pocket (phone, passport, jewelery etc.), then put the whole jacket in the scanner and you’re through in seconds.

Beach, city, or mountains?

Is Cape Town all three? All three.

Is in-flight wifi a good idea?

No. The last sacred space.

Airplane food?

Unequivocal no.

Read more from our Insiders series, here.

Sophia Li is one of those friends who everyone goes to for advice – a nucleus, if you will. We witnessed this firsthand when Miranda Kerr messaged her via Snapchat to ask what to wear to an event (see, even the most stylish need help). She grew up between four US states and two countries, before moving to NYC post college. There, she was able to create the dream job for herself, as the Entertainment Media Editor at Vogue.com, where she worked on creating Vogue’s social and digital voice. She says timing was on her side, we credit her skill for storytelling.

Now, she’s a freelance film director and journalist, working with clients including CNN, Vogue, Refinery29, Theory, Maybeline and lots more. And she’s as passionate about travel as she is about the environment, which is why she created All Of The Above – a thought-provoking show with a sense of humor, answering today’s most pressing questions around climate change and social justice. Every episode plants 1,000 trees and invests in sustainability literacy. Go watch. And when she’s not advocating for the environment, she’s championing women, as the Creative Director of HER USA: a female community set up to empower women and celebrate our authentic, vulnerable selves.

Part of our Insiders series, this is your window into the worlds of the coolest people in Safara’s network. These are the contacts we’d hit up for travel inspiration, whether it’s a hotel recommendation, a new track for our in-transit playlist, the best mini-products to pack, or just to daydream about where we’d open a boutique island hotel (this changes with each Insider guide we read – we’re easily and happily influenced).

Read on for travel inspiration from Sophia Li.

Name three of your favorite hotels?

Cottar’s 1920 Safari Camp in Kenya. Besides being located in one of the most magical places in the world (hello birthplace to all humanity), the Maasai Mara, this place is dedicated to preserving and conserving wildlife. It’s also one of the most sustainable certified places in the world.

Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. The sheer engineering behind this place is just mind-blowing. I spent the holidays here with my family, as we watched the sunrise overlooking the skyscrapers, while swimming in the largest and tallest infinity pool in the world. Pretty memorable, I must say.

The Dutchess in upstate NY. I go to this place at least once every year with chosen family. Every detail here is accommodated for – it’s a former equestrian training center and barn, renovated into a boutique hotel, meets idyllic B&B. Also, two words: biodynamic farming.

What is the most unique hotel amenity you’ve ever encountered?

“Bush baths” with champagne outside of your tent at Cottar’s, while wild apes roam about. Amazing.

What hotel room design element can you not live without?

Ideally, each hotel room would have a key card as a master key for electricity, so you’re minimizing how much energy used when you’re not in the room.

Where would you go for a digital detox or just generally to get off the grid?

Somewhere to surf, maybe the north shore of Oahu in Hawaii, Tamarindo in Costa Rica, or Puerto Escondido in Mexico.

You travel a lot for work, was this something you were seeking in a career? And how do you make it as relaxing and fun as possible?

I moved every three to four years while growing up and started going to China with my sister by ourselves when we were 11 and 14 respectively, so travel is very much in our veins. I usually tack two days on to a work trip to personally explore the place, so I feel more integrated and present, and less jet-lagged in the location.

What do you always bring with you in your carry-on?

A journal, a book (currently reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way), a silk Lunya sleep-mask, Dottera On Guard essential oil to boost immunity, a Kora Organics facial sculptor, Tata Harper face mist, and Beats headphones.

Have you or would you travel alone?

Yes, I travel alone all the time for work. I have also incorporated more solo personal travel in recent years, to get myself out of my comfort zone. I find I’m more open to talking to others, who I might not have if I were with friends. Most recently, I went on a solo surf camp retreat and then spent a few days in Porto, Portugal on my own, after a road trip with friends.

Do you have any tips or tricks for beating the dreaded jet lag?

Intermittent fasting. Food makes you feel drowsy, so try and get on the local schedule while flying.

What’s your go-to outfit for getting through security quickly, and still looking good?

I’ve loved wearing Summersalt’s travel wear sets with compression socks, these Flattered snakeskin boots that you slip on and off, and this oversized camel coat that doubles as a blanket.

Is in-flight wifi a good idea?

Usually no, unless I’m on a work deadline. It’s the best time to disconnect and everyone understands why you’re offline!

Early check-in/ late check-out?

Late check-out.

Favorite travel app?

Tap, to find local water fountains, including at airports, so you don’t buy a plastic bottle every time you travel.

Read more from our Insiders series, here.