Sylvia Young

Sylvia Young Be clear about your intentions, thoughtful in your choices, simple in your desires and content in your days... Life will present us with enough challenges.

We don’t need to set ourselves up for more by fueling expectations or living rigidly. - Mark Sisson

From a Polynesian island ringed by blue lagoons to the heart of Chile's wine country, these are BBC journalists' top des...
20/01/2026

From a Polynesian island ringed by blue lagoons to the heart of Chile's wine country, these are BBC journalists' top destinations this year.

We love Dubrovnik – but so does everyone else. Yet, many visitors to Croatia may not know that nearby Montenegro is also home to beautiful seaside settlements, plus new hiking trails that connect mountain communities. Across the water from always-trendy Buenos Aires, Montevideo offers similar world-class tango, steaks and architecture, and is one of South America's greenest cities. And while Rome may be eternal, Algeria's got the ancient ruins without the crowds.

Travellers who make it to this pint-sized Central American nation will find a rare convergence of wilderness and wellnes...
10/01/2026

Travellers who make it to this pint-sized Central American nation will find a rare convergence of wilderness and wellness. Rainforest spills onto empty beaches, macaws wheel over turquoise coves and the Pacific pounds a coastline that holds 2.5% of the world's known terrestrial species within a single peninsula. You'll wake to the sound of howler monkeys, paddle through mangrove estuaries alive with bioluminescence or ride world-class breaks and practice guided breath work, meditation or yoga before hiking into the depths of Corcovado National Park.

Cook IslandsWhy go: New access to a paradisiacal Polynesian nationCook Islanders like to be visited – they're the extrov...
10/01/2026

Cook Islands
Why go: New access to a paradisiacal Polynesian nation

Cook Islanders like to be visited – they're the extroverts of the South Pacific, after all. Yet, compared to other destinations in Oceania like Fiji, tourist numbers are low so you feel like you're a welcome visitor in their world, not a tourist in a resort.

Colchagua Valley, ChileWhy go: Wine, cowboys and stargazingTwo hours south of Santiago, Chile's Colchagua Valley stretch...
10/01/2026

Colchagua Valley, Chile
Why go: Wine, cowboys and stargazing

Two hours south of Santiago, Chile's Colchagua Valley stretches from the snow-dusted Andes along the Argentine border to the Pacific, following the corridor carved by the Tinguiririca River. While many travellers merely touch down in Santiago en route to Patagonia or the Atacama, heading south from the capital on a multi-day road trip reveals historic haciendas, scenic hikes and the heartland of Chile's skyrocketing international wine scene.

AlgeriaWhy go: Roman ruins, rolling dunes and cultural preservationHome to grand Roman ruins, surreal desertscapes and h...
09/01/2026

Algeria
Why go: Roman ruins, rolling dunes and cultural preservation

Home to grand Roman ruins, surreal desertscapes and historic cities with a mesmerising mash-up of architectural styles, Algeria's rich tourism draws have long been kept at arm's length by the nation's famously complicated visa system. But the "sleeping beauty" of African tourism is finally waking up.

Abu DhabiWhy go: A blockbuster year of cultural openings – plus new theme park excitementA sense of anticipation is hang...
09/01/2026

Abu Dhabi
Why go: A blockbuster year of cultural openings – plus new theme park excitement

A sense of anticipation is hanging in the desert air. After years of development, the city's Saadiyat Cultural District – a project first signalled by the opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017 – is finally entering its defining phase.

It was only after his death that his family sorted through the vault containing his artwork, and uncovered a stash of bl...
09/01/2026

It was only after his death that his family sorted through the vault containing his artwork, and uncovered a stash of bleak, violent drawings and paintings that seemed to express his inner rage and fear in a way that his cottage paintings never could: a shack in the middle of nowhere on a murky night; a nun pointing a gun at herself; giant monsters and distorted faces. Art for Everybody raises the questions of whether these pictures are more authentic than the ones the public knew about. Do they express how Kinkade really felt about his difficult upbringing and his frightening father? Would it have been healthier for him to explore the shadowy netherworlds in these pictures instead of shutting himself inside his stifling sylvan cottages, year after year?

Still, this sort of disagreement between Kinkade and his critics was one of his selling points. Art for Everybody featur...
08/01/2026

Still, this sort of disagreement between Kinkade and his critics was one of his selling points. Art for Everybody features news reports and promotional videos, in which he tells adoring audiences that his art could be understood and appreciated by everyone, whereas only the snooty elite could see anything artistic about Chris Ofili putting elephant dung on his canvases, or Tracey Emin presenting her unmade bed to gallery-goers. "This is not legitimate art," he proclaimed.

Kinkade's deprived upbringing, says Yousef, didn't just inspire his choice of subject matter, but drove him to make as m...
08/01/2026

Kinkade's deprived upbringing, says Yousef, didn't just inspire his choice of subject matter, but drove him to make as much money as he could. He and his business partners printed pictures on an industrial scale, as well as putting his immediately recognisable imagery on furniture and ornaments, and selling them on the QVC shopping network. They also set up hundreds of faux olde worlde Thomas Kinkade Signature Galleries in shopping malls around the US, and trademarked the "Painter of Light" brand. Again, Yousef doesn't see Kinkade as entirely calculating. Having grown up in a house with no pictures on the walls, "He sincerely believed that art should be accessible to everyone."

The documentary features audio tapes recorded by Kinkade when he was a long-haired, bohemian-looking art student in Cali...
08/01/2026

The documentary features audio tapes recorded by Kinkade when he was a long-haired, bohemian-looking art student in California in the 1970s – and even then, he was already fretting over the question of whether he could make an impact as an artist while making a decent living. After a stint in Hollywood, painting backgrounds for Ralph Bakshi's 1983 animated feature film, Fire and Ice, he concentrated on idealised, nostalgic American landscapes, and he and his wife Nanette sold reproductions of them outside a local grocer's shop.

Beloved by many, despised by others, Thomas Kinkade's quaint rustic scenes and his wholesome image belied a dark and tor...
08/01/2026

Beloved by many, despised by others, Thomas Kinkade's quaint rustic scenes and his wholesome image belied a dark and tortured story that contrasts with his 'sugary' artworks.

Thomas Kinkade was one of the best-selling artists in history, as well as one of the most divisive. When he died in 2012, the American painter had been rocked by business problems, but at his commercial peak a decade earlier, his company was bringing in more than $100m a year. And yet his work was despised by many critics – not because it was blasphemous or obscene, but because, well, he specialised in quaint pictures of thatched-roof rural cottages nestling in leafy groves.

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