Tag: culture

Your 2024 Travel Mood Board

Posted on by Tanvi Chheda

Will this be the year you focus on wellness? Maybe you’re wanting to finally go on that epic adventure or make sure you experience all those big pop culture moments first hand. Whatever your travel style is, exploring trends can be a fun way to find inspiration for your next great vacation. From immersive wellness experiences to set-jetting to event- and adventure-based travel, we’re taking a look at some of the biggest trends for the year ahead and how Four Seasons can help you channel them all.

What kind of traveller will you be in 2024? We can’t wait to find out.

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Let the sound waves pour over you during a shamanic sound healing session at Naviva®, A Four Seasons Resort, Punta Mita, México.

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Take part in a rejuvenating yoga class at Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort.

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Every stay at Naviva® comes with a complimentary spa treatment, which can be enjoyed in one of the two spa pods tucked away in the jungle.

For the wellness traveller

From destination spas to yoga programs to meditation retreats, wellness tourism continues to be a global trend that’s here to stay. In fact, 94% of travellers are incorporating wellness and self-care into their trips, according to luxury travel advisor network Virtuoso. But beyond just a relaxing massage, more and more people are seeking immersive experiences – think forest bathing, thermal baths, guided meditation sessions in scenic destinations and fitness bootcamps that take you outside the gym – to help them focus on their health, reconnect with themselves and dive deep into the benefits of nature.

With just 15 luxury tents set on 48 acres, the adults-only Naviva®, A Four Seasons Resort, Punta Mita, México, was designed as a refuge that blurs the line between nature and resort. Relax in your stand-alone tent tucked discreetly into the forest and take a dip in your private plunge pool accompanied by the sounds of birds singing and the distant rumble of the Pacific Ocean. Along with the serenity that nature brings, this intimate, all-inclusive resort offers unique opportunities for self-discovery. Embark on a shamanic sound healing journey, forest bathe beneath the stars, visit the home of a local artist for inspiration or spend your day in the Spa. For those looking for a truly transformative experience, challenge yourself in the House of Heat – a traditional temazcal (sweat lodge) designed specifically for Naviva. Guided by a dedicated curandero (healer), your ceremony will explore an area of focus that resonates with you, such as gratitude, devotion or rebirth.

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On the lush, rolling uplands of Hawaii’s Lanai island, the dedication to wellness can be felt in every corner of Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort. Restore the body and mind with a plethora of classes and treatments including Vinyasa yoga, TRX suspension, private wellness consultations and island activities such as horseback riding and archery. Opt for a curated experience or a personalized, more structured program; or work with the team of experts to create your own à la carte itinerary. Whatever you choose, you’ll be following the Sensei Way – a philosophy developed by co-founder Dr David Agus along with scientists and physicians from around the world that focuses on three paths: movement, nourishment and rest.

For even more expert guidance, head to the Center for Health & Wellbeing at Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village. Set in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains just minutes from the Malibu beaches, the Center is where you can delve deeper into specifics such as metabolism, body composition and nutrition with a robust and highly skilled team of experts. Book a personalized four-day health retreat, plan a relaxing wellness stay, or simply check in for a weekend getaway and enjoy the complimentary classes led by expert instructors, the healthy food options and the tranquil setting. Try new things like equine-guided meditation with horses, meant to help focus and awareness.

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Plan your perfect vacation at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, the real-life version of the fictional resort in Season One of The White Lotus.

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For Season Two, The White Lotus travelled to Sicily and the historic San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel.

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Spend at least one day relaxing by San Domenico Palace’s iconic pool overlooking the Ionian Sea.

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Head to the Spa in Maui for a locally inspired treatment or a massage in one of the thatched-roof outdoor spa hales.

For the set-jetter

According to a 2023 survey from American Express Travel, 70% of Gen Z and Millennial travellers have been inspired to visit a destination after seeing it in a television series or film. And Four Seasons is perfectly primed to bring your favourite on-screen locations to life. Just a few of our Four Seasons celebrity properties are The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort, Bahamas, where the 2006 James Bond movie, Casino Royale, was filmed; the Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel, where sparks flew between Julia Roberts and Richard Gere in the all-time classic Pretty Woman; and Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel, in last season’s Emily in Paris.

Of course, at the top of everyone’s destination wish list are Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea and the gorgeous San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel – the real stars of HBO’s popular series The White Lotus.

Synonymous with paradise, Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea is a dream setting for a Hawaiian vacation. Maybe it’s the palm-tree-lined, powdery beach; the incredible aloha spirit of the staff; or the tailored treatments and locally inspired experiences found at the Spa, but this is a property that stays with you long after you leave. While the resort in The White Lotus is fictional, you can still walk in the footsteps of your favourite characters from Season One while in Maui. Snorkel in the clear blue waters, explore the Pacific aboard a private yacht, unwind by the pool and be sure to pay a visit to the Resort Spa.

Built on the site of a 14th-century convent, San Domenico Palace served as the scene-stealing backdrop for Season Two of The White Lotus. The Hotel, set along Sicily’s coast within the charming town of Taormina, makes the most of its dramatic setting with rooms overlooking the Ionian Sea, sprawling gardens and a Michelin-starred restaurant helmed by Chef Massimo Mantarro. Have the Hotel arrange for a picture-perfect Vespa ride through the historic streets or a luxury yacht cruise, just like Tanya did.

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Enjoy dinner and drinks at MARCUS Restaurant + Terrace, a stylish hotspot located at Four Seasons Hotel Montreal.

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Lounge by the adults-only pool at Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club.

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Grab a drink at The Surf Club’s legendary Champagne Bar, fringed with palm trees and set in the Hotel’s original Art Deco building.

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The guest rooms at Four Seasons Hotel Montreal overlook downtown.

For the culture connoisseur

Experiential travel shows no signs of slowing down in 2024. Increasingly, travellers are planning vacations around a concert, sporting event or seasonal festival. Whether you’re organizing your girls’ trip to Singapore to coincide with a Taylor Swift concert, booking a stay in Miami to relax on the beaches and see Lionel Messi play, heading to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix, or perfectly timing a Paris vacation with the 2024 Summer Games, maximizing travel has never been so fun.

Now that Argentine soccer star Messi has joined Inter Miami CF, it’s the perfect excuse for soccer fans to book a South Florida trip. Rest your head at the elegant Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club, which scores major points for its sprawling, timeless rooms and residences; poolside cabanas; and the legendary, greenery-filled Champagne Bar. Located along 9 pristine acres in Surfside, you’ll have easy access to downtown Miami and shopping in Bal Harbour, with DRV PNK Stadium just a 45-minute drive away. Another excellent option? Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale.

Up north, Four Seasons Hotel Montreal sits in the heart of the city, just a short distance from the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, the racing track that’s the site of the 2024 Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada, happening in early June. After a day cheering in the stands, return to the Hotel for dinner and drinks at MARCUS Restaurant + Terrace, created by visionary chef Marcus Samuelsson.

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Set along Cabo’s Golden Corridor, Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo del Sol offers a Mexican chic, village-style atmosphere.

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Land, sea or sky, there are countless adventures available at Four Seasons Resort Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica.

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Plunge through forests, pass by breathtaking waterfalls and take in the incredible views from the slopes of a volcano while mountain biking in Costa Rica.

For the adventure seeker

Want to learn to free dive? Go river rafting? Ski in the Grand Tetons? Stepping out of your personal comfort zone and feeling the thrill of the great outdoors is also top of mind for many travellers going into 2024. Four Seasons has an impressive roster of global properties in sought-after adventure locales, but the one-of-a-kind insider access to unique, personalized experiences is something you won’t find anywhere else.

At Four Seasons Resort Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica – which recently underwent a $35 million renovation – the idyllic seaside-meets-the-forest setting comes with a healthy dose of adventure. Fill your days with adrenaline-pumping activities such as cruising above the water on an eFoil surfboard, ziplining through the jungle and white-water rafting on the Upper Tenorio River. If you’re not sure where to start, the Resort’s in-house adventure providers, Papagayo Explorers, can guide you every step of the way.

Are you an ocean lover who’s ready to try something new? Head to Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo del Sol – opening in early 2024 – and learn to free-dive right off the Resort beach. Led by the on-site Adventure Team, the Resort’s special free-diving academy lets you build your skills and confidence in order to experience the underwater world in a deeply personal way. Whether you’re an experienced diver or a curious beginner, you’ll gain self-awareness and get a first-hand view into the same waters that celebrated oceanographer Jacques Cousteau once called “the world’s aquarium.”

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If your adventure aspirations lean more towards the mountains than the beach, the chalet-style, ski-in/ski-out Four Seasons Resort and Residences Jackson Hole offers myriad ways to get out and explore the wilderness. Glide down the celebrated ski runs at nearby Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in the winter, trek the area’s rugged peaks in the summer and come face to face with a variety of wildlife in Grand Teton National Park in any season. With plenty of year-round activities to choose from, there’s something for every type of adventurer in Jackson Hole.

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Where will you find yourself in 2024?

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Travel With Purpose

Posted on by Shannon O'Donnell

Six curious faces looked up at my niece and me as we walked into the Big Brother Mouse bookstore in Luang Prabang, Laos. With a quick wave, we approached a group sitting at the large table, each person holding a well-worn notebook and pen. A curious young monk invited us to sit with them, excited to have native speakers join the bookstore’s daily English conversation class.  

 When I was planning this trip, the Big Brother Mouse organization’s grassroots mission to improve literacy in rural Laos captured my attention. So did its pitch to travellers: Make a difference by volunteering to help interested locals learn English. My 12-year-old niece and I were now travelling across Southeast Asia together in search of ways to use travel as a force for good. We revelled in the beauty of Cambodia’s ancient temples, Thailand’s iconic turquoise waters and the jagged karst rocks of northern Vietnam – while forming deeper connections with local cultures and supporting important conservation efforts.  

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The English class at the Laos bookstore was just right for our abilities: In two short hours, my niece helped the young monk troubleshoot the pronunciation of the “th” sound and I helped the group decipher the nuances of a recent news article. In that time, we two gained a fresh perspective on Laotian culture – and our new friends recommended new ways to see their city, including an awe-inspiring sunset boat ride along the Mekong River.  

This was the first deeply meaningful occasion we experienced on our trip, and it motivated us to spend the weeks of our trip helping to empower disabled artisans in Cambodia, supporting Burmese refugees near the Thai border and working with elephant conservation groups in northern Thailand. These experiences gave us a deeper understanding of other people and cultures, as well as a better understanding of the world. And while some of our volunteer work took days, many of the most rewarding activities required just a few hours – easy to work into any itinerary.  

Looking to go beyond must-see spots and immerse yourself in your destination? Four Seasons can help you maximize your experience there while also benefiting its people and culture.  

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Walk With Elephants

Watching elephants joyfully bathe in a local river is a highlight of any trip to Southeast Asia. My niece and I loved seeing wide, happy arcs of water sail through the air as elephants sprayed themselves (and the occasional spectator). Rescued from abuse and overwork on the streets of Thailand, the elephants at Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle now live a life of luxury at the property’s Elephant Camp. Through a partnership with the Golden Triangle Elephant Foundation, guests have helped adopt and care for more than 20 elephants, providing food and veterinary care through monthly memberships. For a hands-on experience, join the on-site mahouts and help bathe, feed and walk the gentle giants, or set out on one of three jungle excursions to see them in their natural jungle habitat. End your day with the tinkling sounds of traditional Thai folk music as you enjoy a candlelit al fresco dinner at the Elephant Camp. 

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Encourage a Love of Learning

The gift of learning starts with the love of a good book, and guests at the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo can help spark a lifelong passion for reading among local students. Through partnerships with Creciendo Juntos and Libros Para Todos, guests can collect and donate backpacks filled with school supplies – and your favourite books – to area schools. If school is in session, the Resort can arrange in-person assistance, from painting buildings and cooking for students and teachers to playing sports with the children and reading to them. The Resort can also connect you with local families to play, cook or visit with them, as well as ways to donate medical supplies and food. The deep connections you’ll make will help turn memorable moments into meaningful ones.  

 

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Strike a Sustainable Balance

Dreamy beaches, lush jungles, ancient temples, deep spirituality: Bali will leave you breathless. Help protect this paradise at Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay, where cultural conservation is front and centre. Join students at the nearby School for Special Needs for a workshop in dance, Balinese gamelan music, painting, wood carving or pottery. Want to focus on your idyllic environment? Collect trash and debris on a beach walk to sell to Sampah Jujur, a group founded by jeweller John Hardy to show how recycling can be profitable. Or learn about composting, snail farming and tree planting with Zero Waste to Ocean, which responds to environmental challenges facing coastal communities. After a day of good deeds, unwind back at the Resort with an inventive zero-waste cocktail at Sundara, where Head Mixologist Sufian Mahmoud has embraced a philosophy of “minimum waste, maximum flavour.” Each drink features fresh aromatic herbs grown in the Resort’s garden.   

At Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan, get a hands-on look at one of Bali’s oldest traditions: Spend a day in the life of a local farmer in the bucolic rice fields along the Ayung River. Enjoy a picnic breakfast in a bale, or pavilion, then learn how the farmers plant and harvest rice. Celebrate a job well done with water from a fresh coconut picked and cut just for you and a bathing ritual at the Spa, including an invigorating river-stone scrub and soothing Balinese massage.  

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Protect African Wildlife

I was delighted to spot the Big Five – leopards, lions, rhinos, elephants and African buffalo – but during my once-in-a-lifetime Tanzanian safari, watching a mama cheetah frolic across the African savannah with two cubs in tow shines bright in my memory. Guests at Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti should snap extra photos of cheetahs during their excursion into the savannah – one of the least-disturbed and best-studied areas in Africa. At the Lodge’s Discovery Centre, guests can share their images with the Serengeti Cheetah Project, which uses crowdsourced wildlife photos to help identify and track the felines. Each cheetah has its own unique spot pattern, and the photos help researchers record the animals’ movements. And they’re not the only big cat of interest: Set out with a guide to set up remote-camera traps, then spend an afternoon monitoring and classifying animals captured on film with help from The Serengeti Lion Project. 

Visual Diary: An Artist Paints Her Way Through Hoi An, Vietnam

Posted on by Oussama Zahr

When Missy Dunaway spent a year in Istanbul on a Fulbright scholarship in 2013, studying Anatolian textiles, she kept a travel journal – but instead of writing it, she made it visual. Since then, her painted diaries have become a global passport, winning her half a dozen fellowships to travel the world. On Instagram, her work stands out in quiet contrast to the barrage of look-alike vacation photos; her mini canvases invite reflection. Recently she journeyed to Southeast Asia as part of the Envoy by
Four Seasons program, which gives storytellers in a range of genres the chance to immerse themselves in a destination and create work in response to it. Notebook in hand, she navigated the hidden byways and gentle charms of Hoi An, Vietnam, a centuries-old port city.

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What attracted you to the travel journal as a medium?

Art and travel intersect in interesting ways, and all of that is really personal. The thing I love most about a journal is that it’s just yours, and it’s a place where you can be free and independent, and you can make creative changes and take things out and put things in. You get a satisfying sense of autonomy.

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Painting of Hoi An Ancient Town

Dunaway illustrated her guided tour of Hoi An Ancient Town, where lanterns festoon the streets.

Do you paint places as you see them in the moment or as you remember them at a later date?

That’s the best thing about the journal: It’s not just a documentation of a place but also an important emotional journey from start to finish. You’re there in the moment and you have that first impression, but then there’s the long burn – inspirational topics that come on later. Sometimes I paint months later, because I’m reminiscing about a place. I miss it so much that I’ll just spend some time there before bed, painting.

What is your creative process?

It’s like I’m in a little time machine and I just pop back to that spot. I notice the big things first – time of day, light, atmosphere. Those things set a tone for the entire landscape. Once I have that, I think of the skyline. What is the exact skyline of Hoi An – that contour line of the buildings? Cities at twilight, I think, are the most beautiful. I loved walking through Hoi An so much. There is so much play between light and dark, with the canopy of leaves and trees and the sunlight coming through.

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What was your impression of Envoy by Four Seasons when you looked into the program?

I was just so excited. It felt like I had a guarantee that I would be exposed to the immediate local culture of a country. All the times that I’ve travelled, I look for those kinds of opportunities, and sometimes I get lucky and sometimes I don’t. With Envoy, I knew that I was going to be creatively inspired.

How would you describe the experiences that Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai, Hoi An created for you?

I’d say that it was very personal and tailored to me. It felt like an inspirational storm. I think the only other way I could have gotten this level of engagement is if I were to move here. Of course, it doesn’t exactly feel like I’m living here, because I’m in a beautiful resort and everything is taken care of for me.

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Dunaway’s painting of the Goodnight Kiss to the Earth experience at the Resort.

Did you make any strong personal connections during your stay?

I think I related to Miss Oanh so well because she’s also an artist. We just had an immediate rapport. She’s a musician, so she shared her excitement about her craft. The first experience I had with her was the Goodnight Kiss to the Earth, where I wrote a love letter to Mother Earth and placed it in a floating lantern and sent it out into a pond. The next day I saw her again for a singing bowl lesson. At first I thought of it as a bigger version of singing water glasses, but it was much more powerful, with a deeper, richer sound.

How did you feel in the moment?

I just felt so incredibly fortunate. Sometimes you can just picture yourself as a grandmother telling that story about that time that you got to play singing bowls in Vietnam with a professional musician. It was one of those moments where I’m telling myself, “Take this in. Be really present, be focused, listen to what she’s saying, don’t let your mind wander, because you know you’re not going to be here again.” Those moments are always the ones that feel so short.

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Were you expecting your trip to be so interactive?

I thought it would be interactive to a degree. But even with my high expectations, it went further. I not only went to a textile workshop but also worked at a loom. I not only went on a fishing boat but also threw a net.

How does engaging in an activity, like casting a net, differ from hearing someone describe it in words?

You get a more immediate sense of how big the world is, and then also how small the world is. We have fishing in Maine. I see fishing all the time. But then you get onto a traditional Vietnamese boat and you learn about the eyes that are painted on it, which come from local folklore – they’re meant to scare away sea monsters. Or the particular way that they hold the net in their hands so that it casts evenly into a fan. In every single thing that’s done, there’s so much depth.

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Dunaway embraced the evening ritual of candle lighting in Vietnam.

Was anything particularly surprising about your time at the Resort?

I would get home to my villa at night and someone would have come in and lit candles. I love lighting candles; it’s something I do at home. That was such a personal touch. But then I heard that this is a Vietnamese tradition that goes back to before they had electricity. There is this nightly ritual with a family of lighting candles as the sun is going down. It’s a very small detail that reflects something about Vietnamese culture, and that just made it even more significant.

How would you describe your experience as an Envoy?

This experience has been mind-opening. It was about having conversations, listening, taking part. A hands-on experience will stay with you; that’s how you should engage with the world.

All photography courtesy Muse Storytelling

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Exploring Mumbai With a Dabbawala

Posted on by Zach Glassman

The Mumbai train system is the lifeblood of this metropolis. It nourishes the city by pumping commuter trains full of citizens through its arteries to all of their destinations. More than 7.5 million commuters crowd its coaches every day, making this one of the busiest rapid transit systems in the world.

On a humid winter morning, I arrive at Churchgate railway station, one of the system’s critical nexuses. At any given moment, trains glide in and out of a dark, bustling train terminus, picking up and dropping off people from every tier of life in Mumbai, from office workers to students to merchants to executives. Standing with Valencia Albuquerque, Concierge of Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai, I watch as tides of vibrant colours spill on and off of the trains and spread in every direction.


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Mumbai’s dabbawalas pick up fresh meals from their clients’ homes each day before delivering the containers to their workplace in time for lunch.

Photography courtesy Zachary Glassman

As the sea of commuters begins to clear, I also notice passengers dressed head to toe in white and unloading assortments of cylindrical tiffin boxes. These are the city’s dabbawalas, highly specialised workers whose sole task is to ensure that meals originating from homes all around Mumbai reach their owners safely at lunchtime.

The dabbawala system is a reflection of the Mumbai that surrounds it: incredibly organised chaos. – Zach Glassman

More than a century of history

This unique system originated in the late 1800s, when there were very few restaurants in Mumbai, and fewer still to cater to a new class of commuting workers. As a matter of urgency and practicality, a new delivery system developed in which dabbawalas—literally “carriers of boxes”—stepped into the breach to bring warm lunches to the workers in every family.

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Today, thousands upon thousands of deliveries are made to offices around Mumbai. The dabbawalas, part of a tradition that began about 125 years ago, are the packers and messengers for hungry office workers all over the metropolis.

Experiencing lunch in Mumbai

It was at Churchgate station that I met Dyaneshwar Paangare, whom I would be shadowing for the day through the Lunch Like a Local Extraordinary Experience, available exclusively through Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai. While I didn’t actually assist the dabbawalas in the sorting and final delivery of their shipments—several botched deliveries might have resulted if I had tried my hand—I did gain understanding of this complex system and its various moving parts. The explanations from both Albuquerque and Paangare helped me appreciate the amount of work and precision required for the delivery of a single dabba (box).

Mumbai dabbawalas organize their dabbas

Over the course of a single day, 5,000 dabbawalas work to deliver more than 200,000 tiffin boxes to Mumbai’s work force.

Photography courtesy Zachary Glassman

Mumbai dabbawalas preparing lunches outside Churchgate

Outside Churchgate station, dabbawalas sort dabbas (containers) according to their final destination.

Photography courtesy Zachary Glassman

Dabbawala reading the coding on a dabba

The dabbawala system relies solely on human processing, as each tiffin box must be read to determine where it’s going.

Photography courtesy Zachary Glassman

Dabbas sitting on the street in Mumbai

The ultimate exercise in organisation, the typical dabba changes hands at least five times before reaching its owner.

Photography courtesy Zachary Glassman

Mumbai dabbawala delivering lunches

The system has been awarded the six sigma level of efficiency, meaning that roughly one mistake occurs every six million deliveries.

Photography courtesy Zachary Glassman

From beginning to end, each meal changes hands at least five times. Every tiffin box has an alphanumeric code (some written more clearly than others) from which a dabbawala can ascertain the origin, the destination and other crucial information. With great interest and countless questions, I followed Paangare from Churchgate to a delivery at his final destination (Mafatlal Centre, an office building in Nariman Point).

A complex system

In an age when nearly all logistics have moved to electronic coding and tracking, it was fascinating to see a system that appeared so haphazard and yet worked with astounding accuracy and efficiency. The system relies entirely on human processing, from the cooking of each meal to the reading of each individual tiffin box to the physical delivery of each parcel. And it operates nearly flawlessly, with errors being reported so rarely that the rate of successful deliveries is close to 100 percent. The dabbawala system is a reflection of the Mumbai that surrounds it: incredibly organised chaos.

My immersion in the world of dabbawalas served as the best possible introduction to the city’s train system, and to the Fort and Nariman Point areas of Mumbai. Once the delivery was complete, I returned to the Hotel, where a warm vegetarian tiffin box awaited my attention. Though my own lunch might not have arrived from a faraway corner of Mumbai, I was able to unwind and enjoy some delicious food with a new-found comprehension of the craft, customs and systems behind this daily ritual.

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