Sophie Goes Off The Beaten Path in San Francisco
The story of San Francisco isn’t written in the history books of academia. Its character, history, color, and mystery are instead recorded in novels, spoken words, and songs. It is in this colorful city of steep hills, cable cars, and clouds of mist where Sophie decided to visit next, taking her handcrafted LUC8K Weekender canvas bag, leather tote, and her lucky reversible leather belt. San Francisco is a city whose history consists of booze, drugs, and brothels. It’s where gay Americans first congregated openly en masse. It was always a place with counterculture instincts and a strong creative bent. Of course, today’s biggest influence is from 20-something-year-olds who turn the world around (for better or worse) with disruptive innovation. It...
Sophie in Rome and Monaco
So where has Sophie been all this time? She’s been spending her days (and nights) with Governor the meerkat in South Africa, living an idyllic life. But now it’s time to head back on the road so Sophie gathered her exclusive Luc8k bags, her trustee cell phone, and she heads to the Eternal City, Rome, and then onward to Monaco to represent Luc8k at the Monaco Symposium on Luxury. Sophie’s combination of travel-savvy, distinctive style, digital prowess, and her commitment to living a sustainably responsible life has made her a popular guest at conferences worldwide. It doesn’t hurt that she’s a giraffe and thus an intriguing conversation starter from the moment she enters a room—but first Rome. If you walk a...
Sophie Goes To Argentina and Peru
Sophie likes to move quickly when traveling, and nothing says fast, sleek, and stylish like the new Weekender duffle bag and the colorful new handmade leather belt. These items will come in handy with her new adventure, a trip to Argentina and Peru, two countries known for their rugged beauty, diverse cultures, and fine cuisine. Landed In Buenos Aires Sophie’s flight landed in Buenos Aires, the largest city in Argentina and one of the most important in South America. It’s a place known for its street art, contemporary design, and preserved Spanish architecture. It is a melting pot with residents and visitors from all over the world. Sophie is hungry, and she headed straight for Cucina Paradiso, one of the...
Opposites Attract
Ever since Sophie was in London and saw a BBC movie about meerkats narrated by Paul Newman, she’s been obsessed with these tiny animals. Their long thin furry bodies just over a foot tall are designed for speed above ground and burrowing underground. They inhabit some of the most difficult, barren and dangerous places on earth yet they appear to live happily in their large families. When they stand tall on their hind legs and peer out with their binocular-like eyes, it’s as if they scan entire swaths of the African deserts where they live. Meerkats are about as different from giraffes as any creature can be, yet Sophie is intoxicated with them. They live so close to her childhood...
Sophie Goes To Tokyo
LUC8K’s fearless traveler, Sophie, flew into Narita Airport and took the train to Tokyo to immediately discover that she was lost and confused. It is a common occurrence. Despite being a highly developed country, it is also one of the most culturally isolated places in the world. Travel writer Paul Theroux once wrote: “It wasn’t possible for a foreigner in Japan to feel anything but an alien species, not just different but backward, a clumsy yokel from the colorful but decrepit past.” Sophie, being pragmatic, regarded her bewilderment as the price of being in Japan Besides a 15-foot-tall giraffe that flies in airplanes, rides in trains, and visits the most populous cities along with the most deserted places in the...
Sophie Tries To Disappear In The Paradise of Tonga
Tonga, the name and its far-flung location conjures exotic images of tropical flora and fauna, beautiful beaches and solitude. This reputation is well earned. The country of 169 islands is scattered liked pebbles over 700,000 square kilometers of the deep blue Pacific Ocean among thousands of other pebble-like islands. From the air at sunset they can look as remote as stars in the night sky. Only 36 of the islands are inhabited so like many of these Pacific islands, it’s a place you can disappear if you choose. Of course, Sophie the great explorer has no plans to disappear. She wants to engage and visit even more island nations (Fiji and Bora Bora are on her itinerary). It’s a relatively...
Sophie Goes Surfing In Australia
Sophie’s going to the Land Down Under to fill her sense of awe and wonder, with custom handbags for ladies by her side she’s going for another great ride. If a novel was made about a place like Australia it would be deemed unbelievable, even for fiction. It’s a land of extreme diversity with beautiful, populous and dynamic cities on the southeastern coast; an arid, desert interior; and a tropical northern region. Much of the country is uninhabited. However, its isolation provides a unique environment for fauna and flora that dates back to pre-history. Kangaroos and koalas are only a couple of the animals that don’t exist anywhere else on Earth. There are also wombats, emus and several types of goanna...
Sophie Goes To India
Instead, it is cacophony of colors, noise, scents and humanity. It’s made up of hundreds of provincial provinces with its own languages, religions, cultures and economies. India is also a place where the richest people on earth live in exalted luxury while the poorest of the poor survive in hopeless squalor. The economy is broken, the government is corrupt and the population is exploding. The dysfunctional social system can’t possibly cope with the endless challenges the population face. The country of over a billion people already is expected to surpass China as the most populous country by 2050. The country seems like a lost cause. But somehow India does move forward. The entrepreneurial spirit is voracious. New businesses form by...
Sophie Goes Home to Botswana
Sophie was born and raised on the Okavango Delta, a swampy fertile area formed by the Okavango River in the center of the landlocked country. Rich in plant life and animals it is a place that combines unparallel joys of a diverse landscape with abundant food and water. It also has the dangers of sharing a space with predators like hyenas and lions. Its main city is Maun, the fifth largest city in Botswana, the center of the highly lucrative tourism trade and the center of the agriculture trade. Tourists on their way to many safaris in the area mix with ranchers who bring their cattle to sell. Sophie loves the atmosphere but when she wants to get away and...
Sophie Goes To Antarctica and Learns Some Difficult Facts
The first sign that Sophie was in for a different kind of adventure was when she boarded a military cargo plane. The second sign was when that plane landed on a runway made of ice. The third sign was when she was taken from the station in a giant red “bus” named “Ivan the Terra” with the largest wheels she’d ever seen. Sophie’s destination was the McMurdo Station in Antarctica. When she first feasted her eyes upon the drab looking block of buildings that resembled a construction site or a mining town she was less than impressed. McMurdo serves as the headquarters of the United States Antarctic Program, which manages U.S. scientific research in Antarctica. There are Scientists studying almost...