About Julie
I’m Julie, the diver, traveler and writer behind This is Luxury Travel. I’ve spent the past two decades in a happy contradiction: a career as a management consultant that put me on planes, in lounges and in hotels for a living — and a private life spent getting back on planes voluntarily, this time with dive gear.
The consulting years taught me how to judge a hotel fast and fairly. When you sleep in a different property every week for work, you stop being impressed by lobbies and start noticing what actually matters: the blackout curtains, the shower pressure, whether breakfast can be eaten in twenty minutes or savored for two hours, and whether the staff solve problems or create them. When I travel for pleasure, I bring that same eye — plus considerably higher expectations, because now it’s my own precious weeks.
The diving side
I’m a certified Rescue Diver with more than 1,500 logged dives. Diving is what shaped this site’s unusual specialty: luxury liveaboards. I’ve now been on more than 30 liveaboard trips around the world, including 10 trips to Raja Ampat and 6 liveaboards in the Maldives, along with the Galapagos, the Red Sea, Belize, Cocos Island, the Sea of Cortez and most of Indonesia’s remote corners. Very few people review both Four Seasons suites and dive-boat cabins; on this site you get both, judged with the same honesty.
I shoot my own photos — a Canon R3 above the surface, and underwater a Xiaomi 17 Ultra in a DiveVolk SeaTouch housing, a setup I’ve tested (and reviewed, including the failures) in the field. Every image on this site is mine unless stated otherwise.
Ten years living in Indonesia
For the past ten years, Indonesia has been my home — and that changes what I can tell you about it. Bali is the island I know inside out: not two weeks of it, but every season of it, from Seminyak’s beachfront to Singaraja’s old harbor, from Ubud’s jungle resorts to the warungs tourists never find. And I’ve traveled the archipelago far beyond the resort islands: more than 20 trips to Raja Ampat and Komodo, dive expeditions through Halmahera, Alor, the Banda Sea and the Forgotten Islands, road trips across Sumba and Flores — sleeping everywhere from Nihi Sumba, once named the best hotel in the world, to remote island guesthouses with no running water and no electricity. That range is the point. When I call a Bali resort the best on the island, or tell you a “remote luxury” experience isn’t worth the transfer, it’s measured against a decade of living here. I’d argue no luxury travel writer knows Indonesia better, and this site is where I try to prove it.
How I review
I’ve visited 135 countries, and I only review places I have actually stayed, boats I have actually sailed on, and festivals I have actually attended. Every review states what my verdict is based on — the dates, the room or cabin, the length of stay. When something disappoints, I say so: you’ll find 3/5 ratings on this site next to the 5/5s, because a review site where everything is perfect is useless to you. Details of how reviews are conducted are on my methodology page.
A few of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in
People always ask, so — in no particular order: the tented camp of Capella Ubud in Bali’s jungle, the old-Bali beachfront of The Oberoi Bali, the pool villas of the Four Seasons Jimbaran, the wild horses of Nihi Sumba, the castaway luxury of Six Senses Con Dao, the reef-side eco villas of Misool Resort in Raja Ampat, the romance of Yasawa Island Resort in Fiji, and the clifftop drama of Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal.
Questions, corrections, or a boat you think I should dive from? Reach me through the contact page, or find me on Instagram — @thisisluxurytravel for the travel side and @thisisluxurydiving for the diving side — and on Facebook.
My diving experience in numbers
- 1,500+ dives logged across the world's top dive destinations
- 30+ liveaboard trips around the world, including 6 in the Maldives alone
- 10 diving trips to Raja Ampat — I keep going back because nowhere else compares
- 135 countries visited, from off-grid islands in Alor to the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos
- Underwater photographer — most photos on this site are mine
Liveaboards and dive boats I've personally reviewed
Every boat below is a trip I took myself — cabins slept in, dives done, food eaten, WiFi tested. Ratings and complaints are my own.
- Indonesia: Emperor Harmoni, Seahorse, Coralia, Tiare, Ilike, Jakare
- Maldives: Scubaspa Ying, White Pearl, Duke of York, Blue Force One
- Egypt: Blue Force 3
- Philippines: Infiniti (Tubbataha)
- Seychelles: Silhouette Sea Star
How this site works
I explain how my trips are funded, how I rate, and how affiliate links work on my review methodology page and in the disclosure policy. The short version: my opinions are not for sale.