Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2019 i Maxim

It’s the last thing anyone wants to see in the rearview, especially in Texas. I’m on Highway 71 headed westbound out of Austin, happy as a Lone Star barbecue, when suddenly my entire rear glass is shrouded in blue and red flashing lights. The dread that overwhelms me is like a knee to the solar plexus from Daniel Cormier. Damn. How did I let this AMG seduce me? Because as we all know, speed infractions are always the vehicle’s fault—never the driver’s. I pull over and start stammering sorrowful excuses. After a quick shuffling of paperwork, the officer admits he never quite got a fix on me, but was pretty sure I was speeding. With ruffled brow, he and his partner take a couple laps around the gorgeous matte-black Mercedes,…

In its more than eight centuries of existence, Rabat has seen it all. From its founding by Almohad caliphs, eager to utilize the city’s proximity to Iberia for raiding, to its time under the control of Barbary pirates looking to dominate local shipping routes, Rabat has held strategic importance in the region. When France created a protectorate in Morocco in 1912, the seat of government was moved back to Rabat from Fez, in partnership with Sultan Yusef Ben Hassan, an Alaouite who claimed the throne when his brother abdicated following the French treaty. When Morocco finally achieved independence in 1956, then King Mohammed V (grandfather of the current king, Mohammed VI) decided to keep his capital at Rabat, where it has remained ever since. While Rabat is filled with archaeological…

It’s uncommon for a modern city built largely in the past half century to have an extensive and fascinating history, but little about Agadir is commonplace. Located on the shores of the Atlantic and one of the most visited towns in southern Morocco, it is a true tale of two cities: the one before 1960 and the one after. For it was in 1960 that a massive earthquake essentially wiped Agadir off the map, causing unprecedented destruction and erasing centuries of cultural and architectural history. The main draw of laid-back Agadir today is the city’s easily accessible and tranquil beach, whose blue-green water, raw natural beauty, and cleanliness attract visitors in spades. It’s a must-see spot when in Agadir, especially when the waves reach epic heights, perfect for both adrenaline-junkie…

On her adopted home: I’m 27 years old and was born in Berlin. I moved to the U.S. by myself when I was 16 years old, not speaking English. California is definitely home to me, but in my heart, I’ll always be a Berliner. On her modeling start: When I was 14, I started appearing in some TV shows in Germany, and modeling was just a side job that came with the territory. But I was always more on the athletic side rather than the runway type, and Maxim really appreciates all shapes in their contest. On the impact of her victory: I’ve been following Maxim forever, and I saw an ad for the contest on social media. I had never won any contest, ever, but I thought, Why not…

Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young has long been the center of attention. From his time in high school as a top-25 recruit to taking the college basketball world by storm during his one season at Oklahoma and arriving in Atlanta as the hoped-for savior of the Hawks, Young has carried a lot of responsibility on his shoulders in the brightest of spotlights. Now partway through his rookie season, Young has given the city of Atlanta something it hasn’t had in its NBA franchise in some time: hope. We spoke to the unstoppable rookie about his ascension to the top of the basketball world and how he views his role as the centerpiece of the Hawks’ rebuilding project. You were highly ranked coming out of high school, but quickly became…

Not so long ago, $100 million was the benchmark in ultra-luxury real estate, an extravagant figure reserved for a few massive properties beyond the reach of mere mortals: modern-day white elephants that nobody wanted even if they could afford them. Now, as the number of billionaires worldwide has ballooned—according to Forbes, there were 2,208 of them in 2018, up from 2,043 in 2017, representing an increase in total wealth of about $1.4 trillion—that number has come to be much more common. The focus these days isn’t so much on the purchase price as what the money gets you. As ever-evolving technology puts even the most fantastical features within the realm of possibility, we can all aspire to live like Tony Stark, or at least Mark Zuckerberg. This goes way beyond…

Janel Tanna, the winner of the 2019 Maxim Cover Girl competition, is not your average cover girl. In fact, very little about her is average in any way. She is a self-invented, unconventional multihyphenate extraordinaire: an accomplished actress, producer, and occasional screenwriter but also, with the accompanying images as supporting proof, a bona fide model. At the moment she’s acting in several film projects while simultaneously writing and producing an upcoming film of her own. It’s enough to make an onlooker’s head explode. Not that this would be so problematic, however, as Tanna can assist with that as well. You see, Tanna, in actuality, also holds an M.D. She graduated summa cum laude from the University at Buffalo medical school, with a postgrad focus on neurosurgery, all prior to the…

Casablanca. The name alone evokes images of beautiful, mysterious expats having passionate affairs and leading thrilling lives, but the true identity of the city today bears little resemblance to the Casablanca so many of us imagine. There’s a Rick’s Café, opened in 2004 and designed to resemble its namesake from the film, but to enjoy the city it’s probably best to erase any preconceptions. While cities like Fez or Agadir may have more charm or personality, it’s Casablanca, with more than three times the population of Marrakech, that is Morocco’s economic and industrial powerhouse, and the backbone of the country. Still, it is well worth a visit. One can stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Casablanca, which combines the opulent luxury of the hotel chain with all the Moroccan style,…

Much of Morocco is about color and vibrancy, the energy of an ancient culture brought into the modern age. But one part of the country remains exactly as monotone and eerily quiet as it has been for centuries: the sand dunes that take up huge spaces between the cities and towns spread across the nation. Perhaps the most well-regarded of these is Erg Chebbi, still the home of Berber nomads who have inhabited the area for generations. With unique, orange-colored sand and dunes that can rise to nearly 500 feet, it’s exactly the image many have in mind when visiting Saharan Morocco. The adventurous traveler can explore the dunes on an allterrain vehicle or 4x4, or strap a sandboard to your feet atop one of the hills and do your…

COVER Leather motorcycle jacket, CHROME HEARTS ($7,700); 755 Washington St., New York, NY (212-327-0707; chromehearts.com). JANEL TANNA P.41: Jacket, MISS CIRCLE ($135); misscircle.com; Gold and diamond necklace, SYDNEY EVAN ($1,125); sydneyevan.com. P.42: Bodysuit, COSABELLA ($116); cosabella.com. Diamond earrings, SYDNEY EVAN ($485); sydneyevan.com. P.45: Lace bra ($53) and thong ($26), COSABELLA; cosabella.com. Boots, JIMMY CHOO ($1,695); jimmychoo.com. Gold and diamond bracelet, SYDNEY EVAN ($705); sydneyevan.com. P.47: Skirt, MISBHV ($585); misbhv.com. Gold and diamond bracelet, SYDNEY EVAN ($3,380); sydneyevan.com. AUTO P.10: GT63 S 4-Door Coupe, MERCEDES-BENZ (price upon request); mercedes-benz.com. COGNAC P.20: Louis XIII Cognac, RÉMY MARTIN (price upon request); louisxiiicognac.com. P. 23: VSOP Cognac, D’USSÉ (priceuponrequest); dusse.com.…

I rubbed my bleary eyes as the caffeine kicked in, and the fog lifted. Twenty-three hours of air travel, on a nearly 12,000-mile marvel of a modern journey from Gotham City to Lusaka, Zambia—what used to be Northern Rhodesia. Then, three hours’ sleep in a fantastic hotel after greeting friends old and new. I cracked a local Mosi beer for breakfast. It would have been almost rude not to. Some might well agree that it would even out the cockeyed view of the world-class sunrise peeking through my jet-lag-tinted glasses on the long drive out to camp. The last best 4WD I had climbed out of was a Lamborghini Aventador, at Pebble Beach. But this was a whole different kettle of fish, one that had me thinking of a more…

To begin to comprehend the intoxicating and contradictory city that is Marrakech, you need a metaphor. And these days the handiest is what you drive—or, more accurately, what you’re being driven around in. You could take the high road, and survey the Red City in the cosseted privacy of a Bentley from the Royal Mansour’s fleet. Or you could go adventurously low and hire a Russian-made Ural motorcycle from tour outfitter Marrakech Insiders and observe the sensory onslaught of the city from a low-slung sidecar. Either way, Marrakech will make its mark on you. The cacophony of hagglers and shoppers just steps from the silence of an opulent private courtyard underscores the city’s timeless tension between artistry and chaos. And increasingly, luxury abounds, making it a ripe time for a…

For all that the world’s great cities promise a well-traveled man, there’s nothing that can pop the bubble of a fully transporting experience far from home like bumping into overt reminders of what you left behind. In this place, free of Gucci and Prada and theme-y Moroccan restaurants, it’s easy to recall that the truest luxury is the absence of off-the-rack ideas of luxury. Fez is a profoundly cultured city, with traditions of craft and beauty and layers of history that give it heft and depth. This is the city with the oldest university in the world, where tile work and architecture reach a pinnacle of elegant and compressed adornment, and where the best thing is frequently not the latest but the oldest, where a mindful evolution is in the…

On May 6, 1970, Japanese ski adventurer Yuichiro Miura managed to carve down part of Mount Everest’s South Col, eventually falling down the icy face and careening toward an open crevasse, and likely death, until he was miraculously stopped by a snow patch. That day, the legend of the “man who skied down Everest” was born, and it was unlikely to be outdone by any sane human anytime soon. After all, if skiing a small part of Everest, a vicious mountain where hundreds of climbers and Sherpas have lost their lives, was insanely risky for Miura, the thought of someone attempting to ski the much more treacherous K2 was pure fantasy. For all the notoriety and high fatality rate of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on earth, it is K2,…