On the Road with goop’s Art Director

In partnership with our friends at Porsche

Renee Rupcich is the art director at goop. When she’s not on set making photo shoots come to life or Zooming us from her sunlit apartment in Beverly Hills, you can find her out in the wild, gathering inspiration at every turn.

In a strange year of staying put, there’s been one major silver lining for me: having the ability to jump in the car and just go. There’s something about being on the road—windows down, wind whirring, sun dancing along the horizon—that unlocks a universe of possibility. It’s my ultimate power source, recharging my batteries whenever I’m running on empty. And what better way to unplug from the workweek than with a weekend in the desert, road testing the new electric Porsche Taycan? It’s a sleek ride that’s so, so smooth.

DAY ONE

DESERT TRIP

First stop: Artist Nicholas Galanin’s impressive outdoor installation Never Forget for Desert X—a commentary on the Hollywood-ification of the desert and its lasting effect on the Indigenous communities who first inhabited the area.

COME FLY WITH ME

Zipping beneath palm trees and street signs named after the stars of decades past, I take a detour to check out what was once Frank Sinatra’s desert escape from Hollywood back in the late ’40s and early ’50s: Twin Palms (and its legendary piano-shaped pool).

GOLDEN HOUR

As the sun dips below the mountains, I’ve got one thing on my mind: to ride that Aerial Tramway straight to the top. So I lace up my sneakers, grab my water bottle, and head to the San Jacinto Peak for a front-row seat to the prettiest pastel show in town. It’s crazy what a change in scenery can do to shift your perspective. Pure magic.

DAY TWO

SUN CHASING

At this point, the only thing drier than the heat is my skin. After hitting the pool, I basically bathe in GOOPGENES body butter and pat a little GOOPGLOW luminizer around my collarbones and shoulders to ramp up my glow.

SWITCHING GEARS

After charging up the Taycan at the hotel, I’m ready to get back to reality. But not without pulling over to see artist Eduardo Sarabia’s installation The Passenger—the zigzagging maze of woven mats feels like an apt metaphor for navigating this wild ride called life of late.

A few taps on the Taycan’s futuristic screen and my phone is connected, my playlist is turned up, and I’m moving at full throttle. Electric doesn’t even begin to describe that freeing feeling you get on the open road.

HOME STRETCH

As I pull onto the PCH and head toward Malibu (on one charge!), my favorite song comes on the radio. Singing along, I look right and notice a mother and her teenage son driving next to me, smiling and giving me the thumbs up. I smile back, laugh to myself, and take off. I guess what they say is true: Sometimes the journey really is as important as the destination.