THE PLANNING PROCESS
How We'll Plan Your Trip Together
A considered, end-to-end approach to planning the trip you’ve been imagining.
How a Professional Travel Advisor Plans Your Trip – In Three Steps
Every well-planned trip is a series of small, considered decisions made well in advance — which cruiseline to book that matches your style, which villa is actually private versus advertised as private, which guide in Africa is worth the additional ask. Those decisions are the work. My job is to make them with you, not for you, so the trip that arrives on your itinerary is recognizably yours. Whether you’re planning a European river cruise, an expedition voyage in Alaska, a private safari, or a multi-country itinerary you’ve sketched on the back of a napkin, the process is the same: a quiet conversation about how you actually like to travel, then eight-plus years of advisor relationships put to work on your behalf, then a single point of contact from the moment your itinerary is confirmed until you’re home.
Complimentary Consultation
Begin with a short Trip Inquiry — destination, travel style, dates if you have them, and the kind of trip you want this one to be. I read each inquiry personally, and I’ll come to our complimentary consultation already familiar with your vision so the call is spent on substance, not setup. Because I work with a small number of clients at a time, the inquiry helps both of us decide whether we’re the right fit before any time is committed.
Research & Design
This is where the work happens. I draft a proposed itinerary — properties, room categories, the order of cities, how you move between them, the experiences worth booking in advance — and we revise together until it reads the way you want the trip to feel. Where it makes sense, I book through advisor programs so you arrive to upgrades, breakfast included, and a property that already knows you’re coming. Most custom itineraries take two to three rounds of revisions across several weeks.
Travel with Confidence
Before you leave, we’ll walk through your final itinerary together so you arrive at the airport without questions. While you’re traveling, I’m reachable by text for anything that comes up — a last-minute reservation, a missed connection, a change of plan. When something goes wrong (and on rare occasion something will), you have one person to call rather than a 1-800 line.