What stays with you after a trip?

Sometimes it’s the sight you’ve dreamed about for years. Finally standing in front it can take your breath away.

But sometimes it’s something you never thought to put on your itinerary.

A conversation with your guide that changes how you understand a country. A meal that stretches into an afternoon because the company is too good to leave. Watching someone you love discover something new—and seeing the expression on their face before they realize you’re looking.

Those moments have a way of coming home with us.

I once got into a delightful discussion with my travel partner in Kenya about the young woman he hoped to marry. He told me about his family traveling to her ancestral home to meet with her people. The families sat down together and negotiated the marriage arrangements and dowry, right down to the number of cows and goats.

She had a college education. Apparently that called for a herd—and some goats thrown in for good measure!

I was fascinated. Here was someone I knew through our work together, sharing a deeply personal part of his life and his family’s traditions. I could have listened for hours.

You won’t find “discuss cows, goats, and marriage with your Kenyan friend” on a sightseeing itinerary. But years later, you will still be telling the story.

At a recent travel industry event, I heard a phrase that captured something I’ve believed for a long time:“Experiences are the currency of luxury travel.”

I know the word luxury can sound a little fussy. You may be picturing dress codes, elaborate dinners, and wondering which fork you’re supposed to use.

My idea of a wonderful trip has much more to do with how you spend your days and what those days mean to you.

It might be learning to prepare a regional dish with someone who grew up making it. Exploring a place with a guide whose family has lived there for generations. Sitting quietly on safari while the world carries on around you, wonderfully unaware of your inbox.

There is tremendous value in an experience that deepens your understanding, sparks your curiosity, or lets you feel fully present.

You don’t have to impress anyone with your vacation. You deserve to enjoy it.

That starts with being honest about what matters to you.

Perhaps you love history but have reached your lifetime limit on museum visits. Maybe you want an adventure, with a comfortable bed waiting at the end of the day. You might want to explore your family’s roots, introduce your grandchildren to another culture, or finally take the trip you and your spouse have talked about for thirty years.

Those details matter far more than whatever destination happens to be getting the most attention online.

They’re also why we ask questions.

When you tell us about a favorite trip, what made it special helps us understand you. When you tell us what disappointed you, that matters, too. Your time and money deserve thoughtful recommendations.

For more than twenty years, we’ve been building the experience and relationships that help us make those recommendations. We’ve explored destinations ourselves, learned from people who live there, and found trusted contacts we can turn to for insight and answers.

As our world becomes more artificial, where will you find meaning and authenticity?

I find a great deal of it in travel. In meeting people whose lives are different from mine. In discovering how much we share. In being reminded that there is still so much to see and learn.

If you’ve been thinking about your next trip, tell us what you’re curious about. What would you love to understand, taste, see, or experience?

That’s a wonderful place to begin.

Your Globetrotting Friend,
JOY