– when I plan a trip is a lot more involved than most people imagine, and I think it is time I actually showed you.
Clients see the finished product. The itinerary app, the confirmed reservations, the trip that unfolds exactly as planned.
What they do not see is everything that happens before it ever reaches their inbox. So today, I am pulling back the curtain on my actual process, from the first email to the moment you land.
The First Conversation Matters More Than You Think
Most every trip starts with a conversation, not always a form.
I want to know what excites you, what you want to avoid, and what this trip actually means to you. A fortieth birthday celebration gets planned differently than a family reunion. A honeymoon gets planned differently than a solo milestone trip. This conversation shapes every decision that follows, which is why I never skip it, even for clients I have worked with before.
Research Happens Before You See Anything
Once I understand the trip wants and desires, the real work begins.
I am checking current availability with my suppliers, confirming which hotels have the right rooms for your dates, and verifying that the experiences I want to include are actually running when you are traveling. I am cross-referencing weather patterns (if you want a cooler or hotter weather), local festivals, and blackout dates you would never think to ask about. None of this shows up in the final document. It is simply the work that makes the final document accurate.
The Relationships Do the Heavy Lifting
This is the part clients rarely see, and it is where a real advisor earns their fee.
I am not searching a public booking site. I am emailing hotel contacts I have built relationships with over years, requesting the specific room category that suits you, and flagging your trip as a special occasion when it is one or just asking for VIP treatment. I am working with destination management companies I trust in each region, not a call center reading from a script. These relationships are the difference between a good hotel room and the right one, and they take years to build properly.
Every Detail Gets Checked Twice
Before anything gets sent to you, I go through the entire itinerary as if I were the one traveling.
Does the timing between activities actually make sense. Is there enough time to get from the train station to the hotel. Does the walking tour conflict with the dinner reservation three hours later. I have caught scheduling conflicts, transportation gaps, and blackout dates that would have created real problems on the ground, simply because I walked through the day as if I were living it (and probably have been there/done that 🤣).
The VIP Letter Goes Out Quietly
A few days before you arrive, I send a personal letter to your hotel to let them know you are special.
It introduces you, notes any special occasion, and puts your name in front of the people who matter at check-in. You never see this happen. You simply notice that the staff already seem to know who you are when you walk through the door.
I Am Working While You Are Away
The moment your trip begins, my job is not finished.
I cannot control the weather, and I cannot make a train run when a heat wave shuts down the tracks or a strike takes a whole system offline. Nobody can promise that. What I can do is respond the moment it happens. I am reachable if a train gets cancelled, a flight gets delayed, or a reservation needs to shift because of something entirely outside anyone’s control.
A client once texted me from a French train platform after extreme heat cancelled his train with no warning. I could not undo the cancellation. What I could do was find her a new route, book the hotel he needed for an unplanned night, and have a real plan in place.
That is the difference. Not fixing the unfixable, but never leaving you to sort it out alone.
The Trip Does Not End When You Land Home
After you return, I want to hear how it went.
What worked, what you would change, what surprised you. This is not just courtesy. It shapes how I plan your next trip, and it is often where the best insider tips for future clients come from.
This is the work behind every itinerary I send. None of it shows up in the document itself. All of it shows up in how the trip actually feels.
Ready to see what this looks like for your trip?
Visit amoretraveldesigns.com/contact-me or reach me at cathy@amoretraveldesigns.com. I would love to help you plan your first trip, or your next one.
Check out my other blog posts:
QUESTIONS I HEAR MOST