Cathy

GOLF AS A SIDE DISH

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Tuscany golf course overlooking a medieval hilltop town, luxury golf and wine country travel planned by Fort Collins advisor Cathy at Amore Travel Designs

I am heading to Italy (again 😉) soon, and this trip looks different from most of the ones I write about here. Positano and Ischia come first, followed by coastal Tuscany, then Terme di Saturnia, a thermal spa region I have wanted to visit for years. All the clients I have sent there have fallen in love with this property. Golf sits inside all of it, three rounds spread across the trip, but it is not the reason I booked the flight. That distinction matters more than people realize when they picture a golf vacation.

YOU ARE ALREADY LUXURY

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This is what luxury actually feels like, a sunset, a glass of wine, and a view over the Amalfi Coast that stops every conversation

A version of this conversation happens in nearly every consultation I have. Someone tells me they love the idea of a beautifully planned trip, then immediately adds that they are not really a luxury traveler, as if luxury requires a certain kind of person or a certain kind of bank account before you are allowed in the door. That assumption gets in the way of some genuinely wonderful trips, so let us clear up what luxury travel actually means, starting with what it is not.

WHERE I FELL TWICE

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Brazilian steakhouse dining experience in Sardinia, Italy, culinary travel memories from Amore Travel Designs

I landed in the south of Sardinia expecting one kind of trip and found something rougher, quieter, and more honest than the postcards ever show. Chia Laguna sits along a coastline that still feels a little wild, sand dunes rolling toward water so clear it barely looks real. Forte Village, further along the coast, surprised me with its scale, an entire small village built around gardens and restaurants and a kitchen where Chef Raff let a group of us get our hands genuinely messy making pasta.

JET LAG HAS RULES

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That mid-flight moment when jet lag catches up with you, exactly the fog this blog explains how to fight back against

Jet lag gets blamed on the flight itself, but the real cause sits somewhere else entirely. Your body runs on an internal clock called the circadian rhythm, tuned over years to a specific pattern of light, darkness, meals, and sleep.

NOTES FROM THE FJORDS

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The Vasa Museum's centerpiece warship in Stockholm, Sweden, a highlight of any luxury Scandinavia cruise planned by Fort Collins travel advisor Cathy at Amore Travel Designs

I always tell clients that research only gets you so far, and this trip has reminded me exactly why. So far I have visited Stockholm and Warnemunde, with Copenhagen and Oslo still ahead of me, and both stops have already given me stories I will be telling clients for years.

SKIP THE CROWDS ENTIRELY

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Skip the crowds entirely — a quiet Venice canal, a coffee, and a journal that says travel more, worry less, exactly what shoulder season makes possible

Everyone wants to travel in July. School is out, the weather feels safe, and summer has always been the obvious choice.
It is also, quietly, the worst time to visit most of Europe’s best-known destinations.
Shoulder season sits in the gap between peak summer and the off season, roughly April through early June and September through October. It is the window my most seasoned travelers request again and again, and once you understand why, you will probably ask for it too.

WHAT HAPPENS BEHIND SCENES

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Behind every unforgettable trip is hours of thought, care, and planning — a look inside the real work that goes into every Amore Travel Designs itinerary

Clients see the finished product. The itinerary document, the confirmed reservations, the trip that unfolds exactly as planned.
What they do not see is everything that happens before that document 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.

QUESTIONS I HEAR MOST

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A travel planning notebook with a view of the Eiffel Tower — first-time Europe travel questions answered by Fort Collins travel advisor Cathy at Amore Travel Designs

Sarah reached out with a simple message. She and her husband wanted to celebrate their anniversary in Italy, but they had never traveled internationally together and had no idea where to start.
Over the next several months, Sarah asked me almost every question I hear on a regular basis. Her trip ended up being a two week journey through Rome, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast, and by the end, she told me she could not imagine having planned it alone.

THE REAL NINETEENTH HOLE

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St. Andrews golf course and historic hotel in Scotland—luxury travel expertly curated by Fort Collins travel advisor Cathy Rowland of Amore Travel Designs.

A great golf trip is not just about the course. It is about the tee time that does not feel rushed, the caddie who knows the greens better than the yardage book, and the dinner reservation waiting after the round. I have planned golf trips to Scotland, Ireland, and some of the finest resorts in the US, and the best ones always have one thing in common. Every detail outside the golf was handled just as carefully as the golf itself.

THE STAMP IS GONE

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A traveler holds up her passport at the new EES checkpoint, biometric scanner glowing beside her, ready to step officially into the European Union.

Picture the arrivals hall in Rome, early morning, light pouring through the glass. A traveler steps up to a kiosk instead of a booth. No stamp, no ink pad, no rush of relief when a page fills up. Just a camera, a quick scan, and a small blinking light.