How It Works
What happens after you say hello.
Working with a travel designer should feel clear from the very first step. Here is exactly what to expect, from your consultation request to the day you’re home.
Discovery Call
Chris gets to know you
A relaxed 30–45 minute conversation, in person in Lafayette or by phone or video. Chris learns about you: your interests, past trips you loved (and didn’t), how you like to travel, who’s coming, your timing and your budget comfort. You’ll also talk through how planning works and whether a planning fee applies.
Research & Design
Your journey takes shape
Chris researches routes, hotels, ships, guides and experiences that fit what you shared — drawing on supplier relationships through The Travel Society and Virtuoso. This is where the design happens: the right pace, the right neighborhoods, the right room category, and the moments you’d never find on your own.
Proposal & Refinement
You review, we refine
You receive a clear proposal with recommended options and pricing. Together you adjust it — swap a hotel, add a night, slow a day down — until it feels unmistakably yours. Nothing is booked until you approve it.
Reservations & Documentation
Everything is secured
Chris books every component, requests any eligible amenities, and confirms the details. You receive one organized itinerary with confirmations, contacts and payment dates in one place, plus guidance on travel protection.
Before You Travel
Ready, not rushed
In the weeks before departure, Chris checks in on documents, entry requirements, dining and excursion reservations, packing considerations and final timing — and reconfirms the details with suppliers.
Support While Traveling
Someone in your corner
You’ll travel with Chris’s direct contact information. If plans change — a delayed flight, a missed connection, a room that isn’t right — Chris works on your behalf to fix it, as quickly as time zones allow. Your documents also include the 24-hour assistance numbers for your airline, cruise line and travel protection provider for anything urgent.
Welcome Home
The conversation continues
After you return, Chris follows up to hear what you loved and what you’d change. That feedback shapes your next trip — and makes every journey that follows even more personal.
Planning Fees
Clear from the start.
Professional planning fees may apply depending on the complexity and scope of your journey. Any applicable fee will be discussed before the planning process begins.
Many hotels, cruise lines and tour operators compensate advisors through commission, so some bookings carry no additional cost to you. Complex custom itineraries — multi-country journeys, honeymoons with many moving parts, or group travel — take significant research and design time, and a planning fee reflects that work. Either way, you’ll know before anything begins.
Step One
Start with a conversation.
No commitment — just a chance to talk about where you’d like to go.