Europe, South America & Cruise Travel Expert

Egyptian adventure, 2021

I specialize in connecting curious travelers with meaningful, immersive experiences, not just checking boxes on a map, but genuinely learning something about the places they visit. With so much conflicting information online, from outdated blog posts to algorithm-driven "best of" lists, sorting out what's actually worth your time in a destination can take almost as much effort as the trip itself. That's where decades of firsthand experience make the difference.

My expertise comes from decades of firsthand travel: I've explored all seven continents, visited more than 60 countries, and speak both Spanish and Portuguese. I lived in London for nearly four years, giving me an insider's perspective on European travel, and today I plan trips most frequently to Italy, Spain, France, the UK and Portugal, drawing on years of firsthand experience across each of these destinations. I've also returned to Brazil more than 20 times over the past 30+ years, often staying a month or longer at a time, and since 2018 have spent two to three months in Colombia during winter seasons, along with numerous trips to Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Peru.

As a Europe travel specialist and a South America travel expert with lived experiences, I design itineraries for travelers who want to understand a destination's culture, history and cuisine from the inside, not just see it from a bus window. Coordinating multi-country logistics, matching the right region to the right season, and separating a genuinely worthwhile experience from an overhyped one is where I do the heavy lifting so my clients don't have to.

One of my specialties is designing immersive, once-in-a-lifetime journeys built around learning, culture and hands-on discovery, trips to destinations travelers have dreamed about for years, planned around a region's food, art, history or natural landscape, often paired with active, outdoor experiences like hiking. Whether it's trekking in Patagonia, exploring a UNESCO World Heritage city on foot, relaxing in an onsen after a day exploring Japan's temples and gardens, or tasting your way through a region's local cuisine, I build itineraries around genuine curiosity, not just a checklist of sights, using supplier relationships and destination knowledge that aren't available with a search engine alone.

I'm also a certified specialist in premium and luxury ocean cruises, expedition cruises, and river cruises, matching travelers to the ship, line and itinerary that fits how they actually want to experience a destination, a decision with more variables than most travelers realize until they're already booked. For travelers who prefer an all-inclusive resort, I work selectively with a small number of upscale resort brands rather than broad, budget-focused options.

Based in Chicago, I work with clients throughout Chicagoland, Ohio, and the greater Midwest and Great Lakes region, as well as travelers nationwide who want a travel advisor with real, firsthand knowledge of where they're headed, not secondhand recommendations pulled from a search results page.