The Grown-up Travel Company

05/07/2026

We're coming home too 🤘😎🤘 Night 1 was insane, the last night of the tour is gonna be off the charts...

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 TONIGHT IN LONDON 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
London Stadium

We keep hearing about “it” coming home. Whatever it is will have to wait, because we’ve got one more gig before WE come home. Before all that happens, please put your hands together and bid a warm farewell to Pantera and Avatar, who will open tonight’s show.

Meeting up with friends at the show, or want to get a group together to watch the match after our gig? Then you’ll want to check out the Official Metallica Discord and the Metallica Forums.

The poster from tonight’s show, created by Luke Preece, will be available for purchase exclusively at the venue.

03/07/2026

We will be there 🤘😎🤘 (normal Africa-based content will resume shortly)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 TONIGHT IN LONDON 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
London Stadium

Our final No Repeat Weekend of 2026 begins tonight. A huge thank you to Gojira and Knocked Loose for being with us for this leg of the tour - they’re up first tonight.

The poster from tonight’s show, created by Luke Preece, will be available for purchase exclusively at the venue.

29/06/2026

I received one of those emails today that I’ll probably keep coming back to for a long time.

Janice and her family have just finished a Kenya and Zimbabwe safari I planned for them, travelling from New Zealand and the USA.

She had asked me for a trip of a lifetime.

That phrase always makes me pause a little, because people don’t say it lightly. They are usually trusting me with something they have dreamed about for years.

Her message included this line:

“He is so much more than a travel agent, he has become a trusted friend and I have yet to meet him.”

That meant a lot.

Not because I need to be everyone’s friend, obviously. But because trust is the whole point.

When someone books a safari with me, they are not just buying beds, transfers and game drives. They are trusting my judgement, my experience and the people I choose on the ground.

Janice also wrote:

“If he said ‘my people’ will meet you at Nairobi Airport and take care of you, it happened.”

That made me smile, because “my people” is exactly how I think about it.

Not a faceless chain of suppliers. Not a call centre. Real people I know, trust and would send my own family to (and have done).

Their trip took them from Instinct of the Mara in Kenya to The Hide in Hwange, Changa on Lake Kariba and Victoria Falls, with a couple of lovely heritage hotel stays along the way.

Wildlife, guiding, comfort, old-school hospitality, and that feeling that Africa gets under your skin a bit.

Janice ended by saying she has a feeling there will be more trips to Africa in her lifetime, hopefully with grandchildren next time.

That might be my favourite part.

If you’re thinking about planning your own African journey, I have a free Africa planning guide here:
https://grownuptravel.co/get-your-free-guide/

And if you’d rather watch or listen than read, my YouTube podcast playlist is here:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW3pzmc5e4BiATqKAG67LCARGKkPGllk6&si=buoQaxLqGDEyxFkS

27/06/2026

You can’t put this in an itinerary.

Last week, a Norwegian family of twelve — three generations, from 7 years old to over 70 — arrived in Kenya for the start of their safari.

Their first WhatsApp message to me was wonderfully normal:

“How do we get to Wilson Airport from the Tamarind Tree Hotel?”

All of this was already in their pre-travel notes, and in the information they received on arrival. We had talked it through as well. But there is a big difference between reading something at home and standing in Nairobi the morning after a long journey from Norway, with twelve family members, several generations of luggage, and a safari about to begin.

So I reminded them that they would be collected by my people in Kenya, all the way.

The next message was the one I wanted:

“We had a really good welcome here in Nairobi and were very well looked after.”

Then, a couple of days later, this photo arrived.

A leopard in a tree with an impala.

Not a professional shot. Not a stock image. Just a real moment, sent from a phone, by a client who happened to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

That’s the thing about safari.

I can plan the structure. I can choose the right camp, the right guides, the right conservancy, the right pace for a three-generational family, and the right beach ending afterwards.

But I cannot order a leopard.

A safari is not a menu. You don’t choose leopard on Tuesday, elephants at sunset on Wednesday, and a lion roaring conveniently after dinner.

Good planning gives these moments the best possible chance.

The wildness does the rest.

I wrote more about this in this week’s newsletter — the story behind the photo, why this kind of family safari needs careful pacing, and how Kenya safari + beach works so well when it’s done properly.

If you’d like to get these weekly Africa travel notes by email, along with first news of upcoming trips, useful planning advice and the occasional offer, you can join the list here:

https://grownuptravel.co/get-your-free-guide/

You’ll also get my free Africa planning guide — 45 pages, newly updated.

No spam. No hard sell. Just proper Africa travel insight from someone who plans these trips for real.

26/06/2026

My clients Janice, Stephen, Margaret and Steven just finished an incredible adventure across Kenya and Zimbabwe (pictured here as they are given the red carpet welcome onto a sunset dinner cruise on the Zambezi in Victoria Falls)

Janice has kept a detailed travel blog the whole way, and signed off as follows:

"It has been an incredible experience of wildlife, scenery and culture enjoyed in the company of Marg & Steve. Andy Higgs of The Grown Up Travel Company put together an itinerary that totally met our needs of safari experiences at a luxury level."

Thanks to you all for being wonderful guests, it was an honour and a privilege to introduce you to the magic of Africa!

23/06/2026

Right place, right time.

Mark gets the first of many perfect shots on the road between Maun and Mababe, Botswana a couple of weeks ago

23/06/2026

19/06/2026

We will be staying here for an unforgettable four nights on our group trip to Zambia in September 2027. Read more to find out just how special this place is (and we will have it all to ourselves, of course...)

By now, you may have heard whispers about Lwenge River Camp, seen a few construction photos, or perhaps even received our latest rates and wondered:"So, what's this new camp all about?"It's a fair question.After all, if you're already familiar with Musekese Camp and the wider Kafue National Park, wh...