Brenda's Adventure Travel

Brenda's Adventure Travel Through my 25 years of experience working with resorts, I can take your most valuable resource, time

If a beach trip is on your mind, this one is worth a look.St. Regis Punta Mita is on a private peninsula about 45 minute...
06/02/2026

If a beach trip is on your mind, this one is worth a look.

St. Regis Punta Mita is on a private peninsula about 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and the recognition speaks for itself: Forbes Four-Star, AAA Five Diamond, and ranked among the top resorts in Western Mexico by Condé Nast Traveler readers.

A few of my favorites: Bahia, the main restaurant, is one of the best dining experiences on the Riviera Nayarit with seafood pulled fresh from the Pacific daily. The two Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses include the famous Tail of the Whale hole, an island green only accessible at low tide. And every villa comes with a dedicated butler.

Advisor Tip: Sayulita is 20 minutes away and worth an afternoon. Bohemian surf town, great tacos, a farmers market on Sundays.

If Mexico is on your calendar, reach out and let's start planning.

06/02/2026

Some trips are worth doing properly. These are three of them.

Japan. The food culture alone makes it worth the flight. Add the precision of the hospitality, the range from Tokyo to Kyoto to the ski resorts of Hokkaido, and it becomes one of the most consistently excellent trips I design.

Safari. The wildlife, the guides, and the lodge experience at the top end of the market is something no nature documentary fully prepares you for.

The Maldives. The distance is real, the cost is real, and the experience tends to permanently reset what clients think a hotel stay can be.

Three different trips. The same result: clients who come home saying it was worth every dollar. Get in touch if any of these are on your list.

A perfect day in Paris looks different when someone who knows the city plans it for you.Not just the Eiffel Tower and th...
05/31/2026

A perfect day in Paris looks different when someone who knows the city plans it for you.

Not just the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. The neighborhood café where locals actually have breakfast. The museum that holds one of the world's great Impressionist collections. The bistro in Le Marais that doesn't need a review because everyone who goes comes back. The table at dinner that takes three months to get and is worth every day of the wait.

The iconic stops are iconic for a reason, but the moments that stay with you are usually the ones you wouldn't have found on your own. Finding those is exactly what I do best.

Ready for Paris? Let's get started.

When clients have done Thailand, Bali, and Vietnam, the next question is always the same: where now? The answer might su...
05/30/2026

When clients have done Thailand, Bali, and Vietnam, the next question is always the same: where now? The answer might surprise you.

The Ritz-Carlton Langkawi consistently ranks among the most remarkable hotel settings in Southeast Asia, set within a 10-million-year-old rainforest on the island's southwest coast and just 10 minutes from the airport.

Here's what makes it worth the flight: A personal butler from check-in. The only overwater spa in Langkawi, built to resemble traditional Malay fishing traps floating above the Andaman Sea. An overwater Chinese restaurant on stilts, where dinner starts with picking your own seafood. And a rainforest that delivers hornbills, dusky leaf monkeys, and fireflies without you having to go looking for any of them.

This is a destination worth knowing. Reach out to start planning!

There are two versions of Phuket. The one most people book, and the one I actually recommend.Anantara Mai Khao is on Phu...
05/29/2026

There are two versions of Phuket. The one most people book, and the one I actually recommend.

Anantara Mai Khao is on Phuket's longest beach, 15 minutes from the airport, bordered by a national park, and a completely different experience from what most people associate with the island.

And if it looks familiar, that's because White Lotus Season 3 was filmed here. The 92 pool villas are set around lotus-filled lagoons in a traditional Thai-village style. The Spice Spoons cooking class is one of my favorite things to recommend: it starts with a market visit before moving into a traditional Thai kitchen, which is exactly the kind of thing that makes a trip feel different from just a beach vacation.

Ready for a Thailand getaway? Let’s start planning!

05/28/2026

Wellness travel has changed. The best wellness trips today are designed around how you actually want to feel when you come home.

For some clients, it's a full immersion: Ayurvedic programs in Sri Lanka, thermal circuits in Iceland, or a dedicated retreat in Tuscany. For others, it's more woven in: morning yoga in Bali, a hammam in Morocco, a long hike in the Swiss Alps, followed by a serious dinner.

A few things I always build into wellness itineraries: spa programs rooted in local culture, not just a massage menu. Outdoor movement that actually connects you to where you are. Culinary wellness: farm-to-table dining and cooking classes that treat food as part of the restoration. And mindfulness is built into the schedule rather than squeezed in.

If you're thinking about a trip centered around how you feel, not just where you go, I'd love to help design it.

Two travelers can book the same hotel in the same destination and have completely different experiences. Usually, it com...
05/27/2026

Two travelers can book the same hotel in the same destination and have completely different experiences. Usually, it comes down to when they went.

Shoulder season is one of the most consistently underused tools in travel planning. The weeks just before or after the peak in most destinations mean meaningfully fewer crowds, similar or better weather, and prices that reflect the difference. The destination is largely the same. The experience of being there is not.

Time of day is just as consequential. The most visited sites in the world look completely different at 7am versus noon. That's not a minor distinction.

Then there's booking timing. For the properties and experiences that actually fill up, waiting until a few weeks out rarely works. The best rooms, the best guides, and the best tables are usually gone. Knowing when to move is part of the job.

When timing is right across all three of those, the trip feels significantly different. That's something I pay close attention to with every itinerary I help plan.

South Africa is one of the most itinerary-flexible destinations in the world. Here's how I recommend experiencing it:Cap...
05/26/2026

South Africa is one of the most itinerary-flexible destinations in the world. Here's how I recommend experiencing it:

Cape Town first. It's one of the most visually striking cities on earth, and the design hotel and restaurant scene here has matured significantly. Table Mountain, the Atlantic Seaboard, the Cape Peninsula. Most clients who go for a few days wish they had more.

For wildlife: the private reserves around Sabi Sands share an unfenced border with Kruger National Park. Big Five sightings are among the most consistent on the continent, and the private reserve experience means dramatically fewer vehicles per sighting than in the public park.

For wine: Stellenbosch and Franschhoek are genuinely world-class. The estate stays in Franschhoek in particular, with long lunches, cellar visits, and mountain scenery that doesn't match most people's image of Africa at all.

Most itineraries I design for South Africa cover all three. If Africa is on your travel bucket list, let's talk through what makes sense for your trip.

05/24/2026

Most people put Australia on the list and never quite get around to booking it. Here's your sign.

The range in one country is remarkable. World-class cities, ancient wilderness, extraordinary marine life, and a food and wine culture that consistently surprises first-time visitors.

The only thing worse than never going to Australia is waiting another year to start planning it. Message me to get started!

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