Global Travel Moments

08/18/2026

In Hong Kong, classic and contemporary flavors come together in a dessert culture unlike any other. Discover the sweet treats and beloved bakeries that reveal the city's unique character, then reach out to plan your own culinary adventure. 🏙️☕ 🍰

📷: Andrew Faulk

Bakehouse, Hashtag B, Cheung Hing Coffee Shop, and more beloved bakeries showcase the sweet side of Hong Kong’s food culture.

08/18/2026

Our least glamorous conversation with clients is also one of the most important. Let’s talk travel insurance, because a few myths come up every single time:

“My credit card covers me.” Sometimes, partially. Card coverage often has low limits and major exclusions, especially for medical care abroad.

“I’m healthy, I don’t need medical coverage.” Medical evacuation from a remote destination can run six figures. This is the coverage that matters most, not the trip-cost piece.

“I’ll add it later.” Many benefits, including pre-existing condition waivers and cancel-for-any-reason options, are only available within a short window after your first trip payment.

We’re not insurance brokers, but we make sure every client understands the options before a big trip, especially safaris, cruises, and remote destinations.

Planning something significant this year? Let’s make sure this box is checked properly.

08/17/2026

Planning Portugal and only thinking about Lisbon? Allow us to make the case for the north.

Porto is one of Europe’s great second cities, and Infante Sagres is its grande dame.

Opened in 1951 as the city’s first luxury hotel, it has hosted royalty, heads of state, and film stars ever since. The stained-glass staircase alone is worth walking up and down twice.

The location is the other reason we book it: you’re in the heart of downtown, an easy walk to Livraria Lello, the Ribeira riverfront, and the port wine lodges across the river in Gaia.

Insider tip: pair Porto with the Douro Valley, about 90 minutes away, for wine country after the city. Reach out to start planning.

08/17/2026

Half a million views. The internet had picked a side. I asked us to wait for the other one.

It’s here now. Amanvari has spoken to the Wall Street Journal, and the picture is wildly different to the one going viral. The cancellation email was sent five days before arrival, not the day before. There was a follow-up WhatsApp. The gate the guest arrived at was the staff gate, not the guest one. The refund was processed. Additional travel costs were offered.

None of that turns the guest into the villain. It’s still a bad experience and I still feel for him. But it does mean the story most people watched isn’t the story that happened.

This is why context matters. And it’s why, in luxury travel, situations like this are exactly why booking through a travel designer makes a difference. Someone in the middle picks up the email. Someone flags the gate. Someone makes the call before you get in the car.

In luxury travel, things not going to plan should never end with you standing at a gate. And the full story should never end with only one voice in the room.

08/16/2026

We plan trips to the Alps, Aspen, and Japan every winter. So it means something when we say one of the world's great winter stays is in Canada.

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise stands directly on the shore of its namesake lake in Banff National Park, facing the Victoria Glacier. No other hotel gets this position, and in winter it becomes something out of a storybook: the lake freezes into a skating rink framed by ice sculptures, horse-drawn sleighs trace the shoreline, and the mountains stay dusted in white for months.

Skiers are spoiled here too. Three resorts are within easy reach, including Lake Louise Ski Resort just minutes away, with some of the most scenic runs in North America and none of the lift lines you'd expect for terrain this good.

Advisor tip: Lakeview rooms are worth every penny, especially in winter when the frozen lake and glacier fill your window. They sell out first, so this is a book-early property. Message us to start planning.

08/14/2026

Ever wanted to sleep inside a city’s history? In Seville, you can. This hotel was commissioned by a king.

Hotel Alfonso XIII was built at the direction of its namesake, King Alfonso XIII, to host royalty and dignitaries for Seville’s 1929 Exposition. Nearly a century later, it’s still the address in the city. Mudéjar arches, hand-painted tiles, a grand central courtyard, and a location steps from the Cathedral and the Real Alcázar.

What we love most is that it never stops feeling like Seville. Orange trees in the courtyard, Andalusian design in every corridor, and tapas and sherry at the bar that feel right at home in this city.

Advisor tip: visit the Alcázar first thing in the morning, then be back at the pool before the afternoon heat.

08/13/2026

Lake Como is beautiful. It's also busier than it's ever been. Five lakes we love that still feel like a discovery:

- Lake Garda, Italy: the biggest of the Italian lakes, with lemon groves, medieval towns like Sirmione, and a livelier energy than its famous neighbor.
- Lake Lugano, Switzerland: Italian soul, Swiss polish. Palm trees on the promenade, mountains rising straight out of the water, and Milan just an hour away.
- Lake Lucerne, Switzerland: steamboats, mountain railways, and Belle Époque hotels along the shore.
- Lake Bled, Slovenia: the fairytale one, complete with an island church and a clifftop castle.
- Lake Bohinj, Slovenia: Bled's wilder sibling just 30 minutes away, ringed by the Julian Alps and blissfully free of crowds.

Every one of these pairs beautifully with a bigger itinerary. Tell us which caught your eye and we'll build around it.

08/13/2026

Boston’s Seaport district has transformed into a vibrant waterfront destination, blending harbor views, public art, exceptional dining, and stylish shopping. 🦞⚓️🌊

Discover how to make the most of this dynamic neighborhood, then reach out to start planning your New England escape.

Slurp oysters by the water at Island Creek, shop at The Current, overnight at the Boston Harbor Hotel, and more must-dos on the city’s revitalized waterfront.

08/12/2026

Flown recently? Then you’ve felt it. Record passenger volumes, tighter ID requirements, and construction at major hubs have changed the math on getting to your gate. Here’s how we protect our clients from all of it:

We build realistic buffers. Tight connections that worked five years ago don’t work now, especially through the busiest international hubs.

We arrange fast-track and VIP services. Many airports offer expedited security, private escorts, and lounge access that most travelers never hear about. We book them routinely.

We watch your flights. Delays and cancellations get handled while you’re still in the air, not after you’ve landed and joined a rebooking line of 200 people.

And a reminder for U.S. travelers: REAL ID is now required for domestic flights, so check that license before your next trip.

The airport is part of the trip. We plan it like one.

08/12/2026

Barcelona. Venice. Mallorca. Santorini. The Amalfi Coast. The Canary Islands. Nice. Cannes.

Every summer the list gets longer. Locals marching. Governments acting. Spain has removed 65,000 short-term rental listings. Venice kept its tourist entry tax. Southern France is capping cruise ship passengers for the first time this summer.

And every time it happens, the reaction from travellers is the same: “But we bring money.”

You do. But you also drive up rents, price out locals, and strain infrastructure that wasn’t built for millions of visitors a year.

The protests aren’t anti-tourism. They’re anti-volume. Anti-extraction. Anti the version of travel that treats a city like a backdrop for content and leaves nothing behind.

This is exactly why how you travel matters as much as where you travel. Stay in locally owned properties. Eat where the locals eat. Go in shoulder season. Spend time in one place instead of ticking off five cities in a week. Hire local guides. Tip properly.

Luxury travel done well has always looked like this. Fewer people, longer stays, deeper connection, real economic benefit to the community.

The question isn’t whether these places are wrong to push back. The question is why it took this long.