Donna Devore
Pursuing your passions abroad is a great way to connect with a culture and a place. Politics, art, sports, and cooking are all excellent lenses through which to view a culture. If you are headed for the Louvre in Paris and you’ve always loved Leonardo da Vinci, I can arrange for a docent who shares your passion and can deepen your understanding. Aficionados of Pablo Picasso can join an expert for a private guided tour of the Picasso Museum in Barcelona and learn about his life in the region while visiting his favorite haunts
Spending a day with a cook that begins at the market and ends with dining together on the meal you helped prepare offers a personal connection to local cuisine. To get a sense of daily life in Israel, you might want to join a family for a home-cooked meal. On a farm stay in Ireland, you and your kids might help shear sheep or milk the cows. And if you are an avid golfer, you might enjoy taking lessons at St. Andrews Links Golf Academy and playing Scotland’s most legendary links.
When I customize a trip for you, that doesn’t mean you’re traveling on your own. I usually suggest a private guide and, depending on your destination, sometimes a driver. The right guide will capture your imagination and bring a place to life with memorable stories about the history, culture, and sites.
While I sometimes request particular guides, I always work through a company. That way if the guide is sick or there is a personality mismatch, there is a backup at hand. I myself have changed guides mid-trip and encourage you to do the same if you find yourself getting bored or turned off by your guide’s commentary.
The other nice thing about customized independent travel is that you can make changes mid-journey. For example, if you love London and want to stay another day in the city, you can do that. Similarly, if you’ve had enough of urban Rome, I can arrange for you to spend a leisurely day bicycling along the Appian Way.
You can be as cocooned and cared for as an independent traveler as you would as part of a tour group. Even if you aren’t traveling with a private driver and guide, I am still there for you, and I have people on the ground wherever you go to handle whatever comes up.
Many people think these kinds of trips are out of their price range, but independent travel can be surprisingly affordable. My in-depth knowledge of the travel industry and strong connections around the world enable me to deliver customized trips at prices that often cost roughly the same as standard group tours.