What I Learned From Booking a Trip I'd Never Take Myself

Early in this career, a couple sat across from me and described their dream trip, and I felt my whole body quietly say: no thank you. Nonstop sightseeing, dawn starts, three cities in five days. My idea of a beautiful trip is slower. Softer. More river, less sprint.

But it wasn't my trip. It was theirs.

So I built it the way they'd love it — early entry tickets, packed days, every logistical detail tuned so the pace felt exhilarating instead of exhausting. When they came home, they were glowing. "Perfect," they said. And it was. Just not my kind of perfect.

That booking changed how I work. My job isn't to book the trip I'd take. It's to understand, deeply, the trip you'd take — and then use everything I know to make that trip flawless. The best compliment I've ever received wasn't about a destination. It was: "She really listened."