Literature & Film

Our favorite examples of travel experiences planned through the lenses of literature and film:

• Meeting the geisha dancers and musicians of Mineko Iwasaki, the geisha inspiration for the book “Memoirs of a Geisha,” followed by signed copies of the book for everyone
• A private screening of the fall of the Berlin Wall film “Goodbye Lenin!” with our guide (from East Berlin) and her husband (from West Berlin) — afterward, they took questions about their perspectives both on the movie and the actual event
• Presentation and Q&A in London with Lee Hall, screenwriter of the film “Billy Elliot”

Art & Design

Our favorite examples of travel experiences planned through the lens of art:

• Interview and Q&A with five-time Picasso Model and art collector Angela Rosengart, whose father, Siegfried, was an art dealer and personal friend of Pablo Picasso
• After-hours Sistine Chapel visit with an a cappella performance and private visit to the Mosaic Workshop (which required us attaining permission from several departments of the Vatican as well as the Rome city government)

Music & Theatre

Our favorite examples of travel experiences planned through the lens of music:

• Participating as singers and musicians in a Cuban recording session of “Oye Como Va” with the renowned Buena Vista Social Club jazz at Egrem Studio—the studio even made copies of the recording for each traveler to take home
• An orchestra party at an Italian farm with folk musicians, pizza and pasta chefs, and a quartet playing Neapolitan favorites and opera selections, outside Rome

Architecture Icons

Our favorite examples of travel experiences planned through the lens of architecture, complete with our special access:

• Invitation inside to see the architecture and art of the private restored home of Yoshihiro Takishita
• Private tour of closed-to-the-public construction sites of Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabiand the Louvre Abu Dhabi with project director
• Tour with the lead architect of the restoration project of Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czech Republic

Food & Wine

Our favorite examples of travel experiences planned through the lenses of food and wine:

• Schales winery, established in 1783, is one of Germany’s leading private estates, holding—among other honors—the world record for eiswein harvests. Here, we hosted a German wine class with a tasting, a robust explanation of their precise labeling process, and a coursed dinner with wine pairings.
• We worked with Chef Lea Linster, the Emeril Lagasse of Central Europe, on a beautiful lunch she presented in her contemporary Luxembourg home, set among her vineyards on the Mosel River in Luxembourg.
• A few of our favorite dinner parties include a desert camp party outside Dubai with camels, belly-dancers and henna painting… and a barbecue in a traditional 18th-century farmhouse in the Iya Valley on Shikoku Island, Japan.

History & Events

During a group tour in Bhutan, we were able to organize a private meeting with Prime Minister Lyonchen Jigme Thinley, Bhutan’s first elected leader after the king willingly gave up power.