Planning
September 2026
How to brief a travel designer
The best journeys begin with a passion rather than a place. Here is how to describe what you actually want.
Lead with the interest, not the itinerary
Most people open with a list of cities. It is far more useful to open with what holds your attention: wine, motor racing, textiles, birdlife, opera, cold water. A designer who knows the interest can find the place, whereas a list of places rarely reveals the interest.
If several passions sit side by side, say which one should lead. A journey with one clear spine and two quiet themes reads beautifully. A journey with five equal themes becomes a schedule.
Describe your ideal day, twice
Give one description of a perfect active day and one of a perfect slow day. The ratio between them tells a planner more about pace than any word like relaxed or adventurous ever will.
Include what you do not want. Early starts, long transfers, group activity, formal dinners: naming these saves a great deal of polite guessing.
Be candid about the practicalities
Dates, flexibility, party size, ages, mobility, dietary needs and the budget you are genuinely comfortable with. A real figure allows a planner to place value where you will feel it, rather than spreading it thinly across every day.
