Independent Travel Advisor · Fora Travel
Tell me how you travel.I'll handle everywhere else.
Start PlanningThoughtful travel, quietly handled
Twelve years booking travel for executives. Seven years working in luxury hotels. One very persistent passion that started with a cardboard box in 1994.
I plan trips the way a good concierge works a lobby: reading between the lines, catching what wasn't said, and matching the person to the place. No twenty open tabs. No decision fatigue. Just a shortlist that's already right, booked with perks you can't get on your own.
If we haven't met yet
It clicked in the most perfect corner of Uruguay.
In 2005 I was standing somewhere few people had heard of, wondering how I could get more people there. But the passion for destinations started long before that: with a make-believe travel agency I launched in 1994, behind a cardboard box window with a strong affinity for carbon paper.
Straight out of college in 2005 I got my first real hospitality desk and went on to become a concierge for the Mark Hopkins, Ritz Carlton, and Four Seasons. I went onward to tech, spending over a decade booking complex travel as an executive assistant. The through line was always the same job: figure out what someone actually wants, then make it happen without them having to ask twice.
Read my storyHow I travel
Bustling cities, long dinners and beaches with nobody on them.
That said — this is just how I travel. The whole point is figuring out how you do.
The City
Infinite possibilities, and the discipline to choose well. Neighborhoods over landmarks, reservations that feel impossible to get.
The Table
Boisterous group trips. The places that are best spent with a gaggle of friends and one very long dinner 'till your cheeks hurt.
The Quiet
When I beach, I want the whole place to myself. Not another soul in the sand — and a room that opens straight onto it.
Travel, built around you
Three ways to work together.
For effortless upgrades and VIP perks
The Stay
Complimentary — the hotel pays me
You know where you're going. I make sure you arrive as a known guest, with the extras already arranged.
What's includedFor the trip with moving parts
The Journey
Custom planning fee — starting at $250 Pricing is always agreed upon before we begin.
Multiple cities, multiple hotels, a train in the middle and a dinner you'd never find on your own. I design the whole thing.
What's includedFor milestone trips and complicated lives
The Full Concierge
As quoted, based on scope 50% due to begin, 50% due at completion of itinerary.
Group travel, milestone birthdays, villas, buyouts, the trip where fifteen people all need something different. Handled end to end.
What's includedThe approach
Precision, warmth and good taste — always.
01
The Conversation
We talk. Not about a destination list — about how you like to spend a day, what you'd rather skip, and who's coming with you.
02
The Proposal
I come back with a shortlist that's already been filtered. No twenty tabs, no decision fatigue — a few right answers with reasons attached.
03
The Booking
I secure the rooms, the perks and the reservations, and put everything in one clear document you can actually read on your phone.
04
The Trip
You go. If a flight moves or a restaurant falls through, you text me and it's dealt with before it becomes your problem.
Backed by the network
I book through Fora Travel, which means preferred partnerships with thousands of hotels worldwide.
Same rate you'd find yourself. Upgrades, daily breakfast, property credits and early check-in layered on top — plus a real relationship with the hotel before you arrive.
Questions
Good to know.
What does it cost to work with you?+
Hotel bookings are complimentary — hotels pay advisor commission, so the rate you'd find yourself is the rate you pay, with perks added on top. Custom itinerary planning carries a fee that reflects the scope of the trip, quoted before any work begins.
Will I pay more than booking myself?+
No. I book at the same publicly available rates, and often better ones. The difference is what comes attached: upgrades, breakfast, credits and someone answering the phone when something goes sideways.
What is Fora Travel?+
Fora is the advisor network I work under. It gives me preferred partnerships with thousands of hotels worldwide — the perks, rates and direct hotel relationships that independent travelers can't access on their own.
Do you have destinations you specialize in?+
I'm a city person by nature, a group-trip enthusiast by choice, and I like a beach with nobody on it. But the specialty is really the matching: reading what someone actually wants and finding the place that delivers it.
How far in advance should I reach out?+
For a simple hotel stay, a few weeks is plenty. For a multi-stop trip, peak season, or anything involving a group, three to six months gives us the best inventory. That said — ask anyway. Last-minute is my old job.
Do you book flights?+
I advise on routing and timing, and I'll book premium-cabin and international air for full planning clients. For simple domestic tickets you're usually better off booking direct, and I'll tell you so.
Can you help with a trip I've already started planning?+
Absolutely. Send me what you have. Sometimes the answer is a full redesign and sometimes it's moving one hotel and adding two reservations.
How do we start?+
Email me. Tell me where you're thinking, roughly when, and who's coming. We'll go from there.
Let's begin
Where are you thinking?
Tell me roughly when, roughly where, and who's coming. That's enough to start.
Email Lauren