2025 Travel Recap

What's a New Year, if not a time to pause and reflect? As always, we ended up spending a large portion of 2025 on airplanes and in hotel rooms. After all of these years, we still love traveling more than anything else, and are so grateful to have built a life that supports our shared passion. We visited a fair amount of repeat destinations in 2025, with the goal to strengthen partnerships and update some of our current Designed Trips, and to develop a few new exciting Designed Trips (The Philippines! Greece!). But it wasn’t all work! We also pushed ourselves to try new things, made memories with friends and family, and leaned into the freedom and fun of traveling that we sometimes miss when we make it all about work. It was a year to remember, and before we set out our (very exciting) plans for 2026, we're looking back at the best of 2025...

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London (again & again)
We rang in the New Year with our best mates on our 7th trip to jolly ol England, freezing our booties off but soaking in all of the holiday cheer, with west end shows, swanky hotels and a silly number of buttery crumpets. In August, we returned again for trip number 8, this time with far more reasonable temperatures and a birthday celebration for our friend’s 40th. And no, it’s still not lost on us how cool it is to ‘pop up to London’ a couple times a year. 

The ​Philippines
Our biggest adventure of the year, we spent 3 glorious weeks exploring the powdery white sand, crystal-clear waters, stunning scenery and jungle waterfalls of 6 islands to develop our new (epic) Philippines Designed Trip. With the goal of deepening our travel experiences, pushing ourselves to try new things and connect with local cultures, we boarded a traditional Filipino bangka boat with 18 travelers for a three-day journey from Coron to El Nido. Swimming from the boat to uninhabited islands, sleeping in raised beach huts, meeting friends from around the world, and being without wifi or data, was one of the most memorable travel experiences we’ve ever had. We also surfed, cliff jumped, did some incredible canyoning, and cruised around on motorbikes, tapping into the freedom and adventure that we were craving - see our full Travel Blog here, and check out our NEW Philippines Designed Trip, developed for all types of travelers - not just the adventurers! 

Thailand (again)
An unexpected cold front in SE Asia resulted in a last-minute flight change to sunny Bangkok. We went on both the bike tour and food tour in our Thailand Designed Trip, stayed at two different hotels to experience their locations and offerings, and generally were reminded of how much we love Thailand, it's amazing people, culture and incredible food. Pretty good for an impromptu visit.​

Vietnam (again)
If you’ve been with us awhile, you know that we have some serious nostalgia for Vietnam, ever since we left the U.S. to travel in 2015 (10 years ago!?) and spent nearly a month traveling the country from top to bottom. So, whenever we can squeeze in a stop to wake up to the delightful chaos of the one million motorbikes and pho for breakfast, we jump at the chance. Hanoi delivered, as always, and after 5 weeks in SE Asia, we boarded our flights home with three huge bags of Vietnamese coffee beans. 
​If Vietnam is on your 2026 Travel Wishlist, check out our Vietnam Designed Trip!

Morocco (again)
It continues to amaze us that we can reach a whole different climate, culture and experience in just a couple short hours. Morocco is perfect in springtime when warm temps haven’t yet reached the rest of Europe. This trip, we traveled with Megan’s Dad and spent a handful of days combing ancient tiled palaces, eating olives and tagines, and trying very hard not to get lost in the medina. We were reminded that sometimes a destination can be completely new based on who you experience it with, and we will always have good memories from this family adventure. (Check out our Morocco Designed Trip for a travel experience you'll never forget).

Greece (again) 
Our goal for this year’s Greece trip was to spend 2+ weeks hopping around the Cyclades in search of the best less visited, hidden gem islands. We’re talking slow mornings over spinach pies, empty beaches with turquoise water, local tavernas with cheap mezze, and goats wandering hillsides dotted with tiny white chapels. We found some of the most beautiful and relaxed summer scenes we have ever experienced and, in turn, designed our dream trip to Greece to the quiet islands of Folegandros, Sifnos, and Koufonisia. We also snuck in a stop to Milos to say Kalimera to our fave partners, and Santorini to stay in a cliffside cave hotel, because, ya know, that’s what you do there. Overall, we couldn’t imagine a more perfect summer trip if we tried. 
​Check out our NEW Gems of the Aegean Designed Trip Or, if you’re looking for a more traditional trip, check out the Classic Island Hop, or the Best Less Known Islands Designed Trip.

Menorca (again)
Following a strangely chilly September trip to Colorado and California, we were not ready for summer to end. So, after celebrating Ryan’s birthday (and obsessively tracking the weather), we hopped on a last-minute flight for a few sunny early-October days in Menorca. It was exactly what we needed - with coastal runs, cliff jumps, swims in turquoise coves and end of season hotel rates - all the ingredients of a perfect getaway. Every single time we visit the Balearic islands (especially Menorca, sigh), we have conversations about how unbelievably magical these places are and how infrequently travelers request them. So much so, that we’re in the process of developing a new Designed Trip to Menorca and Mallorca (and our home city of Valencia!). It’s high time we share these special places with fellow travelers, so keep an eye out!

Porto (again)
Megan’s childhood friend and her mom visiting was the perfect excuse to visit the riverside city of Porto once again. Although the weather was not on our side, sleeping in a former palace and an e-bike tour through the hilly cobbled streets in the pouring rain will be a lasting memory! We also met with our partners to experience the food and port tour from our Porto Designed Trip, and connected with some old friends for a traditional Francesinha dinner, which while delicious, made us all want a salad after.

Amsterdam (again)
In an effort to close out the year with some fun, we popped up to Amsterdam for a Royel Otis concert (Ryan’s birthday gift). We stayed in a cozy old hotel, walked all around the city and sat down to a vegetarian tasting menu that turned out to be the best meal of our lives. It was a delayed celebration of our anniversary, Ryan’s birthday, and another strong year of business, leaving us feeling very grateful for each other, and the life we’ve built together.

It was one for the books! But 2026 is a new year! And we have some very exciting plans in place, in hopes for an exciting year of travel to new destinations. Keep an eye out for our 2026 Travel Wishlist... coming soon!