Atlas & Beyond

We told them we wanted something our grandchildren would talk about for the rest of their lives. She came back with a private safari in Botswana with a dedicated ranger, a mokoro trip through the Okavango Delta, and a sundowner on a termite mound with no one else for miles. She delivered something we could not have imagined ourselves.

I mentioned offhand that my husband had always dreamed of seeing penguins in the wild. Two weeks later he had designed an expedition voyage to Antarctica with a Zodiac landing on the continent, a private balcony cabin, and a bottle of champagne waiting when we crossed the Drake Passage. I did not even know that was possible to plan.

Our family had four kids aged six to sixteen, two sets of grandparents, and completely different ideas of a good vacation. He built an itinerary in Japan that somehow worked for all of us. The kids got a ninja experience and a robot restaurant. The grandparents got a ryokan with a private onsen. Everyone left saying it was the best trip of their lives.

I wanted to do nothing for two weeks. No excursions, no schedules, no decisions. He booked us into an overwater villa in the Maldives, arranged for a private chef two evenings, and made sure every detail was handled before we left. It was the first vacation in years where I actually came home rested.

I had spent weeks trying to research the Amalfi Coast on my own and was completely overwhelmed. Shane came back in a few days with a plan I never would have found myself. A family-run cliffside villa that does not advertise online, a private boat to a cove the locals actually swim at, and a dinner reservation at a place with no sign on the door. We came home saying it was the best trip we had ever taken. I cannot imagine what we would have ended up with if we had just booked it ourselves.

My mother turned eighty and wanted to see Morocco before she could not travel anymore. I had no idea where to start. We ended up with a private riad in the Medina, a dawn camel ride in the Sahara, and a cooking class with a local family in Fez. My mother cried twice. The good kind. I will never plan a trip without calling first.

We asked for a river cruise through Portugal that felt like a wine country experience, not a bus tour on water. What we got was a small ship with only forty guests, a private vineyard visit arranged just for us, a sommelier dinner on deck, and an upgrade to a suite with a balcony overlooking the Douro Valley. Every other couple on that boat was jealous of our itinerary.

I have been to Greece four times and thought I had seen it all. He put together an island-hopping itinerary on a private gulet with a crew of three, stops at coves that do not appear on any tourist map, a chef who cooked whatever we caught that afternoon, and a night anchored off a tiny island where we were completely alone under the stars. Greece felt brand new.