I Work For A Luxury Travel Company. But I Recently Went On A Family Trip And Accidentally Broke All The Rules I Tell Travelers.
The author (right) made several mistakes on his family vacation to Europe.
Courtesy of Lisa Adey
- I work for a luxury travel company, helping people expertly plan luxury vacations.
- I recently went on a family trip to Europe and accidentally broke all my travel tips.
- I didn't plan for unexpected costs and didn't book some excursions well enough in advance.
As a travel writer who works at a luxury travel company, I spend my days crafting perfect itineraries — the kind where private transfers glide seamlessly into five-star hotels, and every restaurant reservation is a famous local spot or hidden gem secured months in advance.
When I recently booked a 12-day family trip through Italy and France for my own family, I thought I had it all figured out — after all, planning trips is my expertise.
Cut to me on the trip as I stared at a $600 bill for three last-minute train tickets that should have cost half that. I wondered how I'd ignored my own golden rule: Book transit at least three months ahead.
It wasn't the only travel rule I broke while on my family vacation.
I always tell travelers to plan for unexpected costs, but I was still surprised
I tell travelers to always build in a 20% buffer for unexpected costs. But I somehow forgot about my own pricing guidelines when traveling with my family.
In Rome, the scent of espresso and morning cornetti still triggers memories of my previous life there, so my family chose our accomodations based purely on nostalgia, prioritizing our old neighborhood over convenience. That oversight turned our "budget-conscious" family adventure into an exercise in financial gymnastics.
The real costs revealed themselves quickly. A connection in Milan with minimal time meant paying whatever price a non-sanctioned taxi driver asked for — cigarette smoke and all — just to make our next train. When we nearly ran out of gas in rural France, the detour cost us an extra day's car rental fee we hadn't planned for.
The financial impact of last-minute decisions — from emergency accommodations in Paris to spontaneous museum visits — added roughly 40% to our planned budget and a priceless amount of family tension. Even luxury travelers like a budget, and everyone prefers less tension on vacation.
Scheduling ahead is important, but I messed up
Instead of sharing in elegant holiday dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants on Thanksgiving, my family found ourselves on a nearly 12-hour train journey sustained by nothing but train station snacks.
We started in Venice at 8:30 a.m., and by the time we reached our destination in France at 10 p.m., we were celebrating with a hastily assembled dinner of a late-night kebab and what the stand called a "kebab taco." As a born-and-bred Los Angelino, it was a creation that bore no resemblance to any taco I'd encountered before. In hindsight, I could've definitely planned that trainride better.
I also always tell travelers to account for everyone's interests. Yet when our daughter expressed interest in visiting the Louvre, we discovered what I tell every client: Last-minute tickets to major European attractions often sellout.
Luckily, our favorite memories were found in the unplanned moments
Instead of the Louvre, we were swept into the Christmas Market in the Tuileries Gardens, where the aroma of banana-Nutella crepes mingled with mulled wine and crisp winter air. My professional side cringed a bit, but it was a place where Parisians and tourists mixed.
Watching our daughter try to walk on an inflated ball over water only matched the smile that beamed from her when atop the double-decker carousel in Montmartre. It proved more memorable than any scheduled tour could have been.
In Venice, rather than my usual recommendation of planned, private guided walks, our wandering led us to a tiny mask shop. While my wife and I sipped prosecco from paper cups, our daughter spent almost an hour trying on hand-painted masks, delighting the local artisan with her enthusiasm for anything featuring peacock feathers.
After years of crafting perfect itineraries for others, true luxury lives in the spaces between our careful plans. Yes, book your major transportation in advance and definitely budget for European pricing.
But also leave space for the unexpected, even if it means paying a premium for some lovely surprises.