[kulahan]

Travel is such an personal thing - it's people in an environment at least somewhat foreign to them. Trusting someone to plan it is a pretty intimate thing, and companies don't do intimate things very well anymore. Too many people, too few companies.

I'd pay good money for more personal experiences from companies, especially when it comes to something like this, but it's not easy. The wife and I were looking for a honeymoon package, but neither "beach" nor "romantic European getaway" were on our list. Roughly 90% of travel companies were out of ideas after that. It's literally their JOB to plan trips and they can't deviate from a template. It's pain incarnate.

[marcosdumay]

If it's something like what we had at my country, it's not a travel plan.

It's a book, fully indexed, with searchable and fully reviewed information about the place you are going and the path in between. You use it to make your own plan, or to improvise.

Specifically about improvisation, it has become almost impossible nowadays because there is no reliable information about anything.

[convolvatron]

monetization really screwed this up. having a connected computer in your pocket with the ability to search everything and make shelter and travel reservations and perform other important actions instantly should really be perfect for this.

but somehow I always end up having to sign up for a bunch of services in a hurry and take crappy pictures of my id only to find out that the hotel doesn't know anything about my reservation when I arrive anyways.

sometimes I even have to upgrade my phone while sitting on a curb to get the app to arrange for the payment etc .etc.

or that lovely looking and affordable Airbnb is next to an open sewer

[marcosdumay]

It's not exactly monetization. It's plain dishonesty.

That killed plenty of guides before our current era of universal dishonesty.

[fbdab103]

I am boring, but one of the reason I keep wanting to take a cruise is because I do not want to plan anything. Show up at this place, at this time and then there will be a bunch of exotic* stuff to see/do/eat.

*Exotic very much being in the eye of the beholder, but something different from my daily costal urban experience.

[rgmerk]

For mine, the thing with group tours (aside from Other People) is that they are often the Disney World version of the place you’re visiting.

[rjh29]

I understand why that niche doesn't exist - most people looking for a personal experience tend to plan it themselves. Though it would be nice to say "I want to go here, here and here" and have someone book all of the hotels and transport.

[AlotOfReading]

You can totally do that at the luxury divisions of firms like Scott Dun and Protravel if you have the money. They'll even get you a chauffeur and dinner reservations at that high end restaurant if that's what you want. If you need anything mid-trip just call the 24/7 concierge and they'll figure out how to get it to you.

[Pxtl]

Travel agents still exist. If they don't know how to plan the vacation of your dreams, they know somebody who does. I used one to plan a trip to Florida, which was obviously a normal-ass tourist thing but they got in touch with another agent who knew the ins and outs of where to stay at the Space Coast and the pros and cons of onsite stay vs offsite for Disney.

[ghaff]

There are specialty outfits specific to an area/country and/or type of activity that I've used which are pretty good. But most mainstream travel agents have been book a cruise/flight/tour for pretty much forever.

My dad had one for years who was better than that but I've only sometimes used specialty agencies, e.g. for English walking trips.

[bobwaycott]

Just curious here—what sort of things were on your list that you couldn’t find? If there were better templates, what kind of trips would you expect to be able to plan?

[kulahan]

I'm referring to unknown unknowns here. I'm going to a completely foreign area, and I want to pay someone money instead of doing hours of research myself. It's just a huge pain in the ass made way harder by the fact that I don't know anything about the place, and the places I visited were all very rigid. Maybe the type of experience I'm looking for is not something I can afford, and that's why I haven't come across it?