For a variety of water-based activities, I took a trip to Slovenia, Aug. 12-19, 2012, with Exodus (In the US, contact Adventure Center, Emeryville, CA; 800/843-4272).
I took a trip to Egypt with Explore, booked through Adventure Center (1311 63rd St., Ste. 200, Emeryville, CA 94608; 800/227-8747), in December ’06-January ’07. Adventure Center is a broker listing hundreds of trips run by other operators.
A British company that I like is Exodus (Grange Mills, Weir Road, London, SW12 0NE, England; phone +44 [0] 20 8675 . . . From the U.S., book with Adventure Center, 1311 63rd St., Ste.
Nancy Stott of Walnutport, Pennsylvania, wrote, “I would like to see readers write on the topic of ‘around-the-world itineraries’ such as those featured by airline alliances and some consolidators. It would be great to have a few first-person accounts of experiences plus suggestions.”
Many years ago I took my first trip with a travel company (which shall remained unnamed) and learned some hard lessons. It was a frustrating and expensive process, but it did pave the way for many other successful trips with very few unpleasant surprises.