You've got more booking tools than ever — so why would you hire a travel advisor? In this episode, Afar editorial director Billie Cohen sits down with travel journalist and matchmaker Wendy Perrin, founder of wendyperrin.com, to answer the questions travelers actually have: What can an advisor do that you can't do yourself? When does it make sense — and when doesn't it? How do you find a good one, interview them, and understand what you're paying for?

From crowd-skipping at Venice to landing the perfect Egyptologist, Wendy makes the case for what truly expert trip planning looks like.

In this episode

• Why connections (not booking tools or AI) are the real currency of great travel
• The difference between advisors who specialize in you vs. those who specialize in a place
• How to interview a travel advisor (and what their answers reveal)
• What travel actually costs — and why it often isn't itemized
• Why multi-gen trips and post-pandemic travel are driving a new wave of advisor use

Chapters

00:00:00 Why Travel Advisors Still Matter 00:03:00 Advisors vs. Agents vs. Tour Operators 00:06:00 What a Great Advisor Can Do 00:13:00 Choosing and Interviewing an Advisor 00:24:00 Fees, Costs, and Transparency 00:28:00 Cruise Specialists and Misconceptions 00:33:00 Who's Using Advisors Now

Links & resources

• Wendyperrin.com and Wendy's Wow List of top trip designers
• Listen to our Unpacked episode about cruise travel advisors
• Explore the Afar Travel Advisory Council
• Follow Afar at @afarmedia on Instagram and TikTok
• More travel planning resources at afar.com

• 
  

Be sure to subscribe to the show and sign up for our podcast newsletter, ⁠Behind the Mic⁠, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode. And explore our second podcast, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠View From Afar⁠⁠⁠⁠, where we spotlight the people and ideas shaping the future of travel.

Unpacked by Afar is part of ⁠Airwave Media⁠'s podcast network. Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advertising@airwavemedia.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices