What do we do in the off-season when we’re not leading tours?

What are our off-season activities when we’re not leading tours?

Charley and I are at our CDG airport hotel, heading home to the USA tomorrow morning after our Christmas tour (December 1 – 13) and some personal time at our second home in Provence. Most of tours wrapped up in October.

Our fun Christmas Experience group in St. Gilgen, Austria

2025 was our biggest year in our 20 years of hosting European Experiences trips. We had 30 trips involving 310 travelers, including 107 people with us for the first time.  We successfully introduced two new trips: Inside Lyon, led by Drew Fedorka, and The Portugal Experience, led by Jennifer Dugdale. And we’re proud that we now have 95 five-star Google reviews.

We initiated a special project this year to recognize travelers who have been with us on five trips or more… almost 100 people.  Two people joined us in 2025 for their 14th trips… and they have never been on a trip together!

A very special honor

On a personal note, this past weekend I received a very special honor in our village of Bonnieux in Provence, where our family has a much-loved second home. In a special meeting with the mayor and some close local friends, I was named an honorary citizen of Bonnieux! (Charley received this honor in 2020 after he retired.)

With Bonnieux mayor, Pascal Ragot

The mayor noted our impact on visitors to Bonnieux over the past 20 years… 1000 people here for one week each in 80 groups since Charley and I led our first two tours in 2006. He also mentioned that we’ve been a sponsor of the local elementary school since 2012 and also more recently the Parents Association.

And so our 2025 season is now complete. Our first tours of 2026 are The Morocco Experience, March 27 to April 7, and The Cornwall Experience, April 14 – 24. We’re now on a long “break” from leading tours.

We do work long days when we’re with a group, usually 12+ hour days, from breakfast until after dinner… plus time to finalize arrangements, deal with issues, and answer emails.

Sometimes people tell us they hope we enjoy our “time off” when we’re not touring. (Ha ha!!!)

Although most of us do take some vacation time in between our spring/summer and fall seasons, this time between tours is actually a very busy time for us!

Here’s some of our off-season activities for the first several months of 2026, so you understand what we’re doing when we’re not leading tours:

• Communicating with prospective travelers; booking and confirming trips.
• Communicating with travelers about their trips in the coming year; answering their questions; getting info on their travel plans, dietary needs, and other special requests.
• Finalizing itineraries and arrangements for 2026 trips; coordinating with our hotels, restaurants, and guides.
• Making our own travel plans and bookings.
• Developing and sending bi-monthly newsletters and posting regularly on social media.
• Implementing improvements to streamline our processes and reach new travelers, including updating our website.
• Managing our 2026 photo contest.
• Completing on-site research for new trips.
• Participating in educational activities.
• Finalizing and announcing our schedule for 2027 and beginning the booking process for 2027.
• Bookkeeping, accounting, and taxes.

What are our off-season activities when we’re not leading tours?

A lot!  Although we may not be leading trips in Europe, we’re very busy getting ready for 2026 and 2027, doing our best to create memorable experiences for our travelers.

This wintr we’ll also be spending some time together. We’re planning a European Experiences retreat in March involving our six core team members (Drew, Kelly, Jennifer, JP, Kristin and me). We’ll be meeting for three days in the Smoky Mountains, focusing on improvement initiatives and future plans.  When everyone is in East Tennessee, we’re also planning a special event in Knoxville on March 7.  (Stay tuned for more info!)

We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished in 2025… and now we’re looking forward to 2026 and beyond.

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Although many trips are full, we do have openings in several of our 2026 trips.  See what’s still available here.  We’d love to have you join us to experience Europe in a very personal way.

And if you’re not on our mailing list, sign up here to receive our newsletters, including the announcement of our 2027 schedule on March 15.

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You might enjoy these other posts on the Slow Travel Tours blog:

Experiencing a Village:  Bonnieux

Happiness (Bonheur) in Bonnieux

The Magic of Christmas in Europe