About Jules

My travel career really started when I was about eight years old and had a small toy globe (but I already knew the names of every bird in the garden by the time I was five!). Closely followed by the purchase of a second hand old Atlas (which I still have to this day!) the traveller in me took to the ‘virtual armchair’ of escaping round the colourful world when seventies Britain around me was still in black and white!

My parents interest in the natural world meant that family holidays were more bogs than Bognor and I soon became familiar with the wilds of Scotland and the birds of Pagham Harbour! Shortly after leaving school, having done secretarial training, I followed my heart to work with animals and found myself working at Chester Zoo, during which time I studied Zoology myself and had a lot of hands on animal experience and events management. After nearly a decade organising travel for people and animals alike, I travelled myself around Europe organising conferences and finally to Africa – there was the biggest mistake the Zoo ever made as I lost my heart to the sunsets of the Serengeti and chirping of the night time cicadas ….

That was many years ago now. In the last 15 years or so I have seen every side of the travel industry, including spending six years in Africa. I’ve been a tour leader, safari camp manager, ground handler, travel agent, tour operator, nurse maid and agony aunt! For six years after returning to the UK, I was leading the Africa team as sales manager for a tailor made tour operator.  Now, I’m living in rural Suffolk, near the coast and have a garden full of veggies and furry and feathered waifs and strays who I’m playing adopted mummy to – and different kinds of feline friends to those in Africa!

Finally, I made the move to set up my own business in 2011 and here I am, offering my years of travel experience and high standard of customer care and offering inspiration to explore our amazing planet. My specialist niche and life long love will remain Africa along with all the wonderful wildlife of our Natural World. But if a luxury villa in Europe, a Antarctic expedition or a tropical island is more your thing, I can arrange that too!

How Does It Work?

As an ABTA bonded independent travel agent I have access to hundreds of operators and suppliers to get the perfect holiday for you.  I will offer you financial protection on your holidays and a personal touch and bespoke travel service for all of your requirements – holidays, business or whatever the occasion for travel!  Come to me for independent, friendly and trustworthy advice on travel, anywhere in the world, I particularly have a passion for off the beaten track and unusual travel. I hope that this website gives you some ideas and inspiration and that you will let me organise your travels for you. Take a look through the ‘experiences’ section for some great ideas for group trips, special places to stay or fabulous wildlife encounters.

I specialise in tailor made long haul, luxury, adventure, wildlife holidays and African safaris but can put together whatever you want!  I am self employed and earn commission through tour operators, so there are no hidden fees booking with me.  Sometimes there may be booking fees if a holiday is particularly complex in it’s planning but most of the time it won’t cost you any more to book with me than it would if you went direct to a tour operator or booked on line.  Because I am independent I have access to thousands of suppliers, some of which sell to trade only, so I can find options for you which you had maybe not considered.

The benefits I can offer you are:

• Available out of hours to suit you
• 20 years wildlife and travel experience
• Trustworthy, friendly (and to Suffolk residents, local!)
• Stress free holiday planning
• Safari Specialist – I know Africa inside out
• Financial security and no hidden fees

Do you spend hours (or days!) trawling the internet looking for your holiday? Then give me a call.  I do the research for you and if you do know exactly which holiday you want to book come to me and I can compare operators to get the best option for you and add any other travel services you may need.

Prefer to take a look at brochures at your leisure? If you are local to me, we can meet up and I can bring you a selection of brochures to give you ideas and talk to you about your options, giving you time to peruse at your leisure before we meet again and I detail a travel plan for you. If you are not local, we can still chat on the phone and I can send you web links or arrange for brochures to be posted.

As an independent, adventurous traveller myself, I understand the importance of getting all the little details right.  When you are planning a ‘trip of a lifetime’ or want something out of the ordinary, don’t leave it to chance – pick up the phone and let me take care of it all for you.

Take a look at my testimonials to see what people say about me! If you want to know what the travel retail trade think have a read of this article published in Travel Weekly when they asked me for my tips on selling African Safaris (page 49). The UK travel trade often ask my advice as an African Safari Expert – you can do the same and I can plan the perfect safari directly for you! This expertise was acknowledged by SATOA nominating me for an award as the ‘Best Retail Agent‘ promoting holidays to Africa.

Let me know if you need any ancillary services on your holiday bookings such as airport parking and lounge passes, car hire, transfers, travel insurance or information about visas and health issues.

I look forward to hearing from you and helping plan your next travel adventure!