My trip was amazing. I cannot emphasize enough how incredible the Wendy Perrin experience was. Door to door 5 star service. LOVE.
Hi Wendy,
Your various travel experts have planned 3 different trips of mine. We’ve done Spain, Thailand/Laos/Cambodia/Vietnam and Peru. We have just returned from our Peruvian adventure which was truly an unforgettable experience. Each trip has been absolutely incredible but Peru was particularly special. I cannot thank you enough for all of it. Tom and his team were spectacular. Our guides in Lima (Claudia) and Cuzco (Jose) could not have been better – they truly became friends. The access we were given to the most special places, incredible conversation and their vast knowledge of their country is unmatched. I would like to particularly thank you for our WOW Moment with the shaman. What a special moment!! Thanks very much for that. Thank you for your incredible Rolodex of experienced, kind professionals. We will continue our world travels and we will always take advantage of the vast knowledge of your people.
We are already planning our next adventure—and planning to work with Wendy and crew. There is simply no one else with her expertise and network of fabulous folks with whom to work!
I tell everyone who comments on my vacation photos about Wendy’s WOW List and have several friends who have joined the Wendy Perrin fan club. I just received a text from my niece and her husband, who used The WOW List for their amazing honeymoon to Italy, and I’m delighted to share it with Wendy and her wonderful team of travel visionaries: “This trip has been beyond our wildest dreams!!! Big thanks to you for recommending a Wendy Perrin agent! Now I never want to travel any other way!”
Thanks again for all you do, you all have changed our lives! We took our children to seven continents all with WOW travel agents. We can’t thank you enough and plan to travel with you all in the future!
Thank you for your fantastic WOW List, which I know takes huge effort to create and maintain! We value it tremendously and tell discerning travelers about it every year.
“This is simply to thank you for all the travel seminars and news that you and your team provided on Zoom during the pandemic. I’m sure I’m not the only traveler who feels like you ‘got us through’ the bleakness and gave us hope that travel would be wonderful again someday! Thank you for your knowledge and unfailing optimism. On some days, it meant more than you know!”
“This is our second time using Wendy Perrin and it certainly won’t be our last. Before, we always figured with the internet you really don’t need a travel agent. But we have learned that the value-add makes it well worth it. The headaches are removed, the itinerary is thoughtfully organized, and you have access to special experiences you wouldn’t otherwise have. We highly recommend Wendy Perrin!”
“I have used quite a few WOW consultants over the years and I continue to do so because the attention to detail and local knowledge can’t be beat and each of the consultants we have used has made our trip very special.”
“This is our second family trip through Wendy Perrin, the first being to Colombia in 2020. It is even more clear to us that Wendy brings enormous value to the trip. Using her service guaranteed an agent who is not only an expert in the region, but also plans a dynamic, exciting, varied, and completely personalized holiday.”
I think that connecting with the tour people through Wendy Perrin was very important in getting them to make efforts to keep us happy. We had another trip that was canceled due to Covid, and initially we were not going to get a full refund, but when we enlisted Wendy’s help, we were credited the money toward a future trip. I really appreciate the support of the Wendy Perrin staff. Our trip to Chile was scheduled so that we could see the solar eclipse, then canceled because of Covid. Even Wendy couldn’t get the eclipse rescheduled.”
I want you to know that my family and I are thankful for you all, who add so much to our lives. Travel is one of our favorite parts of life, and, as we often tell friends considering trips, you all are our best and most trusted travel experts. Your wow agents have created outstanding and incredibly fun trips for us on multiple continents, and we can hardly believe that we are soon headed to a place where you so far don’t have a wow agent. It makes us seem like bolder explorers than we are ;-) . Your whole team writes such excellent articles, full of wise and wonderful suggestions. You have all handled the pandemic with grace and common sense and your typical expertise.
Thank you all for the fantastic job you do and for making life more meaningful and fun. We are grateful!
Thank you all for helping us find such great planners who send us on amazing trips!
Wendy is the best, and her travel experts are responsible for virtually all of our trips during the past dozen years.
We had a great trip! Thanks again to all of you at WendyPerrin.com for staying in the know and making it easy for the rest of us!
We just want to let you know that the Perrin newsletter with all the great information ranging from the “globe” of what’s open to dispatch from places around the world, pandemic reviews, etc has been stellar. We don’t know what we would do without you guys!
You—Brook, Billie, and Wendy—are wonderful experts in the travel industry. Once we are comfortable traveling outside the US, we will be connecting with your travel experts for international trips as well. I attended many of your Zoom seminars, including the one about Travel Insurance, and they were terrific. I do recommend the Wendy Perrin Travel Experts to other folks looking for exceptional travel experiences.
I am so truly grateful I discovered the Wendy Perrin website. I have found someone who loves travel as much as me but clearly knows how to plan for it 100 times better. Thank you again.
Thank you so much for this service. The knowledge I have gained from the website, newsletters, and working with your agents has taken my trips to a whole new level of experiences. Thank you!!!
My husband and I are big fans of yours over the years. We have followed you and your work from your Conde Nast Traveler days to your current venture, WendyPerrin.com, which we much prefer. We are deeply grateful for all the hard work you do on the ground, in the air, on the water, and at home, to distill the skills and insights of travel into simple, concise, eloquent, and inspiring travel articles. We frequently thank you over and over and over again in our minds for sifting through travel specialists to create the WOW list. Our travel skills, and smarts, have grown through our reading of your articles over the years and implementing your advice. We have undoubtedly had many trips of a lifetime thanks to you. Thank you for enabling us to have memories we will cherish all our lives. Best wishes for a 2019 filled will all things positive and successful.
My parents have booked a handful of trips from Wendy Perrin’s WOW List before (two of which I was a part of). They suggested I go for it— splurge for the honeymoon to get a truly amazing experience. It’s only been a week since we started working on this trip and even though I don’t leave for nearly two months, this planning experience has already exceeded my expectations. This must be why my parents love The WOW List so much and will talk about it every chance they get: the ease of setting up a trip with an experienced professional, the trust and confidence that the trip will be spectacular, and the utmost level of customer service with the planning phase. I can’t express how much more excited about the trip I am from all of this. Thank you so much for all the help you have been!
Your Trusted Travel Experts continue to prepare fabulous itineraries for us. As a repeat client of your TTEs all over the world, I can vouch for their superior talent and the value they offer. We have been rewarded with the absolute finest travel arrangements/support, without exception. Our continued thanks to you for identifying these amazing travel experts. You are the best.
I think your move from Conde Nast was brilliant as yours is the kind of honest practical website that high-end but not necessarily ultra-wealthy independent travelers have been craving.
Wendy, I have been following your annual “Best Travel Agents by Destination” lists for years, with great success every time. I’ve recommended this approach to a number of friends, who have also benefited. Highlights from past trips arranged by one of your recommended agents include Lucy Davidson for India and Jim at Destinations and Adventures for Egypt. Although we mostly travel on our own, except for small-group trekking (Patagonia, Nepal, Bhutan, etc.), I am very grateful for the expertise of those who know a country particularly well. The unique opportunities (home visits, school stops, tiny hotels, cultural immersions) are some of our strongest memories. Never doubt that you do an invaluable service in making travel easier and more accessible. Many many thanks!
My husband and I live in Minneapolis and have taken two perfect trips planned by experts on your WOW List —Aracari in Lima, Peru, and Sea Song in Istanbul, Turkey—and now we wouldn’t plan a trip without your help.
I’m always telling people about your travel blog and advice—your knowledge is amazing.
Thank you for all you do. You ensure that traveling is always a pleasure!
We’ve been thinking about a trip to Spain next year, and all our trips begin with an email to you. While we’ve never met you, you have become an indispensable part of our travel planning. Please don’t retire…at least for the next 25 years.
Hello Wendy:
My husband and I are both professors who love to travel and really experience the culture of a new place. I am our ‘travel agent’ who does all the research and arrangements for our trips. I wanted you to know that I have used 5 of your specialists: Diane Embree (just back this week from a fantastic trip); Mei Zhang, Wild China (Beijing on our way to Indonesia); Susan Tanzman (Hawaii last year), Andrea Ross (Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, 2013); and for the holidays later this year, Joel Zack for Morocco.
The trips we have taken thus far have all been extraordinary experiences based on the insider knowledge, extensive connections, level of professionalism, and enthusiasm of each specialist. While we have not yet been to Morocco, our itinerary is very exciting and we know it will be a great trip as well. Because we know the value of careful planning and a depth of expertise, I will be looking to your WOW List when we plan for Peru and Ecuador in the next few years.
We also travel on our own, often associated with business (London and Israel last and this year, Singapore this year, and others). We do take cruises as well, having used Viking, Crystal, Regent, Seabourn and Silversea. Our expectations are always high, and your WOW List agents have always met and exceeded them. Thank you.
Just wanted to let you know how much I’m enjoying this new site. I’ve read Wendy for the past 15 or so years in Traveler magazine and always loved her tips. This new site and newsletter is just great – practical, usable advice for real people. Really enjoying and much appreciated.
Over the years I’ve used a number of Wendy’s recommended travel agents and/or advisors with NEVER a second of disappointment. Now I stay in touch with her newsletter at wendyperrin.com. It’s fast, informative, and covers virtually every facet of travel with invaluable advice.
Each of the travel advisors you’ve recommended (there have been five or six over the past decade) have provided exceptional experiences. Thanks for all you do in the way of guidance and advice.
When she was at Conde Nast Traveler I followed Wendy Perrin religiously and used her suggested travel agents for many adventures. From Morocco with Joel Zack to New Zealand with Donna Thomas to Peru with Marisol Mosquera, each of Wendy’s recommendations was better than the last. Our friends often ask who plans our trips, as we visit very diverse locations in out-of-the-way locations around our world. My answer: WENDY. Just read her recommendations for the best travel specialists in specific locations, easily available on her WOW List.
Thank you for always being the BEST source of travel information in the world! You are my “go to” person for all travel, and I am delighted to have found you.
I miss you in Condé Nast Traveler. The mag is not the same.
Please know that my husband and I, and now our children, don’t travel anywhere without checking out your WOW list. Thank you.
Wendy, I have followed you faithfully for years. We have booked all our trips off your list of top travel specialists and have taken every travel tip which has never failed us! Thank you also for establishing the WOW list on your new site!! My husband and I would be lost without it.
I am so happy that you now have this site. Yours was my favorite column in the magazine, followed by Ombudsman. Since both are gone, so will my subscription. I don’t like the magazine’s new direction at all. Keep up the good work.
Hi Wendy —
I confess that I suffered a moment or two of utter panic when I learned that you were leaving Conde Nast Traveler! I had been a faithful reader for many years, and immediately turned to your article as soon as my issue arrived. What were we going to do without your great commentary and knowledge??? I am vastly relieved that you’ve found what appears to be the perfect venue to showcase your talents…and wish us many more years together. Congrats & Good Luck!!
Wendy, we appreciate all the advice you have provided over the years. We will miss your articles and travel suggestions in CN but are excited to follow you on your own web site.
Recently we used one of your recommended travel specialists for Vietnam and Cambodia and were not disappointed. Currently we are talking to two others you have listed… one for India and another for South America. Your suggestions are always spot on.
Looking forward to what’s to come!
Wendy, Over the years we have used eight of your travel specialists on four continents. All of them have been fantastic. Their local knowledge and contacts set them apart. A perfect example might be our request to observe/participate in the annual kite flying festival in Jaipur, India. Our specialist, Victor Biswas of International Ventures and Travel, arranged for us to fly kites from the roof of the building in which the Gem Palace was located with the extended family of the owners of that amazing jewelry operation.
We look forward to your new list and will always refer to it as we plan our travels. Many thanks for your unbiased advice for those of us who are lucky enough to wander the world.
Wendy – Many thanks for all you do for all of us trying to wade through the morass of travel information on the internet. You have supplied me with superb people over the years through your annual “Wendy Perrin’s Top Travel Specialists.” They in turn have helped us plan fantastic vacations. Currently we are working with Lucy Davison of Banyan Tours & Travels on an iconic trip to India in January 2015. I will be looking for your 2014 update listing your top specialists. And your new newsletter will be read with great enthusiasm.Your advice re: the use of the Chase Sapphire Visa card was incredible. That card has allowed me to accumulate invaluable exchangeable points that can either supplement air or hotel awards – the fine art of which I am learning from Gary Leff and Lucky on their respective blogs. Amazing new world of how to travel now and in the future. Please continue your dedicated efforts for all of us. We are very appreciative.
We miss you, your always excellent advice, and the World on Sale trips you did for Conde Nast. We booked three of those trips (Egypt, Israel, and Central Europe) and used your list of top tour operators to book two additional trips. They were magnificent. The best trips of our lives. Part of what made the World on Sale trips so attractive for us was the reduced price. We could not have afforded them otherwise.
Will you be putting together any trips like these in the future? I wish it were so. If not, are there agencies or tour operators you can recommend? Right now we’re looking for a combined Sicily/Malta trip.
Before closing, my husband and I want to thank you for being such a reliable, first-class source for sophisticated travel information. Now that we’ve found your blog, we’ll be sure to check it out frequently.
Wendy – I’m up to 125 countries and currently have another twenty odd booked, and my wife has over 100, so we can safely say that we are inveterate travelers. We have subscriptions to Departures, CNT and T&L as well as a few others. Frankly CNT was our favorite until the recent changes. There is no benefit to be derived by my falsely flattering you, but your CNT columns were fantastic, so interesting and so helpful! We really miss them as we do the greatly diminished Ombudsman column. The whole new format does not appeal and we think the magazine has deteriorated but c’est la vie.
We are fans of TripAdvisor and in fact I’ve contributed 269 reviews myself so it’s great to have you there now – Barbara Messing should be thrilled. Anyway we want to wish you the greatest of success in your two new endeavors and we will be following you closely.
When you left Conde Nast it was evident that I would not keep my membership. I had already smelled the changes and I did not like them. Since my cancellation I have received still two issues and particularly in the last one there was nothing, a totally empty magazine bereft of interesting articles and, of course, missing the columns that you created and were a joy to read and learn from. I can’t wait for the next chapter in your career and know that it will be a great success.
Hi Wendy, so glad you have not left us travelers adrift in the internet morass. As others have stated, yours was always the first page I turned to when opening CN. Your suggestions in the past have been invaluable, and I look forward to more of your excellent ideas and comments. Congrats!
The travel specialists that Wendy has recommended over the years have NEVER failed to be amazing in every way. They are thorough and knowledgeable and attentive to every detail. I have seen and used your list of best travel specialists when you worked for Conde Nast, and they have always proved to be outstanding. You are always an insightful and enjoyable read. Your advice to travelers is very valuable and very much appreciated. Thank you – keep up the great work!
Wendy’s articles were the first I would read whenever I received the CN Traveler magazine. Her zest and passion for travel were so apparent. You could sense her love of each place and the people there. I especially appreciated her honesty. I used her best travel agent recommendations and was never disappointed. I am grateful that she will continue to share her knowledge and wish her great success as she continues her journeys in the world and in life.
I hope you will continue to do something similar to the “best travel agents” that you did for Conde Nast. I have used a number of your recommendations and rely on them when booking specialty travel.
Shana Levine
Dixon, CA
Hello Wendy, I wasn’t happy to see that you were leaving Condé Nast Traveler, but am glad you will still be offering travel advice and information on your own site! I am a fan. Over the years, I looked forward to reading your column for advice on travel and suggestions. As a matter of fact, the credit cards I use are based on your suggestions. I would like to wish you the best of luck with your new adventure and hope that it is a success! I look forward to your future newsletters and hope that they are packed with just as much information.
Thrilled to be able to see all of your wisdom in one site! Congrats to you, and I hope the best!
I am sorry to see you leave Conde Nast. I felt that your articles, plus Ombudsman, were the best parts of the magazine. Most of the hotels and restaurants they advertised are too rich for us. We travel a lot and have to stay on a budget.
Congratulations on your new website and on your TripAdvisor job. I am on TA every day, contribute often, and feel it is the best website for travel. I have signed up for your newsletter. I got a good tip when you mentioned that the Chase card has the chip, which I always wish I had when we are in Europe. I currently have the card. I called and they said that they are phasing the new ones in but that they would send my wife and I a new one now.
Thanks to a wonderful article written by Wendy regarding the discounts offered on summer business class airfares to Europe, 2 years ago my wife and our 2 children enjoyed a fantastic air experience on our first trip to Europe. Wendy’s articles in Traveler were loaded with PRACTICAL information that I have applied numerous times to our travels. I see by reading other posts here I am not alone on my thoughts regarding the (new) Traveler format. Keep up the great work, Wendy, and again THANK YOU. I look forward to many years of REAL travel news!!!
Everyone will miss your outstanding contributions to Condé Nast Traveler, but I know you’ll do great things with your own site and with TripAdvisor. I have to tell you, the World on Sale packages you put together were some of the best luxury travel offers ever — and I know whereof I speak. My husband and I have spent at least 200 nights away from home each year for the last 6 years, mostly on luxury travel that I’ve booked at great discounts and/or with points and miles. We have been fortunate enough to visit places and do things that most people only dream about, yet the two World on Sale trips we took were among the most memorable we’ve experienced.
I wish you great luck and great success with your new venture. While it is true that you once answered my question with great advice that I used, I have always been much more impressed with how sensible and balanced your advice and guidance has been in the articles you published.
Probably like everyone else who has travelled more than a few miles from home, I have opinions. Lots of them and on a host of things. The good news for almost everyone within earshot is that I don’t need to give voice to them very often because I take great satisfaction from reading your thoughts and thinking to myself that had I been there, I am quite sure I would have done the same.
Congratulations, Wendy. I had decided that I will not be renewing my Condé Nast subscription as I do not like the new format of the magazine, but I always enjoyed reading your reviews and suggestions. It is good to know that I will not have to go without! I will be sure to take a look at your site regularly.
Wendy, I have saved most of your columns/articles over these many years of travel and have found ALL of them to be of great help. More recently, I have wondered why you never struck out on your own and convinced myself that you had a better arrangement (financial and otherwise) with CN than you could have working on your own. But now… I am thrilled (and slightly jealous) that an intelligent woman has shown the wherewithal to (mostly) go it alone. Bravo!!! On a very teeny scale I have been providing what I believe is helpful travel info to friends/family for the last 30 years or so. It comes from years of travel (mistakes and all), a careful analysis of all aspects of our trips and a general belief that I know better than anyone (‘cept for you – of course!) about the best ways to travel. So, here’s to your success – congratulations!
Bravissima! You were the best part of the magazine and I planned to stop the subscription and find you online. You are superb and I have relied on your travel agents (such as Caroline Bach Wood and Howard Lewis) for years.
My husband and I are frequent travelers and we have always looked to you for great advice in your articles and columns in Conde Nast. We have followed you for years, and we had taken a trip to Thailand and Cambodia in 2013 after the magazine offered 25 Trips of a Lifetime, based on your recommendations for using Journeys Within. We have recently used your suggestion for using Gary Leff for ticketing help on a trip we are taking to East Africa. You have always steered us in the right direction, whether it is choosing a destination or a hotel or itinerary, or in providing us with great travel tips.
Wendy, you have helped make me, and our family, become better, smarter, happier travelers. Your guides have been our guides and these recommendations will be missed. I wish you every success in your new endeavor and will look for you on TripAdvisor and at wendyperrin.com. Thank you for sharing your expertise with us.
I’m not a travel agent—I’m a journalist who has spent the past 30 years reporting on how to travel smarter. To maximize your experience, click to Ask Wendy for a personalized recommendation for trip ideas and custom-trip designers, tailored to your location and preferences.