Sheri Doyle helped us plan a delightful driving trip down the central coast of CA. I normally plan all the details of our vacations, but wanted some expert help this time. She did indeed suggest an itinerary with hotels and activities I would not have chosen on my own. The hotels were extremely expensive because of the time of year and all the pent-up demand for travel. She warned us about this and even offered to defer her fee until a later date. I appreciated this, but still proceeded. I liked Sheri’s straightforward approach to fees and that it was a collaborative process. I hope to use her again to travel up to Oregon and/or WA.

We enlisted Sheri to help plan our trip to Seattle and the San Juan Islands. We have never spent much time in the area, and wanted a vacation that would include both sightseeing and lots of relaxation. Sheri spent quite a bit of time asking questions and listening to our wishes, and in a word she was ‘exceptional.’

The accommodations she researched and suggested were ‘spot on’; they were all perfectly located, provided excellent amenities, and were exactly what we were looking for. In addition, she booked all our necessary ferries, and also helped to confirm two great tours that she had suggested, a private Seattle City Tour and an afternoon whale-watching tour.

What was really so impressive was the final document she provided for us. Not only did it contain our day-by-day accommodation, ferry and tour confirmations, but was full of further suggestions of additional places we might be interested in visiting each day (including opening dates/times), restaurant suggestions in those areas, and options on how to most efficiently utilize our time. For each and every item she suggested, she provided both general information and very detailed directions! This was probably the most comprehensive document we have ever had prior to a trip; it really was unbelievable.

We had an incredible WOW Moment (thanks, Wendy) in Seattle. The trip to Pike Place with chef/teacher Diane LaVonne was excellent. She knows all the local farmers/fisherman there, so we tasted some of their best items. This was followed by a cooking class (including teaching us how to pick a whole crab) in her teaching space, Diane’s Market Kitchen. There was no better way to end our day!

Sheri exceeded all our expectations, and everything went off without a glitch. We would have no hesitation in recommending her, and we will definitely utilize her services again.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  Sheri planned a fabulous trip for my husband, my daughter-in-law, my son, my four-year-old grandchild and me!
She listened carefully to our needs and provided us with appropriate hotels, experiences, and restaurants.
We requested a detailed itinerary which gave us multiple options of activities that we all were able to enjoy!! She even provided driving instructions including where to stop to sightsee, and eat lunch!!
The highlights for me were exploring Lava Land National Park, and even going thru a Lava Cave. The Rose Garden and Japanese Garden in Portland were exquisite and I wish we had more time to spend. The drives along the scenic highways were beautiful.
The only disappointment was Portland. It has changed so much in the last few years. It was sad to see.
I would definitely travel with Sheri again.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  We’ve just come back from the Pacific North West visiting various areas of the Olympic National Park, the coast, and then on to Victoria and Tofino in British Columbia. Sheri did a wonderful job creating a trip that was exactly what we were hoping for. Her tips regarding things to do, places to eat, and things to watch out for such as possible road closures, which ferry lanes to be in, etc. saved us so much time and angst. When we decided to change up our itinerary during the trip she got right on it and made it happen. This was the second time we worked with Sheri and we are already working with her on next summer’s adventure. She’s a gem!

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  Last spring we began planning a 9 person family trip to the Pacific Northwest. We decided to connect with a travel advisor as this trip was including family members from ages 14 to 76 and we were not familiar with the Pacific Northwest. After much deliberation, we decided to vacation in Oregon. We spent 3 days in Portland, 4 days in Bend, and 2 days in the Willamette Valley. In addition, we only had a finite period of time to do all that we hoped to do. Sheri Doyle worked with us, made recommendations and found excellent accommodations, restaurants and activities that worked for all of us, and she provided a comprehensive outline of our everyday activities. Her notes were thoughtful, informative, and extremely easy to follow. She was responsive, she answered all of our questions, and she was a pleasure to work with. She does her job very well. We would certainly recommend her. We had a wonderful vacation.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  Sheri Doyle planned an amazing trip to the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington) for my husband and me. She incorporated our interests and preferences as she used her knowledge of the area to suggest locations, accommodations, and activities. And we LOVED it all! We are experienced travelers, but hadn’t traveled since COVID. Sheri provided comprehensive driving directions, including stops for meals and sightseeing; she suggested and set up activities such as a whale watch on a small, high-tech boat that was a memorable experience. She provided access to an easy-to-use app for us to reference our itinerary, which made day-to-day travel so easy. Sheri suggested a provider for insurance to cover costs if we had to cancel or shorten our travel. She suggested restaurants with outdoor dining options, as well as others, and let us make the choice. Sheri checked in with us during the trip to make sure all was going well. When she received notice of delayed or cancelled ferries, she contacted us asap and offered to help. Sheri’s service is top-notch and I unequivocally recommend her for your PNW travel.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  Sheri Doyle provided valuable guidance as we planned our trip to the Pacific Northwest in early June 2022. She created a detailed itinerary including tips on restaurants and sightseeing which were very specific, accurate, and relevant to our particular needs and wishes. She was also quickly responsive and offered help in changing reservations when one of our accommodations did not provide the expected level of service.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  After a spectacular month-long trip to Argentina from mid-March to mid-April arranged with the help of Jordan Harvey, I was worried that our planned road trip through California might be disappointing. I was so wrong! With the help of Sheri Doyle, Lisa and I enjoyed an amazing three-week adventure through the state where I grew up but where I haven’t lived since 1984.

Lisa and I both attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, and when we started thinking about our 50th college reunion, it was my first opportunity to turn to Wendy’s guidance and The WOW List after learning of her service. Wendy recommended Sheri, and she did a wonderful job guiding us to great places to stay and dine, along with some worthwhile activities, while being very flexible and understanding about our own needs and unusual requests.

For example, we stayed on our own or with friends a couple of times along the way (Los Angeles, Ojai and Sonoma), and she seamlessly fit that into our itinerary. I grew up in California through college (and returned there to work for 7 years) and I’d been to places like San Francisco, Napa Valley, and Yosemite before both as a kid and an adult. But north of San Francisco was mostly unknown territory and Sheri made sure we found some of the best things to see and do.

But perhaps Sheri’s most valuable contribution were her contacts in the travel industry, which allowed her to book us (and two friends traveling with us) into our fabulous splurge at the very exclusive SingleThread Inn, a Michelin 3-star restaurant in Healdsburg with only five rooms for guests. Our dinner was one of the most memorable of our lives (and we’ve had some pretty spectacular meals in France, China, New Zealand and elsewhere in the U.S.) and I’m not sure we would have been able to arrange it without Sheri’s help.

She also did a wonderful job responding to some of the travel curves we faced along the way. When one place we wanted to stay booked a wedding party while we were finalizing our plans, she juggled the schedule so that we headed up to redwoods in the far north first before returning to Mendocino along the coast further south. And when the hotel we had booked in San Francisco was sold to another company and DOUBLED their rates, Sheri rebooked us into the historic Palace Hotel, with a host of benefits, including breakfast and meal credits.

Best of all, by relying on Sheri to make most of arrangements, we were able to freely enjoy the spectacular scenery along the coast and elsewhere in the state without any worries. All the plans went through without a hitch (with the one exception that our friends were placed in an ADA room at SingleThread that they didn’t need and which proved to have a few issues that might have been avoidable).

We’ve just returned home after a lot of traveling this spring. We’re ready for a break and are looking forward to being home for a few months. But we’re already looking forward to a few future WOW trips (Anguilla in December, Italy/Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland in late spring/early summer 2023, adventure cruise along Norway coast in summer 2024). I’m confident they are going to all be just as sensational – if not more so!

PANDEMIC TRAVEL We normally go out of the country and travel internationally in the fall. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic we elected to stay in the United States. We wanted to visit an area that was warmer than our New England home. We wanted to go to a part of the country where Covid 19 protocols are generally followed. We felt our travel agent Sheri directed us appropriately on these issues.
She was excellent in making a time schedule that enabled us to see many areas but not felt rushed. She made numerous suggestions of things to do in each location so there were many choices.
We were very pleased with all the hotel selections and suggestions for restaurants were well thought out and considered our tastes.
Our wine tours in Paso Robles were informative, and most enjoyable. We even had our requested olive oil tasting. The Light installation that we visited was phenomenal!! A must see for anyone in a 50 mile radius.
Our Santa Barbara food and wine tour was wonderful and introduced us to several different kinds of foods and wine. Halloween in Santa Barbara was an event!
Our last tour was in Joshua Tree National Park and I would never have imagined how much we learned and saw of the park. For people from the East it was a different world.
I certainly would hire Sheri again and recommend her highly!!
She asked questions and listened to our answers and then planned!
Last we had some changes and she or her employee responded quickly!!

PANDEMIC TRAVEL Sheri did a fantastic job at planning this trip for me. She knows her market extremely well, and was up-to-date on anything/everything COVID-19 related so I had zero surprises in that regard, and for which I was very appreciative.

If you like details, but don’t have the knowledge or time that it takes to plan, Sheri is the person for you for the Pacific Northwest. From hotels to restaurants to travel logistics to experiences, Sheri was truly on top of it, and I was able to greatly enjoy things that I would not have even known to consider! And, her level of detail cannot be understated; this was a trip that involved flying, driving, ferries, etc., and Sheri provided perfect information and completely took the stress that I likely would have had away. Everything went perfectly. Sheri brought so much value to my entire trip and I will definitely work with her again and again. I give my highest recommendation to Sheri!

PANDEMIC TRAVEL We had a great trip to the Pacific Northwest. Sheri Doyle has tremendous knowledge of this area and planned a wonderful trip for us that was not only fun but also safe and worry-free. Her suggestions on dining and activities was spot on. She knows the great places! And her tips on driving and places to stop along the way made our trip hassle free. I would not hesitate to use her again!

PANDEMIC TRAVEL Sheri Doyle helped us put together another fabulous trip in the Pacific Northwest, this time to the San Juan Islands and the Olympic Peninsula. All the car ferry reservations we needed were made, plus she recommended three very different but all wonderful and unique places to stay – from an individual cabin on a quiet bay, to a luxurious bed and breakfast at the edge of a clifftop overlooking the ocean, to a charming National Park Lodge right on a lake. She also helped us line up reservations for lots of fun activities including: a whale watching boat ride, kayaking, e-biking and even milking a goat, followed by tasting freshly made goat cheese! I would highly recommend Sheri if you plan to travel in the Pacific Northwest!

PANDEMIC TRAVEL Northern California including San Francisco, Yosemite National Park & Carmel

So as someone who has read with interest other people’s trip reviews and memorable experiences I have always wanted to use a WOW List specialist to trip plan as a way to compare with what I can arrange myself. My family’s recent trip to Northern California for my wife’s 50th birthday seemed like a perfect opportunity for three reasons: 1) this was a big event and I wanted to try to provide a memorable experience for my wife and my kids (age 16 and 12) even though their preferred activities were not always the same; 2) my schedule was not going to allow me to do much leg work in advance of the trip and 3) this would be our first vacation which required air travel since the pandemic and I wanted assistance with identifying and responding to the unique challenges of travel during Covid times. I outlined these issues for Wendy and she put me in touch with Sheri Doyle. Sheri put together a great experience for all of us that I thought did a nice job balancing the competing interests of my wife, who likes an active outdoor type vacation, with my kids who are more excited by pizza and a nice pool.

Three examples of how Sheri made the trip a great experience:

1) She recognized potential problems before they manifested and did her best to guide us through them. During the middle of our trip we visited Yosemite National Park. After Sheri had the general outline of the trip in place, but before we traveled, she learned that YNP was going to require all visitors entering the park to have already purchased a capacity controlled access pass. Without the pass, if you just showed up at the park in your vehicle, you would be denied entry. And in fact the day we drove to the park, the National Park Service warned us of waits of more than an hour to get into the park because people were arriving without passes and not being able to enter and delaying the entry of others who did have passes. Sheri informed me in advance of this requirement and when and how to obtain a pass. When we arrived at the park with our pass, we experienced only a short wait and then were able to go explore the park. Sheri also booked us on a guided tour of YNP on a different day which already had passes in place; so that even if we were not able to obtain a pass ourselves, we would still have been able to visit the park.

2) Sheri made reservations at three different places for the time we were in California. One of these, Cavallo Point, was a location where we had previously stayed and enjoyed ourselves. However, both of the other places we stayed were a great combination of beautiful settings with amenities that we all but my kids especially really enjoyed. My son liked the large saltwater pool at the Rush Creek Lodge which was a welcome escape at the end of a long day of hiking and sightseeing in very hot dry conditions. On the other hand, my daughter’s favorite experience was learning how to manage the apiary at the Carmel Valley Ranch. Sheri’s selection of these hotels made both of these highlights for my kids possible. Using Sheri for the reservations meant that we often had free breakfast and resort credits to offset the cost of activites and other costs.

3) Because we flew into SFO Sheri broke the trip up into three segments, with the first two nights near San Francisco, then three nights at Yosemite and then 3 nights in Carmel. The way she segmented the trip made the long drives that were required to get to Yosemite from the coast more manageable and also provided a nice contrast between the cooler, even foggy at times, coastal areas, and the very dry, very hot Sierra Nevada mountains.

Overall, we had a great experience and would definitely use Sheri’s services again.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL The Soza family traveled from July 15th to the 29th. We stayed in Seattle and on Orcas Island.

I honestly don’t remember how I came across Wendy Perrin’s service, but I’m glad that I did. We worked with Sheri Doyle, and Sheri absolutely delivered. Because of COVID driving a surge in domestic travel, we started our planning late; Sheri worked her magic and found us the right house in a great location on Orcas Island. We had a beautiful view, and all of the in-home amenities we needed. As with all travel, there were a couple of hiccups; the support staff on Orcas Island responded immediately and took care of all of our needs and questions. After our first day in the house we knew that we were working with folks who were ready to help us and ensure our vacation was outstanding.

Sheri also secured our ferry reservations. All we had to do was drive up and get on the boat. It was simple!

In addition to our lodging on Orcas, Sheri also booked our hotel in Seattle; because she booked it, we had a number of benefits: $100 room credit, guaranteed late check out, and daily free breakfast for two. She provided great service and a great value.

If I have any advice it would be to ask for assistance well in advance; given how uncertain international travel is right now, planning domestic travel well in advance will ensure that Sheri (or one of her colleagues) will be able to provide you with same outstanding experience that we had.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL We recently took a road trip of the Pacific Northwest that was designed jointly by us with Sheri Doyle. We flew to Seattle from Philadelphia in early July with the intent to spend some time there visiting our daughter who had recently relocated to the area–followed by a road trip that encompassed visiting Olympic National Park, the southwestern coast of Washington, the entire Oregon coast and the redwood forests of Northern California. We finished with an evening in San Francisco before flying back to the east coast at the end of July. The trip took a little over 3 weeks and was well planned and exceeded our expectations for the most part. The scenery in the national park, the beaches of the Oregon coast and the redwoods of northern California were incredibly beautiful and awe inspiring and the travel itinerary was well planned and gave us just enough time to recharge at a nice setting before heading off to our next destination. We were thrilled with most of the properties that we stayed at even though they had a wide range from a lodge within a national park, a unique bed and breakfast in northern Washington and a 5 star resort on Cannon Beach in Oregon. Sheri provided us with a very detailed itinerary which included good directions (helpful in places with poor wifi) and multiple suggestions on places of interest to check out along the way. Sheri and her team also gave us multiple dining suggestions along with the latest Covid restrictions (although these were changing in some places along the way). We felt lucky to have such a comprehensive plan, and our only regret was we did not have more time to explore some of the places we had to bypass due to time constraints. In particular you could easily spend a couple of months just checking out all of the fantastic state parks along the Oregon coast, each one more incredible than the next. In a few cases, the places we tried to visit were so overcrowded we could not visit (e.g., Hoh rainforest in WA, Ecola State Park, in OR) but we were able to find local alternatives that were good substitutes (the Quinault rainforest and Oswald state park). We had planned to have several days that were guided by experts but due to Covid restrictions these were limited to a few days (a guided hike in Olympic Park and a jet boat ride down the Rogue River and another guided hike on the California coast outside Jenner). As it turned out we really enjoyed exploring on our own, although we got a little lost on a few of the hiking trails we attempted. Even when we were lost we were entranced by the beautiful scenery and our biggest worry was being late for our dinner reservation. Like any complex trip, we had a few hiccups but Sheri helped us course correct so we did not have to be anywhere we did not like for very long. We survived the loss of power in one of the beautiful properties we stayed in (Tu Tu Tun lodge in Oregon) but were sorry to have missed the planned dinner of locally caught chinook salmon. Sheri did a great job of helping us to navigate through the course corrections and the pandemic issues – she also had prepared us well for what to expect as we made our way from one beautiful setting to another along the Pacific coast. Trip highlights included (but were not limited to) Hurricane Ridge in Olympic Park, hiking through the Quinault rainforest, bike rides along Cannon Beach at the Stephanie Inn, every state park in coastal Oregon, especially Cape Perpetua, Cape Lookout and Samuel Boardman and a hike through the sand dunes to a nearly deserted beach along the central Oregon coast. Our biggest disappointment was the lack of quality lodging options for our visit to the redwood forests in northern California but this was partially offset by the majestic beauty of our hikes through the redwoods. All in all we would highly recommend Sheri if you are looking to visit the area and need an experienced planner who can help you design an unforgettable journey.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  Sheri provided me with valuable insight on all aspects of our 30-day trip to the Oregon coast in July 2021. I couldn’t have asked for a better travel advisor than Sheri. All of Sheri’s recommendations were spot on and accurate. No details were too small. Sheri also took the initiative to help me secure a rental car before we even thought about it 5 months in advance. We visited national parks, cities, and villages, and went to restaurants at her suggestions. All of the experiences were second to none. She also checked in on us throughout our trip to make sure we didn’t need any help. We would highly recommend Sheri to plan your trips if you ever visit Oregon.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL I normally plan all our trips and enjoy the process. We wanted to take our 3-generation family of 7 for a week in the San Juan Islands and Seattle but were concerned about how to coordinate our airfare with the ferry schedules and how to decide which island was best for us. I turned to Sheri Doyle, who planned our entire itinerary. Her suggestions were clear, spot on, and she always looked for best pricing for us. She made our hotel and ferry reservations and gave us suggestions where to eat, shop, hike, tour, etc. She responded to my inquiries within hours. She made our first vacation in 20 months less stressful and way more productive. We will use her again – she is so knowledgeable about the Pacific Northwest.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL Sheri yet again planned a fabulous trip for my husband and me. She had previously planned a trip for us to the Canadian Rockies, which was amazing so of course we wanted to work with her again. We moved around quite a bit on this trip and every place we stayed was wonderful. We had to change things around at the last minute when there were COVID shutdowns in the Portland and Willamette Valley areas. She re-routed us to Seattle where we had a wonderful stay. We were happily able to have dinner with Sheri in Seattle, which was a real treat!

We also had a fantastic WOW moment during our trip. We spent 5 hours with an AMAZING naturalist guide exploring Olympic National Park. He was a great guide and a great person.

Sheri’s detailed notes and suggestions on places to go, things to see, restaurants, etc. are enormously helpful and very personal. It is like chatting with a friend. I cannot say enough great things about Sheri and would recommend her to anyone and everyone!

PANDEMIC TRAVEL    Sheri is the consummate professional: she gave us excellent guidance on planning our trip to the Olympic Peninsula and San Juan Islands and superb and detailed advice as to where to stay and what to do; she truly tailored the trip to our interests and was “with us” throughout the trip (even assisting when we made a silly mistake with a ferry (notwithstanding her detailed written instructions to the contrary). We would work with her again in a heartbeat.

Renting our own places was a criterion for us and, interestingly, hard to do. Houses were very booked up. So Sheri was hugely helpful in piecing together our places to stay.

We rented a house close to Olympic National Park, but not in it. It was on the water, super pretty and an easy drive into the park. Then we spent three days on San Juan Island in another rental home, and a week on Lopez Island in another.… We loved it. We had really beautiful weather, and it was easy to be completely by ourselves.

Sheri knows that anyone who wants to travel right now needs to be careful, so she has great ideas. Before we could even ask our questions, she gave us great advice about how to navigate the process… she had the answers about socially distancing, about the ferries, about where to stay. Sheri could not have been better.

You can read a full interview with Kathy about her family trip to the Pacific Northwest here.

Sheri Doyle, our travel planner, was amazing. We traveled to Vancouver for a few days and she recommended the best hotel and restaurants for our brief visit. We cant wait to come back and to use Sheri again!

Sheri listened to our family’s needs on this trip and truly delivered. We had an amazing, stress free trip. Her recommendations for hikes, restaurants and even best times to go to places saved us precious time. I couldn’t have planned this trip without her insight. She went above and beyond.

Sheri was very helpful in planning our road trip of California. Her recommendations for places to stay and excursions were fantastic. The information provided on each area was second to none, and the whole family had an amazing time. She was very helpful in accommodating the changes we required. We had a wonderful month long vacation and would highly recommend working with Sheri for self drive vacations in California.

Sheri was very good to work with. She made our trip smooth and effortless.
We traveled with our dog and Sheri gave numerous suggestions for sites, activities and restaurants along with places for Rudy to run around. If I had a question she was prompt with her reply. As we were traveling she also checked in with us to make sure all things were going well.
We would use her again.

Sheri was a terrific help in providing me options for a three-day stop over in Seattle. She described hotel options and helped me pick the one that was spot-on to what we were looking for. Her descriptions of the activities, with details as to how to get there and what else was in the immediate area enabled us to narrow down and easily choose what to see. There was one activity that we chose to do at the last minute and could not find availability, but Sheri and her team was able to quickly provide us with reservation and transportation options. Her restaurant recommendations were equally descriptive and excellent. Highly recommend.

Sheri did a great job helping us plan our recent trip to The San Juan Islands! She gave us some great options on places to stay and had a lot of “insider knowledge” on things like the ferry schedules and a local annual chamber music production that happened to be going on while we were on Orcas that were very helpful. She had great recommendations for all the things we told her we wanted to do: which included hiking, kayaking, e-bike riding on Lopez and whale watching. The outfit she recommended on San Juan Island for whale watching was fabulous! We were on a boat with only 15 people, two really good naturalists and they took us out on a beautiful early evening to see lots of birds and track an orca pod as the sun went down in a spectacular setting out among the islands! She even helped me find a local photographer to take some pictures when our son got engaged during the trip! I would highly recommend Sheri if you’re planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest.

We had an excellent pacific northwest vacation planned by Sheri Doyle. Normally, I like to plan my own vacations, but with the number of stops and logistics with ferry schedules and routes, I decided that this would be a good time to recruit help. We were so glad that we did! We had an 11 day vacation that included stops in Seattle, Whistler, Vancouver, and Orcas Island. She arranged an itinerary that allowed us to spend the most amount of time in each destination, rather than in the car. Besides booking our hotels, ferries, and whale watching tour, she sent us 29 pages of suggestions of places to visit, sites to see, restaurant recommendations, tour suggestions, and trails to hike. We tried to fit in as many of her suggestions as possible and weren’t disappointed. I should also mention that she was very accommodating to a last minute change to our itinerary which included and additional stop. We would definitely recommend Sheri Doyle to anyone looking to travel the Pacific Northwest!

Sheri and her team were very responsive and able to accommodate my frequent ” what about this..?” questions that came up throughout the planning process. Suggested properties were great as well as the apps suggested. The weather did not cooperate with us on this trip but no one can manipulate mother nature! I appreciated Sheri checking in with me upon arrival to our destination to make sure we arrived and that we had a contact number in case we needed anything.

My wife and I just completed our trip on the Rocky Mountaineer. We did two different routes, Rainforest to Gold Rush, then rented a car in Jasper for 5 days on our own, then reboarded the train First Passage to the West in Banff. The itinerary that Sheri Doyle prepared for us was very thorough and helpful. We had lots of choices for what to see. Even driving instructions for when we were on our own. One caution, my wife has food allergies and we notified the Company of it, when we got on the first train they knew she had allergies, but not particularly to what. So it took a couple of meals to work that out. On the second train, I gave them a copy of what I’d sent to the company. She never had a meal problem at all on the second train.

The views were wonderful, saw so many different types of terrain. The Hotels were varied in types, but all were ready for us and comfortable. The most remarkable part of the trip is the staff that took care of us. Understand that since we did two different routes, we had two different groups of staff. Every one of them were attentive, helpful, and did point out information/history of where we were at. The food was exceptional! Yes, we saw wildlife. We personally saw Bears, Mountain Goats, Deer. Many rivers and lakes. Oh My, the tunnels, how were they able to build them. The train shares the rails with freight trains, lots of them. So our speed, and waiting for others to pass us, was unpredictable. Here’s something you don’t expect. There was a derailment on a train in front of us and we couldn’t proceed. Within 2 hours they had buses for us to continue and made arrangements for us to eat at a great restaurant along the way. The Rocky Mountaineer Company had a plan in place for this kind of accident and they implemented it smoothly! Another unexpected thing happened to us. on our own, driving to Lake Louise on June 20th we and many, many others, experienced a severe snow storm in the mountains. Accidents occurred and we were stuck on the mountain in freezing temperatures for 8 hours. Starting the car every 30 minutes to get some heat. Even with the unexpected events, we enjoyed our time with the Rocky Mountaineer. We highly recommend this trip.

Sheri added huge value to our trip because she chose two lodgings that were perfect for our needs and that we wouldn’t have found otherwise. She also booked the best whale watching outfit which we wouldn’t have found ourselves.

The Gill family WOW Moment.

Last-Minute Family Trip to Sunny Southern California

Our family of four (teenagers, ages 19 and 16) spent a memorable week in Southern California thanks to some great last-minute planning from trusted travel expert, Sheri Doyle. Sheri was very helpful in recommending and organizing hotel stays at both the new hipster Pendry Hotel in San Diego and the luxurious Pelican Hill Resort outside of Newport Beach.

We initially had a little misunderstanding with the resort regarding our room location at Pelican Hill, but after a short conversation with Sheri, we were quickly upgraded to a room with a much better view (thanks Sheri). THIS type of personalized service is the reason we plan most of our trips using Wendy Perrin’s trusted travel experts.

Since I only had a few ideas of fun activities and restaurants we wanted to visit, I appreciated the list of suggestions that Sheri provided during the planning process (she also has the option for her to plan your entire itinerary if you so choose).

Our girls are still talking about how much fun it was to para-glide over the beaches/golf course at Torrey Pines. We wrapped up our family trip with a memorable beach bbq at Crystal Cove State Park while watching the sunset with our toes in the sand.

Since this was our third qualifying trip with a Wendy Perrin travel specialist, she surprised us with a complimentary WOW moment which included a day of adventure on charming Coronado Island. Our guide for the day picked us up at our hotel for a short ferry ride over to the historical island. We spent the day riding electric bikes around the quaint residential areas of the island and then kayaked out into the bay with very knowledge local guides. Thanks Wendy for a very memorable day for all of us!

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the services of both Sheri Doyle and Wendy’s list of travel specialists to “amp up” your next trip! We certainly will!

The Gill Family

Sheri Doyle did an exceptional job planning out a two week Pacific Northwest adventure vacation. We were looking for a road trip to begin in Willamette Valley the land of Pinot, then on to the Columbia River Gorge Valley for some rafting down the White Salmon River, hiking at Lookout Mountain and ultimately relaxing at Timberline Lodge before heading onto Portland, then Olympic National Park, onto the San Juan Islands with the trip culminating in Seattle. While we may have arranged some of this vacation ourselves, we were scheduling the vacation during peak season with little notice. Sheri was able to secure us with terrific hotel options, the perfect pace of trip, balancing outdoor adventure activities and some downtime to recharge ourselves. While the ferries can be a challenge onto/off of the San Juan Islands – Sheri timed them perfectly for us. The area had so many different variables Sheri understood our vision and mapped it out to perfection. We plan on using Sheri for our next adventure from Seattle, Vancouver, the San Juans and touring British Columbia. Sheri was exceptional!!!

I needed to plan a Washington State road trip at the last minute, and Wendy recommended Sheri Doyle, who was simply terrific! My main concern at that late date–I wanted to travel in August, and I called Sheri in mid-July–was finding nice accommodations, and Sheri was able to get us reservations quickly. She then turned her attention to crafting a great itinerary that took into account our disparate needs; my sister and I were traveling with our three boys, ages 9, 11, and 14. Sheri understood that the itinerary needed to keep the boys interests and not be too tiring, but also make things fun for my sister and I. We explored Mt. Saint Helens, Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Sequim, and the Olympic Peninsula in about a week. Everything went pretty smoothly, and when I had a question here and there, Sheri was available by text. We especially appreciated Sheri’s restaurant recommendations in Seattle and Sequim. One particular thing that proved invaluable was Sheri’s practical assessments about what could fit into our schedules due to city traffic and ferry schedules. We saved a lot of time, and got to see a lot more, by following her suggestions. I would definitely recommend Sheri, and I hope to have her help again in planning my next Northwest trip!

Our recent trip to Vancouver, Whistler and Sonora Island was the second time we have used Sheri Doyle. Both trips were extremely well planned and executed without a hitch. Her knowledge and recommendations were excellent. We also really loved the AXUS software app she uses to give us every piece of info on our phones and to post any updates or changes in real time. I highly recommend using her for British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.

Great trip. Loved the app Sheri used for our phone which had her itinerary and all the links available to all the restaurants and sights. She also suggested we purchase gypsy guides for these areas which allowed us to have a guided tour as we did the trip our own way. We did book late which gave her some extra work on finding us great accommodations but she still put us in nice properties. She even got us a pass which got us past the roadblock at Lake Moraine. Highly satisfied and would definitely recommend her services.

We used Sheri Doyle to plan the logistics of a complex trip to visit Whistler, Vancouver, San Juan Islands, and Seattle. She put together proposals of unique hotels in each of these sights and scored exceptional rooms at good prices in each place. She explained how to optimize the ferry schedule to see everything we wanted in the most painless way possible. Our trip went off without a hitch and we enjoyed all of her recommendations.

Sheri did a great job giving us terrific options for our trip to Seattle and San Juan Islands. In fact – we didn’t even know we wanted to go to the San Juan Islands until she suggested it! Great balance between 4 busy days and nights in Seattle and 3 nights and days at a much slower pace in Roche Harbour. With very little lead time, (as I just didn’t have the time to put this together myself) Sheri put together a good agenda with lots of options for us to choose from. Booked us great hotels in perfect locations when things were showing up as full otherwise. Individual tours were perfect as were the recommended restaurants. Our whale watching experience was amazing, with a great outfitter – and the whales certainly performed for us that night!

Thank you Sheri – we had a great experience and appreciated all of your suggestions. It was a perfect trip.

Wendy, Sheri Doyle did a very good job planning our trip as we used a lot of her suggestions. She stayed in contact while we were on the trip giving advice due to our flight cancellation and the wildfires. On our trip, we drove over 3200 miles with lots of hikes so it would not be for everyone. I have written up a few pages for Sheri that I will copy you on. We would use travel planners again (we have in the past also) but most likely would not visit the Pacific Northwest again as we have too many other destinations in mind. Thanks for all the recommendations!

I loved working with Sheri Doyle. I am fortunate enough to be able to travel with my mom and step-father – two of the most energetic and interesting octogenarians ever! They are active travelers but have recently talked about scaling back on travel due to the stress of planning and sometimes difficult logistics. It was important to me that they continue to travel and so I wanted to make things as smooth as possible for them. When we talked about a Pacific Northwest trip I was excited but overwhelmed by the planning. Then I read about Sheri on Wendy Perrin’s website. Sheri and I had a brief conversation and she really understood my goals for the trip and my parents. When we saw read her lengthy itinerary, we were excited to begin the trip. We loved her activity suggestions and restaurant recommendations in each location. We loved that she had booked the ferries and hotels for us, we loved the Axus travel app and we loved to be able to have someone to contact if there were any problems that came up during the trip – there was one small problem with a hotel but Sheri was accessible via text and phone and really helped me get things resolved. It was a lovely trip that my parents are still talking about. Thank you for helping me give them wonderful memories.

Sheri Doyle did an excellent job planning and executing our recent trip to Seattle and the Pacific NW. She was extremely knowledgeable in all aspects including great accommodations, restaurants sites to see and places to avoid, excellent hiking and touring. Of particular note was her providing us with an Axus Itinerary which is a digital itinerary and guide which was updated frequently and gave us access to anything and everything on our smartphones throughout the trip. Any modifications we made she immediately posted on our Axus file. We LOVED having that!

We are using her again for another trip in several weeks from now to British Columbia for Vancouver, Whistler and then a wilderness camp in the interior.

Thanks

Wow, do not hesitate hiring Sheri when planning your trip to Washington and/or Oregon! Her detailed planning service is worth every penny.

Highlights: She snagged a 7 pm dinner reservation with a view at a restaurant that was booked solid 3 months out; she got us up close to Orcas in the wild; ferry reservations & very detailed instructions on our way to the San Juan Islands ; getting us into the cellar of a family-owned winery in the Willamette Valley where the owner popped off the cork of the barrel and asked us to listen to the crackling sound of wine fermenting (double Wow moment); tide pooling at the Haystack on Cannon Beach.

Her customer service was superlative throughout the trip. She made contact regularly to make sure everything was going as planned.

All of the resorts were spot on and her restaurant suggestions for dinner were culinary delights. The Castagna chefs food and wine tasting menu was truly a culinary adventure.

I will hire her again without hesitation!

She listened to our particular wants and executed perfectly…well done!

Sheri was fabulous to work with. She sent us a wonderfully detailed itinerary with her personal comments and suggestions all along the way and with links to multiple websites (maps, restaurants, things to do). Her notes about things to do and see were incredibly helpful and we used the itinerary constantly. She included her favorite hikes and we did most of those as well. She had suggested downloading the Gypsy guides for parts of our drive, which we did and which we loved. She was reachable and accessible at all times and was a pleasure to work with. She was extremely attentive to detail and there was no stone left unturned.

Sheri Doyle is an expert on the Pacific Northwest her attention to detail as well as her level of experience in the region made the trip one of the best we have ever taken.

Sheri Doyle is the best travel professional you have recommended for us. She was very responsive during the planning process, clearly listened to our desires for the trip, and made them happen seamlessly. The travel APP she had us download and use during the trip was a tremendous tool and we used is everyday..we would HIGHLY recommend you suggest all of your professionals use this APP. Amazing trip, her experience and recommendations for things to see and places to eat were dead on..Excellent.

We would HIGHLY recommend Sheri to anyone thinking of making a trip to this part of the world.

Sheri helped our family plan a fantastic Pacific Northwest adventure. She gave us so much information on things to do, places to eat, and different routes to travel. A question during our trip was handled immediately by her assistant. I would definitely recommend Sheri for planning a trip in this location. She is incredibly knowledgeable!

Sheri was fantastic. She helped us plan a trip from Seattle to Vancouver including the Olympic Peninsula and Victoria. Sheri planned all the logistics such as which ferries to take, what time to visit a national park, what to do only on a sunny day rather than a cloudy one, which hikes to take in light of the ages of our kids, restaurants that we would enjoy, traffic advice, museums to visit, and more. She helped us find a great vacation home in the Olympic Peninsula that we would never have found on our own. We were initially reluctant to hire a travel agent who charged by the hour for her time but we are so glad we did because she was worth every penny. Much of the detailed itinerary planning she does wouldn’t yield a commission for her (for example planning scenic drives, hikes inside national parks, ferry rides) so I understand why she bills for her time the way she does and would highly recommend her to others, especially anyone who is visiting the region for the first time.

Sheri was very available, organized and responsive throughout. She helped us find great places to stay, wonderful restaurants, and excellent activities. For a small additional fee, she provided excellent advice about logistics, activities and eating options, always with kids/family in mind. I didn’t even open the guide book I brought because I had all the info I needed in print and via a travel app on my iPhone she used. Her guidance really helped to make our family vacation stress free and fabulous.

Vancouver & Tofino

Seattle, San Juan Island, Port Angles. Portland, Willamette

Sheri was great. When at the last minute our son decided to come with us she was able to change all the reservations to get him included.

Sheri was monitoring us the whole trip.She was amazing the morning we were leaving Seattle I got a text from her telling us that our ferry to San Juan Island was canceled and leave asap to catch an earlier ferry and that she had changed our reservations for the ferry. Coming back the same thing happened and Sheri was on top of it changing our ferry reservations and letting the hotels know we would be late constantly texting me updating what we should do.

The tours she booked for us whale watching and wine tasting the people could not have been nicer or more accommodating.

The hotels and her recommendations for restaurants were spot on.

Sheri was amazing! She worked very easily with our specific requirements and provided great specific suggestions based on what we wanted to do. She also gave us some great ideas of things we had not thought of and turned us on to an amazing part of our trip that, although we may have discovered it on our own, I do not think we would have booked it without her encouragement.

The timing and duration of each of our stops was perfect and Sheri put that together. She also spaced everything out with the driving so that it was very easy and pleasant to get from place to place.

The best part was that she provided her personal guide to each place we stopped. This was amazing because it took all of the guesswork out of where to go and what to eat while we were in each place. We had our own favorites in some of the stops (many of which appeared on Sheri’s guide) but we also followed her suggestions exclusively when we did not have our own knowledge and they were all home runs! Not a single recommendation on lodging, activities or dining was less than ideal.

I can’t stress enough how great and well worth the fee working with Sheri was -not only did it remove a great deal of admin work for me it also took our trip to the next level!

Honestly, there isn’t a single thing I would suggest changing. I can say that I would have happily paid more for Sheri’s work. I think she could charge more – it’s a steal at what she charges.

Sheri Doyle was a great planner for our trip of four adults to San Juan Island. The accommodations at Roche Harbor were lovely and quiet. Just what we needed. Restaurant suggestions were wonderful. Mayas Whale watching trip was very enjoyable even though we did not see any orcas. We did see humpback whales and Alan and Rachel were very smart and helpful. Hotel the last night in Seattle (Inn at the Market) was fantastic. Views from the roof were great. All in all a great trip by Sheri.

Sheri Doyle was beyond extraordinary! The recommendations, the follow through, the level of service were all exceptional!

I will absolutely recommend Sherri to anyone traveling to the Pacific Northwest, and I plan to use her services the next time I’m out that way. I give her a 15 out of 10 stars!!

Sheri found a great hotel for us, within walking distance of the concert venue, during a time when good hotel rooms were very hard to find. She emailed an extremely thorough list of restaurants and activities to keep us busy the day before our concert. She followed up once we arrived in town to make sure all was going well.

I will use her services anytime we travel in the Pacfic Northwest and I highly recommend her to anyone else.

We reached out to Sheri Doyle for help planning a family trip to Canada and Seattle. I’ve planned many trips on my own by researching and planning. I had never considered using a travel planner until this trip. It was a little last minute and I was really busy – I needed the help.

My parents were trying to plan a trip for themselves and my daughter (a college student) with a few different goals: my parents have always wanted to take a long, scenic train trip and my daughter wants to move from Florida to Seattle when she graduates and wanted to check out Seattle in person first. They ran into some snags and had considered giving up the idea. I didn’t have time to do all the research and planning on my own due to a particularly busy work schedule, so I reached out to Sheri.

Sheri planned a wonderful trip! She was meticulous and planned everything from start to finish, which is exactly what we wanted. Over half way through the planning process, I had a change of plans and decided to join my parents and daughter on this vacation. Sheri didn’t skip a beat and managed to make the necessary changes to unexpectedly add a 4th person. This involved buying additional tickets and investigating hotel alternatives to accommodate a larger group. She did it cheerfully and excellently!

Based on my first experience using a travel planner, I will try trip planning this way again. I only hope other specialists will be as knowledgeable and hard-working as Sheri.

One other note: we definitely saved money on our hotels by going through Sheri. I double checked on my own and couldn’t come close to the same rate. There is a planning fee, but the savings made up for it. On top of that, we got the benefit of Sheri’s time and experience, making our trip a top-notch experience.

We planned a trip to Seattle, the Olympic Peninsula, and Orcas Island with the help of Sheri Doyle, one of your recommended travel experts. She was fabulous – really listened to our preferences and designed a trip that was perfect for us in every way. We loved that Sheri gave us choices for dining and activities each day of our trip, that she was incomparably on spot with our sometimes complicated travel connections, that she was amenable to our input on lodging, and that she “got” our interest in more intimate and authentic experiences rather than just plugging us into what “everybody does”.

We recently traveled to British Columbia to celebrate our son’s high school graduation. On Wendy Perrin’s recommendation, we contacted Sheri Doyle of Pacific Northwest Journeys. After a phone call and a detailed questionnaire, Sheri suggested that we limit our visit to Whistler and Tofino given our time constraints. That proved to be an excellent recommendation which allowed us to enjoy our vacation without being rushed. Our son wanted to mountain bike on Whistler/Blackcomb and truly enjoyed it. Sheri suggested other activities which kept the rest of us active while our son spent the day on the mountain. Her recommendation that we stay at the Four Seasons Whistler was great. It’s a beautiful hotel with great staff and a wonderful breakfast. We enjoyed our time in Tofino as well and Sheri’s recommendations for lodging, food and activities were perfect for us. One of the things that I appreciated was that Sheri was willing to do as much or as little as we desired. We did all our activity and restaurant bookings and that worked out great for us. It was a pleasure to work with Sheri—I would highly recommend her!