Make Your Next Trip Extraordinary

We scheduled a last-minute trip to Vietnam and needed help with all the logistics and booking the right hotels/tours. April was great! She worked with us under a tight time frame, responded quickly and tailored the itinerary to fit us. The trip ended up perfect! We visited Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, and Saigon. We were very happy with all destinations, and the timing was at a pace that fit us well (2 to 3 days in each city). The logistical side went smooth and I highly recommend the local tours. They are not your run-of-the-mill experiences. Our tours in Hanoi and Saigon were both fascinating, exciting and offered an extremely local experience. In Saigon, we hopped on the back of motorbikes, saw the town from all angles and ate local food with our guide as the communicator. It was the highlight of our trip and worth the money.

A trip of a lifetime starts with a travel agent who listens, suggests and puts it all together so it comes off as effortless. And that for me is April. I have wanted to go back to Asia and visit Cambodia and Vietnam, which I had never done. I worked with April in 2019, putting our dream trip together for February 2020. And then, well you know. So last year I started to dream about traveling again and reached out to April to resurrect the trip. We made a few changes here and there but already had a wonderful framework to build upon. So February 2023, off we went.

Cambodia and Vietnam are very special places that get inside you in a different way than traveling in many other countries. Every day was truly a new experience that made us feel so happy to be having them and to be there at all. Walking around Angkor Wat at sunrise. Going to the Phare circus (a must if you are in Siem Reap). Talking to a fortune teller who is a part of Cambodian life. Riding a Vespa in Saigon in parts of the city that could barely fit the Vespa. Seeing the people take ballroom-dancing lessons in the middle of the park. The monkeys in Danang. And so many more experiences that will stay with me forever.

A very, very big shout-out to our guides and drivers. Every single one were so kind and funny and thoughtful and very, very good at their jobs. We felt completely taken care of and the stress that I normally feel when I plan the trip was completely gone. I literally did not have to worry about anything. Without the guides and drivers, our trips would not have been as full, as educational and just plain fun.

I so highly recommend anyone going to this part of the world. And when you do, talk to April Cole. She will give you a trip you will never forget.

April Cole arranged a 24 day journey in Vietnam (Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An, Saigon), Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Battambang, Siem Reap), and Luang Prabang in Laos for me – aged 73, and my 87 year old husband. She was absolutely invaluable in helping us decide where to go in SE Asia as we had never been there before and what to pass up. We are in good health, and relatively agile, but had several requests: smooth transfers at airports, excellent guides that could assist us in learning about the culture and history of each country, and experiences that would involve our own interests in the arts as well as my husbands in plants and trees and mine in animals.

There is absolutely no way that I, the usual travel planner in the family, could have constructed and developed the trip that April and the excellent ground team in SE Asia (Naida, Narla, et. al.) came up with. From the very beginning, when we were fast tracked and whisked through immigration and passport control in the Hanoi airport after 3 long flights from the U.S., the transfers went perfectly. The activities were amazing: in Vietnam – from a musical evening in Saigon at the home of a world famous mother/son performing duo to crawling into the Cu Chi Tunnels used by the VietCong when no other tourists were around followed by a home cooked dinner at the home of a former North Vietnam war veteran. In Battambang, we rode the bamboo train, and then spent a glorious day relaxing on a private boat taking us along the upper Sanke River to Siem Reap to learn about Angkor Wat, gliding first past the floating villages. My birthday occurred while we were in Siem Reap and April, Naida, and Narla made sure it was properly celebrated. The itinerary already called for a night out Cambodian style, but to that was added drinks, dinner, and a cake and flowers delivered to the hotel room when I returned! The experiences in Laos (a private tour of the botanical garden, giving alms to the monks at sunrise, receiving a baci blessing from the elders of a village, walking with rescued elephants in a sanctuary) were equally memorable.

There is only one trip experience that both my husband and I did not enjoy as much as we thought we would. We wanted to spend some time on boats, and for the most part, were happy that we did with the exception of the Halong Bay cruise. It took too long to drive back and forth (2 hours each way) for too little time on board (less than 24 hours) to enjoy the time at sea. We were only interested in the scenery and not the activities on board. Perhaps a day cruise might have been better for us as I think the younger passengers seemed quite happy with the cruise.

Aside from the Halong Bay cruise, we would do it all over again, do and see more, and stay even longer. And of course, have April and her team do all the arranging.

We planned a family trip to Taiwan to visit my 76 year-old mother’s childhood home and city. Although we had native speakers in our group and public transportation in Taipei is easy to navigate, we decided to work with a travel planner, and I’m glad we did.

Rebecca Newman, who worked at April’s company, helped to shape the itinerary, recommend hotels, and arrange transportation and a knowledgeable guide. Even with my mother’s local knowledge and much input from friends, we founded added value in Rebecca’s expertise. She tailored a detailed itinerary optimized for a relatively short stay and special experiences like a visit to a tea farm. Most importantly, Rebecca paired us with a wonderful guide who was the perfect match for us in terms of temperament, flexibility, and deep knowledge. We were able to focus on enjoying our family time together without any distractions or worries over logistics and schedules. Rebecca is a wonderful listener, and I highly recommend her.

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