Joining TRAPPE Travel wasn’t like any other application form I’d ever filled; it was more like running into an old friend, and I’m yet to have more fun on a Zoom call this year than I had with Gabriella Yan.
I do believe that better, kinder travel can heal our planet. And, just as importantly, it can heal the industry that forgot how to treat its workers as people.
This isn’t about joining an organization. It’s about recognizing a way of working that was already shaping how I design days in Santorini.
What’s Broken in the Travel Industry, or the Myth of the “Lazy” Young People
Have you ever been denied a bathroom break because your clients are “already here” at the top of the cable car? Or fainted from exhaustion after a seven-day work week in peak heat, only to be called lazy for needing some rest?
Or couldn’t eat lunch because you’ll “make the car smell”?
If there’s one thing I learnt here in Santorini, it’s this: when your own body is under pressure, your guests can feel it too.
You can’t build genuine warmth and hospitality on a broken foundation.
That’s where slow, more sustainable travel comes in.
What TRAPPE Travel’s helping me build
What TRAPPE Travel made clear is that meaningful travel doesn’t have to happen in isolation.
It comes from building ecosystems, not just quitting bad habits.
In Santorini, this matters more than anywhere. The island amplifies both good and bad itineraries, so rushed days feel truly chaotic, and well-timed ones effortless.
Travel becomes transformative not because of where you go, but because of how you meet the place, and, even more importantly, who welcomes you into it.
How this shows up in my work
This is why I don’t design days around checklists.
I design around timing.
Around energy, my own as much as that of my guests.
Around that wonderful moment of connection, when you go from seeing a place to falling for it.
Sometimes that means removing stops that “should” be there.
Sometimes it means staying longer in a village most itineraries would rush through.
It’s all about what stays with you after you leave.
What this means for you
You don’t need to understand complex frameworks or join any movements to feel the difference.
You’ll notice it in simple ways:
– A softer, more natural pace
– No sense of performance
– No pressure to keep up
The day unfolds in a way that fits you like a pair of well-worn shoes.
Closing line
That’s the work I’m part of through TRAPPE Travel:
Kindness, in practice.
Care, built into the day.
And a network that supports both the people who travel, and the people who make travel possible.
If you’re coming to Santorini and want a day that feels like this, you can start here.