Our Story
A Journey That Started
With One Notebook
The Trip Cartel began not in a boardroom, but on the road. Our founder spent the better part of a decade travelling — often alone, always with a notebook — cataloguing the small, unbookable things that make a place unforgettable: the family-run trattoria with no sign, the guide who knows exactly when the temple empties out, the beach accessible only by a fisherman's boat.
What started as a habit of trip-planning for friends and colleagues turned into something larger: a realisation that most travel agencies were selling itineraries, not journeys. In 2014, The Trip Cartel was founded on a simple premise — that travel, done properly, should be designed around the traveller, not a brochure.
Today, that same philosophy shapes every trip we plan, whether it's a family's first big holiday abroad, a couple's honeymoon, a senior-friendly escape paced with real care, or a corporate retreat that has to run without a single hitch. We've grown from one notebook to a team of travel designers across three continents — but the questions we ask before planning any trip haven't changed: who is this for, and what will make it unforgettable to them?
