2025 was truly a bit of a blur for me—I knew my mom didn’t have much time left but her passing in February still came as a surprise. Thank you to the lovely clients who took the time to check in with me in the months after my mom’s passing. It did not go unnoticed. ❤️❤️❤️ For anyone out there struggling with the death of a loved one, my heart is with you.

As luck would have it, I had booked a trip to Seville, Cordoba, and Granada with one of my neighbors a few weeks later, so that was a welcome respite. And then I headed to France with Avalon Waterways for one of the best river cruises I’ve ever taken. Staying busy was important! Here’s what 2025 looked like in numbers…

Number of Countries Sold: 59

Number of States Sold: 19

Japanese Toilets Encountered: 1 at the newly reopened Pier Sixty-Six Fort Lauderdale

The night of the infamous flood at Albergo Terminus. The hotel put down the towels, not me.

Hotel Rooms Flooded: 1. The 4-star Albergo Terminus in Como, Italy! The day I arrived, I took a shower. I noticed the drain was slow. I was annoyed. I got out of the shower and not only was the drain slow, but the water that had gone down the drain backed up into my hotel room. It just kept coming and coming. I was not alone — the kitchen had backed up along with at least one other hotel room. (Luckily it seemed to be just mostly clean water that came up — not gross water.) The GM moved me to a smaller room for one night and then I was too annoyed to move to a larger room the next day. I had work to do and just didn’t want to pack/unpack a third time. They comped one dinner by way of apology but honestly, not enough. The hotel had JUST changed owners so I caught them at a very bad time. Nobody cared and nobody thought this was a big deal. The funny part was that I had also considered staying at their sister property Villa Fiori. Villa Fiori caught on fire while I was in Como and they had to evacuate guests and shut down two floors. I’ll take a flooded hotel room over a fire any day!!

Hotels Not Ready at Check-In: 2. Rosewood BahaMar and The Hotel Russie in Rome. Stressful! Both 5 star luxury properties too. (Hotel Russie, btw, is featured in this season’s Emily in Paris.)

Cruises Taken: 4. Avalon in France, the Zafiro on the Amazon in Peru which I still need to write about, Azamara in Greece, and Silversea in the Caribbean. Avalon was by far my favorite. The Rhone and the Saone are so beautiful.

Number of Destinations Visited: 13. Spain, France, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St. Barth's, Peru, Bahamas, Greece, Turkey, Puerto Rico (again), St. John USVI, Tortola BVI, Guadeloupe, St. Kitts and Nevis

Traveler’s Century Club Count: After visiting St. Kitts, Guadeloupe, and Tortola on my Silversea cruise in December, I finally qualified for pending membership the Travelers’ Century Club, a club you can join if you’ve visited 100 “countries.” According to their methodology, I’ve visited 92 countries and territories. I’ve been keeping more of a normal country count and that has me at 79.

Favorite Things I Wrote

Travel Memories with My Mom: I moved back from London in 2019 to take care of my mom. She lost her battle with Parkinson’s in February. Now I know what they mean when they say that grief is like glitter. ✨

Things All Travelers Should Know: While it was hard to top last year’s “Advisor of The Year” award, This year, my host agency crowned me “Most Helpful Travel Advisor.” Out of 400 advisors! I always try to be helpful. Hence this post! But I’ll tell you — in 2025, I learned that some people really don’t want to be helped.

The super comfy bed at the Romeo Naples in Italy.

2025’s Most Comfortable Bed Award

1. Romeo Hotel in Naples, Italy for both the bedding and the mattress. After a week in Italy staying in luxury properties, the most comfortable bed was at the4.5 star Romeo in Naples across from the cruise port. When I checked out, I told the front desk clerk this and he says it’s one of the most frequent compliments they receive.

2. Derby Seville: A 3 star hotel in Seville, Spain with a crazy comfortable mattress and pillow—Very comfy memory foam.

3. Azamara Pursuit for the bedding. Personally, at home I like a nice sateen sheet. But when traveling, there is something about a very crisp percale that has been well-ironed.

A small section of the beautiful lobby at Gyp Sea St. Barth’s

Hotels I Really Enjoyed Staying At in 2025

Gyp Sea, St. Barth's: I just loved the staff here so much. And I loved my room. Even though the location is less than ideal, it is a little oasis. The staff will drive you into town to their FABULOUS beach club.
Hotel San Montano, Ischia: This was a lovely surprise. Our room was small but the view was hard to beat. Amazing sunrises. In the evenings, we sat outside and enjoyed fiery sunsets. The spa is huge and fantastic and they have lovely pools. This would be a great girls’ getaway or a lovely anniversary stay. Not a 5 star. I’d honestly say more like a 3.5 star stay for the rooms, 4.5 stars for the facilities. But I loved it. Also great? Their olive oil! I brought some home.

Favorite Client Hotel Bookings

Hotel Savoy, Florence. This property is just so professionally run. I knew my clients were in good hands. I’m a huge fan of Rocco Forte properties.
One & Only Portonovi, Montenegro: I love when clients are interested in trying a new destination. My clients enjoyed an amazing 20th anniversary stay at this beautiful property. Montenegro should be on everyone’s list.
Amangiri, Utah. I mean…life doesn’t get much better than this.
The Amauris, Vienna: I just love this property. It’s so beautiful.

Best Bell Teams

Country Club Hotel in Lima, Peru. These guys are on the ball!! It’s like they had eyes in the back of their heads. Psychic powers, seriously.
Gyp Sea, St. Barth’s. The staff here are so helpful and friendly! I enjoyed spending time with them.

Best Breakfast Buffet: San Montano Resort & Spa, Ischia Italy

Nicest Hotel Staff: Gyp Sea, St. Barth's

Best Maitre'd: Giuseppe on Silversea Silver Ray. So attentive and he noticed everything. How he was able to remember 700 diners, I will never know. Mind like a steel trap!

Best Sommelier: Zachary on Silversea Silver Ray. So charming and personable! And always appeared magically whenever you needed him.

Lunch under the trees in Ephesus, Turkey

Best International Meals

Lunch under the trees at a Turkish carpet shop in Ephesus during my Azamara cruise. It was just such a surprising moment after such a busy day of touring around.
The lomo saltado at Country Club Hotel, Lima. I also have to give the Pisco Sour a special mention.
The Amatriciana at Hotel Russie, Rome. So delicious.

View from our private yacht charter from Ischia to Capri (pictured) and onwards to Amalfi. Incredible!

Best Travel Moments

Sailing with not one but two private yachts from Ischia to Amalfi with a stop for swimming and a lovely lunch on board.
Curator tour and lunch at Museum Larco in Lima, Peru. I really love a great museum and a great guide. This was so interesting!!
Ephesus Turkey…I have to mention it again! Lunch in the garden outside the carpet shop. The carpet shop was as to be expected but the lunch under the trees was dreamy.
The most wonderful tour guide in Seville, Spain who really made history come alive. A good tour guide makes all the difference!

Worst Travel Moments

The Lake Como Hotel Room Flood: I was annoyed on so many levels, and I don’t think the hotel did enough to make up for it. This is one of those times where I wonder if things would have ended differently had I been a man.
Bahamas Air Flight Delay. I just felt so powerless. I had so much work to do and just wanted to go home. Also, this was one of the few trips where I did not buy travel insurance!! I got home about 8 hours later than expected. PLUS my flight to International Luxury Travel Market was free (thank you ILTM!) so I couldn't even fall back on my credit card insurance.
Hotel de Russie Rome Check In: A political delegation was refusing to check out of their hotel rooms. They had all turned on their Do Not Disturb lights. The hotel said they were powerless to do anything. I missed two hotel site visits because of this. But at least they comped my amatriciana.
The stairs on the Amazon in the Peru: Water levels were apparently low in the Amazon so we spent a lot of time climbing up very makeshift, rickety stairs. Sometimes in very muddy shoes. I joke about health and safety violations in other countries but this was no joke. This was a tough slog.
Our tour guide of the mosque-cathedral in Cordoba, Spain. After our excellent tour in Seville, we had high hopes. But this guide, booked on Viator, was just so dry and boring.

Learnings from Client Trips

Not everyone is good at advocating for themselves. When things go wrong — in hotels, on tours, in transit — it can be hard to speak up. That is one role that a good travel advisor can play — advocating on your behalf. But in 2026, I’m updating my client pre-departure sequences to remind everyone: it is much easier to fix issues in the moment! It can be hard (impossible?) for me to make things right with a property if nothing was said at the time AND I only learn about issues two weeks later.
Vatican tours are not guaranteed. All it takes is a new pope (!) or the pope deciding he wants to host a special event and your Vatican tour can get cancelled. This can be do disappointing if you only have a day or two in Rome.
People like different things. I’ve had clients who have raved about Gora Kadan in Hakone, Japan, a property that has three Michelin keys. But I’ve had other clients this year who just didn’t like it. Because this is a hot springs property, the place smells a bit sulpher-y.
I need to figure out a way to get clients to really read my pre-departure emails. For instance, I pay for a service called Blue Ribbon Bags for all my clients. If your bags go missing, you file your claim with the airline and then give the claim number to Blue Ribbon Bags and they take over. This way, you don’t have to spend hours calling the airlines, looking for your bags. Clients usually don’t read this email and they also don’t tell me their bags didn’t make it. So then they spend hours during their vacations trying to track down their bags when…Blue Ribbon would have done it for them.

Learnings from My Own Trips

LATAM and Bahamas Air are not my favorite airlines. I can’t imagine flying them again unless they are truly the only options. They are seriously just buses in the sky.
I still prefer taking a connecting flight out of PBI — “Palm Beach West” if you’ve been watching Members Only Palm Beach — over a direct flight out of MIA.
All hotels should have soft-close toilet seats. You don’t notice that most 4 and 5 star hotels have soft-close seats until you stay in a hotel in Isla Mujeres, Mexico that doesn’t have one! LOL.
2nd class trains in Spain are not fun. In Spain, and in Europe in general, book the first class train. Totally worth it.
Always take the ship tour in Santorini. Santorini is a pain to get in and out of. Rick Steves, my idol, says to always take the ship tour in Santorini and he is so right. I saw more during one day on my ship tour of Santorini than I did in 1993 when i was there as a backpacker. And it was a fun tour!!

Where I’m Going in 2026

The Galapagos with Lindblad: I sold a lot of Lindblad cruises in 2025 and was delighted when they invited me to sail with them to the Galapagos.

MSC Yacht Club to the Bahamas: My cousin and aunt wanted to go so I am along for the ride.

Where else? That’s all TBD. I have two separate invitations to return to Egypt, which I’m considering. And I probably need to get to Switzerland, Iceland, and Costa Rica this year. Plus, I really need to get back to London.

As always, so many places but so little time!! Worried about using your travel time wisely? Book a complimentary vacation consultation here.

That’s a wrap on 2025! I’m curious to see what 2026 brings!

About Krista

I’m a Virtuoso travel advisor based in West Palm Beach, Florida. I attended the University of Notre Dame for undergrad and I have my MBA from the University of Chicago. Before building my travel business, I spent 20 years in the investment management industry and over a decade living and working in London, England. I’ve personally traveled to 75+ countries and now design thoughtful, highly customized trips for travelers who value expertise, access, and a seamless experience.

I offer a complimentary 30-minute consultation for travelers considering a custom itinerary or luxury cruise. Book a complimentary vacation consultation here.

For travel inspiration and real-time updates, you can follow along on Instagram or connect with me on Facebook. I also share a curated list of travel products I genuinely use and recommend in my online store.

What I Offer…

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Vetted villa rentals with concierge services worldwide
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I work best with travelers who want expert planning, trusted partnerships, and someone in their corner from start to finish. That’s what I am best at! Ready to talk travel? Book a complimentary vacation consultation here.

My 2025 Travel Awards: The Good AND The Bad