For sabbaticals, it is helpful to plan as far in advance as possible. This allows for the creation of long itineraries and time to consider various options (destinations, accommodation, activities). A year in advance gives a good amount of time, although we can (and often do) plan itineraries with less notice.

Plans and life circumstances can change during that time – if something happens and you need to postpone your trip, that’s fine – we can keep it on ice until you’re ready.

Experiential holidays require less notice, although for the best availability of exclusive accommodation, or for trips over popular holiday periods, it is useful to have more than six months to plan.

Given our trips are 100% tailor-made, the costs can vary enormously with factors ranging from the strength of the economy in your destination, the choice of accommodation and standard of room or suite, to whether you fly Privately or in Economy, Business or First Class. The majority of trips will include private transfers with highly experienced English-speaking guides, excellent drivers, and high-quality transportation.

As a guideline, our trip prices will start from the following (excluding international flights):

• One-week trip: from £3,900 per person and upwards.
• Two-week trip: from £7,900 per person and upwards.
• One month-long trip: from £18,000 per person and upwards.
• 6-8 week-long sabbatical trips will typically cost in the region of £35,000-£45,000 for a solo traveller, £68,000-£88,000 for a couple, and £78,000-£98,000 for a family with 2 or 3 children.
• Longer sabbaticals: for trips up to a year, there will be periods where travellers are spending longer periods of time in a location, experiencing life more as an ex-pat. Costs will therefore depend on how much of the trip plan and the level of support we provide during these periods.

LiNGER curates and books all transfers (e.g. between point of arrival, accommodation and activities), internal flights and transport, car hire if required, accommodation (including the exact room which we know works best for the client), activities, guides, drivers, and a 24/7 on-the-ground support team.

We book restaurants for particularly special meals which require reservation, and recommend local restaurants for the day-to-day.

We ensure there is time at leisure in each itinerary to enjoy each location spontaneously or to rest, or (particularly for sabbaticals) to catch up with life admin.

The options we choose for accommodation range between unique places that won’t break the bank, full of character and with fantastic service, to the most tastefully luxurious. We don’t default to the most opulent, preferring to handpick a selection of different styles of property – nights glamping under the stars, in a luxury treehouse, at a welcoming homestay or in a luxurious hotel – to add interest and variation to each trip.

We favour independently-owned, boutique accommodation run by individuals with a social and environmental conscience. Some examples include Rosyth Estate House in Sri Lanka, which serves free breakfasts to the local community; Finca Rosa Blanca in Costa Rica, which salvaged rainforest from developers to create a biosphere; and Roça Sundy on Príncipe island, providing meaningful development opportunities to local people.

Your trip planner will have tailor made your itinerary to you and booked everything well in advance. They will ensure your trip is seamlessly planned, and will be on hand for calls and messaging during your trip, including for any last minute changes you may want to make to your trip while you’re away.

There will also be a local team making sure everything goes to plan on the ground 24/7. They will greet you on arrival and transfer you to your accommodation and each of your activities. You will have a private guide and / or driver per destination who will make sure you are at the right place at the right time. You will have their contact details and are welcome to call them at any time of day or night for assistance.

You will be given access to a ‘one-stop-shop’ app which will contain your itinerary, all contact details and tickets.

Please see our full Responsible Travel policy here.

Travel can be a source for good, when done well. We encourage travel to unusual destinations and, where possible, at off-peak times of year. This helps to spread investment to communities that would otherwise struggle, particularly in off-seasons. It provides livelihoods in lesser-known yet incredible places, empowering local people to protect the land and wildlife as the benefit of tourism is felt, as opposed to resorting to its exploitation. Bringing sources of income to more remote locations also prevents the drain of populations to urban centres.

We seek out accommodation that is run by local people who care about their employees and their community, source food locally where possible or grow their own, and eschew plastic waste. When selecting eateries, we mix fine dining with the best streetfood spots and market stalls known only to locals, to support small businesses and endow a trip with authenticity.

Our guides are all locals who are passionate about their subject matter and have personal tales to tell. We include unknown yet fantastic local activities, such as an afternoon roasting foraged cocoa beans at micro-chocolatier ‘Tonci’ on Tobago.

Experiencing the world, in the right way, is transformational personally, and a source for good for the communities that benefit from it. As we promote local accommodation and activities that have a social and environmental conscience, in locations that are largely unknown, just by travelling with LiNGER you know you are supporting local communities.

We also offer opportunities to give back during your trip. Depending on your destination, this might be serving free breakfasts at a local school with the staff of Rosyth Estate House in Sri Lanka, helping a micro-business owner develop her business in Guatemala, or tracking local wildlife in the jungle in Costa Rica.