LiNGER - Enriching Life Through Travel

About Us

Award-winning creators of sabbaticals and experiential holidays







LiNGER - Enriching Life Through Travel    Agra, India

LiNGER's roots and what we're here to do


Founded by Steve Wilson in 2019, LiNGER is the culmination of many years on the road and many more planning trips for discerning clients. Setting out on his own, Steve pursued his vision of designing sabbaticals and holidays focusing on unpretentious luxury, authentic discovery, and off the beaten path destinations. As a result largely of referrals from sabbatical clients, LiNGER has expanded from a one-man to a three-man band.

Steve and the team get to know each of our travellers to design trips that will fire their passions and work for them, be they families with children, couples or solo travellers. The LiNGER team have deep personal experience of travelling or living in all the destinations we offer, and have the insider knowledge to take our travellers off the well-trodden routes to discover the real country and its culture. All the while ensuring each trip is seamless and life enhancing, and sprinkled with ‘wow’ moments.



LiNGER's approach to Travel


We curate bespoke, adventurous and culturally authentic experiences in off-the-beaten-path destinations, delivered with unpretentious luxury, and sprinkled with unforgettable ‘Wow’ moments.

We meticulously design each sabbatical or experiential holiday to centre on the interests and preferences of each individual. Be it a passion you want to pursue, or simply a feeling you want to achieve, we bring it to life.

With in-depth, first-hand knowledge of the destinations we feature, our small, specialist team deal with all the details to take you seamlessly beyond the typical tourist trail.





Meet the Team


Steve Wilson - Founder - LiNGER Travel - Meet The Team
Laura Trace - Project Manager - LiNGER Travel - Meet The Team
Julia Bysshe - Marketing & Business Development - LiNGER Travel - Meet The Team
Tom Russell - Intern & Copy Writer - LiNGER Travel - Meet The Team




Planning a Trip


  • Call, E-mail, or request a call-back from us. We love to talk about travel and inspire you with our knowledge. Contact us.
  • We arrange no-obligation face-to-face or virtual meeting and will happily visit you at your home, office, or a café at a time that suits you. This enables us to get to know you so that we can tailor our recommendations to your interests.
  • We have in-depth knowledge of places off the tourist trail so depending on what you want from your holiday, we may suggest detours, locations, and experiences you had not previously considered.
  • We can discuss ideas for activities that give back to your destination.  These could be based on a skillset you possess or a charity or cause that appeals to you.
  • We follow up with an outline of ideas for you to consider which will develop into a more detailed day-by-day itinerary based on your feedback.
  • Based on your input, we tweak and change the itinerary until you are ready to proceed. This may take a few days or a few weeks to finalise, depending on the complexity of the trip.
  • On your agreement, we request a deposit representing 30% of the trip cost, unless advised otherwise.
  • We book all arrangements and secure your flights, accommodation, guides, transport, and activities.
  • Your itinerary, ticket details and key contacts will be available on an easy-to-use app.
  • We’ll meet you around 2-3 weeks before you depart to discuss any trip specifics such as what to take and if relevant, to prepare you for any voluntourism component.
  • While you are travelling, you have access to our on-the-ground local team 24-7, and your trip planner is always available.
  • On your return we love to meet our travellers to hear about your experience.




LiNGER's approach to Sustainable Travel


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.

See our full Responsible Travel and Sustainability Policy for a candid breakdown of how we address this area.



About LiNGER FAQs


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.

LiNGER - Enriching Life Through Travel

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 - Enriching Life Through Travel

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.

LiNGER - Enriching Life Through Travel

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.

LiNGER - Enriching Life Through Travel

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.

LiNGER - Enriching Life Through Travel

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.

LiNGER - Enriching Life Through Travel

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.

LiNGER - Enriching Life Through Travel

LiNGER's approach to Sabbaticals & Travel




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    Images courtesy of: Agra - Mitchell NG Lang, Unsplash; Galapagos – Amy Perez, Unsplash


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