When it comes to travel, nothing beats a person’s own ideas and vision for what they want for the experience. When I first began my career as a tour guide, I admit I thought I knew what was best for clients. After all, I was the local expert, so I felt I could proceed as an authority. Now I approach with greater humility and spend much more time helping them articulate their desires, intentions, and goals for the experience they're booking.

That shift in perspective changed everything about how I think about planning. The process of crafting a travel experience starts with a conversation. It doesn't have to be over the phone; it's often done via email or even text. I want to find out as quickly as possible: why they are coming to DC, who they are bringing and why, and how their booking with Custom Tours fits into those plans.

I'm also listening to find out whether that potential client already has a clear idea of what they want to do or is looking to me for advice and suggestions. Based on our discussion, I can build the perfect tour experience, carefully crafted to meet the client’s desires. The word "custom" gets used loosely in travel. Here's what it actually means.

We often use the term to describe a physical object. Take a surfboard. You can buy a mass-produced board manufactured overseas, and it’ll be completely serviceable. But the experience riding this mass-produced board won’t compare to a custom board made specifically for one customer: shaped for their size, for the type of wave they'll ride, for the season they're surfing in. It’s the same for travel.

I remember one group that sent in a list longer than what could be accomplished in the time they booked. Before meeting them, I had already decided to suggest skipping the giant pandas at the zoo, deeming this particular stop too far from other activities and likely to require time spent in traffic. But when the organizer showed up wearing panda-print pants, I knew immediately that we would be going to the zoo first.

When it comes to crafting a travel experience, customizing for participants’ hobbies and preferences makes a big difference. They’ll leave the tour with a sense of stories and memories. Not always, but quite often, someone will call wanting to see "everything." That instinct is good, but guiding someone through priorities can sometimes help them discover what they actually want from the experience.

That discovery process is where the real trip begins, and it’s what takes an expert both on the city of DC and the art of crafting a customized travel tour.