Exploring London Together: Travelers Share Their Stories

Hear from the wonderful women who crossed the pond — and stepped outside of their comfort zones! — with me.

(Photos throughout by Jarrard Cole for So Many Thoughts)

Hello from over the Atlantic, where I have just wrapped up my trip to London with Atlas Adventures. I was lucky enough to join a group from all over the US and spend five incredible days in one of my favorite cities in the world. I will be doing a full recap very soon, but first I wanted to get to the heart of what this trip was all about.

Atlas Founder Whitney Haldeman and her team specialize in luxury group travel, planning trips all over the world. They bring together women with three goals in mind: Creating carefully curated experiences, fostering meaningful connections, and empowering better travelers. (You can read more about Atlas here.) Many travel companies have approached me over the years, but Atlas immediately felt like the right fit.

Whitney (far right) and I meet the travelers at our welcome drinks.

And yet, I must admit, going into the trip I felt quite nervous! I have never done something like this before. What would it feel like to travel in a group? I walked into our welcome drinks on Sunday evening with butterflies in my stomach. As soon as everyone began to introduce themselves, and share why they they signed up, I felt my shoulders relax. So many others were nervous, too. But mostly: Everyone was smiling, eager to get to know one another.

By the next morning, we were all chatting breezily on a vintage bus tour of London, then piling onto the tube to see my favorite vintage jewelry seller in Camden Town. By that evening, we were swapping career lessons and book recommendations over a delicious group dinner at Dishoom.

The nervous sentiment, however, lingered in my Instagram DMs. “I debated applying but didn’t at the last minute. It looks fabulous,” one person wrote. “I hope there is a next time so I can be brave,” another said. “I fully regret not doing this!!!” read a third, quickly followed by: “Ugh I am regretting regretting regretting this!!!!!!” 

Sharing a laugh with Rhys on the train.

I wanted to offer a fuller response, to capture the feeling of the trip beyond any post on social media. On Wednesday during our train ride up to Hampton Court Palace, I asked if anyone in our group wanted to share (for this newsletter!) their thoughts on the trip. Many said yes, resulting in the most wonderful conversations about trying something new and stepping outside of your comfort zones. Scroll down for their stories, including how Amanda almost turned around at the airport and why I teared up when talking with Tamara.

Please know I realize it is an immense privilege to take a trip like this one. But I hope the reflections below offer words of encouragement to venture out and try something new, whether that’s a restaurant in town or a night away solo. During this trip, I thought a lot about my own mom, who passed away 20 years ago this month. Time is never guaranteed, so take those risks if and when you can.

Thank you to Atlas Adventures, who covered the cost the London stay and activities, for me and my photographer, as well as compensated me for my time. Thank you to Jarrard Cole for all of his talents and efforts documenting the trip (I paid Jarrard for his time). And thank you to British Airways, who provided my round-trip ticket to London.

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Exploring London Together: Travelers Share Their Stories

Jami

Age 39, lives in Kansas City, Missouri and works in software sales

• Why did you come on this trip? I love London. I studied abroad here almost 20 years ago and hadn’t been back. I was a little bit nervous to come on my own, so it was really exciting to come with a group and get to do things that were influenced by your love of the royals and knowledge of London. 

• How did you feel coming into the trip? I was really excited when I signed up. Then the morning I left, it hit me: Oh, this is something I’ve never done before. I travel by myself a lot and I travel with people I know, but I’ve never traveled with a group I don’t know before. I was very nervous. 

• What pep talk did you give yourself? I was like: I already paid for this trip. I have to do this! [Laughs] 

• How does it feel now? As soon as we had the welcome meal and got to know everybody, it was like, Oh, okay. This is going to be great. 

• Do you have advice for others venturing somewhere new? I’m not typically a risk taker. I have really been pushing myself to do that, knowing I’m in a stage of life where I have the availability to do it. Girls here have talked about: Oh, I wanted to do this and then the pandemic hit or I wanted to do this and then I had people to take care of in my family, whether it parents or children. There are only certain times in life where you have these opportunities, so I don’t take it for granted.

Rhys 

Age 39, lives in Fort Worth, Texas and works in healthcare HR

• Why did you come on this trip? It’s my first overseas trip. My two best friends and I are planning a trip to Paris for our 40th birthdays — and that is like pulling teeth. I am kind of at that age where if I want to start doing things, I clearly just have to start doing them. I knew who you were from mutual connections from a past life in PR, so I felt like it was a safe space. And I liked the idea of what Atlas did, so it felt comfortable. When the doors open for an opportunity, you walk through them. 

• What has been the best part so far? All the decisions are made. Our plans are there. There are pockets to do what you want, but you don’t have to think. They tell you every night: This is what we’re doing [tomorrow]. You wake up and go. You get to enjoy it. It’s so nice to have a trip that’s done for you — especially if you are a parent or if planning is a big part of your job. 

• Do you have advice for others venturing somewhere new? There’s never a right time for some of these things. Or you might look at the price point and maybe it’s a little bit of sticker shock at first. But the way Atlas has put it together has made it so easy to digest. It’s been such a high-quality trip. Just take the chance and do it.

Tara

Age 38, lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia and works in financial and estate planning 

• Why did you come on this trip? I have flown into the London airport many times to go to other places and never been to London. I have always been obsessed with the royals, and everything to do with them, and never been here. When I saw this trip, I messaged my friend and was like: Oh my gosh, we need to go on this! Because we follow you and we like Whitney, too. It’s the combination of both worlds. 

• You two came together! What has it been like to travel with a friend? It definitely gives you a bit of a safety net. But we also have gone off [on our own]. I’m not sitting with her on the train right now. It’s been really fun to meet all the other girls and hang out with them — and it’s been super easy. If you are willing to go to another country and not know anybody, or only know one person, you already have a lot in common with those people. 

• Do you have advice for others venturing somewhere new? If you think about it too long, you’re going to talk yourself out of it — so just sign up.

Amanda

Age 37, lives in Mesa, Arizona, and works in consumer packaged goods

• Why did you come on this trip? I have loved the royals for a long time. Like you, William and Kate’s wedding roped me in and being in a similar life stage to Kate made it feel even more interesting. I also was able to use this interest to connect with my grandmother. She had a wonderful book collection; over the years, we’ve read the same books about the royals and about England. For me, this trip is a chance to see, in person with my own eyes, what I’ve looked at on photographs. 

• How did you feel ahead of this trip? I was really, really nervous. I’ve never done anything like this. My son asked me why I was coming on the trip and I thought I would maybe say, “To learn” or “For meetings” or “To study.” I decided to tell him I was coming for fun. And I realized in that moment I hadn’t really done something for fun — purely for fun and purely that was an interest of mine — in a really long time. It felt very indulgent and it felt like a risk. But at the same time, I’m so glad that I did.

• How do you feel now on the trip? It has over-delivered so much for me. Meeting you has been so incredible, and to see your commitment to what you care about has been awesome. It’s the real deal. And I was telling my wonderful roommate that the things that we thought would be the highlights of the trip are actually not the highlights of the trip. The highlight for me is the chance to sit and talk to these women and form these friendships and to remind myself how important it is to live your life and have fun.

• Have you had a favorite moment? London being everything you think it’s going to be! London showing up with rain and black cabs and the red double-decker buses and phone booths and the traffic. It’s not just one street of really cute shops and awnings and flowers. It’s literally street after street after street. 

• Do you have advice for others venturing somewhere new? You’re going to have a moment — when you’re driving to the airport or you’re packing your suitcase or you’ve just hit submit on your application — and you think, Oh my gosh, what am I doing? This is really scary. I don’t think I can go through with this. I was standing at the gate and my husband called me to just wish me a good trip. I was so emotional. I almost turned around because who was going to take care of the kids? You’re going to have that moment. Keep going. Don’t back out.

Jennifer

Age 47, lives in Palatine, Illinois, and works in real estate

• Why did you come on this trip? I’m trying to think of something more eloquent to say. [Laughs] I just thought it would be super fun! I love your content. I’ve been to London once before as a very young kid. I wanted to come back and I had the flexibility to travel. It was very impulsive. I said, “Why not?” 

• How did you feel before the trip? Not terribly nervous. I’ve done a few trips like this before. There were, of course, a little bit of nerves because the quality of the trip is going to depend solely on the company. As soon as I met all the ladies within the first night, I knew it was really, really great group of women and it was going to be super fun.

• Do you have a favorite part of the trip thus far? Seeing the historical places because we just don’t have anything like that in the United States. Following the royals, it’s really interesting to see where a lot of the history actually took place. It’s one thing to watch it on The Crown, it’s another thing to see it in real life. 

Lynn

Age 62, lives in Dallas, Texas, and is retired

• Why did you come on this trip? I’ve really enjoyed following you for four years and I have loved the royals for far longer than that, starting with Princess Diana. If there had been Instagram back then, I definitely would’ve followed her! [Laughs] I wanted to be with other people — not that I wanted to talk about the royals all the time — but I knew that if I was with a group of people that also had that interest, we’d have a basis of commonality that we could start from.  That’s turned out to be kind of true, we don’t really talk about them that much. But I found we could skip a step of getting to know each other. Everybody’s very open and friendly and honest. 

• Have you ever done something like this before? Other than going to college? [Laughs] No. I travel with my husband or with our couple friends, but I’ve never traveled independently. I knew I would probably be one of the oldest ones, but I thought there would be other people with grandchildren maybe? But it’s more with [people who are] my daughter’s age, the 30-somethings. That’s really fun for me. They don’t treat me any differently and everybody is just so nice. 

• Do you have advice for others venturing somewhere new? When I first saw the trip and was talking it over with my husband, I said, “That sounds like it was made for me.” But then I started second guessing myself. And he said, “I think you would regret it if you didn’t go.” And I realized I would regret it if I didn’t go. So go for it. What do you have to lose? Nothing. And you only have to gain friendships.

Kyané

Age 34, lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and works as a field service coordinator

• Why did you come on this trip? This year my goal was to get to London. It’s been on the top of my list for a while now, because of the history and because London, in general, looked amazing. It just didn’t work out for anyone to go with me. Then I saw that you had this trip and I thought, Ok, this is a sign for me to go — and just go on my own. I figured this is a good segue into solo traveling, too, because I’ll be with a group of people but I’ll be on my own. I also wanted to have unique experiences in London.

• Have you had a favorite outing thus far? Susan Caplan, going to her showroom was so cool. That’s a really unique experience I would never have been able to have if I was just coming alone to London. Getting to see all the jewelry and getting to buy something so special I think is once-in-a-lifetime thing.

• Do you have advice for others venturing somewhere new? Have a goal for yourself. If you have a trip you want to go on, just say, Ok, in this timeframe I’m going to save money or make a plan. And then just kind of do it, jump in, because you never know what life is going to bring. You only live once — and if you don’t do it now, you never know when you might be able to do it.

Meredith

Age 43, Newport Beach, California, and runs the Shop Forward (EH note: I’m a huge fan!)

• Why did you come on this trip? I followed Whitney for a while and thought it was so amazing what she did, to get girls together and experience new things. And I follow you, too, and I had wanted to plan a trip to London, but couldn’t find anybody to go with me. So when I saw you and Whitney post at the same time, I was like: This is the perfect storm. 

• How did you feel ahead of the trip? I was a little bit nervous, more when I started telling people. They were like, You’re doing what? [Laughs] I’m a little bit of an introvert. But I think it’s a good balance, things with a lot of people and also time to go do your own things, too. 

• Do you have advice for others venturing somewhere new? Initially I was like, I’m doing it. And then you start to think of life and your responsibilities. I have family who have ailing health that I’m taking care of, I have a business that I run. You start thinking of all the reasons why you shouldn’t. And then I was just like: I’m going to do it, and it’ll work out. I get it that not everybody can always make it happen, but if you think that there’s a possibility that you could make it happen, I would do it. 

Alison 

Age 61, lives in Richmond, Virginia, and works as a finance director for a food company

• Why did you come on this trip? I wanted to do something that was just for me. I have kids. It was really nice to do something without them, now they’re mostly grown. And I wanted to do something that was not something that I could do on my end, so the curated experiences and the behind-the-scenes tours were really intriguing to me. 

• Has anything surprised you about the trip? I like all the other people on the trip! And I figured: I don’t know about these people as strangers. Would I hit it off with them? But everybody’s been really delightful to be with and it’s been fun getting to know different people from different parts of the country and at different stages in their lives. 

• Do you have advice for others venturing somewhere new? Just jump in. Just do it! Because you’ll regret it if you don’t.

Kelly

Age 38, lives in Montclair, New Jersey, and works in development

• Why did you come on this trip? I have always wanted to go to London and this seemed like a great way to do it with a bunch of like-minded women of similar age. 

• How did you feel ahead of the trip? I was nervous that people wouldn’t be friendly or eager to get to know each other. I thought maybe I should do international travel with people I already know — friends, husband, family, whatever. But that all went away the first night. I feel like we were all in it for the same reasons and everybody had the same nerves and it was so nice that it just sort of evaporated.

• Do you have advice for others venturing somewhere new? I can understand why it seems daunting and like it would never be something you would do, but it has been such a cool experience. It’s traveling in such a different way. You know how to travel with your friends and your family, but this takes you out of your comfort zone. I have been saying all week to my friends and family back home: You should absolutely sign up for something like this. 

Tamara

Age 57, Peachtree City, Georgia, is retired from HR and now does interior design

• Why did you come on this trip? I have enjoyed following you and I, like you, have always been fascinated with the royal family and everything that comes with it. When the opportunity came up, I submitted my information, never thinking in a million years that I would actually get to go. I didn’t know what the process was. When I got the email, then I had to start asking myself: Was I reactionary? Should I really go? Is this for me? I was thinking I might be a little bit older [than the other group members]. But I’m one of these individuals that’s like, What the heck! I’ve always been like that and now I have the ability to do it. I’m an empty nester and I have the extra income.  

• You’ve said you’ve been to London several times before. How is this different? I’m by myself. There was an ask, in the communications ahead of time, whether we wanted to bring somebody. I specifically chose to go by myself. I didn’t want to bring a relative or a friend because I knew I would gravitate to them, and sit with them, and stay with them in the room. Whereas when you don’t have somebody, you’re pushed out of your comfort zone. Even though on the outside I seem very social, I can be very quiet and I like my alone time. But it is also nice to meet other people. And I think that’s what makes this trip different: I’m alone and independent, but with the crowd, meeting new people, maybe lifelong friends. 

• How did you feel ahead of the trip? I had a significant loss a few weeks ago so I had been mired in that and taking care of all that. It just came up very quickly and I was like, I’m still going to go. Then a day before I was about to leave, a friend said, “Oh my gosh, Elizabeth is going to London, too!” Not realizing we were on the same trip! And that’s when it hit me: Oh my gosh. Is this a big deal? It was probably a good thing that I didn’t have time to be really nervous. But I also remember thinking you were probably nervous, more so than we were. 

• I sure was nervous, which I said that first night! Everybody has a story, and this is your story, that you’ve impacted people. Whether we see each other again or not, we smiled and laughed and we got to see some culture and beautiful places. You could say you did that, and tell your kids that you did. I talked to my children last night and they were like, Mom, you are so cool. My daughter is, obviously, very jealous that I’m here. She’s like, I can’t believe you didn’t take me! I told her: Next time!

Tamara and I closed by talking about our own mothers and how neither of them did anything like this — but we’re pretty sure they would have loved to if they had been given the chance. 🫶

Thank you again to everyone on the trip! I loved getting to know you. Full recap coming soon. For more on Atlas Adventures and their upcoming trips, click here.

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