Photo: Christopher Burns / Unsplash

Photo: Mihaly Koles / Unsplash

WITH MERAKI TRAVEL COLLECTION

Leave seeing more

Small-group experiences and longer journeys, planned with people who know the place from the inside.

Guest reflections

What they still talk about

The details guests kept.

Shared by past guests
“I felt safe, seen, heard, and connected. I really loved learning from both young and old and from people going through different life chapters. Loved learning from others in a meaningful way. This fed my soul for connection, reflective thinking, learning.”
Jen C. Guest · The Art of Gathering
“I was honoured to be in such fab company… Loved and appreciated the warmth, sincerity, humility, journeys, stories, laughter, and love.”
Mona P. Guest · The Art of Gathering

Destinations

Pick a place

Open the map, then go straight to what people eat, make, protect and argue about.

Destination

Philippines

One island is never a preview of the next. Follow a table, a coastline or a neighbourhood until the differences start to show.

Explore the Philippines →

Destination

Italy

Cross a regional line and the menu changes before the scenery does. That is where the fun starts.

Explore Italy →

Choose by time

How much of your day can we steal?

A few hours works. A week changes the conversation.

Souló · a few hours to a day

A few hours, well spent

Small-group experiences with unusual access, kept to a few well-spent hours or a day.

With Meraki Travel Collection · multi-day journeys

Stay long enough to notice more

Longer journeys built as one coherent route, rather than a stack of reservations.

Travel Guides

Read this before you book anything

Useful context, strong opinions and the details that save you from wasting a day.

Close-up of sugar cane. Photo: Claremaier / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Food

Sugar, Then Some

Food, sugar heritage and the island after the headline

Sugar gets the first line in most descriptions of Negros. Stay longer and the island quickly becomes about farms, ancestral towns, biodiversity, ma...

Ria Cortez Ria Cortez · The Storyseeking Traveler
Read guide →
Close-up of pancit Malabon. Photo: Aerous / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Food

Manila, À La Carte

Where to experience Filipino food culture in Manila

Start in Binondo, but resist turning it into a snack checklist. Manila’s food gets better when trade, migration, family and neighborhood enter the ...

Ria Cortez Ria Cortez · The Storyseeking Traveler
Read guide →
Escolta Street in Binondo, Manila. Photo: Patrickroque01 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Creative life

Second Act

What to do in Manila after the usual sights

You have done the usual Manila highlights. Good. The second visit deserves a better question, not a longer checklist.

Ria Cortez Ria Cortez · The Storyseeking Traveler
Read guide →
Close-up detail of the San Agustin Church door in Intramuros, Manila. Photo: Ramiltibayan / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Culture

Read the City

How to experience Manila beyond the landmarks

Manila rewards selective travelers. Give one district, collection or question a few serious hours and the city starts making more sense.

Ria Cortez Ria Cortez · The Storyseeking Traveler
Read guide →

About

The people making the trip

Design, story and the practical work of getting people there. Different instincts. The trip still has to work.

Barbara Kitane

Barbara Kitane

Founder & EXPERIENCE DESIGN

Ampersand Future · GSTC Professional Certification in Sustainable Tourism · 20+ years across tourism, hospitality, culture, sustainability and experience design

Barbara reads a place before she designs a route through it. She notices how people move, what deserves time and what is better left alone. Her work across tourism, hospitality, culture, sustainability and experience design keeps the product grounded in the place, not the pitch.

Ria Cortez

Ria Cortez

Growth

Founder, Kaya Pala Media · Media, storytelling, community-building and growth

Ria likes the question that makes someone cross town, then keeps them talking on the way home. Philosophy made her suspicious of easy answers. Media taught her how to build a story people can step into. She leads brand, growth and the customer journey.

Gabe Mercado

Gabe Mercado

Master Storyteller

Founder of SPIT Manila · President, Third World Improv · Producer, Manila Improv Festival · 30+ years across theater, television, film, music and applied improvisation

Gabe helps a place find its voice. Decades in improvisation and performance have made him unusually alert to timing, audience, character and the small detail that turns information into a story people carry home. He works with the team and with hosts to sharpen what belongs in the room, and what can be left out.

Field Notes

Worth opening

New dates, sharp recommendations and the occasional useful detour.