Stonebridge Voyages is a boutique travel advisory in Chicago, founded in 2011. We plan international trips for individuals, families, and organized groups: multi-country itineraries, river and ocean cruises, safari circuits, and the kind of logistics-heavy family weeks that fall apart when nobody owns the schedule. We are independent, which means we are paid by our planning fee and by supplier commissions we disclose, not by steering you toward a single operator.
The three advisors
Margaret Holloway is our senior advisor. She has been planning travel since 2004, with a practice built around complex European routing, escorted-versus-independent decisions, and insurance questions clients cannot answer themselves. If your trip involves four or more moves between cities, Margaret is usually the one writing the first draft.
Rachel Lindgren designs independent and custom travel: single-country deep dives, multi-generational family trips, and itineraries for travelers who have already seen the standard circuit and want a second or fifth visit to work differently. She handles most of our Japan, Australia, and South America planning.
Daniel Okafor runs group logistics. He manages rooming lists, payment schedules, headcounts, and the supplier deadlines that turn a group of eighteen into actual beds and buses. Organizers of clubs, church groups, and company trips work directly with Daniel from contract to final briefing.
How we work
Every engagement follows the same five steps. First, a consultation call of 30 to 45 minutes, free of charge, where we ask about dates, budget range, travelers, and what has gone wrong on past trips. Second, a written proposal with a day-by-day outline, supplier names, and a cost table; our planning fee starts at $350 for a single-country trip and scales with complexity. Third, booking, once you approve the proposal and we hold space.
The last two steps matter as much as the first three. Fourth, a preparation call 30 days before departure covering documents, packing decisions by climate, and the two or three decisions that still need making. Fifth, support while you travel, through a single phone number and email that both of us monitor, so you are never routed to a queue.
We do not sell airline tickets alone, and we do not take on trips under a $2,500 land cost, because the planning work does not fit that budget. What we do take on, we finish: the itinerary you leave with includes confirmation numbers, transfer contacts, and a printed summary you can hand to anyone in your group.