About Us

How we operate

Avid Travel Club is membership-based and, compared to other tour operators, has its own way of operating. In general, this is the way we organize and conduct our tours:

1. All trips are curated by someone who is from the target locale, or in a few cases knows it well from having lived there for many years. Thus our trips are really unique in what we’re able to see.
2. We generally max out at 10 to 15 people (Croatia is unique since we’re reserving the entire ship). This allows us to make reservations in unique accommodations, authentic restaurants, and so forth. And of course it’s so much easier to get to know each other.
3. Once you sign up for a trip, you’re invited to a private discussion group. There you’ll be able to ask questions, look at trip resources, and discuss the trip with your fellow travelers.
4. If you’re traveling solo – and many of us are! – you’ll use the forum to look for a like-minded roommate. We’d rather you pick each other, or we can assign roommates when we get closer.
5. As the trip departure date approaches, the curator and/or trip leader will hold a series of Zoom teaching webinars to teach you history, culture, language, and facts about what we’ll be seeing.
6. We offer flexible payments. Most trips require only a $500 deposit with the balance being applied in equal monthly installments up to 90 days prior to departure when the balance is due.
7. Then it’s time to head out, relax, have fun, and make new friends!

Note that we’re happy to develop a custom trip, or unique due dates for our existing trips, for groups of 6 or more. We often open these trips to other members as well upon request.

Note that we do require travel insurance available at: https://travelsafe.com?agent=10218

How we came to be

Many of us on the ATC team have traveled most of our lives. Jim and Dianna spent much of their early lives growing up in some of the farthest reaches of our little green globe. Collectively we have over 60 years of travel experience. We each feel comfortable interacting in and navigating in more than 100 countries to date. After years of each of us traveling either on our own or in small groups, the stars aligned and the current Avid Travel Club was born. By the way, we really view this endeavor as a club. We have thousands of members across the United States through meetup.com and in clubs in more than a dozen major cities. We’ll soon be available in Europe. And just like a club, we want to socialize. We get together locally, online most weeks, and we certainly get together when we travel. Our trips are designed for us to really get to know each other on a deeper level. Our trips are mostly small, often around 10 travelers. And that’s the way we like it. If demand gets greater, we’ll set up multiple departure dates. But on each trip our goal is to form life-long friends through shared experiences, shared meals, and shared conversations. More than anything we believe that travel brings us all closer, whatever your beliefs. Experiencing multiple cultures can only make you more accepting, more tolerant, and move loving. More alive.

Okay so everyone on the team is addicted to exploring the world. Since we’ve been a lot of places, we’re focused on finding unique experiences that allow us to see the world in a whole new light. But we haven’t forgotten those new to travel. We’ll never tire of seeing the grand capitals of Europe. Plus we’re planning more trips closer to home, here in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Stay tuned for that!

Please sign up for our newsletter, or register on the website and join the discussion boards (click the silhouette in the top navigation bar). If we have a meetup in your city, join and participate in talk of travel. If not, volunteer to help us start one. Give us your travel suggestions. Get a group together and decide where you want to go. Let’s do it!