Testimonials

Italy

After using Wandering Puffin for a wonderfully planned trip to Spain a few years ago with a friend, I told my husband we needed to contact Jamie when we decided to travel to Italy for our anniversary. Jamie took time over the phone to prep and offer advice and feedback on our initial ideas. He was able to give us a great itinerary to maximize our time in Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Capri and Rome. Jamie booked us some wonderful tours including skip the line Vatican Tour, Colosseum Tour and a beautiful wine and countryside tour in Tuscany. All the tours were wonderful from high quality providers. We really loved the lunch and wine tasting at a private wine maker. It was one of our favorite meals! We also had drivers booked in advance to get us from hotels to transportation that really took the stress off of us and allowed us to enjoy our precious time soaking every minute of the trip. We loved Italy and absolutely ate our way through each place we visited!

Our hotel in Sorrento was magical. We loved the beautiful sunsets, views of Capri, Mt. Vesuvius and sparking Naples from our balcony and infinity pool. We were so happy we stocked up on Lemoncello in the Sorrento area and wine in Tuscany to bring a little bit of Italy home in Chicago.
We highly recommend using Wandering Puffin for a flawlessly planned adventure! We appreciated the professional service, follow up and details such as printed vouchers, directions and travel documents. Gratzie, Jamie!

England, Wales, Scotland & Iceland

Jamie is a phenomenal travel agent!! He helped plan our trip to England, Wales, Scotland, and Iceland this past summer and definitely exceeded our expectations! I have been on a few group tours to Europe and so has my friend from college, so this time we wanted to work with a travel agent and have a more active role in the planning process.
Jamie’s attention to detail and expertise was apparent from the initial consultation to his follow up. He was able to incorporate everything that we wanted to see and do during this trip while staying within our budgets. Jamie even made some wonderful recommendations that made this trip even more memorable! He was easy to get a hold of to discuss ideas, answered our questions promptly and the organized itineraries were very much appreciated. Everything was thoughtfully planned out so we were able to relax and enjoy our trip.

I look forward to working with him again for future travel adventures and would recommend Wondering Puffin to anyone looking for a resourceful travel agent!

Thanks
Denise

African Safari

Jamie, the trip was awesome, the people at Horizon and the staff are great. Was truly a trip of a lifetime.

Thanks
Ann

The Keys, FL

We have never used a travel agent before nor had we ever been to the Florida Keys. Jamie was a tremendous resource who provided us with options that suited our personalities and preferred activities. We had an amazing time, stayed in great places and will absolutely use him again. There were some snafu’s with our air travel (due to weather) and Jamie was responsive and helpful during the wee hours of the morning. We highly recommend a trip to the Keys and have Jamie get you there – he knows his business!

Orlando, FL - The Armendariz Family

I write this on behalf of my wife Virginia and our two sons Isaac and Giovani. We want to thank you for arranging and coordinating our Orlando adventure, it was perfect and everything went so smoothly. From the resorts that you chose for us the dining plans to the transfers you arranged for us.

We loved both resorts and took advantage of the pools, and even the bowling alley. Thanks for the direction on how to use the My Disney Experience app, and how to get our fast passes and make our dining reservations. This is a trip we will never forget and we look forward to our next one. Again thank you for all your work because you are the reason this was perfect, all we did is explain what we wanted but you put it together and tailored it perfect for our family!!

From,
The Armendariz Family

Iceland - Allan Floyd and Margaret Miller

Blenheim Palace and Magdalen College, Oxford - Allan Floyd and Margaret Miller

Norway, Croatia, Slovenia

Wandering Puffin is an excellent travel agency. Every detail was planned. The itinerary was outstanding and our trip to was made so easy. Mr. Bachrach's diligence and attention to every little detail made traveling through Norway, Croatia, Slovenia and Budapest, with it's potential language difficulties, very easy.

My wife and I strongly recommend Wandering Puffin to anyone planning a trip abroad.

-- Pete Kravitz

Norway

We used the Wandering Puffin to help us plan and book our vacation to Norway, and we couldn’t have done it without him! Jamie listened to our travel desires, budget, and what we hoped to experience during our time in Norway. He provided us with a comprehensive itinerary including all our necessary documents for hotels, city passes, and transportation. His organization and attention to detail allowed us to focus on the experience rather than be stressed about how to get from city to city. Our Norway adventure was filled with culture, nature, relaxation and once in a lifetime experiences. We are extremely thankful that we were referred to Jamie and highly recommend you use him to book your next travel experience!

--Jaclyn and Glen

Croatia

Three weeks after my first trip to Europe, I can't stop thinking about everything I was exposed to. My wife and I originally planned a trip 4 years ago but a near death in our family caused us to cancel the trip. We let the business of life get in the way of making the trek over to Europe for the next 4 years. I reached out to Jamie because he had put together a handful of incredible trips for us in the past to other destinations. I expressed to Jamie all of the things we love doing when going on vacation (adventure, being outdoors, lots and lots of exercise, etc). He put together one of our favorite trips we have ever had the privilege to go on. Three days in the breathtaking town of Dubrovnik, Croatia walking on the walls of old town. This town was so easy to explore on foot and we fell in love with it the moment we were dropped off at our hotel. Our next trip was north to Split, Croatia. We hired a private auto transfer and the gentlemen would stop off at road side fruit stands so we could purchase these goodies to take with us on the rest of our vacation. Split was a home base for us to do excursions like Krka National Park. It was a lush green park filled full of waterfalls.

It was incredibly relaxing hearing the roar of the water in conjunction with the peaceful look of all the bright green. We then took an overnight ferry from Split to Italy. Our first stop was Florence. Holy cow, Florence was everything we imagined and more. This was our favorite leg of the trip. Picture a cooking lesson followed by going down to a several hundred year old wine cellar while enjoying the fruits of your cooking labor. Eggplant with potato and zucchini, spinach and ricotta filled ravioli, followed by chicken cacciatore, and chocolate ganache for dessert. This was all brought together with amazing Italian red wine. Our next excursion was a full day trip to Cinque Terra. Cinque is five and terra is villages.

You have the opportunity to travel to these cliffside towns via train, boat, or you can do what we did and hike through vineyards and olive groves to travel to each village. The tour was comprised of taking a boat so you can get incredible views of these quaint seaside towns painted different shades of the sun. We ditched the boat and put on our hiking shoes and it was a full day of the most beautiful hiking I have ever done. I kept pinching myself wondering if this was real of a dream. It was real! Our next excursion was the breathtaking town called Tuscany. We were encompassed by vast seas of green, cypress trees, vineyards, olive groves, wineries, and beautiful stone homes and/or bed and breakfasts. We traveled through this area via vespa/scooter and had the chance to visit wineries and cute picturesque towns. Our guides took us into local cheese shops, butchers, olive oil stores, etc and we talked with the owners to learn more about their craft. We wrapped up this amazing day with a delicious dinner at a winery. Our next trek was to Rome and we were not ready to leave Florence. It captured our heart. Our favorite excursion in Rome was the Vatican. Such rich history and being able to step foot inside the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica was surreal. We used our last day in Rome to visit a spa so our muscles could recoup from all the exploring.

     Thanks,
     Bryan

UK

Jamie has set up 4 trips for me. I have been very satisfied with all 4. Jamie is very professional, knowledgeable and honest. I trust his suggestions on where to go and stay. He really knows his stuff, in fact he is setting up a fifth trip for me to the UK. I highly recommend the services Jamie provides.

Jack S - Minnesota

Switzerland

I used the Wandering Puffin to book a trip to Germany and Switzerland for me, my mom, and my sister. We had never traveled abroad before and Jamie’s knowledge, patience, and helpfulness were amazing. He booked absolutely everything for us on the trip and provided us with a trip packet full of every detail we could need. He can help you stay within a budget and has great ideas for things to do.

Due to weather issues on the way home, we had to file an insurance claim and he was extremely helpful with that as well. Jamie was recommended to me by a friend and I will recommend him to anyone else.

-- Katie, Missouri

Europe

I was checking out a couple of travel agents at the time when I was looking to book my first trip to Europe. I was going to go to Poland by myself and had no idea what I might be getting myself into. I had reached out to a couple of agencies and had gotten pretty much a e mail with pretty much prices. Jamie reached out to me and we spoke on the phone for at least 45 minutes to get an idea of what I wanted to do and where in Poland I wanted to go. During that conversation he had informed me that he had been there a few times and made suggestions as where to go. After the conversation I felt comfortable in going forward with my plans with Jamie.

I was a little nervous on the day of my trip. I had 3 flights and was worried about making the connections. Jamie had planned it perfect. Plenty of time between the flights that I wasn’t racing from terminal to terminal. By the time I reached Warsaw I was ecstatic. It was all I had hoped it would be and more. The hotels I stayed at were great close to the attractions. His itinerary was perfect to follow as well as tips and places to see.

I'm now in discussions for my next European trek with Jamie and am looking forward to this new adventure.
- Brent K.