When I decided to narrow my travel planning expertise to expedition travel, alongside a few of my favorite destinations like India, Iceland, Armenia, and a handful of iconic U.S. landscapes, I got more than a few raised eyebrows.

The most common reaction?
“So… you only want to plan trips to cold places now?”

And listen, I get it. The word expedition tends to conjure images of icebreakers, caribou, and frostbitten explorers shouting “visibility’s down to a quarter mile!” into the wind. But while some expedition journeys do include puffins, glaciers, and polar plunges, that’s hardly the whole story.

Because expedition travel isn’t about the temperature but the terrain. It’s about reaching the parts of the planet that don’t come prepackaged. The places that haven’t been filtered into sameness. Where the air feels different, the light hits deeper, and the experience doesn’t come with a souvenir stand at the exit. However, I do love a good museum gift shop. But the real reason I leaned into expedition travel? It’s in my blood.

On one side of my family, there’s David Legge Brainard, my great-great-great-great uncle, who served as second in command on the infamous Greely Expedition to the Arctic in the 1880s. The mission was intended to gather data near the North Pole—but after their supply ship failed to arrive, it became a desperate test of survival. Out of twenty-five men, only six survived. Brainard was one of them, and his journals, equal parts meticulous and harrowing, have become a cornerstone of polar exploration history.

On the other side, there’s Haldor Barnes (his name was changed from Bjarnesen to Barnes upon immigration to the US), my great-great-great uncle, who participated in Rear Admiral Richard Byrd’s Antarctic Expedition in the late 1920s. This wasn’t a casual cruise. It was one of the most ambitious scientific and logistical feats of its time, complete with airplanes, ice camps, and years of planning. Barnes was a physician and was part of the support crew that helped make Byrd’s South Pole flyover possible.

My great-great-great uncle Peter Barnes in his expedition finery.

So no, I didn’t stumble into expedition travel. I inherited it from men who faced unimaginable conditions and chased something bigger than themselves. And while I’ll take heated floors and GPS over rations and radio silence, that same impulse, the call to the unknown, the desire to witness what few have seen, still runs through me. It’s what drives me to plan journeys that aren’t just about going far, but about going deep.

Built for the Bold

Expedition travel is immersive, unpredictable, and gloriously unfiltered. It speaks to something ancient and modern at once, a craving for the unknown, tempered with just enough luxury to keep your shoulders relaxed.

Think:

Zipping through East Greenland’s fjords, where the icebergs feel like floating cathedrals and your only “traffic jam” is a herd of musk ox.
Sailing Australia’s remote Kimberley coast, with thundering waterfalls and ancient rock art only accessible by ship.
Trekking to Antarctica’s Mount Vinson, where bragging rights are guaranteed and the silence is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.

Expedition travel isn’t for people who want to sit still. It’s for people who want to go, really go, and find something extraordinary waiting on the other side.

Freedom to Choose Your Own Adventure

Expedition itineraries aren’t really itineraries. They’re possibilities, and that’s half the thrill.

Every day is different. Every landing depends on weather, wildlife, and instinct. You might wake up to a blue whale breaching beside the ship or be redirected to a completely different island because the flamingos decided today’s the day they show up in full force. That’s expedition life: unpredictable, thrilling, and entirely unlike your typical cruise vacation.

On an Antarctic expedition, you might spend one day surrounded by penguin colonies on a black-sand beach, and the next kayaking through an ice-strewn channel under a sky that glows pink at 10:30 p.m.

In the Amazon, your guides might reroute the day’s plan when they spot a troop of howler monkeys or decide that water levels are perfect for a sunrise canoe trip through a flooded forest.

Expedition travelers don’t follow a map; they follow what’s happening right now. It’s a masterclass in presence—and a reset button most of us didn’t know we needed.

A Love Affair With Nature

Human beings are wired for wildness. We’re built to be awed by nature, not just to observe it from behind glass. Expedition travel lets you live it.

Let me paint you a picture:

Svalbard in the Arctic, where polar bears roam sea ice and the sun circles the sky like it’s had too much coffee.
Chilean Patagonia, where glaciers calve into the sea like thunder and the mountains look like they’ve been sharpened by hand.
Alaska’s Inside Passage, with breaching whales, bald eagles, and fjords that make you feel very, very small (in the best way).

And yet… this isn’t “roughing it.” Today’s expedition ships are floating five-star hotels. Spa? Check. Chef-designed menus? Absolutely. A butler who anticipates your post-zodiac hot toddy? You bet. You can experience the raw power of nature all day, and then return to your suite to steam your clothes and sip a Bordeaux. That’s what I call balance.

All Swan Hellenic Staterooms and Suites offer flame-effect fireplaces to enjoy at the end of your expedition day.

It’s Not Just Ice and Icebreakers

Let’s kill the myth once and for all: expedition travel is not limited to cold climates. Some of the most fascinating, exotic, and sun-drenched expedition experiences happen near the equator, or even right here in the U.S.

You could:

Sail through Raja Ampat in Indonesia, where coral reefs teem with life and every snorkeling session feels like a National Geographic episode.
Hop around the Galápagos Islands, where sea lions nap on park benches and marine iguanas treat you like scenery.
Explore Costa Rica and Panama, with lush rainforests, rare wildlife, and the chance to transit the Panama Canal like an old-school adventurer in linen pants.

This isn’t about cold. It’s about access. It’s about going places most people don’t. And being guided by the best experts in the world, once you get there.

The DIY Spirit, Upgraded

Sure, we love doing things ourselves. But we also love doing them well. Modern expedition travel lets you feel like an explorer without having to MacGyver a kayak out of driftwood. Every trip is handled by a dream team of naturalists, historians, scientists, and local guides.

Want to hike farther while your partner takes a photo class? No problem. Prefer to stay on board for a culinary workshop while others trek through jungle ruins? Done. Curious about seabirds, ancient petroglyphs, or the mechanics of a fjord? There’s an expert for that on board, at your dinner table, and usually wearing really cool boots. You still feel brave. You just don’t have to feel overwhelmed. That’s what we call luxury with a purpose.

Have crampons, will travel. (Iceland glacier trekking, 2024)

For Everyone Who's Watched a David Attenborough Documentary and Thought, “Take Me There.”

You know the voice. The hushed awe. The sweeping drone shots. The baby penguins slipping across ice.

Sir David Attenborough has basically been narrating our collective wanderlust for decades—and if you’ve ever binge-watched Planet Earth, Blue Planet, or Our Planet and caught yourself whispering, “I want to go there,” then congratulations: you’re already halfway to becoming an expedition traveler.

Expedition trips are those documentaries—only in real life. You don’t just watch a humpback whale breach. You feel the splash. You don’t just learn about sloths in the rainforest. You scan the treetops with a naturalist beside you. You don’t just hear about penguin colonies. You smell them (fair warning: not great, but very memorable).

So if Attenborough’s dulcet tones have ever sparked something in you? Follow that feeling. I’ll help you bring it to life, with a better soundtrack and much more comfortable bedding.

Keep an eye on our social media (Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn) throughout July for deep dives into expedition travel, what it is and isn’t, and spotlights on our expedition travel partners.

Ready to plan your own expedition? Send me an email. Let’s talk!

Email Meg