Personalized Italy Trip Planning & Slow Travel Classes
Slow down Wander deeper Guidance that supports you and the communities that make your journey possible
Is this you?
You’ve spent days, maybe weeks, sifting through forum posts, binge-watching travel videos, and grilling AI for your Italy travel plans. Now your browser’s swamped with 25 open tabs, a vague sketch of a plan…The spark that started this journey? Fading.
Instead, imagine this:
Wandering medieval hilltop villages at sunrise. Delighting in a community festival where neighbors savor home-cooked dishes, swirl local wine, and dance to folk music. Cycling through vineyard-draped valleys. All at your own pace, with clarity and confidence.
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Erica is detail oriented, super helpful and diligent. She took the time to get to know us and created our dream vacation. Couldn’t be happier!
Matt & Liz, Washington
Why Slow Travel Matters & What RLTI Offers
Slow travel isn’t just a pace - it’s a way of experiencing Italy with awareness, curiosity, and respect for the people and places that make your journey possible. Roads Less Traveled Italy supports your travels through two complementary paths: learning and planning.
Education that empowers your travels - through classes and one‑on‑one consultations that help you understand how to travel independently throughout Italy with confidence, while making choices that align with your values.
Customized trip planning - shaped by real conversations, not algorithms, and designed to help you explore Italy’s lesser‑known towns, regions, and landscapes at a pace that feels right for you.
Independent, flat-fee planning - ensuring every recommendation reflects your needs rather than partnerships or kickbacks.
A commitment to affordability - because thoughtful, meaningful travel should be accessible, not exclusive.
An alternative to mass-market tourism - choosing experiences that honor local culture, avoid over‑touristed hotspots, and create space for genuine connection.
Support for community tourism - with 15% of all trip‑planning fees donated to Planeterra, helping to support community-based tourism throughout the world.
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Erica was so responsive and helpful, and everything worked out perfectly. We loved the recommendations of places to stay and the suggested restaurants…attention to detail was so appreciated.
Tracey, New Hampshire
Values Aligned Travel Guidance
RLTI offers an independent, education‑driven approach to help travelers explore Italy with intention, depth, and respect for the places they visit.
Italy Travel Classes — Coming in 2027
New online classes designed to help you explore Italy more deeply and plan trips that reflect your interests and values. More details coming soon.
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Ready to Plan Your Trip?
As an independent Italy trip planner, I focus on creating itineraries that reflect your interests, values, and pace — without commissions or sales‑driven partnerships.
Tell me a bit about what you want out of your trip, and I’ll take it from there.
About Erica
For more than thirty years, I worked as a teacher and school counselor, helping teenagers build self-awareness, resilience, and a deeper understanding of the world around them. That same approach now shapes my work with Roads Less Traveled Italy. I help travelers make sense of how Italy works - its rhythms, its regional differences, its lesser‑known towns and landscapes, so they can move through the country with ease and respect for the communities they visit. All of this with an eye towards creating a meaningful, sustainable travel experience.
My focus is on Italy’s quieter, less‑traveled places, where local life is still lived rather than performed. Through classes, consultations, and trip‑planning support, I offer guidance that helps travelers choose experiences that reflect what matters most to them.
Erica’s service is well worth the reasonable charges and she went above and beyond expectations.
Annette & Family, Bellingham