New trips: Jane Austen's England and Portugal 2025

Hello Dear Lifetime Members:

I’m back in Asheville for a few days (figuring out how to get by without running water) before jumping on a plane to Peru for our 2nd Annual Inca Trail Hike. So excited to meet the bold group who will be with me on our trek to Machu Picchu.

Here’s what’s new on the schedule for 2025. (We are still adding more for fall of next year. Keep an eye out for the island of Hydra in Greece and other fab adventures coming soon.)

Jane Austen’s English Countryside

This trip is close to my heart. I came up with the idea last year after our Santa Fe trip. We spent a lot of time exploring Georgia O’Keeffe’s New Mexico on that trip, and I heard from so many travelers that they loved this deep dive into her life and legacy.

That got me thinking: What other women in history/culture do we admire? My thoughts went immediately to Jane Austen. All these many decades later, she is still an inspiration—her writing, her subversive wit, her observations about human nature still resonate today.

I’ve worked with an expert to come up with this itinerary—which includes a couple days at the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, celebrating our heroine’s 250th birthday. I hope you’ll join me channeling Elizabeth Bennet!

All the details here.

Can’t Get Enough of Portugal!

I was in Portugal for three weeks last month with two different NextTribe groups. Here’s what I learned:

• September is a great month to explore this fascinating country

• The experiences on this trip—tile making with wonderful sister artisans, cooking class with vibrant women instructors, grape harvest with the best view ever—are next level.

• The Quinta Nova vineyard, where we spend 3 nights, is about the most delicious place I’ve ever stayed.

• We needed one more day in Porto, so I added it!

With feedback from our 28 travelers over the two groups, we’ve tweaked this trip to make it near perfect, but it was damn close already:

“Thanks to Jeannie Ralston and company for crafting a journey full of surprises and off-the-beaten-path adventures. What a special place, and how fortunate I was to share it with my wild, hilarious, and brilliant NT sisters.”

—Laura Ross

All the details here.

The Roll Out

Of course, as Lifetime Members, you’re the first to know about these two trips. Next week, we’ll notify other members that the trip is available. Then we’ll start promoting it to the public. So if you’re interested, don’t hesitate.

Hugs and thanks to all of you—

Jeannie Ralston, Co-founder and CEO