Set Forth’s second year was one for the books! We planned over a dozen trips, for all kinds of adventurers. Read on to learn more about some of our favorite overseas trips from 2025 — we’ll highlight some domestic standouts in another post soon!

Adventure Abroad #1: Charging Through the Carnic Alps

In late spring, three former college classmates reached out to Set Forth in advance of a quickly-approaching summer trip to Italy. They wanted to do some hut-to-hut hiking as a part of the trip, but were nearly positive they had waited too long to get things reserved, and would be unable to find accommodations that weren’t already at capacity. After a full-group conversation to make sure we had a good grasp of what they were looking for, Set Forth got to work.

Happily, by focusing in on a less-well-known hiking route (the Carnic High Route, along the Italian-Austrian border), we were able to find some fantastic alpine huts with a bit of space left available! After checking in with the clients and agreeing that this route would be a good fit, Set Forth got to work booking each hut along the way and carefully compiling downloadable GPS routes for them to follow each day. At the same time, we worked with each of the three clients separately to build out individual arrival and departure plans that would a) get the whole group on the same timeline and b) get each individual to/from the trip in a way that worked with their own, specific scheduling and logistical constraints.

The end result was nothing short of fantastic! The pre-trip transportation all went off without a hitch and, after two nights in the quaint northern-Italian town of Brixen, the crew dove in to a fantastic week on the trail, punctuated by dramatic vistas, lush green meadows, and plenty of post-hike beers at each refugio they visited. Our takeaway from their trip? It’s never too late to plan the trip you’re dreaming of — you just have to start!

Adventure Abroad #2: Cycling Italy’s Apennines

In college, I (Nate) worked for an outdoor travel company, Overland Summers, leading cycling trips for middle and high school students. The key to those amazing summers was world-class pre-planning, executed over the course of the school year by Overland’s team of highly-qualified, full-time staff. So, this spring, when one of those very-same, professional-level Trip Planners, Emily, reached out to Set Forth for help planning a bike trip in Italy, I knew I needed to bring my A+ logistical game!

Emily and her partner Pier had an intricate vision in mind: they were hoping to meet up at the end of Pier’s work trip in Slovenia, cross the Adriatic Sea, acquire rental bikes, and then use those bikes to explore the central Apennines while simultaneously following the Giro d’Italia (Italy’s version of the Tour de France) around the region to spectate — all without a rental car! There was a lot to juggle and, at first, we weren’t sure if it would even be possible to put together an itinerary that did it all without bending the rules of time/space.

I shouldn’t have been so nervous! To be fair, planning Emily and Pier’s trip did take a bit more back-and-forth than some Set Forth Adventures. Regardless, the end result was truly awesome: a precisely laid out, week-long itinerary that ticked all of the boxes they were focused on. Along the way, they enjoyed riding pristine alpine roads, soaked up the excitement of Italy’s largest bike race, and reveled in the joy that comes with exploring a new area on two wheels. In hindsight, their trip is proof that logistical barriers should never stand in the way of an adventure — sometimes you just need a little collaboration (or a lot!) to get past those barriers.

Adventure Abroad #3: The Best of the French Alps

This year, Set Forth had the privilege of working with a number of folks to put together outdoor adventures in the week leading up to a large, Italian wedding weekend celebrating Set Forth’s first two customers, Alex and Sara. This batch of work included helping Michael and Kathy plan a week soaking up Europe’s alpine culture. Among the wedding guests who chose to work with Set Forth, Michael and Kathy’s trip stood out for just how many unique activities and sublime experiences they managed to pack into their pre-wedding travels.

They hiked to a remote waterfall. They enjoyed one-night overnights to two different alpine huts. They rented top-of-the-line e-bikes to enjoy world-class road riding in the Alps. They shared numerous high-quality meals, soaking in France’s unparalleled food culture.

Reflecting on Michael and Kathy’s trip to the Alps, we’re particularly struck by how much of their trip’s success came from the nature of the two mountain towns they chose to spend time in (the ski destination of Megève and the quieter hamlet of Beaufort), and from the collaborative process we put in place to help them select those towns. In the early days of our work with Michael and Kathy, Set Forth devoted significant time to researching a half-dozen towns in the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps that might have been a good fit for the couple. We prepared extensive profiles of each town that included sample hikes, potential accommodations, and our holistic perspective on why each one might be a good option.

From this strong starting point, we supported Michael and Kathy as they learned more about each option, asked follow-up questions, and eventually settled on two towns that fully delivered the French Alps adventure they were dreaming of. The takeaway? Even the most experienced travelers can take their adventures to the next level by collaborating with Set Forth.