For this “Inspiration” post we’re trying something new. We’ll start by telling the story of this trip (and the planning process that created it!) in the customers’ own words. Then, we’ll add some behind-the-scenes commentary from the Set Forth side. Hopefully, the result will be a holistic picture of what planning a Set Forth Adventure is like!

The Clients’ Perspective
Planning with Set Forth is a 5 star experience. Nate is professional, friendly, knowledgeable, prompt, and extremely collaborative. He listened to our interests and goals and made many excellent suggestions, a great deal of which we followed, to our benefit.

Nate put together a 2-week trip in April from Salt Lake City through the 5 National Parks in Utah, a stop at the Hoover Dam, a few days at the Grand Canyon, and a departure from Las Vegas. The itinerary included well-curated and described suggestions for just-the-right-amount of challenge day hikes in Arches, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon, as well as, bike rentals for explorations in Zion and along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. There was good variety in the accommodations he found for us, all of-which met our “creature comforts” criterion. Nate’s knowledge of, and experiences in, the region were tremendously on-point and helpful.

Working with Set Forth helped us narrow our options for routes of travel, places to stay, and things to do, which would have otherwise been overwhelming. Nate’s collaborative approach, willingness to take no for an answer, and ability to collect relevant information gave us confidence. The final itinerary he put together looked great and included daily alternatives (with links) in a very navigable manner. We kept the itinerary in the front of the car and referred to it quite often.

We would both unreservedly recommend Set Forth to anyone. Nate can plan respectfully and enthusiastically both for extreme outdoor adventurers and for those of us who have slowed down. He really listens to the interests and preferences of his clients, and makes an effort to learn what will best accommodate them. When we decide to craft another adventure, we will definitely turn to Set Forth for help!

The Set Forth Perspective
From the planning side of things, getting this trip right boiled down to two main things:

• Fitting everything the couple wanted to see into a two week period, without making the itinerary overly-crowded
• Really, carefully, listening to the couple, in order to understand the way in which they wanted to explore the beautiful places they’d visit

Of course it was important to also do all the other things right too — choosing great accommodations, developing well-thought-out logistics, etc. — but I was confident those would follow if we could get the meet the first two goals.

The next puzzle for us to solve together was activities. Figuring out the right way to fill each day of a trip is an important part of every Set Forth planning process, but for this trip the importance was elevated. The couple had differing opinions about hiking (one “huge fan of hiking” and one “willing to do some hiking”), but the trip was set to visit some of the world’s most-famous hiking destinations (let’s be honest, what else are you going to do in Arches National Park besides go for a hike?). So, I knew we had to get this part right.

To make it happen, I spent time combing through hiking guides for each destination they’d visit, and pulling out appropriate options for us to review collaboratively. Of course, they weren’t looking to fill two weeks exclusively with hiking, so I supplemented this work with some time finding non-hiking options (bike rentals, water-based activities, etc.).

In this case, I was pleased to suggest and eventually book a collection of hotels across Utah and Arizona that were each well-aligned with the clients’ goals. A trendy, boutique hotel on Main Street in Moab. A quiet, western lodge surrounded by red cliffs. A quaint B&B in a sleepy western town. In hindsight, the selection of accommodations we settled on together may be my favorite part of this trip!

With an itinerary developed, hikes selected, and accommodations booked, I was feeling confident that these clients were all set for a great trip. All that remained was packaging everything we’d discussed into a consolidated Trip Plan document for the adventurers to reference on-the-go, and of course sending a last-minute text to wish them safe travels and request they send pictures (they kindly obliged; their pictures fill this blog post!).