The things people hesitate over

Six to nine months for most journeys, and twelve for Kyoto in cherry blossom or Laikipia in August. That said, we hold a small amount of space at short notice and have put people on a plane in three weeks. It is always worth asking.

We take a planning fee once you ask us to start building in earnest, and it is credited against the journey if you travel. It exists because a proper itinerary takes about twenty-six hours of someone's time, and we would rather charge for that than rush it.

Every journey here is a starting point. Roughly four in five of the trips we run are altered — different dates, an extra week, a different pace, a wedding anniversary in the middle. Send us the one closest to what you want and say what is wrong with it.

That is a normal place to start. Use the planner to say what kind of trip you are after and we will come back with two or three suggestions rather than a brochure.

Because the same journey in May and in August are different products, and because a party of two and a party of six pay very different amounts per head. The from price is what the journey genuinely costs in its quietest sensible month, for two people sharing.

International flights, unless we are arranging them. Most lunches and dinners, except where a meal is part of an experience. Travel insurance, which we require you to hold. Each journey page lists its own exclusions in full.

A deposit to confirm, and the balance due sixty days before departure. Some camps and boats take non-refundable deposits at the point of booking, and we will always tell you which before you commit.

The advisor who planned the trip, and a local contact in each region. Both numbers are in your travel documents, and both are answered by a person who knows your itinerary.

In Lofoten we plan for it: every day has a written alternative. Elsewhere we keep a margin in the schedule so that one lost afternoon does not take the rest of the week with it. When something genuinely cannot be salvaged, we tell you early rather than hoping.

Some of them. Laikipia for Families is designed for it, and several of the Italian journeys work well from about eight. Ski touring and the altiplano traverse are not suitable for children. Ask and we will be straight with you.

Each journey states an effort level and a pace in plain words rather than boot symbols. Gentle means walking is optional. Moderate means several hours on your feet on some days. Active means consecutive hard days and we will ask about your experience before we confirm.

Because a house that sells forty countries knows forty countries the way a brochure does. We would rather plan a small number of places properly, and turn away the rest, than be mediocre everywhere.

No, and we are wary of anyone who claims to be. Long-haul flying is the largest part of the footprint of these trips and no offset makes that untrue. What we do instead is favour longer stays over short hops, work with conservancies and operators whose land use we can account for, and publish what we know rather than a badge.

Yes, on a referral basis, and we are happy to talk to travel advisors whose clients want one of these regions in depth.