Realizing Your International Travel Dreams —
Custom, Independent, International Travel from Home At First.
Your journey begins in the immense sky.
Over the vast ocean, you sleep
high above the storm.
Begin Your Dream Journey Here…
SIX STEPS TO MAKING YOUR Custom, INDEPENDENT, international Travel DREAMS COME TRUE —
1. DREAM
Do you dream of custom, independent, international travel?
• Maybe stories you have read or movies you have seen have inspired you.
• Or, maybe tracing family roots is your ambition.
• Or, maybe music, theater, or sports are your focused goals.
Whatever your reasons to travel overseas, your travel dreams can come true. This is where the travel experts at Home At First come in.
2. dESIGN
Tell us your travel dreams. We design a free trip proposal for you, with all the right flights, lodgings, & ground transport you need to turn your international travel dreams into realities, efficiently and economically. Only when you accept your personalized trip design is your deposit payment due. Once your deposit is received, we put in place all the arrangements to make your dream trip come to life.
3. dAYDREAM
Read & daydream about your trip! Before your trip begins you receive a comprehensive guidebook keyed for your destinations. Thirty days prior to your departure you receive all necessary trip documents (tickets, vouchers, passes) plus detailed arrival information, including your overseas addresses, contact information for your lodgings and your hosts, and specific meeting plans for arrival day.
4. dEPART
Departure Day. Check-in and Security and two hours of Waiting-to-Board (sorry). Then the big bird soars, and the wise flier snores. Too soon breakfast interrupts rudely, signifying the approaching landing. Terra Incognita appears out the cabin window. A new world appears as if out of your airplane slumber. Dreams begin to transform into first impressions, but not yet hardened enough to be considered realities.
5. dECOMPRESS
Arrival Day. In some prearranged way — train, bus, taxi, rental car — you find your foggy way to your first night’s lodging. Bed’s invitation wrestles with your curiosity to explore, and bed mostly wins, at least for a couple of hours. You wake in a new place where you barely remember arriving. Time seems as fuzzy as your mind is groggy. You are hungry. Your first meal will help reestablish order. Relaxation begins, and Peace happens.
6. dISCOVER
Your custom, independent, international travel dream begins. A new morning — the first day of your new life. Take a walk. Eat a fresh pastry with a reassuring coffee or a change-up tea. Watch & listen closely. Hear strange language: even English words now sound foreign. Observe all around you. Dare to speak, to order, to shop. Can you find your way home? Home. Your new home. Comfortable. Roomy. You’re Home At First.
FIND YOUR CUSTOM, INDEPENDENT, INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL DREAM DESTINATION HERE:
Home At First Destinations
Our World of Custom, Independent, International Travel
Featuring Quality Hosted Lodgings
Jump ahead to see our Current Travel Bargains.
Open to visitors. No Covid tests or locator form required.
SUPERBLY LOCATED CENTRAL LONDON APARTMENTS:
• Tower Bridge North
near historic Tower of London & Tower Hill tube.
• Tower Bridge South
in fashionable riverside Bermondsey.
• London Bridge North
near Monument tube station.
• London Bridge South
near London Bridge station.
Open to visitors. No Covid tests or locator form required.
COTTAGES IN FOUR
ENGLISH REGIONS
Heart of England
The West Country
Northwest England
North Yorkshire
& by SPECIAL REQUEST:
• Cambridge • Oxford
• Cheshire & Shropshire
• The Midlands
Central England
Open to visitors. No Covid tests or locator form required.
LODGINGS IN THREE SCOTTISH REGIONS:
Scotland’s Heartland
Scotland’s Historic Capital
The Northern Highlands
& by SPECIAL REQUEST:
• Glasgow
• The Borders
• Isle of Skye
• Mull & Iona
• Outer Hebrides
• Orkney & Shetland
Open to visitors. No Covid tests or locator form required.
COTTAGES IN TWO
NATIONAL PARK REGIONS OF WALES
Brecon Beacons Nat’l. Park
Snowdonia Nat’l. Park
& by SPECIAL REQUEST:
• Southwest Wales
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Ireland & No. Ireland open to visitors without Covid restrictions.
COTTAGES & APARTMENTS IN FIVE IRISH REGIONS:
Tipperary & Clare
Cork & Kerry
Donegal & Sligo
Antrim & Londonderry
Dublin
Open to vaccinated North Americans without Covid restrictions.
LEFT & RIGHT BANK
PARIS APARTMENT LOCATIONS:
Central Paris
Apartments
in safe, attractive, desirable neighborhoods near attractions, the Métro, restaurants, and services:
Arrondissements 1-8, 11, & 18.
& by SPECIAL REQUEST:
• Provence
• Normandy
• Alsace
Open to all visitors. No Covid testing or other restrictions.
APTS. & CHALETS ACROSS THE SWISS ALPS:
Locarno & its neighbors
The Matterhorn & Zermatt
& by SPECIAL REQUEST:
• Eastern Switzerland:
Pontresina, the Bernina Alps, & the Upper Engadine
Open to all visitors. No Covid testing or other restrictions.
CIRCLING ICELAND:
THE RING ROAD TRIP
Boutique Hotels, Inns,
& Apartments around
Iceland’s Ring Road
including Reykjavik,
volcanoes & glaciers.
Independent discovery set itineraries of 3, 7, & 10 day lengths, or custom-made for your budget, interests, and time constraints.
Iceland is combinable with most European destinations.
Open to vaccinated Americans & Canadians. No testing or restrictions.
LODGINGS IN THREE DANISH REGIONS:
• Zealand: Copenhagen & Roskilde
• Odense & Funen
• Aarhus, Aalborg, & Jutland
Classic lodging locations in Copenhagen & Roskilde. Special request locations throughout Denmark.
Open to vaccinated Americans & Canadians. No testing or restrictions.
OSLO, BERGEN, &
THE FJORDS
Plus Stavanger, Kristiansand, Lillehammer, Ålesund, Trondheim, Lofoten, & Tromsø
Lodgings at 8 classic & 5 special request Norwegian locations including the World Heritage Site fjords.
Open to vaccinated Americans & Canadians. No testing or restrictions.
LODGINGS IN FIVE CLASSIC REGIONS:
• Stockholm
• Uppsala
• Gothenburg
• Lakeland
• West Coast
Boutique Hotels, Inns, & Apartments at 5 classic & 4 special request locations across Sweden.
Open to vaccinated visitors. Pre-entry test, 2 on-site tests, & visitor locator form required.
NORTH & SOUTH ISLANDS — A ROAD TRIP OF DISCOVERY:
Individually planned itineraries using boutique lodgings with outstanding hosting in:
• 7 North Island regions
• 7 South Island regions
Vaccinated US, UK, & Canadian visitors welcome with pre-arrival test & form.
BETWEEN BRITAIN &
THE CARIBBEAN:
Bermuda offers much
more than its famed pink sand beaches. We offer cottages & inns across the island.
OPEN to vaccinated Americans & Canadians: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden Switzerland, & the UK.
COUNTRIES WE CUSTOM-PLAN DREAM TRIPS TO:
• Britain • Ireland
• Finland • Iceland
• Germany • Holland
• Greece • Italy
• Portugal • Spain
• France • Switzerland
• Denmark • Norway • Sweden
A Letter from Home…
Spring, 2022. Spring reminds us of the fleeting essence of time. Spring inspires new life, graduations, weddings – and travel. For travelers, spring is a time of urgency: the time to convert winter’s travel dreams into firm plans, lest another season of opportunities passes. But, given the world’s worrisome realities, should we dare to travel?
The Risks of Covid: We encourage you not to postpone realizing your travel dreams again. Covid has already stolen two years of international travel opportunities. We can expect future waves of Covid to flow and ebb again. Scientists have found ways to protect us from its worst ravages. If we stay vaccinated and take reasonable care, we can travel internationally with minimum Covid risk, just as we do at home.
The Risks of Waiting: Next year, or the year after, will you still be this young? Will you always be as healthy and fit as you are now? Will your kids or grandchildren still be interested in traveling with you? Will airfares and other travel costs be lower next year?
The Risks of War in the Ukraine: Freedom to travel across borders is a right of free expression always under threat by autocratic governments. Now Russia’s Putin is trying to reverse history. But there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle, unless the genie goes back voluntarily. And that’s where travel comes in. If we all stay home, globalism stops, unity with other democratic nations disintegrates, and autocracies become empowered to expand. We will not cower from dictators and trade our freedom for fear.
The Risks of Doing Nothing: Hiding from these threats, ironically, only increases their risk. By choosing to live, and to let live, and to care for one another and our environment, we have the best chances for prolonging human history, and, indeed, life on earth. Empathy springs from our getting to know each other. International commerce and cooperation help this process along. Importantly, so does international travel. Even the “bucket list” kind that individuals pursue.
Are you with us? When you want to travel — and following two years of pandemic that time may be 2022 — remember, Home At First is ever ready to make your travel dreams come true.
— Ron Fahnestock, Editor
Sign up for Travel Bargain Alerts!
We’ll send you breaking news of special bargains for international travel to your favorite Home At First destinations — like the ones in the right-hand column. Notices come as we discover them — approximately monthly — and typically offer savings of 17-30% off full-packages with flights, lodgings, & land transportation.
FIND OUR BEST VALUES HERE:
Current Travel Bargains
4 OUTSTANDING DEALS
& SPECIAL OFFERS
SUMMER/FALL SALE!
TRAVEL 26AUG22 – 05NOV22
7-Day Independent Fly/Drive Package:
Pre-Set Itinerary around Iceland with
R/T Flights + Rental Car + Lodgings:
Inns & Hotels in 4-5 Locations
EXTENDED OFFER!
BOOK BY JUNE 6, 2022
• Daily Departures 26AUG22 – 28OCT22
$AVE UP TO 19% – $508/person!
$2,192
PER PERSON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
SUMMER & FALL IN BRITAIN!
EXTENDED OFFER!
BOOK BY MAY 31, 2022
TRAVEL 26AUG22 – 05NOV22
• Depart Fridays 26AUG22 – 28OCT22
7-Day Full-Package includes:
• Independent Travel with R/T Flights
• Apartment or Cottage Lodgings
• Car Rental or London Pass
CHOOSE FROM 3 DESTINATIONS IN:
$1,791
1 WEEK FULL PACKAGE PER PERSON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
$AVE UP TO 32% – $840/person!
CHOOSE FROM 8 DESTINATIONS IN:
$1,997
1 WEEK FULL PACKAGE PER PERSON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
$AVE UP TO 23% – $603/person!
Add an extra week for $690 to $1197
PER PERSON, DEPENDING UPON DESTINATION & SEASONALITY
SUMMER/FALL in BRITAIN: DETAILS
SUMMER/FALL in ITALY!
CHOOSE FROM 3
SPECTACULAR DESTINATIONS:
or (new!)
TRAVEL 26AUG22 – 05NOV22
7-Day Full-Package includes:
Independent Travel with R/T Flights
+ Transfers + Apartment Lodgings
EXTENDED OFFER!
BOOK BY MAY 31, 2022
• Depart Fridays 26AUG22 – 28OCT22
$AVE UP TO 25% – $631/person!
$1,891
PER PERSON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
SUMMER/AUTUMN in ITALY: DETAILS
LATE-SUMMER/FALL IN
CHOOSE FROM THESE 3
SPECTACULAR SWISS DESTINATIONS:
KANDERSTEG,
LOCARNO, or MÜRREN
TRAVEL 26AUG22 – 05NOV22
7-Day Full-Package includes:
Independent Travel with R/T Flights
+ TransPasses + Apartment Lodgings
OFFER JUST EXTENDED!
BOOK BY MAY 31, 2022
• Depart Fridays 26AUG22 – 28OCT22
$AVE UP TO 19.2% – $506/person!
$2,125
PER PERSON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
HOW TO BUILD, PRICE, & BOOK YOUR CUSTOM, INDEPENDENT, INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL —
Contact HOME AT FIRST: (800) 523-5842 (toll-free USA & Canada) • +1 610 543 4348 (worldwide) • info@homeatfirst.com