Sally de Jong
My expertise
I'm based in
Long Melford
It's Nice To Meet You
From Antigua to Zanzibar, the world is your oyster – and with my help, you can find your pearl.
Hi, I’m Sally, an independent travel consultant based in Suffolk with over 30 years of experience in travel, and a Travel Counsellor since March 2002.
My main areas of expertise include luxury holidays in South Africa, South America, Australia & New Zealand, the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and Italy, as well as cruises, city breaks & honeymoons. I also love getting stuck into complex multi-centre itineraries. I have first-hand experience of getting married overseas: I tied the knot in the Seychelles (albeit a million years ago in 1987!), a destination which holds a very special place in my heart and one I’ve visited six times. My other main happy places are Antigua (10 visits), and Italy, and I have a good understanding of Italian.
You may wonder why you should choose to book with me rather than online. Well, that’s a no-brainer!:
• I check holidays every day and, once I understand your preferences, I can quickly identify the best options for you. Whilst online deals may seem tempting, computers can only respond to your own input; they cannot offer the personalised recommendations, guidance, care & service that I provide - I bring a human touch to your booking experience, something increasingly rare in today’s automated world.
• I do all the hard graft, handling all the research, planning & arrangements for every element of your trip, thus saving you time & effort and avoiding the hassle & anxiety that often come with a DIY approach or dealing with a “production line” shop or call centre environment. From your initial enquiry to your return home I manage every detail with care & attention, no matter how simple or complex your itinerary or query.
• I am well-travelled, having visited over 50 countries, and offer patient, professional & impartial advice, often drawn from my own experiences and always sprinkled with a friendly dose of sense of humour. Working from home, I am supported by nearly 2,000 colleagues worldwide via internal channels, which means I can tap into extra advice, tips & recommendations when needed.
• As an independent Travel Counsellor, I’m not tied or biased towards specific tour operators, inhouse brands or incentives like some high-street or online agencies. I search widely to find or tailor-make holidays to suit your needs and budget, prioritising what’s right for you rather than what’s easiest or most profitable for me. I can also add special touches to make your trip truly unique, and my focus is always on delivering the best overall value for your investment, not just the lowest price - remember that you cannot expect the cheapest to be best.
• You always deal directly with me, or when I’m away myself a trusted, like-minded colleague will look after you. You can expect prompt, personal responses without lengthy waits on hold to a call centre reintroducing yourself each time or waiting days for an email reply.
• All bookings made with me are fully financially protected and come with full service and care throughout. If the unexpected happens (war, pandemics, airline strikes, cancellations, natural disasters etc etc) help is just a call away. Our 24-hour emergency Duty Office is also available while you are away, so you are never left to sort things out alone. You can therefore relax knowing that you are in safe hands and all you need worry about is enjoying your holiday and making those special memories.
• My business & reputation are built on delivering the highest possible level of service. I look after clients throughout the UK, Europe & beyond, so wherever you are based, and whether you fancy a short UK break, a world cruise, or anything in between, don’t drown in information and starve yourself of wisdom. Let me help you discover your perfect travel experience and give you the guidance and support you need to relax and enjoy your journey.
I will go the extra mile, so that you can too.
Travel guides
Explore my guides and blogs
First time in Helsinki and Bruce Springsteen AGAIN
Another city, another concert. First time to Finland so I was very much looking forward to ticking another country off the list, but more so I was very much looking forward to seeing Bruce Springsteen in concert again! My husband, TC Ted and I flew Finnair from Heathrow on Wednesday 10th July and landed just as England were about to kick off against the Netherlands in the Euros semi final. We go
18 Jul 2024 5 min read
ROME AND “THE ITALIAN BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN” - LUCIANO LIGABUE
During the pandemic my husband and I spent a lot of time listening to music. We discovered that there’s a whole world of pleasure outside of UK and US musicians and Italian music became a regular and favourite feature. When we were in Rome last October (sorry never got round to writing the blog for that trip, but it was fabulous albeit very crowded – everyone seemed to be in Rome enjoying a pos
11 Nov 2023 5 min read
Bruce Springsteen (The Boss) in Amsterdam
With the recent arrival of a new great nephew in Holland, we found ourselves having to travel to Amsterdam to pay a visit. Now, many of you know that me and kids don’t mix too well (!) so we had to find something else to make the trip worthwhile. What could we do? Oh, Bruce Springsteen is playing in Amsterdam at the end of May – Sorted! So off we went. We stayed at the Sheraton at Schipol A
11 Nov 2023 5 min read
Antigu-again!
Just had to go back to one of our favourite happy places! After the snow in Oslo in March, some warm sun was very much needed, and boy it was hot! Temperatures in Antigua are usually pretty similar throughout the year, hovering constantly around 30 degrees in the day and 24 degrees at night, but we arrived in the middle of a “heatwave” – a good 3 or 4 degrees higher than normal, and all the lo
11 Nov 2023 5 min read
Post-Covid Antiguaaaaah
A belated report on our trip to Antigua in May 2022… Following our first post-covid trip in January to the Seychelles, we treated ourselves again and revisited another of our favourite places, Antigua, in May. This time there were no forms to fill out, no covid tests, and travelling was almost normal! Not much to report other than it was as fabulous as ever! We split our stay this time – I h
21 Apr 2023 5 min read
The one and only Andrea Bocelli in Oslo
A bit of a bucket list trip for me at the end of March. I’ve been to Oslo twice before and loved it but when we saw that Andrea Bocelli was playing in Oslo, it was a no brainer to return. My taste in music is quite varied and I love rock music, country rock and reggae mostly (Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, Tom Petty, the Eagles, Bob Marley etc etc), but opera is one of my guilty pleasures and over
15 Apr 2023 5 min read
Post-Covid Paradise!
Of course we just HAD to go back to the Seychelles for our first holiday in over two years due to covid! Our first visit to Hilton Northolme and this is now our favourite hotel on Mahe Island. Initial impressions were not great, but we’d arrived at 8am, we’d had a 6 hour connection in Dubai and our room was understandably not ready yet, so we were tired and frazzled. We used the day room and went
23 Apr 2022 5 min read
Chicago and the Legend that is Bob Seger!
We arrived home from the Seychelles on 3rd October and just 2 weeks later we headed off to Chicago for our first ever visit there. Normally I wouldn’t arrange two trips so close together, but I was determined to see Bob Seger in concert one last time on his final tour, having loved his music pretty much all my life, so Chicago on 19th October it had to be! I was trying to keep my excitement to a m
25 Oct 2019 5 min read
MORE Sun, Sand & Sea Shells in the Seychelles
We had a great trip to the Seychelles last year (see my previous blog from Oct 2018) and decided to treat ourselves by repeating the experience in September 2019 – with a few little differences! This year we flew on the British Airways direct service from Heathrow and spent 3 nights at the Banyan Tree followed by 8 nights at the H Resort, both on the main island of Mahe. We had never visited the
12 Oct 2019 5 min read
Happy Birthday in Oslo
My second short trip of the year, this time back to Oslo. I loved it in the dark and snow when we tagged on 2 nights at the end of our Norwegian coastal voyage in February 2017 and wanted to see it in the Summer! We stayed at the same hotel as before, the Hotel Continental, which I 100% recommend – its location, service, staff and cleanliness are all simply the best. I even managed to get us the
26 Jul 2019 5 min read
Charming Cinque Terre
I’ve just got back from a short break to the beautiful Liguria region of Italy, the main reason for our visit being to see the Cinque Terre (or “5 villages” of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corneglia, Vernazza & Monterosso) which cling, seemingly precariously, to the rocky coastline - and hopefully do some walking. We based ourselves in the picturesque small town of Portovenere to the south, which was de
10 May 2019 5 min read
Sun, Sand & Sea Shells in the Seychelles
I consider myself very lucky – very lucky indeed. I first visited the Seychelles in 1987 to get married, returned for our fifth wedding anniversary in 1992, and we decided it was the ideal place to celebrate the Millennium. And, now, nearly 19 years later we felt a fourth visit was long overdue. So off we set again to paradise - from Heathrow on 26th September, flying Etihad Airways via Abu Dha
09 Oct 2018 5 min read
My Ireland in the Sun!
We thought we would have a short break with a difference (not Italy or France) in July so we headed off to Ireland for four nights, the main intention being to join an afternoon Father Ted tour, having enjoyed the (sometimes controversial but hilarious) 20-year-old comedy series when it was originally aired and all the recent reruns on TV. The series is not in fact set on Craggy Island (which is f
13 Jul 2018 5 min read
Good Food and Football!
Another short trip to Italy, this time Turin. Somewhere I have never really thought of visiting, but as a football fan I couldn’t pass on the chance to go to the last game of the 2017-2018 Serie A season Juventus versus Hellas Verona. Juventus had already won the championship (for the 7th year in a row) and Verona had already been relegated, so there was nothing riding on the game, but it was the
05 Jun 2018 5 min read
Positano
Having really enjoyed our trip to Ravello in early July, we thought we’d grab a bit of late summer sunshine and do a twin centre three months apart – so in early October we headed back to Italy, for a 5 night break to Positano, just a few miles from Ravello on the beautiful Amalfi coast. We had visited Positano for an afternoon a few years ago on a cruise, and it was stunning. Being November, thou
31 Oct 2017 5 min read
Relaxation in Ravello
5 nights in beautiful Ravello in early July with the temperatures soaring into the mid-high 30s – my idea of heaven. We left a sunny and warm Stansted (always nicer to have that smug feeling when it’s raining and cold when you leave the UK though don’t you think?!) and flew with easyJet to Naples. Our driver quickly got us through the crazy Neapolitan traffic onto the motorway and on our way so
15 Jul 2017 5 min read
Captivating Carcassonne
On my husband’s 60th birthday in January I bought him a short break to Carcassonne in early May – rather than spending his actual birthday in Carcassonne this would give a bit of space after our Norway trip (see my previous blog) and ensure that the weather would be more reasonable – and being a very generous wife I booked the trip for both of us! Freddie is very interested in the history of the C
12 May 2017 5 min read
The Magical Northern Lights!
For someone who enjoys warm climates, going to Norway in January was a bit of a strange decision to say the least, but it was a bucket list trip for my husband’s 60th birthday, and it ended up as one of the best holidays I’ve ever been on! We flew to Bergen, weighed down with 2 suitcases each (we needed to be fully prepared for the cold!) and stayed for 2 nights at the Clarion Collection Havnek
16 Feb 2017 5 min read
Toulouse - Le Trek
Just a short trip to Toulouse to meet up with our Aussie friends Chris and Aileen who were over in Europe to spend time at their sister’s house in France. Destination Monesties in the beautiful Tarn departement of France. A short flight to Toulouse, then we picked up a hire car to drive to Monesties in the stunning rustic French countryside. We didn’t do an awful lot apart from swim, eat,
14 Jul 2016 5 min read
Sun, Fun, and Formula One
This holiday was almost over before it started – leaving home at 08.30am for a flight departure at 1.30pm for a journey that normally takes two hours is fine wouldn’t you say? We normally book a hotel at the airport the night before for earlier flights, but thought we would be ok this time, but the motorway was very bad! We arrived at the bag drop five minutes before it closed, managed to get take
08 Jun 2016 5 min read
Like Florence? - Try Bologna!
A little Spring break early April to Bologna and a dilemma about what clothes to take, would the weather be kind? It’s always difficult to pack when the temperature is in single figures over here. We needn’t have worried - Bologna was beautifully sunny and hovering in the low to mid 20s centigrade – Tick! We had booked a very grand hotel, the Grand Hotel Majestic Gia Baglioni – would we fe
20 Apr 2016 5 min read
La Bella Sicilia
As part of my goal to visit Italy every year, and as a huge fan of the Inspector Montalbano TV series (if you’ve not seen it look out for it!) which is set in Sicily, I was really looking forward to this holiday and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We started off flying to Catania and hiring a car, driving down to Modica in the south east of Sicily for our first 4 nights. In Modica we had a pr
19 Nov 2015 5 min read
Kangaroos and Wine
I went to Australia for the fourth time in February. Some might say it’s a long way to go for just two weeks, but it really didn’t feel like it. We were lucky enough to fly Emirates business class – my first time on the Airbus A380. I was a little concerned that this huge plane would mean long queues for boarding, but it was actually a great experience – we boarded the plane’s upper deck strai
20 May 2015 5 min read
A Week in Provence
Having visited Nice, Cannes and the general Provence area a few times in the past we decided to return to coincide with another Star Clippers mini cruise in September. We started off with 2 nights at La Bastide Saint Antoine just outside Grasse, a beautiful small hotel that I last visited for dinner on my 40th birthday. Not much had changed, still as beautiful as ever, and this time we enjoyed se
25 Nov 2014 5 min read
Romeo, Romeo
Never having been a huge fan of Shakespeare (at school I could never understand how literature crammed with what appear to be grammatical and spelling errors could be of use to a 16 year olds English studies), I must admit I had a few mixed feelings before our latest trip to Italy, to the city that has become almost synonymous with the Bard – Verona. However, I needn’t have worried! Arriving at
15 Aug 2014 5 min read
Venice and the Royal Clipper
This was my first trip to Venice, and loving all things Italian I was very much looking forward to it. After arriving in Venice at 8.30pm a speedy water taxi took us to the beautiful Londra Palace Hotel where we stayed for 2 nights. It is a short walking distance to St Mark’s Square, so very convenient, but the (only) downside is that the area is very touristy with souvenir stalls and hawkers o
11 Sept 2013 5 min read
Antigu-aaaaaaaah
I have just returned from my fifth visit to Galley Bay Antigua, my all-time favourite beach hotel. If you don’t know Galley Bay and fancy a relaxing upmarket but casual all-inclusive holiday I would highly recommend you take a look. It's the staff, the beach, the unique pool and restaurants, and the relaxing ambience that makes this hotel really special. The rooms have everything you need, incl
19 Jun 2013 5 min read
Italy - Fantastico
I have just returned from a fabulous “fam” (= familiarisation = work!) trip to Italy. Here’s my diary: Day 1: On arrival in Rome we transferred to Hotel d’Inghilterra, a lovely characterful 88 room hotel in superb central location. We took a short walk to Villa Spalletti Trivelli for a site inspection and lunch - a beautiful old residence, which is now a 12 room hotel; a home from home and a
12 May 2012 5 min read
Silver Experience with Silversea Cruises
Having travelled with Silversea last year where we had such an amazing time, I had high expectations with this trip. We got off to a brilliant start, with 5 nights at the very impressive One and Only hotel in Cape Town where we did little more than laze by the stunning pool and eat and drink at the V&A Waterfront area (oh and a lengthy tour and wine tasting at de Grendel Winery which produces ver
23 Apr 2012 5 min read
Jersey - so near yet so far
Jersey – one of the Channel Islands and a little gem right on your doorstep. Just a short hop by plane, you feel that you have gone much further afield when you arrive and are greeted by palm trees. Some people may not consider the idea of holidaying so close to home, but if you are one of those do have a rethink. We went to Jersey for four nights early October 2011. It was not the warmest time
05 Dec 2011 5 min read
Pure gold experience with Silversea Cruises
After a lovely week in the suburbs of Sydney staying with some friends who have emigrated down under, we joined the Silversea Silver Shadow for a magnificent and memorable cruise. Starting off in Sydney and ending up in Singapore, we called in along the way at Brisbane, Hamilton Island, Cairns, Thursday Island, Kupang, Komodo Island, and Bali, which made for a very interesting and varied it
24 Apr 2011 5 min read
Northern Cyprus - a beautiful secret revealed
Like many people, I had never really considered visiting Northern Cyprus, but when I was invited to take part in an educational trip there I jumped at the chance to learn more, and I am now eager to return. We stayed at the 5 star Mercure Hotel & Wellness in Kyrenia on the northern coast for 4 nights – it has one of the best swimming pools I’ve come across and it was such a shame we didn’t have
11 Nov 2010 5 min read
Alaska
To celebrate my 50th birthday I went to Alaska in July 2010 with my husband and two friends - 2 nights LA, 2 nights Vancouver, 2 nights Anchorage, then a 7 night cruise back to Vancouver on board the wonderful Regent Seven Seas Navigator. We started off in LA, staying in Beverly Hills at the very nice Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire hoping to spot some celebrities (we had two definite sightings!)
04 Oct 2010 5 min read
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Your holiday isn’t just a trip away. It’s a longed-for escape, time to reconnect with loved ones, or a dream adventure you never thought possible. That’s why I take the time to truly get to know you and understand your hopes and expectations, then use my experience, connections and passion for the destination to create a trip that makes those dreams a reality.
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When you plan a holiday with me, you’ll be given my personal mobile number from the very first call. I’ll listen to your thoughts and ideas like I would a friend and arrange accommodation, activities, and flights that are all personalised to you. And I’ll share my personal tips and recommendations, so you can experience the true beauty of each destination.
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I believe your time away should be stress-free, easy, and seamless from start to finish. So, I take care of all the details for you - from ATOL protection, insurance, and flexible payments to access to the myTC app, which keeps everything in one place.
Support when it matters most
If the unexpected happens, you can rest easy, knowing that I’ll handle any last-minute changes, flight cancellations, or disruptions before you even pick up the phone. So you always feel happy, carefree, and ready to make the most of every moment.
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