Terms of Service

We plan trips and do the research behind them. We research against primary sources, and we don't invent or pad what goes in your dossier. We are not a booking platform and we are not an insurer. The information on this site is researched with the same care, but places change — the site is offered as-is, and nothing on it becomes a commitment until you sign an Agreement.

Doug Heatherly is an independent travel advisor of Fora Travel. Fora is registered with the State of Florida as a Seller of Travel Registration No. ST43973. California Seller of Travel Registration No. 2151995-50 · Washington UBI 605329242.

Planning is a flat fee, quoted after we understand the shape of your trip. Half is due when you sign your Agreement, and work begins once that deposit clears; the balance is due when the finished dossier is delivered, before final bookings are placed. Hotels, restaurants, and travel costs are always yours, billed directly by those providers — we don't hold funds for third-party bookings. Payments are handled through Stripe.

Where a hotel or supplier pays a commission for a booking made through our host agency, it comes from the supplier's side — it is never added to your bill.

When you sign your Agreement, you authorize us to contact hotels and restaurants on your behalf to make the reservations in your approved itinerary — and no hotel or restaurant is ever booked without your written approval of the recommendation.

• Cancel before work begins: your deposit is refunded, less an administrative fee set out in your Agreement.
• Cancel after work begins but before your dossier is delivered: the deposit is non-refundable, and no balance is owed.
• Cancel after your dossier is delivered: the full fee is owed and is non-refundable.

“Work begins” means the point at which we've completed hotel research or the first substantive milestone, whichever comes first. We may also end an engagement from our side where circumstances make delivery impossible — a medical emergency, force majeure, or material misrepresentation by you. Where we do, we refund the portion of the fee for work not yet done.

One round of substantive revisions is included in your fee, covering changes to hotel selection, restaurant choices, or day-trip logistics made before your final dossier is delivered. After delivery: a change to your travel dates may carry an amendment fee, as set out in your Agreement; a change of destination is treated as a new engagement at the full fee. A minor update — a single restaurant or hotel swap — is free if you ask within 30 days of delivery. We'll always tell you the fee before we start the work.

We're a planning and research service, and some things sit outside our control. We are not liable for hotel or restaurant closures, quality changes, or overbookings after your dossier is delivered; for flight delays, cancellations, or missed connections; for illness, injury, or loss of property during travel; for changes in local conditions, political events, natural disasters, or public health emergencies; or for the acts of third-party service providers — hotels, restaurants, tour operators, and transport services. We strongly recommend comprehensive travel insurance before you travel. Our total liability to you under our engagement will not exceed the total fee you have paid us.

We don't give visa, legal, medical, or insurance-suitability advice. Where you need it, we'll point you toward someone who does.

Neither of us is in breach if something outside reasonable control — a natural disaster, government action, a pandemic, or war — prevents performance. If that happens, we'll both act in good faith to reach a fair resolution.

We treat everything you share — dates, preferences, budget, who's traveling — as strictly confidential, and we share it only with the service providers named in our Privacy Policy and as needed to make the bookings you've approved. The personalized itinerary we deliver is yours to use for your own travel. The underlying research, frameworks, and city guides remain the property of Wonderlust Express.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Ohio.

Questions about these terms: doug@wonderlustexpress.com.