Meet Susi

Three years of Pastures New Travel and a river cruise I had to do twice

In March 2026, I stepped aboard VIVA ENJOY for my very first river cruise. By May, I was back on the same ship with Darrell. Different river this time, but I’d enjoyed myself so much on the Rhine that I wanted him to come on the Danube and see what I’d been going on about. Thankfully, he loved it too. That’s rather handy, because I’ve got quite a few more rivers in mind!

Three years earlier, I’d never been on a cruise of any kind, let alone imagined I’d one day be taking a group of 16 on one. So, for my first blog, I thought I’d tell you how that happened.

How Pastures New Travel began

I’ve been a massage therapist for ten years. Three years ago, after two years of struggling with tendonitis, I knew something had to change. When the opportunity to become an independent travel advisor came along, it gave me the chance to do something I loved and put my 30 years of admin experience to good use. I’m organised, I’m methodical, and I’m quite happy working out how to get you from A to B, even when you’d quite like to fit C and D in as well.

I started Pastures New Travel in October 2023. Building a business from scratch was tough. One of the loveliest things in those early days was when someone who’d booked a holiday with me came back to plan their next one. Then a friend of theirs would get in touch. I knew how much a holiday meant to the person booking it, so the fact they’d trusted me enough to pass my name on meant the world.

The ship that won me over

At first, I trained in just about every area of travel I could. I loved the variety and had no idea which bit would become my favourite. Then I discovered river cruising, and one course led to another because I genuinely wanted to know more.

I completed AmaWaterways’ AmaAcademy and was accepted onto CLIA’s River Cruise Champion course in November 2025. The following March, I headed to Amsterdam for CLIA’s RiverView conference, with an educational sailing on the Rhine aboard VIVA ENJOY beforehand. After all that training, I was finally going to find out what it felt like to be a guest. And really, if I was going to tell you how wonderful a river cruise was, I wanted to have been on one myself!

What won me over? I love visiting several places on one holiday. I’m rather less keen on getting everything back in the suitcase each time I move on. On a river cruise, your boutique hotel comes with you. On the Danube, Darrell and I could explore Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest, yet come back to our own cabin each time. Add in the lovely food and drink, the local entertainment and the sheer pleasure of watching the river go by, and you can probably see why I fell for it.

In June 2026, I qualified as a River Cruise Champion. I was proud of that, and even more pleased that I’d found the kind of travel I could happily talk about all day.

A soft spot for Lapland

River cruising is my baby, but mention Lapland and you’ll get me chatting too. I love that the same place one family dreams of for a visit to Father Christmas can be somewhere a couple chooses for their honeymoon. Imagine heading out together into the snow, hoping to catch the northern lights. It’s that side of Lapland I especially enjoy introducing people to.

One of the partners I keep coming back to, in Lapland and further afield, is Not in the Guidebooks. They’re a B Corp, and I care about the same things they do, particularly the people who live in the places we visit, the landscapes and the wildlife. That matters to me when I’m choosing whose trips to recommend.

Back to the Rhine, with company

Some of my clients have become good friends, and some of my good friends have become clients. Once someone tells me what they’re hoping for, getting that holiday right becomes a bit of a personal mission. Usually, I get to hear the stories when they come home. This December, I get to go too.

I’ll be hosting a group of 16 on the Rhine for the German Christmas markets. Many of my guests have booked with me before, and it’ll be the first river cruise for every one of them. Mine was only in March, so I remember exactly how it feels to be new to it all. I’ll be there for the practical bits, of course, but the bit I’m most looking forward to is wandering around a Christmas market together and hearing what everyone thinks of their first taste of life on the river.

I’d love to make this a yearly event. If you’ve ever fancied a river cruise and like the idea of having a familiar face on board, get in touch about coming along in 2027. There’s always room for another conversation about which river to try next.

Susi x

Pastures New Travel