Ten Years of Adventure with Onward Travel

We are celebrating ten years of traversing the world together! Long before Molly and Kat launched this boutique travel company that just marked its tenth anniversary in March, they had been exploring the world on their own, inspired by their entrepreneurial mother and grandmother. They got bit by the travel bug at a young age and now have a successful business that is a leader in small group travel.

Travel on Repeat

In the past ten years, Onward Travel has led 100 tours, with an average of ten tours a year. We have worked with over 1,100 travelers over the years, with 45% of them becoming repeat travelers with our company. 

“It’s not uncommon to take a trip and have at least a couple of people in the group who have traveled with us before. That’s been a really interesting part of the business to watch grow over the years. I think people come back because we offer good value, and we really like our travelers! At the end of a week of traveling together, everyone feels like they have gained new friends, and we really do stay in touch,” said Molly.

Molly in Mexico 2024

Kat says she looks forward to seeing regular travelers on her trip rosters. “Personal relationships form on these trips, and these travelers really do become my friends! When people come on a trip and meet the Onward Travel hosts and other former travelers, it makes them feel more comfortable. It’s inevitable people will bond with each other over the course of a week or more, and they make real connections. Many friendships have been forged on our trips,” said Kat.

Kat in Iceland 2023

What Makes Onward Special?

Onward Travel distinguishes itself from other tour companies because we offer one-of-a-kind, specialized experiences that Molly and Kat plan themselves. Each one is a special project that requires a lot of thought and work. You won’t find 50 similar trips with different departures listed on our website!

Kat says she feels the word “authenticity” can be overused in the travel industry, but Onward Travel trips really do offer experiences that you won’t find elsewhere. For example, in the Cook Like a Tuscan Tour, one of the highlights is a butchery lesson at Dario Cecchini’s restaurant in Panzano in Chianti. Many people make the pilgrimage to Panzano to eat there, but very few groups get a personalized lesson from the 8th generation butcher himself. 

Dario Cecchini – Butcher in Panzano in Chianti

What’s Changed in the Past 10 Years?

To start, Molly and Kat are both mothers of young children now. Molly has two little girls and lives on her husband’s apple orchard in New York’s Hudson River Valley. Kat is now married, lives in Philadelphia, has a young daughter and an even younger son.

Kat’s Family

Molly’s Family

And how about this video for a blast from the past? 

As for the business, Onward Travel has a lot more partners now, some of whom have been partners since the very beginning.

One of our favorite partners and closest friends is Chef Jenna Arcidiacono, the locally famous chef of Amore Trattoria Italiana in Grand Rapids, MI. Way back when Molly was still operating her food truck in Grand Rapids she and Jenna became friends through the local food scene and they had the idea to co-host a trip to Italy together. Years later, these Amore in Italy tours are one of our iconic offerings, and they fill up practically instantly with Chef Jenna’s local customers who are eager to experience Italy Jenna-style. 

Chef Jenna Arcidiacono in Sicily 2024

Onward Travel also partners with Chicago’s premier recreational cooking school The Chopping Block for our popular annual Cook Like A Tuscan culinary immersion program as well as other food-focused trips to some of the world’s most interesting gourmet destinations. . 

Molly and Kat admit to fighting over who “got to” lead trips ten years ago, but today, they are working carefully to find the right people to share in that role. “It took a really long time for us to bring in other hosts. We aren’t necessarily interested in finding trained tour directors, but rather people who have vibrant personalities and interact with people on a personal level,” said Molly. 

For example, Barbara Bandinelli has been working with Onward as a local guide for over seven years. She lives in Florence, Italy and her fun and interesting walking tours have long been a highlight of our travelers’ Tuscan experience.  Now you’ll find Barbara hosting several Onward Travel tours each year and we couldn’t be happier to have her on our team.

Barbara in Sicily 2024

Although the business continues to expand in number of tour guides, partners and even some new part-time staffers, Molly and Kat say they are very intentional about the growth of their company. “We often feel pressure to offer more tours, but since we do all of the planning ourselves and it takes a lot of time, we must be intentional about the growth. We continue to add destinations each year, and we are excited to travel to Scotland and Sicily this year,” said Molly. “We are also working to provide even more value on our trips, and our priority will always be quality,” added Kat.    

Custom and New Services

Another new destination this year is to South Africa for the International Fruit Tree Association. Since 2017, Onward has done three large-scale tours with IFTA (some for as many as 250 people), and this year’s tour will have more than 100 travelers. Collaborating with IFTA has been a professional highlight for Kat & Molly and as they really value the community-building that these tours foster between industry professionals and their focus on education and innovation.

This custom travel experience is available for corporate gatherings or family journeys with a minimum of ten people, and includes Molly and Kat’s expertise in planning the perfect tour to meet your goals. 

We have also become travel specialists with other brands such as Viking Cruises, Intrepid Travel Adventures, ClubMed All-Inclusive and Uniworld Cruises. 

Sisters’ Take

Each sister brings a different set of self-described skill sets to the table: Molly is the organizer while Kat is the creative. Together, they provide a personalized level of service for each small group. 

They both started out planning trips for their mother’s cooking school and enjoyed it so much they believed they could create a viable business. Ten years later, that has come true. The sisters say they have grown up within the business. “I look back at myself ten years ago and I see a woman who had a lot of courage to take a group of travelers to Italy without having been myself,” said Molly. “We feel very lucky to still be able to travel for a living and get off the beaten path while we go behind the scenes and learn about the world alongside our travelers,” said Kat. 

Learn more about this year’s adventures with Onward Travel