The departure readiness checklist

Before you announce the trip

• Price the departure against this season's real costsRebuild the cost sheet from current supplier quotes rather than adjusting last year's price. Good looks like every line traced to a quote or a booked rate, with a contingency line for exchange rate movement on anything you pay in local currency.
• Size the deposit to cover what you cannot get backAdd up the hotel holds, guide retainer and any non refundable bookings you must commit before final payment, then divide by your minimum roster. That figure, not a round number, is your deposit.
• Write the cancellation terms before the first bookingState the refund schedule by date, what is never refundable and what happens if you cancel the departure. Publish it on the trip page and include it in the deposit confirmation so nobody signs up without seeing it.
• Set and publish the single supplementPrice it to cover the actual cost of the second bed you will not fill, and say plainly whether you will try to match a roommate first. Vague supplement language produces the worst conversations of the season.
• Check your seller of travel obligations for this tripConfirm whether the states you are selling into require registration and whether your trip structure triggers it. Do this before you take money, because registration is not something you can backdate.
• Decide your minimum roster and the date you decide byWrite down the number of travelers below which the trip does not run and the date you will make that call. Good looks like a date that sits before your largest non refundable commitment.

From deposit to final payment

• Open the roster with the full payment schedule attachedEvery traveler should see the deposit, each installment and the final balance date at the moment she books. Changing dates later is possible; changing them without a written notice to the whole roster is not.
• Send installment reminders on fixed dates, not when you rememberReminders go out on a set rhythm, for example ten days before and three days before each due date. Good looks like nobody ever hearing from you about money for the first time on the day it is due.
• Run the rooming intake before you pair anyoneAsk about sleep schedule, temperature, noise tolerance, mobility and whether she has shared with a stranger before. Collect from everyone first, then pair, so you are matching a full set rather than the early responders.
• Collect passport details once, into one placeAsk for the name exactly as printed, the number, the expiry and the issuing country, and take the image only if a supplier genuinely requires it. Keep it in one location so you know exactly what to delete later.
• Require proof of traveler insurance and record the policyLog the insurer, the policy number and the emergency assistance phone number for each traveler. Good looks like being able to read that line aloud to a clinic in another country at two in the morning.
• Reconcile the roster against supplier room counts monthlyCompare your paid roster to what each hotel and ground partner is holding. Doing this monthly catches the mismatch while it is still a small email rather than a penalty.

Six weeks out

• Confirm the final headcount with every supplier in writingHotels, ground partners, drivers, restaurants with group bookings and any activity with a minimum. Written confirmation of the number and the date it was fixed protects you from the invoice argument later.
• Check every passport expiry against the entry rulesMany countries require six months of validity beyond your return date. Check each traveler individually against the dates of this trip, and tell anyone who is short immediately, because renewals take time.
• Publish the rooming list to the travelersSend each woman her roommate name a few weeks out, not at the airport. Early notice gives the two of them time to message each other and gives you time to handle a swap request calmly.
• Send the packing list with an honest description of the paceSay how many miles a day, how many stairs, what the altitude is and how early the mornings start. Travelers who arrive prepared for the real trip complain far less than travelers who were told it was easy.
• Rehearse the cancellation math for one late dropWork out now what happens to room counts, per person costs and supplier minimums if one traveler cancels next week. Knowing the answer before the email arrives makes the reply a short one.

Departure week and after the trip

• Send the meeting point message with times, address and a phone numberInclude the local address in the local language, your reachable number abroad and a plain instruction for what to do if a flight is delayed. Send it before anyone starts traveling.
• Carry an offline copy of emergency contacts and insurance detailsPrint it or store it where it works without signal. Good looks like one page per traveler with next of kin, insurer, policy number and any medical note she chose to share.
• Set the deletion date for passport images and sensitive recordsDecide when the scans go, usually within thirty days of return unless a supplier requires longer, and actually delete them on that date. Data you no longer hold cannot be exposed.
• Debrief the numbers within two weeks of getting homeCompare actual costs to the budget line by line while it is fresh. Note every place the estimate was wrong, because those notes are what make next season's price correct instead of hopeful.
• Ask for the review and the referral while the trip is still vividSend one short request within ten days of return with a specific question rather than a general one. The women who just traveled with you are your entire marketing budget for the next departure.