You Can Now Plan Your Vacations By The Feeling You Want, Not Destination

This had to be the most romantic (and complex) marriage proposal ever. The couple was flown into Marrakech where a vintage car picked them up and drove them into the Atlas Mountains to Kasbah Tamadot. Upon arrival, the driver handed the prospective bride a small wooden box with the first few pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. She had 24 hours to figure out how to open it (but if she failed, her guide the next day would help out.)  Back in Marrakech, after a scrub in a hammam, the attendant handed her the  next few pieces of the puzzle. Additional pieces emerged at other stops in the city including Majorelle Garden. On the last day, there was a hot air balloon flight, a sidecar ride into the desert and a surprise picnic near an ancient ruin. Following a camel ride into the dunes where a camp was set up, the final pieces of the puzzle were handed over, reading  “Will you marry me?” in Arabic. Cue the ring, a Berber feast and musicians.  Fortunately, after all that, she said yes.

Breakfast in the Moroccan desert as part of an elaborate marriage proposal.

Pascal Gerschen

That was certainly good news to her future husband’s organizers at Niquesa Travel, a new London based travel company that plans travel in the opposite way that most travel planners do it. Instead of asking people where they want to go, they ask how do they want to feel as a result of the trip. “A number of high net worth families are after more than a two week holiday,” explains Mark Allvey, Niquesa's Managing Director. “We’re trying to provide a deeper connection. We’re matchmakers.”

Clues to the marriage proposal were given out all over Marrakech, including the souks of the medina.

Laurie Werner

Along with insider access, connections to people in different destinations who can unlock an area’s inner secrets and elite accommodations, they try and answer the question of what does someone really want. Is it reconnecting with their families and weaning kids off of their electronic devices, a philanthropic adventure to help preserve an endangered environment, learning history, culture, customs, celebrating, indulging or simply playing with your friends. Once they understand the mission, they can start crafting the trip, every part of which is bespoke. Journeys can range from riding Harleys in Cuba, followed by a cigar with the son of Che Guevara, a spiritual journey to Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet with a Buddhist expert and meditation teacher, a family outing to the Masai Mara learning how to photograph wildlife with a documentary filmmaker to a party with DJ on an Icelandic glacier under the Northern Lights.

One possible trip that can be arranged by Niquesa is riding Harleys through Cuba.

Courtesy of Niquesa

They're currently operating in 30 countries while scouting more depending on individual requests. But the goal remains the same. “We want these trips to be life enhancing, transformative,” says Allvey. “Everyone at this level is looking for what’s next.”


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