About Us

The Wood family in the Luberon, 2011

European Experiences was founded by Kathy and Charley Wood in 2006. For the first part of their careers, they worked in the corporate world. Kathy spent 27 years as a Human Resources executive, and Charley spent most of his career in sales.

They discovered European travel on their honeymoon trip, and it changed their lives. In Europe they found everything they enjoyed, in the most beautiful places they ever imagined. Although Kathy and Charley sure didn’t plan it that way, their earlier career experiences gave them just the right skills for organizing trips and working with many different kinds of people.

Before starting European Experiences, Kathy and Charley were travelers, making one or two trips to Europe a year with their young daughter Kelly. Their early trips were fast-paced… traveling mostly by car and stopping for just one or two nights along the way, but they soon discovered the “slow travel” approach of spending a week or more in each place. They especially enjoyed their 12 long-distance walking trips, including a 192-mile walk across England in 2004 and again in 2014. Kathy and Charley loved the great cities of Europe, but were most drawn to the countryside, mountains, and smaller villages… the special places where we base for most of our European Experiences trips. And when they stayed longer in smaller places, they also made connections with local people.

After taking a family sabbatical in 2004-2005 to travel and live in Europe for 14 months with 11-year old Kelly, Kathy and Charley decided to change direction. During that time they had spent 6-1/2 months living in a farmhouse in the Luberon, between the villages of Bonnieux and Lacoste, and they enjoyed hosting friends and family. They fell in love with the Luberon and wanted to share this special area with others, and the idea for a small group tour—the Luberon Experience—took shape during this time. After returning to the USA in August 2005, they launched European Experiences and pursued flexible careers that enabled them to spend several months in Europe each year.

The Wood family living in Provence (October 2004)

Many of the early Luberon Experience travelers knew Kathy and Charley had traveled extensively and asked about the possibility of similar experiences in other parts of Europe. So in 2009 their offerings began to expand to include a new trip every year or two: back-to-back weeks in the Salzkammergut of Austria and the Bavarian Alps of Germany in 2009; The Cotswolds Experience in England in 2010; and The Chianti Experience in Tuscany in 2011. They launched The Périgord Experience in the Dordogne in southwest France in 2013 and The Alsace Experience in northeast France in 2016. In November/December 2017 they hosted two groups for The European Christmas Experience, a 12-night trip during the magical holiday season. And in April 2018 they hosted our first Cornwall Experience trip in southwest England. After the unexpected pause for the global pandemic, Kathy welcomed our first groups to Puglia in southern Italy in October 2021, and she and Kelly teamed up to welcome our first groups to Normandy in 2023.

Our first Luberon Experience group with other friends (September 2006)

Although we weren’t able to offer our trips in 2020 or much of 2021 due to the global pandemic, the unexpected time at home was very positive for us. Kathy formed a strong partnership with Jennifer Dugdale, an American expatriate living in Provence with lots of excellent experience leading small groups. Jennifer developed and led several new trips for us beginning in 2022, with great response from our travelers. Beginning in September 2021, during that extended and unexpected time at home, Kathy also developed a series for “Virtual European Experiences,” one-hour programs on Zoom, involving Jennifer, other members of the European Experiences team, and our partners.

Since Charley’s retirement, our team has expanded to include other leaders and co-leaders. You can learn more about our outstanding team here.

Kathy and Jennifer (March 2024)

Our first Luberon Experience trips were in September 2006, and European Experiences has since welcomed over 200 groups to France, Italy, England, and other special places in Europe… and now Morocco in North Africa and soon to Portugal!

More than 1200 people have joined our groups over these almost-20 years, many returning to travel with us many times over the years. (Our most frequent traveler has been with us on 13 trips!) In addition to the USA, our groups have included people from Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Israel, the UK, and Europe. We’ve all gotten to know wonderful people from all over the world, and we’ve formed many lasting friendships.

In late 2012 Kathy and Charley began a new adventure… another dream come true… their own apartment in the heart of the village of Bonnieux, right across from our group’s hotel. They can’t be there most of the time, so it’s available for weekly rentals. See the Bonheur en Bonnieux website for photos and information about their much-loved apartment… maybe a vacation rental in Provence is right for you.

European Experiences is more than just a business for all of us! We know the needs, expectation and interests of travelers, because we’re travelers too. We truly love sharing special places with others and creating unique experiences, lasting memories, and “best ever” vacations.