Custom design is our hallmark.

Custom design is the hallmark of International Seminar Design, Inc. (ISDI). We partner with art museums, educational institutions, preservation and architectural organizations, horticultural associations, music societies, alumnae/i associations, and other nonprofit groups to offer unique and focused itineraries that create meaningful group travel experiences for their members.

Our team at ISDI has been designing dynamic custom educational travel programs for more than 25 years. We meticulously research our international and U.S. destinations in order to design exceptional itineraries featuring special collections, private estates, deluxe hotels, elegant dining experiences, hidden gardens and landscapes, and exclusive behind-the-scenes access. As professional custom designers, we are flexible and creative when it comes to fine-tuning a travel itinerary to meet the unique needs of our clients. Most importantly, we oversee our itineraries from start to finish, coordinating details both prior to departure and on site.

Through the years, ISDI has custom-designed hundreds of exceptional group travel programs with fascinating itineraries and dynamic academic and artistic leadership. In Mexico, we have led travelers past scaffolding and drop cloths to learn about fresco restoration of a famous colonial church. In Brazil, our travelers have met with the designers of the Carnival parade to view the decoration in progress of amazing floats—a highly secretive operation. In England, we have joined world renowned literary experts for readings of Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, and John Ruskin in the very places immortalized in their works. In Italy, our guests have met a legendary opera singer in his family's traditional restaurant and strolled with a friendly American ex-pat author through his stunning private garden. In India, we have dined lavishly in the home of a noted general and learned the proper way to tie a sari. In Peru, we have toured restored colonial and Inca buildings with the architect responsible for the restoration. In Detroit, we have seen first-hand the passion and urgency of local preservationists saving beautiful historic homes, skyscrapers, factories, and theaters from ruin.

It is our passion to custom design and operate educational group travel programs that intrigue, inspire, and teach.

 

Images above include Santo Domingo Cathedral, Oaxaca, Mexico (Russ Bowling)>   |   Donald Judd's 100 Untitled Works in Aluminum (detail), Chinati Foundation, Marfa>   
Hanazono Shrine, Tokyo (Andrea Schaffer)>