MEET BEST TEO
The Travel Designer Behind Epic
Hi, I’m Best, founder and Chief Travel Designer of Epic Travel Designer.
For more than a decade, I’ve been designing personalised holidays for travellers who want something built around them, rather than an itinerary they have to fit themselves into.
But long before I called myself a travel designer, I was a traveller.
And I still am.
Travel is where much of what I know about designing journeys has come from, not only from researching destinations or working with travel partners, but from actually being there, figuring things out and experiencing what a journey feels like on the ground.
IT ALL STARTED WITH TAIWAN
My journey as a travel designer began with Taiwan.
What started as Taiwan Free and Easy grew into years of designing personalised Taiwan holidays, particularly for families and travellers who wanted to experience the country in their own way.
Trip after trip taught me something.
How differently two families can experience the same destination. How the right pace can completely change a holiday. How seemingly small decisions about routes, hotels, activities and transport affect everything else.
And most importantly, that there was never one “perfect Taiwan itinerary.”
There was only the itinerary that worked for the people taking it.
Over time, that same approach took me beyond Taiwan and eventually became Epic Travel Designer.
The destinations grew.
The philosophy remained the same.
I TRAVEL WITH A CURIOUS MIND
When I travel, I’m rarely interested only in ticking off the famous sights.
I’m always looking at how a place works.
How easy is it to get from here to there?
Is that train journey really as straightforward as it looks?
Would I stay here for two nights or three?
Is this a good base, or does it create unnecessary travelling every day?
Is that beautiful hotel actually in a terrible location for what someone wants to do?
Sometimes the smallest discoveries become the most useful things I bring home.
Because there’s a big difference between knowing that something is possible and knowing whether it actually makes sense for a traveller.
I DON'T DESIGN THE WAY I TRAVEL
My own travel style isn’t necessarily yours.
And that’s important.
I may enjoy a long train journey, walk much further than you would, choose a simple hotel because I like its location, or spend my day exploring somewhere most visitors wouldn’t think of going.
But when I design your holiday, I’m not designing the trip I would take.
I’m designing the trip you would take.
That means understanding what you enjoy, what you don’t, how quickly you like to move, what makes you comfortable and what you want from the journey.
My experience gives me the tools.
Your preferences determine how I use them.
FROM TAIWAN TO JOURNEYS ACROSS EUROPE AND ASIA
Today, I design holidays for couples, families, seniors and multi-generation groups across Europe and Asia.
Some journeys are relatively straightforward.
Others involve multiple countries, different modes of transport, complicated logistics or travellers with very different needs.
I enjoy solving those puzzles.
But whether a journey involves two cities or ten, the principle I learnt all those years ago designing Taiwan holidays still applies:
Understand the traveller first. Then design the journey.
AND YES, I STILL TRAVEL
A lot.
Because travel changes.
Places change. Transport changes. Hotels change. Technology changes. And sometimes what worked beautifully a few years ago no longer makes sense today.
Travelling keeps me curious.
It keeps me learning.
And it reminds me what it’s like to be the person standing in an unfamiliar place trying to figure out what happens next.
That perspective comes home with me and finds its way into the journeys I design for my clients.
WANT TO KNOW ABOUT MY SWITZERLAND EXPERTISE?
Switzerland has become one of my particular areas of expertise, supported by specialist certification and extensive first-hand travel throughout the country.
HAVE A JOURNEY IN MIND?
Tell me where you’re thinking of going, who you’re travelling with and what you have in mind.