Elena Guk — Accessible travel, planned around your real conditions

Why trust me

Researcher with lived accessibility experience

As a curious traveller and field scientist, I've been planning trips since 2006 — more than 300 of them. Many are built around complexity, such as mountain weather, logistics in remote areas and restrictions of each group member. I stopped counting countries I visited past 70. I hold a research degree in geography and an RYA sailing licence. Truly unusual skill for a travel designer: I work as a meteorologist — so I can plan around weather and climate instead of guessing at them.

I'm neurodivergent myself. When you tell me about sensory overload, exhaustion, or needing quiet, I don't need it explained from scratch — I know from the inside how much that matters.

Who this is for

If ordinary planning doesn't hold your needs

Sensory — noise, light, crowds, unfamiliar food; what's background for others is overload for you.
Mobility — flat access, manageable distances, the right equipment on hand, a lift where you actually need one.
Communication and predictability — a clear plan, a steady structure, no surprises.
A companion the whole trip is built around — an elderly person, an ADHD child, someone whose needs set the frame.

I build the trip around this from the first draft.

For the trip that simply has to be right

The harder the trip, the more I'm the right person.

The more constraints stack — medical condition, sensory limits, narrow mobility margin — the more standard service may struggle. Difficult, multi-constraint trips aren't the exception I tolerate; they're what I do best.

Your time is the scarce resource.

I put my time into it — climate archives, cross-checking, information in local language — so your trip reaches you as a finished, considered plan rather than a research project you have to run yourself.

Independent, with nothing to sell you.

Because I plan and don't book, I earn nothing from where you stay or fly. There's no partner I'm steering you toward and no commission shaping the advice — only the option that is genuinely best for you.

As deep as it needs to be.

At the end of the work there's no fixed ceiling on depth — I go as far as the trip needs to make it hold together.

Write to me →

What are the unusual musts of your trip idea? You can delegate me to turn them into a plan that works.

How it works

A trip as a problem worked through

You tell me what matters

Put it all down in details, like a brief, with no "this is probably trivial." Nothing here is trivial. I'll ask follow-up questions. Next, the exact price is set by how complex the agreed task is.

We set priorities for your requirements

Score each point. 10 out of 10 — without it we don't go. 5 out of 10 — nice to have. It shows straight away where you can't cut corners.

I research and verify

This is where the deep analysis starts: I dig through local aggregators, resources in a country's language, maps, weather archives, and check the task against reality.

I hand you a solution

Day-by-day itinerary, backup plans, accommodation recommendations, accessibility notes, weather windows, transport options, interactive map — whatever you need.

Important: I plan, I don't book. The format is "I do the work, you travel." You book and pay yourself so you keep control — and I'm accountable for the plan being sound.

Why me, not AI

AI is useful. Just not for this.

I use AI in my own work. But an accessible trip turns on a few things an AI planner, by its nature, can't do.

I verify it on the ground.

AI works from what's published — listings, reviews, landing pages. And "accessible" in a listing often means "we'd like to think so." I check whether the step-free entrance is really step-free and the beach entry is really flat.

I own the outcome.

AI hands you a plausible plan with no stake in whether it works. I'm a real person who's accountable for all handed information being correct and up-to-date.

I plan for you, not the average tourist.

Accessibility is the opposite of average: the precise fit between one person's sensory thresholds, mobility, and conditions and what's actually there. And I'll tell you honestly when a destination won't work — then find one that will.

I understand it from the inside.

AI has only general knowledge of sensory overload — and when it gets the trade-offs wrong, the cost is a trip that falls apart. I design around constraints because I personally live and travel with constraints.

What I can make: examples

Real tasks and reviews

Travelling with an elderly mother

The country could not be changed, and the list of health and mobility constraints was long: what kind of floor, bathroom location, whether a lift was required. It was clear midday would be bad — but was there any window at all? As a meteorologist, I analysed weather archives for the candidate towns, and the honest advice was: comfortable to be outside only before 7-9 in the morning, evenings would be a problem; and it makes sense to prefer stay in the mountains instead sea coast. That's the kind of accessibility a client might not see, but I can. Case study: weather comfort analysis

A last-minute break on the edge of burnout

Decisions had stopped happening. The brief was one line: "sea view, warm, don't make me think." In about thirteen hours I found three options — Egypt, Sri Lanka — and unexpectedly for the client, the Maldives that became his choice!

"Fast, brilliant… I feel like myself again, even writing posts."Evgeny, project leader, Armenia — review in his professional blog

An apartment in a small resort town

A narrow task: find something better than the client had found herself, or confirm her choice — within a couple of square kilometres. In about four hours, three options with a description of what each one offered.

"You found three good options very quickly and described them all… I really enjoyed working with you."Marina, artist, Belgium

A family with three kids, a 8-day trip across Spain; was important to stay in accommodation where night sleep won't be disturbed by noise and sunlight

I delivered full itinerary with alternatives for every half-day, three locations to stay with three accommodation alternatives for each one, flight research, logistical optimisation.

Weather can make or break a trip

And a few travel designers can skillfully plan for it. As a meteorologist, I can.

Heat intolerance, heart or breathing conditions, chronic fatigue, limited mobility — for any of these, the weather on the day decides whether a place is usable or off-limits. The wrong one isn't just uncomfortable: it can mean days lost indoors, a trip cut short, or a real health risk. Standard travel advice treats weather as a comfort preference; I treat it as a planning constraint, and I work from the long-run climate pattern for your exact place and dates, not next week's forecast.

Heat measured the way the body feels it.I work from the felt temperature — humidity, sun and wind together, not the bare number — so for someone who can't cool down or move away quickly, heat stress is planned out of the itinerary from the start.
Windows you can rely on.I look for periods where the pattern holds steady from year to year, so there's less chance of a plan-breaking surprise — which matters most when the day has to be predictable.
The right hours, or the right place.Sometimes the fix is timing an outing to a morning window; sometimes it's a different destination altogether. I tell you which, and show you the data behind it.
Backed by research, not an app.A working meteorologist who also designs trips is a rare combination — and it's exactly what this problem needs. My Antarctic forecast-verification study was accepted at EMS2026, Europe's largest meteorology conference. The same kind of multi-year climate data I use there is what I use to find your comfort windows. See the research →

Want to know pricing levels ahead?

For this price, this

So you can size up the budget in advance. The bigger the trip and the deeper the digging, the higher the tier. The final price is fixed just after we agreed on task, no surprises after the work is done.

from €100

One narrow task. Find tickets, pick or confirm accommodation in a specific place, or check whether one specific thing works for your conditions. A few verified options with a short description.

from €200

If you have a plan and want me to audit it. You know where and when; I find and compare honest pros and cons and prepare an advice for you.

from €250

Finding the destination. You don't know where to go: I'll propose several worked-up destinations for your conditions, checked against weather and access, so you choose from what's real.

from €70 /travel day

A trip skeleton. A few days: where to stay, a rough shape for each day, the key logistics — without hour-by-hour detail.

from €120 /travel day

A full turnkey itinerary. A multi-day trip in full: a detailed plan with half-day alternatives, several places to stay, transport and flights, full weather analysis. Maps, tables, text.

If even the minimum is out of reach right now and you need my help — don't hesitate to write to me! I'll tell you what is possible within your budget.

Write to me →

Tell me more about your needs, and I'll be back with the price for your travel plan.

FAQ

The essentials, briefly

Do you book, or only plan?

Only plan. The format is "I do the work, you travel": I hand you a finished plan, and you book and pay yourself. That keeps you in control.

How far ahead should I come to you?

If you want to plan a whole trip, the sooner the better, ideally several months or weeks ahead. For a narrow task, last-minute requests are welcome, however the earlier the more options are available.

How and when do I pay?

I trust you; therefore I take payment on completion. For complex tasks requiring multi-day work, I take a 20% deposit upfront and the rest on completion. Unfortunately I cannot receive payments from Russian banks.

What languages and regions?

I work in English and Russian; destinations are not limited!

Get in touch

Write to me

Describe the trip you have in mind. Unsure whether your requirements are "too specific"? Write anyway. The first thing I'll tell you is whether I think I can genuinely help.

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