Not all who wander are lost

Travelling in autumn is an ideal time to enjoy the splendour of this beautiful season.

How Kate Parkyn is using her passion for travel to inspire people to embark on new adventures

what is the transformative power of travel?

As the saying goes ‘not all who wander are lost.’ Travel broadens our minds, introduces us to new cultures, other ways of life, new sights, sounds and smells. We return to our lives invigorated, maybe even wiser, ready to take on the challenges that life often presents us with.

No one understands the restorative, indeed transformative, power of travel more than Kate and Dave Parkyn, who founded Go Supreme, a bespoke travel service that seeks to connect its clients with the very best the world has to offer. We caught up with Kate Parkyn, to discuss their business, the excitement of travel and the importance of loving life!

Travelling in autumn is an ideal time to enjoy the splendour of this beautiful season.

Tell us a bit about yourself. Did you always know that you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

I have lived in Geneva for over 20 years with my husband Dave and our children, Sam and Josh (who have returned to live in Switzerland after studying and working internationally). We obviously love travel and are also passionate about spending time with our family and getting outside as much as possible to cycle, hike and play golf in this amazing country we live in. We also love to set ourselves at least one big challenge a year that requires both physical and mental preparation. From the 100 mile Ride London cycle race to the Via Ferrata, we like to push ourselves and, ideally, raise money for a cause we believe in. This year we are going to do a trek to the Lost City in Columbia to raise money for Mind, the mental health charity and for Breast Cancer Now.

We always knew that we wanted to start a business together but could never seem to find the motivation and had yet to come up with a solid plan. Then, five years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer, which made us radically re-evaluate our lifestyle and decide to make some changes. I must say that our children were the overriding inspiration for creating the business. We have always told them that it is possible to succeed at anything you put your mind to and that it is never too late to change your path but I wanted to lead by example.

Travelling in autumn is an ideal time to enjoy the splendour of this beautiful season.

So how did you come up with the idea for GoSupreme?

We are passionate about travel and adventure. We wanted to provide a bespoke travel service that was truly tailored to each individual client. It was important to us to inspire people to go on voyages of discovery, to go to places they have never been and to do things they have never done before. We can also arrange ‘fly and flop’ type holidays for when our clients simply need to recharge but we also know that a lot of rejuvenation happens when we do something new and exciting.

We know how exhausting it can be to look for a holiday and many people simply don’t have the time to trawl through hundreds of websites, looking for the perfect vacation. Our solution is simple: we save our clients valuable time, energy and money by finding their ideal holiday. Not only that but we will propose things that they may never have thought of, for a truly unforgettable experience. We utilise our knowledge and resources (such as our access to agent-only sites), to provide a service that thinks of everything – from initial bookings to online airport check-ins.

“We plan the experience, you make the memories”

Can you tell us more about how the process works?

A client will usually get in contact with us with a particular holiday that they have in mind. Our first step is to listen. We take the time to really listen to what our clients want, what they’re looking for and, most importantly, who they are. We then speak to our specialist suppliers and begin to build the perfect itinerary, dependant on their wishes and budget. We can then share the proposal with the client and work with them until the plan has been perfected. More often than not, we get the proposal right first time and the clients are delighted! We also make sure that the clients know that we are only ever a phone call or message away, should they need any assistance.

We work with a wide range of people but most of them are looking for someone to take the stress out of organising travel. They want the peace of mind that comes with knowing everything is being taken care of. All they have to do is pack their bags and go!

We’ve organised all kinds of different experiences for our clients, from spending a day as an elephant keeper in South Africa, to Centre Court tickets at Wimbledon, to swimming with the pigs in the Bahamas! Every client is different and we take care of everything – airport parking, car rentals, hotels right through to theatre tickets and private tours.

Travelling in autumn is an ideal time to enjoy the splendour of this beautiful season.
Kate and Dave Parkyn, your local Travel Consultants in Chavannes des Bois

Who do you admire? Where do you find inspiration?

We are very fortunate to have an amazing mentor, Norma Fenwick, who is there for us whenever we need her. Her encouragement and guidance has been invaluable to us and, with her help, we have been able to achieve so much more than we imagined possible.

Tania Cotton, the founder of Movementwise, is someone I admire very much for her intelligence, determination, fitness and her ability to alter people’s perceptions of what they can achieve. She helped us both through our health and performance journey after my diagnosis in 2014. Thanks to Tania and a gruelling physical challenge, something which was very difficult for me at the time, I experienced a change of mindset about my own abilities and capabilities.

As well as having our own business I now volunteer for ESCA Cancer Support and regularly do public speaking engagements promoting their services. They offer much-needed support to people diagnosed with cancer and their families. Speaking in public was a terrifying prospect for me before my Movementwise journey and now I embrace it. We are partnered with Movementwise to inspire people to keep exploring their own journeys, to live and love life and to have the most incredible travel experiences!

Go Supreme provide a bespoke travel service that will help you craft your own, unique holiday that you’ll never forget. From conception through to the holiday itself, they’re here to help from start to finish.

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Alexis Boddy
Alexis Boddy

Alexis Boddy is a London-based writer, specialising in technology and business. She has also written for the stage and her fiction has been published around the world.

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