Villa del Balbianello and its gardens beside Lake Como, with mountains beyond.

Tradecraft Travel®

Travel planned with an analyst’s eye.

I’m Jack Buchanan. I bring more than three decades in intelligence analysis to travel planning that puts your priorities first. From luxury cruises and private journeys to villa stays and espionage history, I help you compare the experience, understand costs and inclusions, and choose the right fit for your interests and pace. Then I connect the details, with personal support when plans change.

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Your Priorities First

Your interests, pace, and budget guide the recommendations.

Research with Purpose

Ships, stays, routes, and tradeoffs evaluated against what matters to you.

Details Connected

Hotels, transfers, and activities planned to work together.

Personal Support

One advisor who knows your plans and helps when they change.

What kind of trip are you planning?

An anniversary, a retirement, time with family—or simply somewhere you’ve always wanted to go. Let’s build the trip around what matters to you.

Villa del Balbianello and its gardens beside Lake Como

Luxury & Expedition

Luxury cruises, expedition voyages, private journeys, and villas matched to your priorities for service, privacy, and pace.

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Couple on a ship’s balcony overlooking a coastal town

Ocean & River Cruises

The right ship, itinerary, and cabin for how you want to travel—and whoever is coming along.

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Guide accompanying travelers through a historic hilltop town

Guided & Escorted Tours

Explore with local expertise, an established itinerary, and the practical details organized for you.

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Friends enjoying time together on a ship’s deck at sunset

Group Travel

Bring people together for family reunions, shared interests, alumni journeys, and celebrations worth traveling for.

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Travelers exploring a hilltop village and countryside

Custom Travel

A trip shaped around your interests, pace, and priorities—from a long-awaited adventure to a milestone celebration.

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Tradecraft Travel founder Jack Buchanan overlooking a mountain destination

Meet Jack

The person behind the planning.

I’m Jack Buchanan, founder and travel advisor behind Tradecraft Travel. Before starting the company, I spent more than three decades in the intelligence community, retiring as a member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service.

Most of my career was spent as an analyst—asking better questions, comparing incomplete and competing information, and helping people make sound decisions. I now bring those habits, along with a genuine curiosity about places and history, to every trip I plan.

You work directly with me from the first conversation through the journey itself. My job is to understand what matters to you, explain the real tradeoffs, and keep the details connected.

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Working with Jack

How we plan your trip.

  1. Your priorities

    We start with your interests, pace, budget, and expectations for service and privacy.

  2. A considered recommendation

    I compare ships, stays, routes, and inclusions, then explain the options and meaningful tradeoffs.

  3. Details coordinated

    I coordinate booking, hotels, transfers, and experiences so the pieces of your trip work together.

  4. Support through the journey

    You work directly with me, with someone who knows your plans and can help when they change.

My industry relationships can also bring preferred amenities or added-value offers where available, plus professional channels for support. Benefits vary by supplier, property, itinerary, and travel date.

Plan Your Trip with Jack

Your inquiry is nonbinding. Any planning fee will be explained before fee-based work begins.

Signature Specialty

Intelligence history.
Real places. Real stories.

Explore the places where intelligence history happened, with context shaped by careers inside the profession. Visit our Espionage Travel hub for expert-led journeys, private trips, and the history behind the ground.

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Travel Intelligence

Insight that informs your planning.

Practical travel advice, destination insights, a closer look at travel suppliers, and the real stories behind espionage history.

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Latest Briefings

The six newest articles, updated automatically.

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Professional Associations & Credentials

Knowledge backed by strong industry connections.

Tradecraft Travel® is an independent agency affiliated with:

These affiliations and credentials give me access to ongoing education, current industry intelligence, supplier relationships, and professional support channels I can use on your behalf. Through my travel-consortia and host-agency relationships, I can often provide access to preferred amenities, added-value offers, and private rates or discounts that are not publicly available. For you, that means better-informed comparisons, opportunities for additional value, stronger advocacy when plans change, and greater confidence in the recommendations I make. Benefits vary by supplier, itinerary, property, and travel date.

I also maintain certifications with many cruise lines, tour operators, and other travel suppliers—and continue training as their products and policies evolve.

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Let’s build the trip around what matters to you.

Tell me what you have in mind. I’ll help clarify the options, explain the real tradeoffs, and make the next steps clear.

Plan Your Trip with Jack

Your inquiry is nonbinding—just a practical first conversation about what you’re considering.