When planning an itinerary, good travel advisors will include more than just the obvious must-see sites. They’ll also recommend unexpected activities we wouldn’t necessarily know how to arrange ourselves. Our advisors have contacts around the world who can organize all sorts of unforgettable experiences. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed a private wine tasting with a princess, a street-food tour with a “Top Chef” finalist and a hike through a Costa Rican jungle to visit a Cabécar shaman.

On this most recent trip to Bhutan, I found working with an advisor in the Travel Office to be essential. She organized all the logistics, saving me a huge amount of time and effort, and she suggested several unique experiences. I knew the main highlights I wanted to see but I had no idea that my traveling companion and I might be able to meet, for example, a former member of parliament. The following are three of the most memorable and unexpected moments arranged for us by the Andrew Harper Travel Office.

Note: As always, none of the participants knew my identity, and we paid full price for the experiences.