This was such a fabulous trip and a once in a lifetime experience. I absolutely loved our accommodations in Lapland. The glass roofed cabins were so charming and spacious. I absolutely adored dog-sledding and would love to do that again. Our guide, Sandy was so helpful, particularly since there were several difficult situations (medical emergencies and lost luggage). 10/10 Would book again. Take the negative reviews with a grain of salt. Some people have unrealistic expectations of wilderness travel to remote locations.

Finland is beautiful and its residents were kind, friendly, and considerate. I thoroughly enjoyed all activities/experiences of this trip! Seeing the Northern Lights on our last night in Lapland was the highlight of our trip. We experienced an Omni-theatre, 360 degree light show, one which I will never forget. I have no complaints about the trip and its experiences. It is the behavior of several of the other travelers with which I find fault. When I signed up for this trip, Solo in Style required that participants agree to behavioral conditions. Having traveled with other women's groups and experienced participants complaining about local customs, food, etc., I thought this was a good idea. Unfortunately, there were no stated consequences for not abiding by these conditions. Sadly, we had several women who complained every day about something, and whose negativity impacted others' attitudes. In a small group tour, it's hard to steer clear of those behaviors. At the Russian border, we had a few women standing in front of the Russian security camera and mocking, making faces, etc. at the camera. This was so disrespectful and potentially dangerous. If we all agreed to the same conditions of the trip, what consequences will be imposed on these women so as not to impact participants of future trips. I was hopeful that we would not experience this given the conditions to which we had to agree. Our group leader, Sandy, did her best to stay positive and manage these behaviors, but without stated consequences, she had no recourse. How tiring this must have been for her, and yet she stayed positive. We also learned that she was not getting support from her management, and in fact, her management was making suggestions not in the best interest or safety of our group. While I don't know the details, the group leader on the ground with the trip participants, should always have the final say regarding a group's safety and best interest. There is no way any of that can be managed from afar. Given the changing political environment, especially those which occurred while we were on this trip, the group's safety should always be a priority, and the voice of the leader/guide with the group should be highly respected and valued. Sandy did an amazing job as a guide; but I will most likely not travel with this group again because of the lack of support provided to her.

Unfortunately, this trip did not live up to my expectations. I was very disappointed with the accommodation in Lapland and, in particular, the food served. The Northern Lights lodge is, at best, a 3 star place. Huge groups of tourists checked in every day. I based my decision to sign up on the reputation SIS has for operating over the top trips. This trip, operated in conjunction with Globe Drifters, was definitely not that. No welcome dinner, lousy repetitive food at the lodge and nothing at the end. Sandy, our tour leader was very nice, but clearly her heart was not in it as she had either quit or had been let go and this was her last trip.

I had an amazing experience and did things that were truly once in a lifetime; however, I travel quite often and have not seen the division between participants as I did on this trip. Perhaps it was just differing personalities, but at times it distracted from the enjoyment. I truly have to give our tour leader Sandy a ton of credit because she had to deal with all of the self-imposed drama, as well as I understand it, flax from her employer. All I can say is shame on you... she had every one of our best interests in mind and tried to deal with multiple issues from the group - the least you could have done is support her in that and allow her that autonomy. Definitely not very professional on your part to try and intervene from afar. You've lost a good leader, and likely some future returning clients to Globe Drifters.

The Lapland experience was amazing. To boot on the last night we got to see an amazing display of the Northern Lights. To review the actual Solo in Style tour who partnered with Globe Drifters I felt the trip was sub-par compared to the first trip I took with SIS to Italy in the fall of 2025.. I completely understand this type of trip is an entire different experience than Italy as it is an active, immersive type trip. Regardless I still had high expectations for wonderful food, fancy hotel room, excellent communication, and excellent organization etc. When I booked I was greeted by Rebecca who was amazing at communication. She guided me with every question I had. I was told a What's App group would be started a few weeks before the start of the trip so the group could start communicating and making plans. That never happened; the What's app group was initiated a day or two before the tour started. Once Sandy our tour guide took over it seems communications and organizations became less and disorganized. For example, I got stopped at customs. I was drilled for 30 minutes by the border guard over not having the documents for the inter-country travel to Lapland. I had no idea the resort we were staying at (it even changed a few days later), no flight documents to/from Lapland. When suggesting to Sandy for future travel the response was "Hope this doesn't ruin your trip" "You must have gotten a grumpy border agent" This was NOT my intent. My intent was a warning for future travelers to make sure to be more prepared with ALL the documents for the trip. Especially given the current climate in the world today especially coming from the United States of America. One caveat I arrived the day Iran was bombed by the US. (possibly a reason for the interrogation). In my previous trip with SIS there was a meet and greet zoom meeting a few months before; actually 2 zoom meetings. This allowed for the group to meet, start communicating and making travel plans. I was disappointed this did not happen with the Lapland trip. I was expecting so much more beforehand that did not happen. There was no welcome meeting on day 1. Nothing was planned on day 1 and the last 2 days for that matter. We met the group in the lobby of the hotel day 2 on the morning we were heading to the airport for Lapland. It would have been great to have met these ladies ahead of time by zoom a month or so ahead of time as to make travel plans, meet up's, plan tours if we happen to come into Helsinki early or staying later etc. There was one group email that ended up getting crazy confusing it was impossible to follow along. I ended up booking a last minute food tour on Day 1 of the tour once I found out that nothing was happening. I am glad I did otherwise that would have been disappointing hanging around the hotel. Hotel Mestari was really nice. btw. FYI No room service, the bar & restaurant were closed on Sundays. .The staff tho were 5+star. The few days in Lapland at The Northern Lights Village were nice. We were told there was a last minute change the morning we were to arrive at the resort. The rooms were clean tho not as nice as I would have expected from SIS. The food at the resort was buffet style, left out for hours. It seemed the left overs were served the next day in the form of soups. I felt this was a food safety issue. Some meats smelled rancid at times. Overall the experiences at the resort was nice. The staff were kind and accommodating. Snowmobiling, ice fishing, dog sledding, Reindeer sleigh rides were really fun. To be honest tho, all the experiences were all part of the resort. There were no special accommodations for us SIS ladies. I could have booked this experience myself with a friend and had the exact same experiences for a lot less money. On the last day of the day of the trip I was expecting some kind of "thank you" dinner, meeting or something to wrap up the week and say our thank you's and good bye's to our new friends. I am sure different organizations that SIS contract with operate differently. As my second trip with SIS I was surprised as this experience was not what I expected. The company was nice, I was able to meet a few new friends that I hope to continue to stay in touch with and travel together again sometime. As for me personally sorry to admit I do not think I will book a Globe Drifters sponsored trip in the future. I am happy I went. I have fond memories made with new friends, got to see the lights and travel to a new country.