Heather Lane Chauny caught the travel bug at four years old after visiting  Disney World and riding on “It’s a Small World.” She was curious to learn about different people and cultures, and so, at age five she started filling her piggy bank to take her around the world. When she got to college it was clear which major she wanted to pick, and as an international relations major, her studies took her to Prague Czech Republic, Budapest, Hungary, Belgium, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana. Before she went to each country she learned three phrases: thank you, hello, and perhaps the most important, one beer please. 

Upon graduating college with her bachelors and masters degrees in International Relations, she set her sights on helping countries with their sustainable development efforts: conservation, economic development and social well-being. Like many, the path after college was not straightforward. Heather’s career was focused on international philanthropy for sustainable development, both in the grant making and grant-seeking roles. After 25 years of struggling to find fulfillment in her career, she decided to make a pivot. For years she had been planning unique trips for her family like a Gossip Girl tour of Manhattan for her 16 year-old step daughter, Isabelle, or an Instagram tour of Los Angeles for Isabelle’s 13th birthday. Being a travel designer was truly her life’s calling and she finally made the investment to start her own travel business in 2022.

The decision came after planning a month-long trip back to South Africa with her husband for his 50th birthday, a country where she had lived and worked on two separate occasions. While Heather had been used to traveling with a backpack and a minimal budget, she wanted to ensure her husband had the opportunity to see and appreciate South Africa for all it had to offer, in a way that was slightly more comfortable than traveling as she had done before. After day one Heather’s husband was already wanting to plan a return trip and his beaming face solidified for her that planning and designing trips for others was what she was meant to do and something she was rather good at too! 

Her mission with Heather Lane Adventures is to connect curious travelers to different people, places, and ways of thinking about the world, while leaving a positive impact. She promotes this type of travel by designing trips for her clients that help them to “travel global, live local,” her business tagline, and encourages them to immerse themselves into the local culture to have a more authentic travel experience. Heather believes that travel is important to connect people to each other, to understand different cultures and to protect and preserve natural habitats and wildlife. 

Heather, who lives just over the DC border in Bethesda, helps her clients unlock areas of the world (and the United States) that they may not have ever considered by having experiences that can not be found on Expedia or through Chat GPT. She focuses her trips in four different areas (although she can help her clients design a trip to anywhere around the globe): Beyond Safari in Africa: Exploring the cities, history, and cultures of Africa in addition to experiencing its wildlife; Off-the-beaten-path in Europe: Visiting lesser-known countries like Slovenia or unlocking unique experiences like bicycle tours through neighborhoods and visiting local farmers’ markets in the smaller towns of widely known places like Italy; Culture and Adventure in Latin America and the Caribbean: Getting off the beach and into nature, while interacting with the local communities and their culture; and finally Road and Rail Trips in the United States and Canada: Exploring the heart of North America by getting up close and personal with local communities (she even provides a customized playlist for each road trip she plans).

Through Heather’s luxury travel network, she is able to address all of her client’s needs and even suggest experiences that they didn’t know they needed; like a personalized VIP shopping experience at Samaritaine in Paris, glamorized with champagne and macarons as outfits selected for her clients arrive to their dressing room and are then delivered personally to their hotel room. 

When asked if she herself has a favorite country, Heather replies with the thoughtfulness and tact of a loving parent “all places are special for their unique reasons.” Europe is where Heather had her breath taken away by the majesty of the Alps; Africa is where she was embraced with warmth and hospitality; Latin America and the Caribbean is where she has had the most fun, etc. As for her favorite food, Heather does not have a favorite cuisine, because she believes eating the local food is the best way to guarantee a good meal. 

Her most serendipitous itinerary sprung from someone reaching out about planning their mother’s 80th birthday trip. The clients expressed that they wanted to reconnect their mom with her Italian heritage and all they knew was that there was a town in Italy called Supino where their family emigrated to the United States from. They came to Heather after seeing her YouTube video where she described her own heritage visit to Supino with her grandparents. To the family’s delight and amazement, Heather was able to connect them with a local guide that gave them a private tour of City Hall, access to local records with the help of the Mayor (on a Saturday!), and an introduction to the parish priest who helped them find their family members through church records. They flew home with the lasting imprint of hugs from local members of the community that treated them like long-lost family members and suitcases full of gifts. This trip and all the many trips that Heather plans for her clients have clearly demonstrated that “it is a small world after all.”

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Author Kristina Bush grew up in Spring Valley and is a contributing writer for Stroll Spring Valley. She is ramping up a sister Stroll publication for the neighborhood of Westmoreland Hills.