Curating travel like a local, Monica carefully selects each hotel, dining reservation, and local experience, creating trips filled with moments most wouldn’t know to seek out.
Monica founded Escapes by Mon after years of being the go-to person for travel recommendations among her friends and family. What began as a passion for exploring the world evolved into a full-time dedication built on one principle: no two travelers are the same, and no two itineraries should be either. Having lived in Mexico, Switzerland, and Spain, as well as traveling extensively through Asia, Monica brings firsthand destination knowledge and a global perspective to every trip she designs. She knows what it feels like to navigate a new country with curiosity, and how much the right hotel, the right table, or the right guide can change everything.
Monica is drawn to the experiences that stay with you long after you’re home. Diving into waters so clear they don’t look real, sitting at a vineyard table with the people you love most, or finding yourself in a conversation with a local who completely changes the way you see a place—these are the moments she builds trips around. For Monica, the most impactful travel is the kind that connects you to what you love doing, just somewhere new in the world. Whether she’s designing a family adventure, a culinary escape, or simply a long weekend that feels like a week-long reset, her approach is always the same: deliver something that feels genuinely personal from the first day to the last, tailored to what her clients want most from their trip.
My most memorable travel experience to date has been spending a month in China with one of my closest friends. A trip I had dreamed about and planned with a lot of care, and one that delivered far beyond what I imagined. We moved through Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Changzhou, and what shocked me most was how different each place felt from the last. Nothing prepared me for the contrast between standing in the middle of Shanghai, one of the most electric, fast-moving cities I’ve ever experienced, and then being completely still among the tea plantations of Hangzhou just hours away. China’s technology, food, history, and the pace of daily life reminded me why I travel and do what I do.
Preparation for me starts with food. Before anything else, I research what the destination actually eats, what’s local, what’s seasonal, and what you’ll only find if you know to look. I built a list of places I won’t leave without trying. I also learn a few words in the local language before every trip. Not to be fluent, just enough to thank someone properly and show up with some respect for where I am. That small gesture consistently opens doors that nothing else does. And I follow travel creators, accounts like my own on Instagram that take you through a destination in real time, showing you daily life beyond the obvious highlights. By the time I land, I already have a feel for the city, a list of tables I want to sit at, and enough curiosity to figure out the rest on foot.
Keep up with the places that deserve more than a bookmark, but a check-in.
