Meet Lauren Raps
CO-FOUNDER
Lauren brings more than two decades of global experience to Alchemist Travel. Her career began with a fifteen year tenure in international news media, where she travelled extensively, immersing herself in diverse cultures and destinations. This unique foundation became the catalyst for launching her own travel company, blending her professional expertise with a lifelong passion for exploration.
For the past six years, Lauren has successfully led her own travel business, cultivating a strong global network of partners and securing exclusive access to some of the world’s most remarkable experiences.
Now based in Singapore, she draws on her cross-cultural perspective to design bespoke journeys that resonate deeply with clients from around the world. She has been voted a Conde Nast Travel Advisor for two years running.
Lauren’s managerial role at Alchemist is building out the Independent Partner program, and supporting the ever growing team of dynamic advisors based throughout the globe.
3 Questions With Lauren:
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This largely depends on my mindset, purpose of the trip and whether I am traveling alone, with my family, or with friends. And that’s the same for my clients - where I will send them as a family is very different from where they will travel with their kids.
But my happy place is definitely a very relaxed beach club in Europe, where I can swim, eat pasta, drink some cold local wine with my friends and family, and mix with the locals.
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My main role at Alchemist is building out our Independent Partner program and taking care of our dynamic group of advisors. While on the advisor side, being based in Singapore with the majority of my clients in the U.S., I tend to work crazy hours to accommodate the time difference. When I begin with a client, that’s when most of the communication needs to take place as it's critical to get to know their travel style and learn their preferences, about their family, all the particulars. Usually after the first trip, I already know where I want to send them next and what style of hotel they will like and which guide I would pair them with, etc.
My day to day usually consists of educating myself on destinations, industry trends, new hotel openings, etc. During this learning process I am always keeping my clients top of mind and it's always a great thing, when during this process, I go a-ha – that would be a perfect solution for a certain family’s next vacation. -
Well, like my colleagues, I have been very fortunate enough to travel to many destinations, and quite often those trips have been with my children so I certainly know what works as crowd pleasers.
I truly want to go anywhere I haven't yet and which is safe to go to, or isn’t over touristed. New Zealand, Fiji, Mongolia, various spots in Africa and India - those would be up there. Still haven’t seen parts of Europe like the lesser known islands in Greece, Normandy, the Cotswold or Wales - would love to do those soon too.