FOUNDER & TRAVEL DESIGNER
Julia Carter
Designs deeply personal journeys across Africa from the place she chose to call home — Cape Town.
The Long Answer | To the question of who designs your journeyJulia did not discover Africa on assignment. She chose it. What began as a year in Cape Town became a decision to build a life at the foot of the continent — to learn its rhythms the slow way, by living inside them rather than passing through.
From a very young age, it became apparent that Julia, like her father before her, felt the strong pull abroad to explore the world’s most remote and fascinating destinations. In a household where every vacation was an “inspection trip” and weekends were spent stuffing glossy travel brochures into envelopes, she felt fairly certain her future was with the family business.
Julia received her combined undergraduate and postgraduate honors degree at the University of Miami in Latin American Studies with a focus on political economy. She worked at both Brazil Nuts Tours’ Naples headquarters and Rio de Janeiro local office, living in South America before beginning a career in private banking which sent her back and forth to Brazil for many years.
After several years living in Spain, Julia eventually returned to the family business and was responsible for the relaunch of Brazil Nuts as Craft Travel, expanding the company's portfolio of destinations worldwide and increasing Craft's presence in Africa, Asia and Europe. Julia is currently living with her young family in Cape Town, South Africa.
Design Principles
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Julia only designs in places she knows on foot, not on paper. Every camp, route and guide she proposes has been personally experienced — often repeatedly, across seasons.
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Two travellers in the same park should never have the same safari. The destination is the raw material; the client's temperament is the blueprint.
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She resists the over-stuffed itinerary. Space between experiences is where the trip is actually felt — a slow breakfast, an unhurried evening, a day with no plan at all.
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Airstrips, permits, transfers, dietaries, the guide who arrives with coffee exactly when you wake. If the client notices the machinery, it was designed badly.
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Her idea of luxury is not thread count. It is the private conservancy gate that opens, the researcher who joins dinner, the after-hours museum — doors that money alone does not open.
known for
South Africa
Her home ground — Cape Town, the Winelands, the Kalahari and the private reserves of the Greater Kruger.
Madagascar
Rainforests, baobab avenues and the lodges few itineraries ever reach.
Kenya
The Mara in its quieter hours, private conservancies, and the long view of Amboseli.
Honeymoons & Private Celebrations
Once-in-a-lifetime trips where the details carry the meaning.
Multi-Generational Safaris
Journeys that hold a four-year-old and a seventy-year-old in the same wonder.
By the Numbers
Continents lived on
234
Safari lodges visited
14
Years of experience
1.5
Million miles flown
4
Recognition
A-List — Top Travel Advisors
TRAVEL + LEISURE2025
Top Travel Specialist — Africa
CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER2024
Travel Designer of the Year
SERENDIPIANS TRAVELLER MADE
Julia’s Blog Posts
