About
The name
Written by hand, in full.
Longhand is writing done by hand, in full, at the speed of thought. Nothing shortened, nothing hurried, nothing done by machine. We chose the word because it describes the travel we believe in and the way we work. Every journey we sell is composed the slow way, by people, for the people taking it.
Our lead advisor
Between Australia and Canada.
Aboard The Canadian, near Jasper, February.
I’m Racquel. I live between Australia and Canada, and I have spent many years travelling the country this site is about, in every season, including the ones the brochures skip.
I have travelled on The Canadian and across Canada. Winter is my favourite time of the year to visit. I have slept at most of the hotels and learned firsthand what thirty below does to a camera battery and a pair of boots. The itineraries on this site are the versions of these journeys my team and I would book again, down to the room and the departure day.
By trade, I’m a writer. It shows in how Longhand works: precise itineraries, honest numbers, and advice in plain sentences. If a journey doesn’t suit you, saying so is part of the service.
How Longhand works
Independent, and not alone.
Longhand is an independent Australian travel advisory affiliated with Fora, which gives our clients the protections, partner relationships, and preferred rates of a large network alongside the attention of a small one. We specialise narrowly on purpose: rail, small ships, and the remote north of Canada.
We work with a select number of clients each season so that we can offer a concierge service. Enquiries are answered personally within two business days.
Every journey begins with a conversation, which costs nothing. Planning carries a fee: $500 AUD for a full journey, $300 AUD for shorter trips, credited in full when you book. The fee begins the composition, the routing, the rooms, the timing, the parts that take years of knowing the country to get right. Booking a single hotel or cabin carries no planning fee at all.
How it begins
Write to us.
Write to us. Tell us who is travelling and what is pulling at you, even if it is not yet a plan.