Travel Expert
Dawn Bartizal | Solo Travel Club
Jean Melcher Travel
Bend, OR | La Jolla, CA
Hours of Operation
Monday through Friday,
9:00am-5:00pm PST and by appointment.
About
Dawn Bartizal is a travel advisor with Jean Melcher Travel, affiliated with Cruise and Travel Experts (CTE), a member of Signature Travel Network. After a successful executive career in pharmaceutical regulatory affairs, Dawn returned to her first professional love — travel — building on experience she gained during an earlier stint in the industry. The precision, attention to detail, and comfort managing complex, multi-party logistics she honed in regulatory affairs now shape the way she plans every trip for her clients — anticipating problems before they arise, tracking every detail, and keeping every moving piece on track from booking to return home. She brings a rare combination of meticulous planning skill and genuine, firsthand wanderlust to every itinerary she creates.
Dawn's specialties reflect the way she herself travels: actively, purposefully, and with curiosity. She has explored New Zealand extensively across multiple visits, including sections of all four major Great Walks, gone on safari across Africa, explored the islands of the South Pacific, and completed the Camino de Santiago — walking 120 kilometers of the Portuguese route. Her love for the water has taken her sailing across the Seychelles, the Greek Islands, Turkey, Tahiti, Tonga, and multiple Caribbean islands, canal boating through the French countryside, and cruising to destinations around the globe. This firsthand experience across so many styles of travel — active, nautical, cultural, and everything in between — gives Dawn an instinct for matching each client to the right trip, not just the right destination. Her passion for wellness and pilgrimage-style travel, active and experiential adventures, and off-the-beaten-path exploration further shapes the kind of trips she loves to design, whether that's a multi-generational family journey, a milestone celebration, or a solo traveler's next great adventure.
Dawn's current projects showcase the range of her work: a multi-family journey to Rome and the Amalfi Coast, and a 12-traveler group trip through Brazil's Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, and the wildlife-rich Pantanal and Bonito regions. She also brings hands-on experience with Nordic sauna culture and a growing specialty in polar and remote expedition cruises.
Dawn also brings a genuine understanding of solo travelers, drawn from her own experience welcoming them into her group trips. She knows that solo travelers often have different needs and priorities — from room configurations to feeling connected within a larger group — and she takes care to plan with those needs in mind. Whether someone is joining a multi-family journey or a larger group adventure on their own, Dawn makes sure they feel just as considered and supported as those traveling with a partner or family.
Based between Bend, Oregon and La Jolla, California, Dawn approaches every client relationship with the same care she brings to her own adventures — asking thoughtful questions, planning down to the logistical details, and staying personally invested in how a trip unfolds. Whether she's arranging a family reunion abroad, a solo traveler's dream itinerary, or a large group expedition, Dawn's goal is the same: to craft travel that's not just well-organized, but genuinely transformative.
Trafalgar Ireland Castles & Manors
8-Day Ireland Tour
June 19, 2027
Rates: $4,005 per solo traveler
Visits: Dublin, Galway, Ashford Castle Estate, Glen Keen Farm, Abbeyglen Castle, Connemara, Cliffs of Moher, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Cashel, Dublin
Highlights: This grand Ireland trip is fit for royalty, including stays in the homes of Irish nobility. You’ll travel to Kildare and learn all about the racehorses of Ireland, visit the Ring of Kerry and watch how delicate crystal is cut in Connemara.
Includes: Seven nights accommodations, all tours, tour guides, transportation 7 breakfasts, 1 lunch, and 4 dinners, and more!
Book your own room on this tour with a 10% Reduced Solo Supplement fee!
Lindblad Expeditions
10-Day Galapagos Islands Expedition
National Geographic Endeavour II | July 2, 2027 |
Rates: $15,450 per solo traveler for solo stateroom
Visits: Quito, Ecuador
Highlights: Adventure by kayak, paddleboard, glass bottom boat, Zodiac, walk among wildlife, snorkel with sea turtles, observe tortoises and more.
Includes: All accommodations, regionally sourced meals, non-alcoholic beverages, daily shore excursions, expert-led lectures, use of exploration gear, open seating dining, and more.
Enjoy a 40% Reduced Solo Supplement on this voyage
Paul Gauguin
11-Night Cook Islands & Society Islands
January 2 or November 6, 2027 | m/s Paul Gauguin | Roundtrip Tahiti (Society Islands)
Rates: $7,930 per solo traveler
Visits: Moorea, Huahine, Taha’a, Bora Bora, Aitutaki, Rarotonga
Highlights: Slow down and let stress float away on secluded Huahine, where relaxation is the only item on your to-do list. Explore the local village on foot. Wander through lush rainforests. Float in crystal-clear lagoons. It's all at your fingertips.
Includes: Gourmet dining, premium alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, gratuities, entertainment, WiFi, watersports marina and more.
Book your own room on this tour with 0% Solo Supplement fee!
Silversea
12-Day Eastern Caribbean Featuring St. Barts & Montserrat
November 18, 2026 | Silver Shadow | Roundtrip Miami
Rates: $8,960 per solo traveler for solo Vista Suite
Visits: 8 Ports: Miami, FL, San Juan, St John, Gustavia, St. Barthelemy, St. John's, Little Bay, Montserrat, St. Kitts (Basseterre), Jost Van Dyke (British Virgin Islands
Highlights: Savour a sun-soaked round-trip from Miami, looping through some of the Caribbean’s most authentic and exclusive treasures. Run your hands through soft white sands, dive with vibrant parrotfish, butterflyfish and angelfish, and hike noisy, jungle-clad trails. Bask in the blotchy blue seas of St. John, shop exclusive boutiques in St. Barts and discover the secluded tranquillity of the Virgin Islands, as you enjoy the intimate Silver Shadow’s unmatched luxury.
Includes: 24-hour gourmet dining, butler service, superb entertainment, and premium beverages, crew gratuities, WiFi and more.
Book your own stateroom with only a 10% solo supplement.
Tauck
8-Day America's Canyonlands Tour
July 12, 2027
Rates: $6,614 per solo traveler
Visits: Phoenix, The Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Las Vegas
Highlights: Dreamers, visionaries, and unsung heroes shaped the preservation of three great national parks of the American West – Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion – so all who came after would experience their magnificence and relish the moment... You'll start "climbing" it at the incredible Grand Canyon... stay on it through the Painted Desert... into Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Lake Powell... past the Vermillion, White, Grey and Pink Cliffs... on to the pinnacles and hoodoos of Bryce Canyon... and right into the cliffs and valleys of Zion National Park. "It" is the Grand Staircase of the Escalante – a vast, unbroken expanse of colorful sedimentary rock layers that took nature over 200 million years to create, and envisioned by a 19th-century geologist as a series of gigantic "steps" stretching across the Southwest. And all these wonders are part of it.
Includes: Tour Guides, Transportation, Airport and train Transfers, all hotel accommodations, select meals, sightseeing, on tour flights, Admission Fees, Special experiences
Book your own room with a 30% reduced single supplement fee!
Windstar Cruises
6-Night Moments in Southern Italy & Greece via the Corinth Canal
April 1, 2027 | Rome to Athens | Star Legend
Rates: $3,724 per solo traveler
Visits: Rome, Sorrento, Reggio Calabria, Giardini Naxos, Taranto, Gallipoli, Fiskardo, Galaxidi, Athens
Highlights: Savor extra time to soak up sun-kissed Italian beaches, stroll through charming vineyards, and savor local cuisine with a shortcut through the Corinth Canal—a passage reserved for small ships like ours. Wander the imposing fortifications and archeological revelations of the 15th century Castello Aragonese, then explore countless ancient Greek and Roman relics at a Taranto museum. Drift silently on a small boat into the turquoise glow of Sicily's famous Blue Grotto. Taste rich red wines adjacent to flourishing vineyards growing on the slopes of Mount Etna above Giardini Naxos. Check cruise dates for additional days, stops, and excursions, including the Temple of Apollo in the ruins of Delphi, a speedboat getaway from Fiskardo to remote Kephalonia beaches, and a stop at the walled town of Italy's Gallipoli, where you can master fine dining details of Puglia's cuisine from an expert chef.
Includes: All meals, including specialty restaurants. Sodas, Specialty Coffee’s and Tea. 24-Hour room service. Destination Discovery Events. Entertainment Experiences. Gym and Spa Sauna access. The Marina (complimentary kayaks, stand up paddle boards, and floating islands available on select voyages) and open bridge tours.
Book your own stateroom with no solo supplement!
Regent Seven Seas Cruises
7-Night Seas of Serenity
February 9, 2027 | Seven Seas Explorer | Darwin to Bali
Rates: $7,599 per solo traveler for your own suite
Visits: Darwin, Australia; Kupang, Waingapu, Komodo, Lombok, Bali
Highlights: Sail aboard Regent’s Seven Seas Explorer on an unforgettable voyage from Darwin to Bali, with stops in West Timor, Sumba, Komodo, and Lombok along the way.
Includes: All meals including specialty restaurants, Unlimited shore excursions, unlimited beverages, fine wines, craft cocktails, specialty cocktails, pre-paid gratuities, unlimited WiFI, and more.
Book your own suite with only no solo supplement!
