Jan Vilaca

TICO certified

  • Ontario, Canada
  • Caribbean
  • Dominican Republic
  • Mexico (Cancun, all-inclusive resorts)
  • Cuba
  • Hawaii
  • Greek Islands (Rhodes)
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • Ireland
  • Tokyo, Japan
  • Culinary and food tourism
  • Experiential travel
  • Group travel and group hosting
  • Adult-only resort escapes
  • Family travel
  • Destination weddings
  • Wellness and mindfulness travel
  • Slow travel

About

Jan Vilaca is a culinary and experiential travel advisor based in Ontario, Canada, specializing in slow, sensory-rich travel that connects people to the flavors, people, and pulse of a destination. With eight years building Tasty Road Trips — a culinary food tour brand spanning seven Ontario communities — and nearly two years as a dedicated travel advisor, Jan brings a rare and genuine depth to everything she plans: group escapes, adult-only resort stays, family travel, destination weddings, bespoke European itineraries, and corporate and incentive travel.

Jan's expertise spans the Caribbean, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Greece, Hawaii, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Ireland, with firsthand experience across all of them — not from a brochure, but from the inside out. She has personally hosted groups ranging from five to 24 guests, ensuring that even at an all-inclusive resort, her travelers experience ceviche classes, mixology sessions, rum and tequila tastings, and vineyard cooking experiences rather than defaulting to the buffet. She recently completed a four-resort site inspection across Mexico, built a ten-day Spain and Portugal group itinerary departing in April, crafted an eight-day Ireland journey for three sisters and their mother, and constructed a custom five-day Tokyo itinerary for a solo cruiser — all in service of the same core belief: memories are built around food, not around the pool.

Jan did not set out to become a travel advisor. After eight years of guiding Ontarians through the flavors of their own backyard, her food tour clients began watching her travel on social media — Greece, Mexico, Portugal, Amsterdam — and started asking to come along. Their trust in her palate and her eye for experience made the transition feel less like a career change and more like an inevitable expansion. She completed her TICO certification and never looked back. A self-described leisure cyclist who covered 356 kilometers through the Netherlands in eight days at 60 years old, Jan is living proof of the philosophy she shares with every client: slow down, and the world opens up. Her guiding mantra — Travel. Taste. Sip. Rest. And repeat. — is not a tagline she workshopped; it is the rhythm of her own life on the road.

Jan works with solo women travelers, couples, families, friend groups, and corporate clients seeking incentive and conference travel. She is especially drawn to travelers who want to be fully present — to land somewhere and simply be there, without managing logistics — and to those ready to discover a deeper connection to place through its food, its people, and its pace. Whether she is sourcing a winemaker encounter in Rhodes, a sound bath experience in Cancun, or a walking food tour through a city's oldest streets, Jan Vilaca designs travel that tastes like somewhere — and feels like exactly where you were meant to be.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Jan Vilaca and what is she known for?
Jan Vilaca is a TICO-certified travel advisor and the founder of Tasty Road Trips, known for weaving culinary and cultural experiences into every itinerary she builds. With eight years in food tourism across Ontario and two years as a travel advisor, she has personally group-hosted travelers from the Caribbean and Dominican Republic to Greece, Mexico, and Hawaii — always ensuring clients taste the place, not just see it.
What destinations does Jan Vilaca specialize in?
Jan Vilaca specializes in the Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Mexico (including Cancun all-inclusive resorts), Cuba, Hawaii, the Greek Islands (including Rhodes), Amsterdam, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and Tokyo, Japan, alongside her home base of Ontario, Canada. Her firsthand experience in each destination — from cycling 356 km through the Netherlands to a vineyard cooking class in Rhodes — means her recommendations come from personal, on-the-ground knowledge.
What types of travel does Jan Vilaca plan?
Jan Vilaca plans culinary and experiential travel, group travel and group hosting, adult-only resort escapes, family vacations, destination weddings, bespoke European itineraries, wellness and slow travel, active trips such as cycling tours, cruise shore itineraries, and corporate, incentive, and conference travel. She is equally comfortable building a ten-day Spain and Portugal group itinerary as she is crafting a five-day Tokyo food-and-walking-tour experience for a solo traveler mid-cruise.
How does Jan Vilaca approach trip planning?
Jan Vilaca's planning philosophy is captured in her mantra — Travel. Taste. Sip. Rest. Repeat. She builds itineraries around the belief that memories are made around food, not around the pool, embedding authentic local moments — ceviche classes, rum tastings, vineyard cooking experiences, sound baths — so that clients land and simply enjoy rather than manage logistics. Her goal is for every traveler to be fully present in a destination from the moment they arrive.
What makes Jan Vilaca different from other travel advisors?
Jan Vilaca spent eight years personally curating and hosting culinary food tours across Ontario before transitioning into travel advising, giving her a depth of experiential expertise that most advisors don't possess. She has group-hosted trips ranging from five to 24 people — attending FAM visits, inspecting resorts firsthand, and sourcing cultural food moments herself — so she knows exactly how to embed those experiences into a client's trip rather than simply adding them as an afterthought.
Who is Jan Vilaca's ideal travel client?
Jan Vilaca most loves working with women, solo adventurers, friend groups, and families who want to be fully present in a destination and discover it through its food, people, and culture. She is especially drawn to clients who are ready to slow down — whether that means cycling through Amsterdam's countryside, sipping wine at a Rhodes vineyard, or sitting in a sound bath in Cancun — and who trust her to handle every detail so they never have to think about logistics.
Is Jan Vilaca certified, and how long has she been a travel advisor?
Jan Vilaca is TICO certified, the professional credential required of travel agents operating in Ontario, Canada. She has been a travel advisor for approximately two years, though her expertise draws on eight years of prior experience founding and running Tasty Road Trips, a culinary food-tourism business active across seven Ontario communities, as well as a background in postsecondary education administration and tourism.

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