Meet Our Team Of Bespoke Travel Planning Experts
Think of us as your well-traveled friends who happen to know all the best spots and love sharing them with you.
About Salt & Wind Travel
Founded in 2015 by culinary expert Aida Mollenkamp, Salt & Wind Travel is a woman-owned bespoke travel planning business with over a decade of experience providing travel concierge services and crafting personalized travel itineraries to the world's most delicious destinations.
Why “Salt & Wind?” Because we’re all about food and travel, and you need salt for food to taste its best, and wind to get an airplane off the ground!
Helping You Travel Better
You deserve to make the most of your precious vacation time — our stress-free travel planning services do the work for you so you can focus on being in the moment. Whether it's securing exclusive access to family-run establishments, arranging private cultural experiences, coordinating seamless logistics, or curating authentic local encounters — we handle every detail so you arrive relaxed and ready to explore. To get started, check our travel planning services!
Our Expertise
Our travel expertise runs deep in carefully selected destinations — California, France, Hawaii, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. Working regularly in these locations means our recommendations are high-quality and our local relationships are genuine. Each destination is meticulously researched through our networks, each travel partner handpicked through our local connections, and each experience curated to reveal the cultural treasures that make these regions authentically unique.
Our Philosophy
Cultural immersion makes for more profound, meaningful experiences and lasting memories. We're driven by the idea that authentic travel experiences can transform you from tourist to local insider while positively impacting the communities you visit.
Our mission is simple: we curate transformative cultural experiences that connect travelers to authentic destinations through local traditions, insider relationships, and hidden gems that reveal each place's true character.
Our Team Of Bespoke Travel Planning Experts
Founder & CEO
Aida brings unparalleled expertise as a cookbook author, trained chef, and former Food Network personality who has dedicated her career to food, travel, and hospitality. After graduating from Cornell Hotel School and Le Cordon Bleu Paris, she became Food Editor at CHOW Magazine before hosting multiple television shows including Ask Aida on Food Network.
Her extensive travel experience spans living in France and Italy, speaking four languages, and earning her WSET Level 2 wine certification. Aida's favorite destinations to curate for clients include Italy's Sicily and Piedmont regions, France's Rhone Valley, and California wine country.
Partner & Travel Planner
Kristen combines her background as a filmmaker and digital storyteller with extensive hospitality experience gained on Nantucket's high-end dining scene. Her unique perspective comes from living in Mexico City for five years and traveling extensively through Italy, Switzerland, and Hawaii.
As a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach pursuing Applied Functional Medicine certification, Kristen brings wellness expertise to our travel planning business. She now splits her time between the United States and Todos Santos, Mexico. Her favorite places to plan travel for clients are Italy's Val D'Orcia region, the California coast, the Island of Hawaii, and Mexico's Oaxaca region.
Travel Planner
Rachel is an Arizona-born, wanderer at heart who eventually settled down to live the pasta-eating dream in Florence, Italy. Since 2014, she has been working as an Italian culture decoder, writing articles and consulting on all things Italian lifestyle.
Rachel holds a BA in Italian Renaissance Art from Scuola Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence, Italy and a Masters in Art History from Arizona State University. As of June 2021, Rachel, her husband, Marco, their two Italian-American bambini and their dog Luigi have been living in Arizona while spending their summers in bell’Italia.
Rachel has Pugliese roots and she loves planning travel in Central Italy as well as in Puglia. Follow Rachel on social at The Italianista.
Does Travel Planning Feel Like Work Instead Of Wonder?
In just 30 minutes, we'll shift that energy.
Your Discovery Call is where the stress melts away and excitement takes over — we’ll explore your travel style and the adventures waiting for you. No commitment, just conversation.