Meet Your Guide

Local Rendevous Travel founder, Jennifer Wolcott, loves learning about other cultures by sampling and cooking their native cuisine, interacting with local residents, and exploring the natural beauty of the land. Formerly known as Meli Melo, Local Rendevous (as we like to call it) keeps the same spirit of discovery—with a name that reflects exactly what we offer: meaningful meetups, rooted in place.

Travel is one of the best ways to open one's mind to other ways of thinking, living, and being in this world, she says. By venturing beyond the comforts of home with an adventurous spirit, we not only create special memories, but we also learn how much we have in common with people from other cultures and how small the world truly is. Travel is a vehicle for becoming, perhaps, a bit more tolerant and accepting of others who are different from us.

Since early 2015, Jennifer's experience hosting and organizing tours to the Azores (eight tours to San Miguel Island) has shown her how much pleasure there is in exploring naturally beautiful locales with small groups of smart, adventuresome, and curious guests. As a partner in the business, she also enjoyed the behind-the-scenes work of writing about and photographing the island for all of the marketing materials, web site, and social media.

Previously, Jennifer worked as both the arts editor and food editor of The Christian Science Monitor, where she wrote hundreds of articles about the arts, food, and travel. She has also contributed feature stories over the past two decades to The Boston Globe, EatingWell Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. Culinary titans she has met and interviewed include Julia Child, Alice Waters, and Jacques Pépin. Jennifer also founded a food blog, Pantry Road, with friend and cooking teacher Maryanne Muller.

Jennifer’s strong focus on the foods of her various tour destinations is a result of a lifetime love of cooking. Years ago, she studied Provençal home cooking at Mas de Cornud cooking school in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, and wrote about the experience for The Christian Science Monitor. These days, Jennifer takes “kitchen lessons” from her French mother-in-law, Monique, and she enjoys hosting small groups in the South of France.

Jennifer likes to incorporate a "wellness" piece in every Local Rendevous Travel tour. She is a lifelong tennis player, an avid yogi, and she also enjoys hiking, biking, and walking.

Click on "Destinations" above to learn more about our exciting trips.

La vie est belle!