Luxury travel operator Black Tomato is proud to unveil The Pursuit of Feeling (PoF), a transformative new platform that redefines travel by focusing on the powerful emotions it evokes. As the company celebrates its 20th anniversary, this innovative initiative reflects Black Tomato’s founding philosophy: “You may not know where you want to go, but you know how you want to feel.”

A New Era of Emotion-Driven Travel

At its core, The Pursuit of Feeling invites travelers to approach planning through an emotional lens, exploring five key emotional pillars, to feel: Revitalized, Freedom, Distraction, Challenged, and Contentment. These pillars were chosen to provide a broad spectrum of emotions that reflect the diversity of human experience during travel. Each represents a universal desire: revitalization for physical and mental renewal, freedom to explore and feel unbounded, distraction as an escape from modern life’s noise, challenge to push boundaries and grow, and contentment for inner peace and joy. Together, they offer a holistic framework to capture the profound emotional impact that travel can evoke.

To bring this vision to life, the platform launches with four key elements:

The Feelings Engine: A revolutionary AI-powered travel tool that blends technology with human insight to curate bespoke trip recommendations based on how travelers want to feel.
100 Curated Experiences: A collection of unique, emotion-aligned adventures, discoverable via an intuitive new microsite.
Emotion-Driven Itineraries: Five new immersive journeys designed around the emotional pillars, spanning destinations from India to Greenland.
The Pursuit of Feeling Podcast: A captivating new podcast featuring leading figures from art, fashion, psychology, and more, sharing how travel and emotion intertwine in their lives.
The Feelings Engine: AI Meets Human Insight

Central to The Pursuit of Feeling is The Feelings Engine, an industry-first innovation that transforms how trips are planned. Travelers can describe, in their own words, how they want to feel—whether it’s “untethered” or “full of wonder.”

Utilizing proprietary augmented intelligence, The Feelings Engine analyzes these desires and draws on Black Tomato’s extensive database of researched, curated experiences and information to deliver tailored recommendations that reflect the unique nuances of what the traveler seeks to experience. Unlike traditional AI, this is augmented intelligence: a seamless blend of cutting-edge Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)-based AI technology that taps into Black Tomato’s 20 years of human expertise and insight.

Tom Marchant, Co-Founder of Black Tomato, explains, “It’s a long-held insight from our clients that they may not know where they want to go but always know how they want to feel. The Feelings Engine is a natural extension of this philosophy, creating an emotionally-focused approach to travel planning that combines the best of human expertise and insight with leading technology.”

A Century of Emotional Experiences

For the platform, Black Tomato has curated 100 unique experiences designed to align with the five key emotional pillars: Revitalized, Freedom, Distraction, Challenged, and Contentment.

This includes everything from cold water swimming in Scotland’s Cairngorms to feel revitalized amidst shimmering pools and dragonflies, to delving into Tokyo’s wonderfully weird side—exploring pop idols, arcades, photo booths, and the dizzying energy of Shibuya—to embrace the feeling of distraction. To make this exploration even more engaging, the Pursuit of Feelings platform offers intuitive browsing, enabling users to search experiences based on how they want to feel.

Emotion-Driven Itineraries

To embody the emotional pillars, Black Tomato will introduce the following five new itineraries that span breathtaking destinations:

India (to feel Revitalized): As a salve to stresses in modern life, recharge body and mind over nine days in India, seeking enlightenment in Rajasthan with ancient rites and Ayurvedic principles; exploring the foothills of the Himalayas; and tracing the Ganges downriver, all while flowing with yogic gurus, taking pilgrimage to ancient temples, meditating on sacred riverbanks and chanting in the garden of Buddha. 
Chile (to feel Freedom): Experience pure liberation on a six-day adventure in Chile, exploring vast landscapes, infinite skies and the Atacama Desert; watching the sunrise from above; soaking in volcanic hot springs; and admiring rose-hued sunsets in the Valle de la Luna, guided home by stars with astrological experts.
Mongolia (to feel Distraction): Escape modern chaos over 12-nights through remote Western Mongolia, traveling across ancient steppes and mystical summits. Rarely visited by tourists, connect with local hosts, participate in traditional festivals, follow annual migration routes, raft ancient gorges, and horseback ride to sacred temples. 
Greenland (to feel Challenged): Push your limits in Greenland’s raw wilderness, navigating monumental icebergs and stunning fjords to experience a remote existence in two boutique luxury camps. Engage in challenging hikes, rappels, or kayak/SUP in the open ocean, exploring untouched landscapes.
Greece (to feel Contentment): Embrace serene contentment on a 14-day odyssey through the beautiful Greek Islands. Discover Thessaloniki’s ancient architecture shaped by empires and taste through Greece’s famed dishes, then set off on an unforgettable island-hopping trip, exploring rugged landscapes and unwinding on idyllic beaches. 
The Pursuit of Feeling Podcast

Finally, complementing the platform is The Pursuit of Feeling Podcast. In Black Tomato’s first ever podcast series, luminaries from travel, art, psychology, the culinary world and more explore the feelings they have encountered on their travels and how these experiences and emotions have shaped their lives. Guests include iconic pop artist Ashley Longshore and the godmother of New York Fashion Week, Fern Mallis, offering personal insights into the emotional power of travel.

The Science of Emotion-Driven Travel

To underscore the platform’s approach, Black Tomato partnered with clinical psychologist Dr. Shelby Harris, who explains the scientifically proven benefits of travel:

Travel reduces stress by lowering cortisol levels and boosts dopamine through new experiences.
Immersing in nature releases endorphins, enhancing mood and alleviating anxiety.
Navigating new cultures sharpens problem-solving skills and strengthens emotional resilience.
“Travel is a powerful reset,” says Dr. Harris. “It’s a unique opportunity to rejuvenate the mind, body, and soul while building resilience through challenges and new perspectives.”

Reflections on the Future of Travel

Marchant concludes, “Since the beginning, we’ve always focused on the emotional drivers of travel, asking clients why they want to travel before landing on a destination. With The Pursuit of Feeling, we’re amplifying this foundational approach in ways that feel more personal and meaningful than ever before. We’re excited to enter this next chapter, creating even deeper emotional ties through travel.”