HI THERE!
WE'RE SAPIENS
We're both deeply committed to curating travel experiences in the Nordic Countries, celebrating their diverse cultural heritage. Our love for these destinations transcends the surface level, fostering deep connections between the traveler and the locales they explore.
We believe in the principles of Slow Travel, a movement advocating for taking time to enjoy each moment of a journey and fully immerse oneself in the local environment.
MEET SADAO
Co-founder & Director of Experiences
Want to talk about travel, Dutch Art history, Asian culture or little villages in Scandinavia:
Erik Sadao co-founded Sapiens Travel after a career in high-end travel in Brazil, developing products for the Asian, African and European markets. He has been nominated three times for Most Innovative Advisor at the Virtuoso Awards and won the Mauricio Leyton Spirit of Virtuoso Award.
He is the author of seven travel books and more than ten guides for The Traveller Collection by Teresa Perez. His campaigns Traveller Flavours and Traveller Faith were nominated at Pure Life Experiences, and his work on The Traveller Africa issue won South African Tourism's award for most creative campaign.
MEET FERNANDA
Co-founder & Head of operations
Want to talk about travel, sustainability or motherhood:
Fernanda Matsuoka co-founded Sapiens Travel after fifteen years in high-end FIT travel, across five-star hotels, cruise ships and luxury agencies. Born in Brazil to a family of Japanese immigrants and married to a Frenchman, she has lived abroad since 2015, first in the Netherlands, then France, and in Mauritius since 2023.
She studied Hotel Management and holds an MBA. Her work rests on project management, travel logistics and communications, and on the three things she asks of every file: joy, beauty and precision. She also co-founded Youth Climate Leaders, which opens climate careers to young professionals.
WHAT IS A HUNTER GATHERER OF EXPERIENCES?
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Twenty thousand years ago, Homo sapiens lived as hunter-gatherers, reading the land, gathering knowledge, and carrying stories from one place to the next.
But unlike what most people think, they always had space for sujectiveness, it was not just survive. On the walls of caves they painted what they saw and dreamed, telling stories and making art in one of humanity's first acts of self-expression. This was our species' earliest way of being in the world, and it is where our name comes from.
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That need still lives within us: to wander, to understand, and to tell the story. At Sapiens, we travel the way our ancestors did: curious, attentive, in search of meaning rather than mere sights. We are curators, hosts and lifelong students of the destinations we represent, rooted in Amsterdam and at home across Northern Europe.
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It is why, for us, every journey is a story worth telling well. We study a place until we understand its essence, then shape how it reveals itself to you, so a trip becomes something you feel and carry with you long after. Because how you travel, and what it comes to mean, matters as much as where you go.
WHAT WE DO
"We connect people and cultures through thoughtfully curated journeys, transforming tourism into a force for cultural appreciation and preservation."
MISSION
To create culturally meaningful journeys that connect travelers, communities, and destinations through carefully curated experiences, fostering cross-cultural understanding and contributing to the cultural sustainability of the places we represent.
VISION
To be recognized as the leading reference for cultural and lifestyle travel in Benelux and Nordic Countries, transforming the way travelers discover the world by combining knowledge, authenticity, innovation, and excellence in every experience we create.
OUR VALUES
Serve with Care
Serving is our craft and our pleasure. We bring genuine hospitality and operational excellence to every stage of the journey.
Knowledge
We are driven by an ongoing pursuit of knowledge. We study, explore and share the stories of a place, revealing its true essence.
Innovation
We question how things are done, imagine new ways to present destinations and stories, and find the courage to act.
Respectful Connections
We grow long-term relationships built on trust, transparency and collaboration, with clients, suppliers, communities and teams.
Cultural Sustainability
We work for tourism that brings lasting benefit to the destination and its people, protecting the heritage of each place.
Authonomy
We gather excellent people and trust them to think, decide and act, choosing quality over quantity with real ownership.
HOW WE APPLY THEM
Travel Slowly, and Well
In a world that glorifies speed, we choose to slow down. Our itineraries give you time to arrive: to settle into a place, open up to its stories, and truly enjoy the company you're travelling with, in small groups of no more than ten guests per host.
But slow is never idle. We handle the logistics, secure skip-the-line access, include the gratuities, and keep every drive under two hours in comfortable, brand-new cars and boats, so the journey is as rewarding as the destination.
We connect the dots between your life and the destination's story
This is where a Sapiens journey comes to life. We begin by understanding the moment you are in: a milestone worth marking, generations travelling together, a long-awaited reunion, a new chapter beginning. Then we read the destination just as closely. We know these places intimately, and everything we recommend we have explored ourselves: their history, their living culture, and the experiences only local trust can open. The art is in connecting the two, drawing a line between a place and your life so that each gives meaning to the other. Guided by a curatorial eye and a feel for where luxury is moving, the post-luxury shift towards meaning and experience over excess, we design journeys that feel fresh, personal and, above all, yours.
We Welcome Everyone
Founded in Amsterdam, we carry the city's spirit of liberty and tolerance. We stand for equal rights for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, for women, and for every minority group, and we create journeys where every traveller feels genuinely welcome. Travel, done well, builds empathy and respect: a more inclusive world, one journey at a time.
We Keep your trust
Discretion is part of our craft. The details of your journey, and everything you share with us, remain entirely confidential. We never showcase client information in our marketing or on social media. The trust you place in us is a cornerstone of the personalised service we provide.
We care for the world and for the future
Slow travel and responsible travel go hand in hand, for the planet and for the cultures we visit. Guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we design low-impact journeys that never compromise comfort or joy, favouring walking, cycling and train travel, locally sourced and sustainable amenities, and digital documents over waste.
Just as important is what we give back: we champion local makers, guardians and traditions, protecting the heritage of each place so that tourism brings lasting benefit to a destination and its people, becoming a force for cultural preservation. A portion of our profits supports Inspirar-te, a Brazilian non-profit bringing art and cultural experiences to children in vulnerable communities, and Youth Climate Leaders, co-founded by our Head of Operations, Fernanda, to back community-led climate action.