About us

Who we are

Blue Dot Travel is a boutique tour operator with an office located in North Sydney. Blue Dot Travel offers a selection of hand-tailored small-group tours to unique destinations worldwide. Each itinerary is thoughtfully crafted to create a more authentic travel experience. We offer an extensive range of bespoke small group tours with group sizes of between 4 and 16 travellers. If there are more than 10 travellers on our international tours, an Australian tour leader travels with the group to provide additional support.

Four passionate travellers run Blue Dot Travel. Brett and Kate Goulston launched Blue Dot Travel in 2011. They bought a small hobby business and have grown it into a successful boutique agency. In 2016, Brod Brennan and Joanne Coughlan joined the leadership team. Having travelled extensively, their involvement in the business was a natural progression after managing and leading many tours for Blue Dot Travel. Between the four, we have travelled to over 150 countries, many on multiple occasions.

Our Small Group Tours

On a Blue Dot Travel small group tour, you’ll travel with like-minded people. Our clients seek to venture further to less frequently visited places off the tourist trail. Blue Dot Travel clients prefer to travel with a small group, making the overall experience more flexible and personal.

Blue Dot Travel don’t sell off-the-shelf tours. We seek out lesser-known destinations, facilitating a more genuine and immersive journey. We endeavour to learn about a region, its people and its history. Of course, you won’t miss out on seeing the iconic sites along the way. We’re passionate about travel and love to share our knowledge and enthusiasm with fellow travellers. Blue Dot Travel employs a selection of experienced tour leaders. Karen Green, Gordon McRonald and Simon Hart are regulars.

Our Private Group Tours

If travelling with small groups is not for you, Blue Dot Travel also offers a range of private tours to the destinations we frequently visit. Our private tours are available for a group of four people or more. You can create a tailor-made adventure that suits your style of travel, whether you want to be accompanied by a guide from start to finish, or just for a day here and there. Blue Dot will make all the arrangements, from planning and booking your flights to reserving accommodation, airport transfers, private transport, and an experienced local guide. We’ll also advise and assist with entry visas if they are required.

We have dozens of itineraries to choose from. Let us know which part of the world interests you. We’ll be delighted to help you put something together for your group.

Our Family Tours

Blue Dot Travel offers a range of family-friendly travel experiences. We help families explore more unusual places, rich in culture and adventure.

You’ll stay in good-quality accommodation, enjoy great food and see glorious scenery and wildlife. Plus, interaction with the locals will ensure special family memories are made. We know how to travel with children!

With our less familiar destinations, the hard stuff is done for you. Hotels, main meals, accommodation, and sightseeing are all taken care of.

Why the name Blue Dot?

Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of our planet taken in February 1990 by the Voyager 1 space probe. The image was captured an incredible 6 billion kilometres from Earth. As the spacecraft was departing our planetary solar system, it turned around for one last look at its home planet. In the photograph, the planet appears as a tiny dot against the vastness of space, among bands of sunlight reflected by the camera. The image inspired the title of scientist Carl Sagan’s book, “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,” in which he wrote: “Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us.” The vast expanse of the world can seem impossibly huge. Still, we aim to make the Pale Blue Dot smaller by offering comprehensively tailored travel to extraordinary destinations.