For many globetrotters, the joy of travel comes from exploring alongside fellow adventurers who share a wonder about the world. Three organizations in Nashville pull together like-minded travelers to forge local relationships as well as global itineraries.

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Frist Art Museum, Director’s Circle

“What often starts as a trip based around art ends up as lasting friendships among people who share interests and curiosity about the world around them,” says Jonathan Norris, chief development officer at the Frist Art Museum, which coordinates group trips to international destinations every other year and shorter domestic trips in the years between.

Donors to the Frist’s Director’s Circle, who give $10,000 annually to the institution, have access to the exclusive travel program, which hosted a two-week trip to Japan in 2025 and a shorter visit to Mexico City in 2024.

Seth Feman, executive director of the museum, accompanied them on the trip to Japan. The 20-person group started in Kyoto and ended in Tokyo, via the Art Islands, an enclave of artists and museums. As the group traveled the country, they traced history through the lens of art. “The group was inquisitive, adventuresome and genuine, which meant they were as interested in connecting with each other as they were in learning about Japan, its history and culture,” Feman says. “People came back with new friends and a hunger to explore the world together again.”

Soon, the Frist will announce details of a summer 2027 art-and-food tour through Scandinavia, and there’s quiet excitement about a soon-to-be-revealed travel collaboration between the Frist and a partner museum to trace the path of a significant historical leader across Europe.

Between the big trips, the Director’s Circle hosts four- or five-day excursions to art destinations like the Zona Maco fair in Mexico City, Paris Photo, the Venice Biennale, and exhibits and art fairs in Chicago, Atlanta and New York. For major Frist donors who show up independently at cultural calendar traditions like Art Basel in Miami, the Director’s Circle often provides home-away-from-home gathering spots, inviting supporters and Frist curators to convene at cocktail receptions and restaurant meet-ups.

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Cheekwood Estate & Gardens, 1929 Club

The 1929 Club at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens takes its name from the year when Mabel and Leslie Cheek commissioned architect Bryant Fleming to design their landmark house, reminiscent of the great country houses of Europe. That same year — on the cusp of the Great Depression — the Cheeks embarked on a grand tour to collect the masterworks that still adorn the museum and its 55-acre landscape.

Almost a century after that sophisticated shopping spree, the elite 1929 Club donors’ circle honors philanthropic supporters who commit a minimum of $29,000 to support the ongoing maintenance of Cheekwood’s house and grounds.

In the spirit of Mabel and Leslie’s exploration, the 1929 Club invites donors to travel on VIP group trips, with behind-the-scenes access to historically significant estates. Past excursions have included tours of Newport, R.I., and New York’s Hudson River Valley, where 1929-ers visited the private rooms of the Nashville Cheeks’ Gilded Age contemporaries. One California expedition led to Bellosguardo in Santa Barbara, the frozen-in-time residence of copper heiress Huguette Clark. Built in 1937 and left dormant after the death of Huguette’s mother, Anna, the mysterious property features in the nonfiction book Empty Mansions. “We go to places you can’t just visit as a tourist,” says Sarah Sperling, vice president of museum affairs, who helps build the 1929 itineraries.

Upcoming 1929 Club trips include a visit to Florida in February to tour the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, the 75-room former home of the Standard Oil founder, as well as Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami, with private home tours along the way.

Sister Cities Nashville

The Nashville chapter of nonprofit Sister Cities International began as a collaboration between the Nashville Bar Association and the French city Caen, in Normandy. After formalizing in 1991, Sister Cities expanded its travel destinations to include 10 sister cities in Europe, Canada, Asia, South America, Australia — even a trip to Erbil, Iraq, in 2023.  

Sister Cities trips are open to members, who pay an annual $50 fee to join. There are separate trips for adults and high school students.

“The goal is not just to create connections between sister cities, but to create relationships among Nashvillians who haven’t met,” says executive director Sarah Lingo. Generally, the adult trips run four or five days, with a two-week itinerary for the long-haul trip to Mendoza, Argentina. Often, travelers will coordinate logistics to arrive early or stay late so they can travel together before or after the formal program.

Typical trip programming includes meeting with the mayor and visiting city hall, a school, courts and local attorneys.

In Belfast, Ireland, the group explores the civil rights history of the Troubles, along with the Titanic Belfast museum, near the dry dock where the ship was built and launched. In Caen, travelers visit Normandy’s World War II landmarks. And, true to its lawyerly roots, the trip provides continuing legal education credits for attorneys.

Sister Cities trips tend to be more affordable than comparable group travel, due to partnerships with the cities, reciprocal relationships and hospitality. “We always strive to make the trips as affordable and accessible as possible,” Lingo says. “More often than not, there’s a homestay option, to stay with a family who will provide meals and transportation.”

Upcoming trips include Mendoza, Argentina, the home of Malbec wines, in late February, and Belfast, Ireland, in October 2027. Summer trips for high school students frequently go to Caen, Mendoza and Magdeburg, Germany, with the sister cities reciprocating in alternate years. “Even if you aren’t going to travel,” Lingo adds, “you can still host and connect with another country, without ever leaving Nashville.”