Artful Travel

“Bonnie, your trips seem to curate the best of humans to participate. It’s a joy. Thank you for creating these gems”. Lee-Ann

Our international adventures for 2025 include trips to Ireland in June and Barcelona in September. The Ireland trip HAS ONE LAST MINUTE OPENING. If you’re interested, please drop Bonnie a note.

For the Barcelona trip, we have a touring-only spot available. The touring-only option offers a guided, hassle-free, and comprehensive experience of Barcelona for those who are not interested in participating in a workshop. This touring option is very popular among friends and companions who want to join without attending the mosaic workshop.

We are interested in hearing where YOU WANT GO. We are in the planning stages for 2026. Details soon. We are returning to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico for a smalti intensive workshop in January. Spring we are planning a trip to Italy: Milan, Florence, Tuscany – including Nikki de St. Phalle’s Tarot Garden!

Later in 2026 an adventure to Morocco is planned.

Please note that all trups (and workshops) have limited enrollment, so be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for updates.

Reasons to Travel to Europe with Maverick Mosaics and the Fitzgeralds. 

1. The Maverick Difference: Each itinerary is crafted to provide in-depth, authentic, and unique experiences. Many daily adventures on Maverick Travel trips are one-of-a-kind opportunities with some components not available to the public. To quote a past traveler, “…we better understand the countries we are privileged enough to visit due to your plans to balance ‘tourist’ spots with truly unique hidden gems of the area.”
2. Small Groups, Big Experiences: Most of our trips feature groups of 15 to 20 people, allowing guests to get up close to well-known sites and get to know locals and fellow travelers. A past traveler is quoted as, “thank you for the superior sensory, intellectual, and emotional experience.”
3. Perfect Balance: Maverick Travel itineraries perfectly balance structured, educational travel and free time to explore on your own.
4. Travel with Experts: Besides your hosts Bonnie and Ken Fitzgerald, University Educated Guides and local escorts accompany us. We promote the values of understanding the world we live in through experiencing and learning about different cultures.
5. Trusted Advisor: For over 25 years, Maverick Mosaics’ travel and logistics partner Mr. Rene Piard, and his company Dream Travel, have organized eleven successful European trips to date. Dream Travel’s goal is to provide affordable access to learning opportunities abroad.
6. Hassle-free Travel: A paramount feature of Maverick travel is hassle-free! We want you to relax and enjoy; leave the logistics to us. Ground transportation and transfers are included, no waiting in lines for scheduled tours. The well-being of our guests is our highest priority.
7. Great Value: Once you add up everything included in the trip fee – experts, enrichment, special meals and tastings, transfers, hotel, and gratituties, you’ll find our trips offer an exceptional experience at an excellent value.
8. The Maverick Community: Our travelers are intellectually curious and adventurous lifelong learners. Trips are for adults only and are a mix of singles, couples, friends, brothers, and sisters. The friendships that develop on our trips are often one of the most notable benefits of the experience.

On our European trips, many daily adventures on Maverick Travel trips are UNIQUE, one-of-a-kind opportunities. We offer personal, hassle-free travel, professional escorts, and university-educated guides, beautiful accommodations, and street-level cultural engagement based on the world of art, architecture, and archaeology. On many trips, we visit artist studios, enjoy fine food sampling and wine tastings, and of course, see lots of art! Our trips are designed to inspire, educate and entertain.

Some of our trips include optional art workshops or add-on master classes. We like to incorporate a creative activity, be it a cooking class, a mosaic workshop, exclusive and private museum archive visits, or music and dancing together.

Maverick Mosaics has led travel adventures to Portugal and Scotland (2024), Paris & Provence (2023) Normandy (2019), the Lorie Valley, and the Périgord region in France (2013, 2016 & 2019), Madrid and Barcelona, Spain (2014, 2022 & 2023), Italy (2015 & 2018), Ireland (2025 & 2017) and Scotland (2024). All were amazing trips, largely thanks to the expertise and planning of our travel and logistics partner, Mr. Rene Piard.  Rene exclusively provides educational institutions with affordable access to learning opportunities abroad; Maverick Mosaics qualifies as an educational institution. Along with Dream Travel, we promote the values of understanding the world we live in through experiencing and learning about different cultures. With 25+ years of experience organizing tours for educational institutions, Rene Piard is the perfect partner with Maverick Mosaics for our unique travel and learning experience.

WHAT OUR TRAVELERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT OUR TRIPS:

Every time I try to decide which MM trip I enjoyed the most: SW France, Ireland, Italy/Slovenia, or NW France…there’s no doubt! They were all FAVORITES!  Thank you again for putting together these fully amazing trips! And tour guides of the caliber of Bruno were appreciated too! 

Having been on 4 of Maverick’s trips, we have always experienced a perfect balance between structured, educational travel and free time to explore independently. We also feel we better understand the countries we are privileged enough to visit due to your plans to balance ‘tourist’ spots with truly unique ‘hidden gems of the area, which is sincerely appreciated. – Don & Susan

With Bonnie and Ken, we all were taken care of and enjoyed a superior sensory, intellectual, and emotional experience.  My feet are still floating above the ground. Thank you Bonnie and Ken for another life treat. — Camy