Despatches From David:

The Long View

Welcome to the founder’s desk. 

A Founder’s Reflections on a Lifetime in Travel, TML and the Road Ahead

Welcome to Despatches From David — The Long View, a space where I step out from behind the itineraries and day‑to‑day operations of TML to share the thinking that shapes our journeys. After nearly three decades in travel, I’ve learned that the real story often sits beneath the surface — in the long view, the quiet signals, and the shifts in how people want to experience the world.


This page is where I share the long view: the lessons learned over 37 years, the shifts I’ve seen coming long before the industry acknowledged them, and the thinking behind the evolution of TML today. It’s also where you’ll encounter Moneypenny, my mischievous Virtual PA, who brings her own brand of charm and commentary to the TML universe. We hope you find viewing TML through her eyes both entertaining and endearing.


These Despatches aren’t announcements. They’re reflections — on Scotland, on travel, on change, and on what it means to build a company with care, clarity and purpose.


Settle in. There’s a lot to share, and even more still to come.


If you want to understand not just what we do, but why we do it, this is the place to start.

A New Chapter for TML — Rooted in Scotland, Shaped by Experience

by TML Travel Group HQ • 18 March 2026
On the eve of our Dunkeld House Taster Weekend brochure release, I wanted to share what lies behind the company, product and brand repositioning now taking shape. For more than twenty‑six years, Scotland has been at the heart of my work. From my first Iona pilgrimage in April 2000 to the journeys we lead today, Scotland has shaped me as much as I’ve shaped itineraries. It’s a place that has always felt personal — a landscape of stories, hospitality and quiet meaning. But my relationship with Scotland goes back even further. Scotland first appeared in my itineraries in 1997. They were very different days — a different industry, a different pace, a different set of expectations. Even then, I could see that the way people travelled would need to evolve. The signs were there, quietly but clearly, long before the industry was ready to acknowledge them. Events of the past twenty years have only cemented that view.