About Us

For the past 25 years, we have traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia with an emphasis on Italy and Bali.
We have been fortunate enough to come to own properties in both these magical locales. Our properties are located in the ancient hill town of Cortona, Tuscany and the in stunning and peaceful village of Amed, on the eastern coast of Bali. We have deep and lasting relationships with people in both Italy and Bali that allow us to offer the opportunity to our guests to have sojourns beyond those of the normal tourist experience.

We own several of the properites listed on this site: Casa San Marco in Cortona, Italy, and then Apakabar Villas and Villa Paradiso in Bali. In addition to our own properties, we offer several other properties in Cortona, Italy, where we are the American booking agents for the owners, who have become close personal friends. As former owners of Urbino in Portland, Oregon, www.urbino-pdx.com, we work closely with the owners to insure that all Sojourn Ventures properties are up to our own personal standards in design, amenities and comfort and that these homes provide welcoming accommodations during our guests sojourn abroad.

In Cortona, we offer a type of personalized concierge service to guests, and begin working with them long before they arrive in Italy, to insure that they have the trip of their dreams. We work closely with our Italian colleague, Denys Perathoner, a licensed tour/travel agent, who provides services such as intimate tailored tours of Tuscany and Umbria, visits to local wineries, tours in all the major Italian cities as well as hotel bookings in cities and towns throughout.  We are also able to offer in home cooking classes in most of our properties with local chefs that provide exquisite Tuscan cuisine. In conjunction with Denys, we can offer a customized Italian adventure, for those who wish to utilize our services.

Denys's office is located a few meters from the Terontola-Cortona train station, and when guests arrive at her office by train or car, they are personally met by her to receive keys and any additional assistance they may require during their stay. She also orders taxi service in advance for guests arriving to Cortona by train, or personally accompanies them to the property if they have arrived by car. She is on call all week as a contact person for any issues or needs that may arise.

In Bali, we have a large staff of extended family and friends most of whom have been with us for 10+ years. They are the most devoted, kind and wonderful people and work very hard to insure that our guests are pampered in every way and take their needs and comfort to heart. We constantly receive letters from our past Bali guests saying that engaging and interacting with the staff was one of the highlights of their Bali experience. Our Balinese partner, Wayan Menu, is our amazing on-site owner/manager, who runs both Apakabar Villas and Villa Paradiso, and works with our staff to keep all aspects of both properties running smoothly. 

We too, take our guests needs and desires very much to heart, and receive much satisfaction from providing people with a meaningful experience, a trip full of discovery and anventure and connecting them to some of the wonderful people we have grown to treasure. The feedback we receive from people who have "stayed with us" in both Italy and Bali is that they indeed have had the trip of a lifetime, the experience far exceeded their dreams and expectations.

We look forward to providing you with your own Bali or Italy adventure-we hope that you will join us!

Warmly,

Stacey and Rob Friedman