Out of Africa, and back again: “As soon as my feet are on the ground, I feel like I am home”

From the untamed wilderness of the African savannah to the stunning serenity of Antarctica, Take Off Go founder Ivona Siniarska is curating jaw-dropping experiences that leave a lasting impression on travellers.

It is easy to spot Take Off Go founder Ivona Siniarska on a flight into Africa. Although she has visited more than 50 times, and regardless of whether the flight is to Rwanda or Zimbabwe, she will inch forward in her seat. For Siniarska, it is almost a gravitational pull.

“As soon as I land in Africa and my feet are on the ground, I feel like I’m home. As soon as I leave, I’m left with this overwhelming urge to return,” says Siniarska. “And I cry on every single flight off the continent. It is a place that really does resonate with the soul.”

Few founders take their company’s mission statement as seriously as Siniarska. “Take off go” has been a lifelong mantra for the Polish-born Melburnian, whose appetite for travel was whetted in her youth, when direct flights to Poland were exorbitantly more expensive than those with stopovers in London or Paris. Put plainly, the long way around was cheaper and infinitely more interesting.

When founding Take Off Go in 2024, Siniarska recalled those wide-eyed trips around the globe and aims to inspire a similar sense of awe in each traveller who comes through her doors or, more literally, pops up in her inbox. Her experience ranges from Flight Centre to Kensington Tours, where she first focused on luxury, tailor-made African itineraries.

Over forty of those visits to Africa have been to Sub-Saharan destinations where the space is so wide you can lose sight of the sun-glinted horizon. This experience inspired her second business, All About Africa. Working exclusively with the travel trade, she helps advisors secure ambitious itineraries so more travellers can experience unforgettable moments.

For instance, only three weeks ago, Siniarska was in Botswana with her guide and stumbled upon that singular sense of grounding she yearns for. At the time, the rains had been heavier than usual, and rising floodwaters forced two prides of lionesses onto a shrinking patch of dry land. From a nearby Land Rover with a coffee in hand, Siniarska listened to the roars and witnessed the territorial battle.

Botswana is home to an estimated 3,000 lions, making it one of the healthiest lion populations in Africa. While the lions usually keep their distance, Siniarska observed that the need to survive and shelter their young forced them together. “Hearing that roaring as these beautiful cats fought to protect their own was completely raw and wild,” she says.

Those moments are difficult to stumble upon, but insider knowledge puts travellers into the right positions. It is not every day you can eavesdrop on disputes in the animal kingdom.

“Our guests are investing in confidence,” says Siniarska. “They want to know that someone who understands both the destination and the standard they expect has considered every element. It is a continent that rewards curiosity and humility, and visitors cannot understand it through surface-level travel.”

This movement has seen a distinct shift away from what she calls “conspicuous travel” and towards “intentional travel” for guests, which is increasingly popular with high-net-worth individuals. The core concept is that stepping out of the norm provides vital psychological distance from everyday life.

In response to this, Take Off Go has begun catering to travellers seeking the most extreme expression of this philosophy, offering the most arresting immersion possible.

The frozen frontier: “Doesn’t feel like you’re on Earth”

Antarctica is a key destination for Take Off Go’s immersive travel itineraries

If Africa is the raw, beating heart of the agency, Antarctica is an icy shock of total surrender. For travellers seeking the ultimate break from their daily routines, the White Continent offers a sense of isolation that no other place can replicate.

“I had a guide once say in Antarctica that it’s the only place on Earth that doesn’t feel like you’re on Earth,” says Siniarska. “It is stark, humbling and deeply perspective-shifting.”

When travelling towards Antarctica on New Year’s Eve last year on a luxury expedition ship, one specific moment stuck with Siniarska. A few hundred metres from the ship, Siniarska and her fellow travellers spotted a pod of orcas. In a scene straight out of David Attenborough’s Life in the Freezer, the 3,500-kilogram mammals were racing through the ice-infested waters hunting a single penguin.

“Watching all of that unfold, there were four orcas and one little penguin swimming for his life, and we’re in the middle of the Southern Ocean, this serene, pristine environment, you realise that what we experience and what we do is so small compared to what survival looks like in those environments,” she says.

Siniarska has been to Antarctica three times, yet the sudden crack of an iceberg calving will always leave her pinching herself that she is in the world’s least-visited and most isolated continent.

“I think that’s where you really become humbled by it. Antarctica strips away noise and reminds you of the sheer scale and fragility of the natural world.”

Where Take Off Go goes next: “The power to deepen how we see the world”

Take Off Go has come a long way in a very short time. From the centre of Sydney, the Sahara Desert is 18,000 kilometres away, while Antarctica is a more reasonable 6,500 kilometres. Siniarska is committed to helping people step out of their comfort zones.

“Africa and Antarctica are two of the most extraordinary regions on Earth, and both have profoundly shaped not only my business, but my beliefs on what travel should be,” says Siniarska. “From the beginning, I was never interested in building a transactional travel business. I wanted to create something far more considered and relationship-led.”

Siniarska’s two ventures serve distinct but complementary purposes. All About Africa operates exclusively as a trade-focused operator, arming travel advisors with nuanced knowledge acquired over decades.

Take Off Go is her client-facing travel booking business. It works directly with travellers to bring their journeys to life and ensures someone is there to greet them upon arrival. That someone could be a lion, a penguin, or Siniarska herself.

“People who come to us are seeking trips that feel meaningful from within,” she says. “Because travel, at its best, has the power to deepen how we see the world, one another, and our place within it.”

To learn more about bespoke travel design and to explore options for future journeys, please visit takeoffgo.com.