I purchased and paid in full in May for a trip to Iceland for Oct 11-19, 2025. Unfortunately, my husband had a massive heart attack on Sept 6 and was advised on Sept 16 not to travel. I immediately contacted our agent to see if we could get a refund or at least a full or partial credit for a future trip and was told "no" since cancellation was within 30 days of the trip. No where in our trip info was I made aware of the cancellation policy. I am extremely disappointed that we couldn't make this trip and disappointed that there was not a better outcome. read more

We did get a refund after they had full payment for over 6 months. Also note this company continues to send out trip mailers for trips with the same cruise line and Never Mention NO Accessibility. read more

Very bad performance by Gohagen today in Santorini. They gave us very bad instructions as to how to get off the island, and as a result we had to wait in line for two hours fifteen minutes in a unruly crowd in the hot sun. SHAME ON YOU GOHAGEN read more

We purchased a Tahiti trip (4 cabins) with Gohagan Travel and sadly only a month preceding our travel, we experienced the unexpected death of one of our traveling family members. Gohagan compassionately went out of their way to mitigate our travel arrangements, and extended us kindness and accommodation. We are endlessly appreciative for the grace that Gohagan showed us during this difficult time and we look forward to traveling with Gohagan & Co. in the future. read more

Having been a Tour Manager for Thomas P Gohagan Company, I can without a doubt say this company was the best company I worked for in my 40-year career. Sadly, Covid has brought my career to a screeching halt. It would be my pleasure to return to Gohagan when travelers begin to venture out again. As a Tour Director, my colleagues and I proudly enjoyed every minute of being with you, through the Baltic, Mediterranean, Tahiti, New Zealand, Antarctica and every other part of the world. We hope you will come back soon. We miss you! You would not be disappointed in the care, concern, service and quality of the programs Gohagan & Co produce. Katherine Whitley read more

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I took the Gohagan Danube Christmas Market tour with a friend through the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Dec. 4-14, 2024. Once we were on the river boat the tour was wonderful- excellent tours of the cities and towns we stopped in, beautiful boat accommodations and meals, and great Christmas Markets. However, the planning for the tour by Gohagan was TERRIBLE. From the time we signed up, agents lost our reservations, sent incorrect information to us, and had very poor communication. I spent many hours on the phone w/ them and the airlines involved correcting Gohagan's mistakes. Gohagan is not BBB-approved and most reviews of Gohagan online are negative. I see that the University of Virginia is offering the trip this Dec. through Gohagan again this year. I highly recommend the trip, but only if Gohagan doesn't handle your reservations read more

Gohagan's mistakes caused us to miss our trip to the Netherlands with Texas Tech Alumni Association. We arrived at the airport to find flight changes in 2 different flights. By the time the ticket agent could figure out the mistakes and rebook us, we were past the time for United to accept our luggage. Therefore, by missing our original flight we missed our connecting international flight to Amsterdam. Gohagan was contacted by the airline prior to the day of our flight about the flight changes. However, we were never notified so that we could make the necessary adjustments. Gohagan will not admit to their mistakes. The airline refunded our money, but Gohagan won't refund the money for the cruise in the Netherlands. Buyer Beware. I wish I had read the other reviews before my husband and I booked this trip. read more

I recently took a cruise to Alaska with "Inland Passage" in the title. I do not believe we took the Inland Passage as advertised. There were excursions that were full before I even knew they existed. When I arrived in my cabin I soon realized I needed an adapter for my CPAP. I was offered an adapter as well as an extension cord because my CPAP cord wouldn't reach the adapter. This could have caused a trip hazard. In hindsight they could have offered me a different room. The ship had newer rooms that had more than one 110 outlet, and the ship was not full. I had difficulty selecting my own excursions because it was next to impossible to get arrival and departure times for each port. The agent I worked with would not return calls nor emails. I did eventually have a different agent who was much easier to work with. I think the WindStar ship itself was excellent, but I can not recommend Gohagan. read more

We booked an alumni trip to Alaska. The initial agent was awful-- did not return calls or answer emails, gave faulty information and did not functioning in a timely manner--we frequently waited weeks for answers and only got them by repetitious calling and emailing. We were told Gohagan would help book our flights but they were too busy-- when they finally got around to offering to assist us-- we had booked our tickets at a much higher price than if we had booked at the time we reserved our trip-- almost double the cost. No help was ever offered with hotel booking although we were told they would. We were not told about shore excursions until they were sold out. They would not initially give us the arrival departure schedules to book our own. Again by the time they granted us that info (they were afraid we would miss the boat, we are all seasoned travelers). T The cruise was actual nice due to it being on Windstar and their wonderful staff except we were in an old room that had no outlets on the bed walls-- so we had to string an extension cord across our room to use a medical device. Safe to have an extension cord strung across the room in the middle of the night? But the most disturbing aspect is the title of our trip was The Inside Passage to Alaska-- but we didn't go up the Inland Passage way-- they went around Vancouver Island in the open sea-- a totally different experience that what we expected. Beautiful but not what we paid for. Never was this change explained. Once Gohagan replaced the initial agent, answers were much more forthcoming but by then the stress and disgust had really built up, as well as missing opportunities to book shore excursions that we were really interested in. Again, I would travel on WindStar but never would I use Gohagan to arrange my travel. Gohagan's agents on the actual cruise ship were helpful but by then all of the above was done. Not the experience we had expected for a high end cruise. read more

BEWARE!!!! We booked a tour with them and specifically asked about their Covid policy prior to booking, we were told they issue a full refund if someone can't go on a tour due to Covid. After taking our full payment for the tour, they changed their covid policy and did not notify us of the change. One of us tested positive for covid two days prior to the tour, and when we contacted our Gohagen representative, he stated he would start processing a refund. Well, that refund never came and now our attorney is involved. This company is NOT Reputable, does not stand behind their words, on their recorded line, and their customer service department uses "Ghosting" as a means of conflict resolution. Horrible company! Sue M. read more

Made a reservation for a trip in September 2023 and had to cancel due to conflict with family plans. Been waiting for a $1600 refund for 5 week's now and all I get is a run around from them. Very frustrating and unfortunately in seeking help I find they have a D- rating with the Chicago BBB. Saw other reviews that experienced same problem. read more

Well folks, the pandemic isn't done, and cruise ships aren't safe from Covid, but Gohagan has to be the worst. I booked two trips with Gohagan which should have taken me from Venice to Athens and from Athens to Athens. Note that these are week-long cruises, so if you get Covid on the cruise it won't be symptomatic or show up on tests 'til after you get off the boat. How convenient. We know that there were Covid cases on the first cruise, but we don't know how many. After my week in Athens I didn't have to test before boarding for the second trip, but I was feeling poorly so I got a test and I tested positive. I requested cancellation for myself and my wife for the second cruise, and they cancelled our trip before departure, but they didn't give us a refund. Lesson #1, when they suggest that you get trip cancellation insurance, pay attention. Lesson #2 note that Gohagan books entire ships ("small ships" that have 120 cabins as well as cabins for crew) from Ponant lines. Ponant lines has a "serenity" policy for its cruises which allows you to cancel because of covid up to the date of departure. Which means I could have booked the same trip with Ponant on a cruise that wasn't booked by Gohagan and Ponant would have given me a rebooking or refund. Lesson #3 I didn't HAVE to cancel my trip because Greece no longer requires PCR testing prior to departure. I cancelled my trip because five days' isolation is recommended after you test positive so you don't infect other people. But if I didn't tell them I had tested positive I wouldn't have had to miss any of the shipboard or shore activities. So beware that you'll be on a cruise where the crew is masked and the passengers aren't. read more

Extremely mismanaged and operated! I would never recommend them! Paid extra for Gohagen to intervene if there were an issue.... But that never happened! We waited at the airport in Geneva for an additional 3 hrs for other guests that never showed! It was only when I intervened with Donna - the Gohagen rep did she FINALLY tell the driver to take us to the Matterhorn !! We were able to make it up to top for a few minutes before it closed! That alone was inexcusable! The locks were shut down and we were afloat and missed the visit to Strasbourg! There was NO CREATIVITY FOR THIS WASTED DAY!!! A true trip from hell from beginning to end! read more

Run the other way if someone asks you to take a trip organized by Gohagen. Apparently they were well respected prior to their buyout and reorganization. This is why we took a recent cruise trip (July 2022) organized by them. Big mistake. They are now an absolute disaster. Pre-trip planning an responses are atrocious. We and friends lost count how many times we contacted them (email and phone call, to numerous individuals) without a response. We had to provide the same information numerous times. They quoted a ridiculous airfare for connecting to the cruise departure point. We booked ourselves for less than 60%. They stranded us at the departure city bus tour. After being told by their representative to meet them in the hotel lobby at 1p, no one was there waiting. The hotel staff said they had left for the bus trip. Unable to contact any Gohagen representative we called a friend on the bus trip. We were to to meet at a location unknown to the taxi drivers we tried. We finally connected with the bus tour and Gohagen tour guides couldn't have cared less. On board organization by Gohagen was no better. Port talks were only started 1/2 way through the cruise. The Gohagen cruise director winged many answers to questions and when he specifically promised to get back to the passengers on an important question, no one from Gohagen ever did. Likewise, even after discussing our dismal Gohagen experience with their Director of Customer Service, who promised to get back with us, they never did. We were left off the departure time list despite providing flight departure information twice. We were told by the individual preparing that manifest the passengers were expected to catch their errors. And now I understand the association with whom we travelled on the Gohagen-organized trip has stopped using Gohagen. Use Gohagen at your own peril. We will NOT. read more

Just returned from an alumni-based trip to Scotland and Iceland with Gohagan. I was booked on similar trip operated by another supplier which was cancelled at the last minute by the ship operator. Having traveled previously with Gohagan (three or four trips, maybe??), we were glad to find the Gohagan trip as an alternative. All of our previous travels with Gohagan were outstanding experiences from writing the deposit check to getting on the plane home. The company apparently suffered the same problems as many other travel companies during the pandemic, losing experienced home office staff. Also, the company is said to have been sold to a hedge fund--never a good sign for any service provider. The experience with the Chicago office was a disaster. I won't even bother with the details. It was so bad that the first document in our slapdash welcome package on board the ship was a letter of apology from the CEO. (A good marketing manager would have told the CEO that the letter should have included the offer of a token discount on a future trip...it didn't.) Once we actually got on the tour, the Tour Directors did their usual outstanding job of delivering a world class product. We were particularly delighted to have Mihai Visan as the lead Tour Director, as we have traveled with him previously. Sheri Korth was also excellent in her role. She handled some failures by a local tour supplier with grace and a smile to deliver the promised product. In summary, I think that if you can beat your way through the home office's present incompetence and chaotic organization to actually get to the tour, you will do well to travel with Gohagan. Hopefully, the company in Chicago will eventually recover from COVID and get the front end fixed. In the meantime, you're going to feel like you're buying a new Mercedes from the corner "Buy Here, Pay Here" used car lot. read more

Last year's trip with Saint Mary's College Alumnae Association was wonderful. The planning with Gohagan could have been much smoother. There were unhelpful staff members and phone calls not returned. I hope there customer service has improved. I received the most help from Ana Gurian. I'm hesitant about traveling with Gohagan again. Also the single occupancy rate for the current alumnae association is ridiculous. 200% higher than double occupancy. read more

This is the worst travel agency I have ever dealt with! Disorganized, rude staff, particularly Catherine McKenna, my trip leaves in little over a month and I still do not have flight itinerary, cruise itinerary, no reading list. This is supposed to be a luxury trip. This treatment is so far from luxury ......... every time I request I go they tell me they are busy with another trip. Do not book with this company you are in for total frustration. read more

Gohagan is staffed by unprofessional, unresponsive, passive aggressive service agents who refuse to provide trip details in a timely manner -- for a $20k+ vacation. The fact that Brown University uses them for alumni-affiliated travel literally keeps us from booking those trips. Once was enough. Everyone we met on our cruise had the same experience -- it was literally how people introduced themselves: Comparing nightmare experiences with Gohagan. Save yourself the tremendous stress and book directly with the cruise line. read more

Gohagan was fabulous to travel with! It's not easy to adapt as you go in this day and age (ongoing pandemic issues), but they really showed great flexibility, creativity, and hospitality throughout our 10 day adventure. We had an incredible time. I was also pleased to see how much they prided themselves on excellence in every aspect -- from the itinerary and the excursions to the accommodations and staffing. I have been on guided adventures and cruises before that were fine, but this was next level and so lovely. I would personally travel on a Gohagan trip again, and I will be advocating for my team to use them for future networking trips, as well. 10 out of 10! read more

This is our third cruise with Gohagan that I've taken with my husband and we have always had an amazing time. This cruise featured the Adriatic and Aegean Seas and we traveled through the 70 foot wide Corinth Canal just at sunset when the lights were on - truly spectacular! The travel directors with Gohagan were attentive and took care of every detail to make sure our cruise was enjoyable and memorable. Sue S. read more

Just updating .... No one reached out or looked into my complaint. I guess this is their go to response as I have read from other complaints about them. My friend did go on the trip in April .. so they did not loose money . The cabin and hotels were at single occupancy instead of double. So keeping all of my 6000+ dollars was really uncalled for. I have read many complaints and someday when my grief of loss lightens some I will try further to warn others . Maybe at least as I requested if they refuse any refund to me then give some of it to "make a wish foundation" instead of greedily in their pockets at my expense. It was a trip of a lifetime after my retirement and I worked very hard taking care compassionately of others my whole career to be in the position to pay for it. Please be very careful if you are booking a vacation with this agency. Demonstrate A greater awareness than I did and demand that they clearly answers your questions. read more

I've just had a nightmarish experience with Gohagan and its highly problematic business practices. After we booked our trip to Italy and paid in full for it, Gohagan didn't send us any receipt or confirmation for a week (even though they lost no time in withdrawing the money from our bank account upon booking), making us wonder for a while if we had fallen for an on-line scam. That was an early sign of bad things to come. The company's "passenger advocate," Rosalinda Nunez, who was supposed to answer our questions related to our travel preparation and what not, did not answer our e-mail inquiries, 9 in total (even those regarding COVID-related health requirements) or return your calls, making us highly anxious about the competency of the company itself even before the trip began. This non-communicativeness turned out to be the shared experience of others in our travel group. Practically everybody was so frustrated by Ms. Nunez's failure to answer inquiries and her tendency to provide wrong information (for example, the information intended for other tours!). Once the trip began, we found, to our surprise, that many mobility-challenged fellow travelers were in our tour group. The travel brochure clearly stated that this tour included many excursions consisting of walking tours. Some of our "fellow travelers" were so mobility-challenged that they forced the small excursion groups to fall so far behind schedule or other groups that we often had to forego some of the visits/attractions. To their credit, the tour directors were doing their very best to help out these mobility-challenged travelers Gohagan's front office dumped on them but there was only so much they could do. As a result, some of the members of the tour group (i. e., paying customers) had to step up and help out those mobility-challenged fellow travelers throughout the trip. I don't blame the tour directors at all---on the contrary, I felt bad for them for having to work like nursing home caregivers. I blame Gohagan's front office for allowing these customers with mobility issues (and in some cases lacking in cognitive abilities) to join a group tour program that included many walking tours. I understand that during the pandemic, tour companies were having a tough time and were inclined to take any comers. That said, I felt it was totally irresponsible for Gohagan to bring in so many mobility-challenged travelers into a group travel. It was a very expensive trip and I felt ripped off that my spouse and I spent all that money on practically serving as a volunteer nursing home worker accompanying someone else's grandparents or decrepit spouses (I apologize for this harsh language but that's how upset I am about Gohagan's irresponsible business practice). Stay away from this travel company!!! read more

AVOID BOOKING WITH THIS COMPANY. I booked a tour with some friends and requested information regarding the cruise. We never heard from anyone. I've sent emails and never got a response back. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. read more

Absolutely the worst travel agency I've ever dealt with. They are the travel agency used by National Trust Tours . I have no idea why a reputable organization like the Trusy would utilize a travel agency with a poor online Reputation.. We canceled the reservation for a trip That would occur in several months. They slow rolled the return of our deposit of $1200 Avoid them like a plague and read the other reviews - Or use the net your own risk. read more

We made the mistake of thinking that Gohagan's affiliation with my wife's alumni association was indicative of a vetting process. It turns out the alumni group was aware of Gohagan's issues but they continue to do business with them anyway. We had a good experience with everything under control of Windstar, but I'd recommend you book your cruise directly with them instead of Gohagan. Gohagan's only contribution was frustration with their incompetence and unethical business practices. read more

Excellent destinations, great staff, and full days of events. We just travelled to Portugal, Spain, France and the UK. Local tour guides navigated our way through the sites providing history and context. We visited Normandy with David Eisenhower after his talk about his grandfather's role in that historic event. The Ponant ships are unmatched for luxury, service and accommodations. With 141 guests and 117 Ponant crew, we wanted for nothing! The food was outstanding with multiple choices at each meal. Don't skip the cheese plate is my advice. I can't wait to travel with Gohagan again! read more

I second the experience of the reviewer from Texas. We just returned from Italy. Local guides were wonderful but company is a disgrace. Many of our fellow travelers were close to 90 and they should not have been on this tour. Communication pre-tour was terrible. Never again. I am signed up for another tour with them but am going to cancel and lose my deposit. Company has recently been sold (within the past year). read more

Atrocious customer service. Pretravel communication nonexistent. Went on circumnavigation of Iceland trip because we were going with friends and our travel agent told us that Ponant was a great cruise line. They were--and Iceland was spectacular. Received an apology letter from Gohagan CEO as part of our welcome package. Who does this? Met some executives onboard trying to salvage reputation. I have no confidence that they can solve the issues. Do not book a Gohagan organized tour. It's a crap shoot. read more

I had to cancel a trip that was paid for, but was within the allotted time for full refund. It is now nearly a month since I cancelled and have yet to see my refund! read more

Canceled the trip in March when we were told the cabin we requested was not available. It was canceled well within time. Now in July I get a charge on my card for it. Wish me luck getting my money back. I really want to give them a zero. read more

Of course, we do not expect perfect service during the coronavirus closings. If you phone the company, you get an extremely long explanation that they are returning calls and working a full day on weekdays. You are expected to leave a message and they say that they will return your call. They don't return calls. Any travel agency has the responsibility to provide service to their customers. That's the entire reason for their existence. Based on my experience I would definitely never book a tour with this agency. read more

Original trip was cancelled due to Covid. Since then, we have been unable to rebook due to Gohagans lack of response. We have given up on our deposit because we are unable to contact them via phone, email, or website. After dozens of attempts to contact them, their three responses over the last two years have been long-winded speeches about their troubles and empty promises. Go somewhere else. Do not use Gohagan. They do not care about their customers. read more

Please use caution if you are planning a trip with Gohagan & Company travel agency out of Chicago, Illinois. My husband and and I booked an alumni trip to Italy through this company for May 2020. Due to the pandemic, the trip was postponed twice, like so many other trips. No refund was given, so we rebooked the trip for May 2022, hopeful that we would be able to travel this year. Our communication with the office over the previous 6 months was lacking with no response to emails or phone calls trying to confirm the trip. Without warning, Gohagan Travel canceled our trip to Italy 11 days before departure via email. Again, no response to emails or phone calls. A refund was promised this time within 7-10 days. Once we hit the 21 day mark, I called or emailed every day. Never once did anyone return my calls or emails. I did reach a "passenger services advocate" on the phone twice who tried to help, but put me off with "the check is in the mail". After 7 weeks, We finally received our refund of thousands of dollars that the company held for over 2 years. I understand the travel industry was hit hard by the pandemic and subsequent lockdown. Beyond that, the communication and customer service of this particular company was abysmal. I will never use their travel service again. Side note: we were able to recreate the itinerary at the last minute and we saved $3000! We had a wonderful trip to Italy on our own. read more

We booked a tour through Smithsonian Journeys to Vietnam and Cambodia. Smithsonian uses the Thomas P. Gohagan Company as their tour company. I must say due to other reviews I read, I had some reservations, but they were totally unfounded . The Gohagan staff were wonderful and did everything they could to meet my needs. Perhaps we could have used a few less early mornings, but then, we would not have seen everything we needed to see. The entire trip was perfect! The experts included were knowledgeable and very interesting. The excursions were interesting although I think there was a bit much about the Vietnam War. Although it was an important part of our lives at the time, I think the Vietnamese have gotten past it so maybe we should too. Maybe those tours should be optional. I did make our own flight arrangements. The majority of participants were alumni of various universities and most of them were rather cliquish, but that had nothing to do with Gohagan. It is what it is. Thank you Robin, Letticia, Sheri, and Katherine for making our trip so wonderful! read more

If you're thinking of taking a trip with Gohagen, think twice. Months ago I signed up for a June 2018 cruise to the Aegean and the Adriatic. The stated difficulties for passengers on the tours amounted to very little. Months later I looked on the Web and found that the cruise I had signed up for was clearly not appropriate for me. One limitation after another was indicated in print. I asked if I could change to another Gohagen trip and was told NO. Many other people might find themselves in the same situation. Diana Burgwyn read more

We signed up for a cruise of Ancient Greece to take place October 15,2020. We have the option to cancel our trip up until mid-June. We decided to cancel and did so weeks ago. We notified them through calls and email, they have yet to refund our $1600 deposit! Are they bankrupt? We are within our dates and agreement time to request a refund. The University of Minnesota uses them for alumni travel, we will be warning them of Gohagen's horrible service and that it doesn't honor our deposit agreement. read more

We just completed a small ship tour to Greece and Turkey with Gohagan Travel, a tour operator based in Chicago. We have done small ship travel with academics aboard before, although never with Gohagan, so we can compare this to other trips. We chose this trip because of the great itinerary. I must say we were very disappointed. First, the positives: The local guides in each location were fantastic. The itinerary was great. The ship was nice, clean, room had a balcony, and the house staff were very pleasant. The problems: 1) There were many alumni groups on the ship and these groups did not socialize with others, stuck together. This made the trip much less fun than others we have been on where everyone was super friendly. 2) The academics hired for this trip were very lackluster, their lectures extremely boring, some lecturers were past their prime, no passion about the topics, no making history come alive. I would give this group of professors a D- to F. I have been on trips with great scholars who were interesting, fun and complete experts. Not these. 3) The Gohagan staff were not helpful, not organized, sometimes uninformed, gave poor instructions, and a couple of times were downright rude. I asked questions about itinerary twice while we were in the field and was verbally snapped at by the staff person who said "it was in your written briefing" rather than just politely answer my question. I guess I was being punished for not memorizing the daily sheet. 4) The food was so mediocre that it made the trip unpleasant. So much for the French cuisine that was touted in the brochure. The food was not good. A cut above cafeteria food. 5) Very little interaction with locals, only once did we have a dance group come aboard. Very little cultural exchange, although this was billed as a trip highlight. read more

Had a bad experience with Gohagan. We booked a VERY expensive Elbe river tour. The water level was low and the trip was converted from a 7 day cruise to a 4 day bus and hotel and a 3 day cruise. I think I could have adjusted to the change in plans but I was so disappointed with the way Gohagan responded to my questions and requests. They were extremely unhelpful to say the least. If only they had made some small effort to reassure people that the trip would still be worthwhile I would have gone along with it but they made such little effort and showed so little concern that i cancelled all together. read more

We went on an alumni tour with Gohagan (Amazon and Machu Picchu) in March 2020. Just as we were supposed to get to Machu Picchu, the country of Peru shut down because of Covid-19. The agency reacted extremely quickly and efficiently, realizing first that we needed to get to Lima asap, they got us on the last flight out of Cusco that night, put us is a very nice hotel in Lima, while they worked to get us out. We were in fact on the only flight out of Lima for 4 days before, and for 4 days after. If I could have improved anything, I would have asked for more communication. but our 2 wonderful tour directors, Celiece Reid and Diane Saulnier did all they could to keep us informed, to keep us safe, and made the best of a very bad situation. We only missed the last part of the trip, and had a fabulous time on the Amazon part of the trip, as well as the part of the Sacred valley we were able to see. Travelling is always taking some risk. Tavelling with Gohagan made things so much better when things got bad! I can't recommend them enough! read more

We enjoyed a wonderful alumni cruise on the Windstar sailboat "Wind Spirit" through the French Polynesian Islands. The tour guides were knowledgeable and Gohagan representatives were friendly and helpful throughout our 10 day adventure in the South Pacific! They arranged beautiful excursions on each island and interesting shipboard lectures. In Tahiti they had us staying in a beautiful ocean view room at The InterContinental Tahiti and also got us a day room there before our night flight back to LAX. In Bora Bora we stayed at The Inter Continental Le Moana Resort in a horizon bungalow over the water. Everything was picture perfect. From the food to the tours to the accommodations. We can't wait to do another Gohagan tour! Thank you for a lovely Valentine trip to Tahiti! read more