Travel companion in London, and why the itinerary is settled first

Bookings at Heathrow and Gatwick run to three hours at least, and her drive out and home again falls within those hours rather than on top of them. Neither airport is inside Zone 2, so the cab fare is priced too, and Octavia's reply shows a single sum, fee plus fare, to take or leave. The terminal hotels and the larger properties along the Bath Road are all within reach, at any hour the arrivals board allows.

From the quarter, Heathrow takes ninety minutes or more by car, Gatwick longer again, and the evening rush adds to both. For a companion joining you at the terminal, the Heathrow Express from Paddington is sometimes the steadier route; Octavia builds whichever journey she chooses into the time she quotes, then confirms the minute in the thread once your companion is moving.

Flights slip, and Octavia expects them to. If a landing runs an hour or two late, send her a line from the aircraft or the baggage hall; the arrival time is simply reset, and your companion leaves later to match. If the whole evening falls away, the ordinary terms on the rates page apply, counted from the moment you let Octavia know, so an early message always costs less than a late one.

After a long flight, the best first evening is a simple one: a drink in the hotel, a light supper close by, an early night for you, and a better-planned evening later in the week. Samanta, composed at airports and entirely at home in a strange lobby, is Octavia's first thought for guests arriving from far away. Two or three hours on the ladder are usually plenty. The notebook makes the case for a slow first evening after jet lag.

Many travel bookings begin close to home: a car from W1S 4BP on Albemarle Street to the airport, or a late arrival at a hotel on Piccadilly after the last flight in. Within the centre, her journey is simply part of the fee.

A companion can travel with you: to a country house hotel for a night, to Paris on the train from St Pancras, to the Riviera or Milan for a long weekend. Laura rides, skis, travels light and keeps a pencilled map of Italy in her bag; a long travel day leaves her unruffled, as you might expect of someone listed under toned and athletic. Violetta, unhurried and very tall, is natural company for a trip with long dinners in it. Cindy, who crews a dinghy and reads the weather like a sailor, suits a harbour or a coastline.

A journey of a night or more away is quoted as a weekend, from £6,000, once dates and destination are settled. Her seat and her room are booked by you as host, and Octavia asks for the details once the plan is agreed. The notebook covers the international travel companion in full, and flying private with company for departures from the smaller airfields.

At a check-in desk or in a lounge, your companion is simply the person you are travelling with. She packs light, carries her own passport, keeps to the timetable and needs no explanation to anyone. The itinerary lives in the booking conversation and nowhere else, and she decides for herself, before anything is fixed, whether a particular journey suits her.

If a driver meets you, a first name is all the introduction she needs, and the third person in the car asks for no more. The notebook has a short piece on drivers and the third person in the car.