Special ways to travel

MIDWIVES are calling Jon Baines Tours (JBT) and so are doctors, vets, dentists, engineers and culture lovers as more discover the travel operator's specialist trips, where like minds explore the world in new ways.

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Imaginatively eclectic and eyeopening, the company's 35 expert-led tours, tailor-made quests and cruises range from botanicals in southern Africa and a dive into Asia's precious spices to palliative and elderly care in India, midwifery in Australia and the origins of belief in Turkey.

Plagues are proving to be a major crowd-pleaser and in May a JBT group will embark on a road less travelled to see how past deadly infections have shaped today's Europe from Venice to Soho.

Trips are generally two weeks and cost on average £2,000 to £3,000, although cruises are pricier.

Customers usually have vocational jobs or are retired professionals.