Hello, Alexa the intern here! It wasn’t until a few months ago, when I started working with this incredible company, that I learned how much really goes into planning a vacation. Sometimes it’s hard to wrap my brain around all the little details that each travel consultant never fails to include.

I started thinking about how much my friends and family would benefit in their pursuit of traveling the world by getting involved with Global Escapes, and that’s when the reel of old family vacation memories began unwinding in my head. Before Global Escapes, I thought we were doing okay at the whole planning thing, but now I realize how much cooler our trips could have been after seeing these consultants in full action.

There is one family vacation in particular that comes to mind when I think about how Global Escapes could have enhanced our vacation. Back in 2009, my grandma decided to take the entire family–yes all 18 of us–to Beaver Creek, Colorado, for two weeks over Christmas Break with the idea of replacing our usual summer trip to New Smyrna Beach. Although the ski trip was on the complete opposite side of our normal vacation spectrum, in addition to the opposite side of the seasonal calendar, we thought, “What could possibly go wrong? Nana knows what she’s doing!”

Well, it wasn’t long until we realized that even when someone thinks she knows what she is doing, she still could miss something. It turned out that she booked what seemed to be the furthest hotel in all the land from the popular hub of ski slopes. Now imagine that hike in ski boots that felt like 100 pounds each, plus an annoying amount of bus stops, for a group of 18 that included small children. And yes, we also made the mistake of buying all of our own gear and hauling it to Beaver Creek all on our own (bear with me here, it was the first time skiing for all of us = clueless). Right here, Global Escapes could have saved us some money by avoiding purchasing our own gear and then paying extra luggage fees to get it out there. Referring us to a local ski shop for rentals definitely would have been better for people like us. I bet you can guess where my ski stuff is sitting right now? Yep, it’s all still in the giant purple suitcase that I hauled down the airport halls almost six years ago.

There were a lot of other fun things that I slowly learned about AFTER my vacation that I wish I’d had the chance to experience. I know that Global Escapes would have recommended activities far beyond the basics if we would have enlisted their help. Right now, when I think of a ski trip, I think of ski school, skiing some trails, and then eating ridiculously expensive hot dogs and French fries at the summit pavilion. It was fun, but also very average for an unreasonably high price. How could we have avoided making it average? Well, there’s snowmobiling, hidden five-star restaurants, sleigh rides, and local secrets…and Global Escapes has the inside connections to it all. On that note, something else I learned is that Global Escapes has ability to negotiate prices and make special offers that you cannot find anywhere else. There is no doubt that Global Escapes is a well-established brand in the realm of travel and tourism with benefits I wish my family could have used.

Now, going back to that five-star restaurant I just mentioned, it’s called Beano’s Cabin, and it is truly one-of-a-kind. I remember one of our first nights in Colorado, we were passing what looked like a mass of people at a bus stop, but it turned out they were waiting for giant sleighs (pulled by Sno-Cats) to haul them up the mountain to one of Beaver Creek’s finest dining lodges. This story fortunately ends with us getting there eventually, but let me tell you, it took lots of scheming and scrambling to get a reservation on our very last night in Colorado. The point here is that Global Escapes could have made these reservations months in advance and saved us the headache of squeezing in the coolest things to do at the last minute due to our lack of knowledge. Ski trips are certainly not something to mess around with when you’ve never taken one because there are so many things you need to know about beforehand. My family knows a lot better now, and they foresee a travel consultation in the future for our next ski trip, because while we may be familiar with Beaver Creek now, we still have no clue what Big Sky, Montana, or Park City, Utah, skiing entails!

Tags: Beano's Cabin, Beaver Creek, Colorado, ski, sleigh ride, snowmobiling, snowshoe, Travel, vacation