The end of summer vacation season has found us. If you were one of the lucky ones, you now have an SD card full of photos (because lets be honest, who has time to download and print them?!?) and some fond memories of a travel adventure that gifted you with some premium family time.
But let’s stop for a minute and think about the time and energy (stress!) that was involved in planning your last family vacation. How many hours did you spend online researching and comparing options? Airfare. Hotel. Rental Car. Day Trips. Excursions. Activities. And that is only the beginning. Did you manage to find the best rates? (stress!) Which extras are worth the money? (stress!) How should you approach meals? (stress!) Have you been making the best decisions? (stress!) Not to mention trying to create a complete package that will keep everyone happy. (lots of stress!) Most people spend HOURS, even DAYS planning their trips… and that is time you just don’t get back.
The beauty of the internet is that it provides the ability for you to do all this travel research and planning, yourself. But the downside is that there is just so much information out there that it can become overwhelming very quickly. By the time you are done with all of the planning, you are even more in need of that vacation than you were before you started!
Wouldn’t it be great if there was someone you could trust to take care of all of this for you? Well, there is.
Intellego Travel was founded by Kim Zielinski, a busy mom just like the rest of us. She has personally planned travel for nearly 20 years – and after being continually called upon for her expertise by family and friends, she decided to leave her corporate job and follow her true passion – planning travel for busy families. She has experienced the challenges that vacation planning can present and she knows how much time and effort it takes to get the job done.
She is available to help guide you through every step of the process – from choosing a destination to arranging the perfect activities. Kim truly values the experience travel gives you – and especially values what a gift it is to children.
There are only so many summers that we have before our kids are grown. Make them count and use them to open your child’s eyes, enrich their lives, and help them grow into true global citizens.
– Kim Zielinski
So how does this all work? Well, it’s super convenient because Kim will set up your initial planning discussion around your schedule. She will either meet you in person or chat via phone. She even does meetings via Skype for clients who don’t happen to be local. Then the fun begins – you tell her about the trip you’re dreaming of and you’re off. She provides options for you to consider and ultimately books the travel for you as well.
When I first speak with a client to begin the planning process, the main objective is to best understand the client and the type of experience they are looking for. I want to know why they have chosen a particular destination – is this a bucket list item? Are there any sights or activities that can’t be missed? Is this trip for a particular occasion (birthday, anniversary, etc) or just your annual summer vacation? I want to understand what trips they have taken in the past, what they have liked and disliked about them. I want to know about the types of activities the client and their family enjoy as well as how active they want this trip to be. Some people want to see and do as much as possible while others want a more balanced approach to activities and down time to relax. Another thing I want to understand is what research they have done on their own already (the vast majority of people have already done some browsing online for things like hotels, resorts, airfare, sightseeing, etc) – if there is something out there that they saw and liked, by all means, I want to know! This dialogue helps to establish an outline for their trip itinerary and gives me a starting point from which to make specific recommendations. In the end, I want to design the best experience possible for my client while making it as hassle free for them as possible.
-Kim Zielinski
You get all of the joy and excitement of dreaming up the vacation fun without the stress of handling the details. Don’t know about you, but we think that sounds amazing!
I was able to set up a meeting with Kim within a day of contacting her. We talked for about 30 minutes, during which she asked a lot of questions about the plans we had already been working on and what we would like to do. That same day, she got back to me having researched the hotels/B&Bs we were looking at and had found a better price on one of our favorites. We asked her to book it for us the next day. That was great since I was feeling a little squeamish about calling to do it. (I hate to call people I don’t know.)While I’m the kind of person that likes to research and see my options, it would have been a huge help to have her in the beginning. It would have helped to focus what area of the city to look for hotels, and I’m sure her suggestion to buy a London Pass saved me a ton of research time. She was great at listening to exactly the kind of vacation we want and finding things to fit it.
Intellego’s planning fees start at $125 and go up depending upon the complexity of the trip. A small investment considering the time and effort you will save! The mission of Intellego Travel is to help clients spend their time wisely. Life is busy, so don’t spend your precious free time bogged down by trip planning.
