Largette Gazette: October Edition

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Largette Gazette

Greetings from the Island!

Hello everyone and welcome to the new Largette Gazette! Here we will update and highlight some key things you should be aware of that are going on in Largay land and we will also showcase new members, mentees, technologies, and any other news fit to print going on within the Island of Misfit Toys! So sit back relax and enjoy the read Scott

Largette Gazette

Want to contribute to next month's edition?

The Largette Gazette has its own email address for all things Gazette! This way we can keep things all in one place to make sure your content gets in and gets seen!

For all things Gazette related please send them to gazette@largaytravel.com

Have suggestions for additional sections of the Gazette? Let us know!

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Boo Bash!

Largay Travel's famous Boo-bash is back and is going to be both an in-person and virtual event this year which means everyone can participate in the fun no matter where you are located!

The categories for this year's contest are: 1) Costume contest 2) Pumpkin contest (can be carved or decorated) 3) House, room, or yard decoration 4) Pet costume contest 5) Food creation 6) Drink creation All categories will be judged by your Largay Travel Advisory Board and there will be prizes for each category so bring your A-game!

Winners and prizes will be announced at the following town hall on November 3rd where you are encouraged to keep the Halloween vibes going and come dressed up!

More details and submission information will come in a follow-up email but start planning now!

Our breaking news section highlights some of your fellow Largette's and Larguy's who have recently been featured in an article or the press as well as some industry news highlights.

In case you missed it: Virtuoso Honors “Luminaries, Legends and Leaders” of Past Year

Gail Rosenberg featured in Recommend article on multigenerational trips

Sabre and Emirates reach new distribution agreement Need up-to-date travel restrictions information? Don't forget to go to the BeWise Travel Entry Guide

How Your Clients Can Make Free International Calls, Get a Wi-Fi Hotspot Using a New App

Photos of the month Largay Travel's Summer Camp

Photos of the month

Largay Travel's Boston FAM

Largay Travel's New York FAM

Photos of the month

Largay Travel's London FAM

Have photos from your travels and want to see them featured in the Gazette? Don't forget to email gazette@largaytravel.com!

Client photos of the month

Kate Winslow's clients enjoying the rooftop terrace at Casa Delfino in Crete on their honeymoon

Jan Barash's clients enjoying a camel ride on a Tauck trip to Egypt and Jordan

Snaps

"Snaps to Jane. Big, big snaps. She took over a client issue when I was traveling and in the middle of my own travel issue. I cannot say thank you enough time.

Snaps to Sylvia. You help me so much with air, so often. You are incredible at what you do. " -Katie Schmit "Snaps to Jing on the incredible work getting us set up for a successful launch of Brandfolder. You are the best!" - Scott Largay "SNAPS to the Largay management team and staff for hosting and organizing this month’s Summer Camp. Huge SNAPS to Paul and Amanda for so graciously opening their homes to all of the advisors and suppliers in attendance. It was a wonderful and inspiring event!" - Kate Winslow "I want to give snaps to Largay!! I am so happy to be back with the family. It is so nice to be back with everyone. It was so nice to see the people I haven't seen in forever in the office and at summer camp. Thank you again to Largay for bringing me back. I couldn't be happier!! Here's to many more memories and laughs to come." -Nicole Arruda "I would just like to thank our "inside staff" for hanging in there and keeping up with our requests. I know that these past 18 months have been an amazing ride, hopefully, we will NEVER experience it again." - Henya Lish-Gebeloff "I would like to add that Filippo Maria Maringiu, Area Sales Manager of Belmond-Italy and Spain was great in Milan! I reached out to him last minute (as I forgot he lived in Milan) to see if he wanted to meet, he not only was accommodating with my schedule, he made a reservation at a great spot for lunch for us Salumaio di Montenapoleone and paid for it! He tried making a reservation at the Bulgari as he said they have good pasta dishes, but they didn't have space available as it was fashion week." - Stefany Ceccato

Snaps

"BIG SNAPS to Toni Carusone for giving up a lot of her birthday weekend to help me with a really bizarre ticketing glitch due to a last-minute schedule change. In 30+ years on SABRE, I've never seen anything so weird. Toni saved the day for me and for my very best clients!! I couldn't have done it without her!" -Betsy Bouche "SNAPS to the Largay team and management that organized an awesome Sept 20-22, 2021 Summer Camp. It was great being together with old and new colleagues!" -Bobbi Nappi "A HUGE & HEARTFELT $nap & thanks to EVERYONE who helped plan, deliver, and attend the Largay $ummer camp(s).

In spite of the current physical, financial, and psychological obstacles, in true Largay style...we overcame the headwinds, came together and reconnected, reenergized, and rejoiced at being together in the MOST awesome, inspiring, rewarding industry...

How AWESOME it was to PHYSICALLY be able to see ( NOT via Zoom !) & hug one another !!

I know those that could not attend wanted to,and our goal next Fall is to ideally return to a single, group-family event...

Thanks again for ALL you bring to our community..." - Paul Largay

New(er) Largay Advisors

This section features some of our newer Largay members to join the team.

Pam Wittmann Coming to us from the nation’s Capital metro area, specifically Alexandria, VA, is Pam Wittmann. While travel is nothing new to her, her “official” launch of her own travel company, Evolution of Travel, happened in late 2019. Perfect timing, right? But she thinks so—the shutdown of the industry due to the pandemic allowed her to get handson experience with cancellations, FCCs, as well as provided her more time to put everything into place in her back-office processes/procedures. She is a recent addition to our Largay family and is excited for what 2022 will have in store for us and the industry as a whole.

From the age of six, Pam was planning family vacations: destinations, what to do, when to go, etc.

While working on her bachelor of arts in speech communications degree, she participated in choir and Forensics (no, not the dead body type)—both of which continued to fill her life with travel experiences. She believes in the motto, “Work Hard, Play Harder”, so much so that she normally has her personal vacations planned out 18-24 months in advance. It was on the last of these soulchanging journeys to Australia and New Zealand when she realized she should take her love of travel and marry it with her gift of planning and logistics.

Pam and her architect husband, John, have made the best of the last few months of work-fromhome in their 1950 mid-century modern house. There’s been ample sunshine inside and out; renovated patios and courtyards with exceptional wi-fi to work-from-home when the weather permits; and dedicated home offices with doors that can be shut in the evenings. Pam has been fortunate to continue to work in her position as an Association Executive during this past year while working full-time on her travel company. She recently transitioned her entire focus to her travel career, and she’s thrilled to become a member of the Largay Travel tribe.

Ken Marshall I arrived a bit late to travel.

As a child, my parents did not travel unless we could drive there, and we had a relative to stay with once we arrived :). In fact, I did not take my first commercial flight until I was out of college. Since then, I’ve been doing my best to catch up! After 11 years in the corporate world, I started fresh at 36 years old in the travel industry….and I’ve never looked back.

I have been married to my college sweetheart, Linda, for just shy of 30 years, and we both still love the excitement and exploration that comes with each new destination we visit. When we’re not traveling you can find us camping, paddling rivers, hiking and enjoying everything the outdoors has to offer.

While I travel as much as I can, I also love to live vicariously through the experiences of my clients. I think traveling is the greatest gift you can give to yourself and others, and enjoy helping my clients fulfill their dreams; regardless if that is visiting Machu Picchu, experiencing a Kenyan safari, cruising the Mediterranean or enjoying a week with their partner or family at a fantastic beach resort.

I also believe that travel expands our horizons in immeasurable ways, causing us to reevaluate how we see and treat others, and live our own lives on a day-to-day basis.

Gwen Garrett A NYC native, Gwen spent many years living in San Francisco and more recently, Bucks County, PA. She now resides in Midtown Manhattan with her husband, Sandy, and two adorable dogs, Rafa and Teddy. She also has one son, Jesse. Often called a "culture vulture", Gwen and her husband enjoy the symphony, ballet, museums and lectures. Gwen also enjoys history, indie movies and tennis, particularly Rafa Nadal. Her prior career was as a Recruiter, initially on the corporate side and subsequently, in her own business. As with many travel professionals, Gwen loves discovering new cultures and her passion for travel has led her to experience almost 50 countries.

Mentee of the month

Alicia Oberg From the first opportunity I had at 16 to board a flight

and cross the Atlantic, I was a fanatic for all things

foreign and new. Being surrounded by sights, sounds and society entirely new and enchanting, makes my heart swell and spirit sing. My free time and resources will forever be dedicated to exploring as much of this beautiful planet as possible. To date I have visited 38 states and 25 countries.

My unrelenting wanderlust brought me to Germany to study abroad twice. I got my bachelor degree in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin Madison and followed by being licensed as a CPA in Minnesota (licensed as a Certified Public Accountant, currently inactive). I worked for approximately two decades in public and private accounting roles. Serving from staff accountant to CFO, I am adept at advising, decision making and problem-solving. My final role in this field was at a local family travel agency. Where fate interceded and you likely can guess where this story is going…

With my robust business background, an acute attention to detail, unrelenting desire for perfection and sincere drive to create unforgettable experiences for my clients, I am fully invested in making each client's adventures full of emotion, intention and presence.

To me, traveling is an essential part of living a rewarding life. A life that is connected, fulfilling and flush with curiosity. A heart that is full, present and alive and most importantly surrounded by those you love the most.

Did you know?

With Vira

Our Wonderful Multiliner Partners

Did you know that we have a resourceful tool in our very own Largay Travel Guide?

It's called the Multiliner Spreadsheet, and it contains some information that could come in really handy at times. Of course, our Multiline partners have wonderful properties that they represent and they know & love, and they're always ready to educate us on those products & give us tips & tricks on selling them as well! They also can VIP our clients when they're staying at the hotels that are within their portfolio and they'll make you look like a ROCK STAR! In addition to a listing of our Multiline Partners & the properties that they represent, there is also a list of the unique DMC suppliers that they have within their portfolio. You can organize the multiline sheet

by COMPANY, by PROPERTY, by CITY, BY COUNTRY to make it easy to narrow down your search. You may know the property name you're looking for but you don't know which Multiliner can help; or you may know you want to work with a multiline partner in Paris, for example, and therefore need to search by city in order to find a partner. Here is a link to the page in the Guide where you can review this information:

I try to keep this sheet as current as possible, so ... as always.... if you find a discrepancy please let me know so that I can adjust it. Or, if you've discovered some new information, send it along so I can add to it! I hope this helps you in some way!

Just Back

Katie Schmitt: Galapagos with Lindblad Expeditions

I went to the Galapagos with Lindblad Expeditions. I knew it would be incredible and Lindblad met that expectation.

Here are a few points that I want to share as

takeaways:

The trip is for everyone. All abilities have options they can do. For instance, while some snorkeled, others took a zodiac ride. Walks had ability to be shortened and options were given for longer or shorter.

They are very much on top of all things covid. The ship was only allowed to be 2/3rds capacity. If someone had a positive covid test while on board, there were staterooms they could be moved to for isolation. Hand sanitizer stations are everywhere. They had us all stay in a bubble and we all had to take an additional PCR test over what was required before joining the group.

In Galapagos with the food all shipped in and highly regulated, the food is good, but not exceptional. Good comfort food is what I called it. I had a full and happy belly but all foodies should have expectations set before going. They did feature a lot of Ecuadorian dishes, which I greatly appreciated. They can work with all diets, even fussy eaters (like kids who only eat a small range of options). I asked to have lasagna made one night for one person (long story) and they did it, just for him, the rest of us had the normal menu.

Lindblad thinks of everything. From a swimsuit dryer (the spinning machine), to shampoo for your goggles, box of motion sick pills and bandaids out at all times, etc etc, they have all the little and big details managed.

We were always at the locations at the best time. They truly have the best access.

Featured Groups

This section features groups with your fellow Largette's and Larguy's. Below are a few Please Go Away experiences we chose for this month. If you have a PGA experience you would like featured in an upcoming Gazette please email them to gazette@largaytravel.com. To see all the PGA experiences please visit pleasegoaway.com!

The Best of East & Southern Africa October 7th - October 16th, 2022

Journey to Antarctica: The White Continent December 7th - December 20th, 2022

Thanks for reading!

See you next month!

Don't forget to send anything you want to be featured to gazette@largaytravel.com.