Comments from some of my clients.
AUSTRALIA “This was my dream of a lifetime trip, and I had never used a travel agent before. I consider myself an expert traveler, and skilled at putting trips together myself. However, nothing I had planned could even come close to the trip Dianne arranged for us. It was perfect, and I know for a fact that we would have missed 70% of the things we were able to do thanks to her. You cannot replace experience with “internet research.” And the perks that came because of her influence are indescribable, every tour group, hotel, and ticket agency we dealt with LOVES her, and by extension, to extra special care of my brother and I. Chad D. Garrett
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“Dianne helped make our Greek Isles honeymoon a truly unforgetable experience. She started working with us almost a year in advance and her first hand travel experience in Greece was so helpful. Dianne took the time to understand our preferences and then developed the perfect excursion with lots of extra benefits. We enjoyed working with her and highly recommend her.” I have included a few snaps shots of us on our Greek Island Honeymoon. Jonathan & Jeanne
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We have been working with Dianne for about 20 years, and she has helped us find incredible lands, animals, views and experiences which we might never have found without her. Dianne introduced us to “soft adventure,” a type of travel where you actually get in there and interact with the local habitat. One example of that was in the Galapagos, where we found ourselves swimming with sea lions one day and keeping them away from our food the next. Every single day in the Galapagos was an adventure in learning and understanding Darwin’s journey. When we went snorkeling we saw all kinds of underwater life: beautiful fish, sea turtles, a huge starfish, and so much more. Dianne planned our trip to Baja California, where on zodiacs we got so close to grey whales we could smell their breath and pet them. When we went to Tahiti, Dianne provided the opportunity to be in the water with sting rays and feel their incredibly soft skin, so different from what we expected. In Costa Rica we spent two nights watching while a volcano erupted nearby, and then headed to a phenomenal beach that was teeming with a huge variety of wildlife: monkeys, bats, birds, plus animals I never knew existed.
What I enjoy most about working with Dianne is that she listens to what we are interested in and comes up with itineraries that exceed our expectations. We find we are always in first class accommodation where the staff goes all out to meet our needs.
On the rare occasion when we’ve had to return to the states in a hurry, it was such a relief having Dianne helping us out from a distance.
We are planning our next trip now, and we’re thinking of going to South Africa. We know we can rely on Dianne to send us to the most interesting and exciting sights and adventures there, and we look forward to working with Dianne for many years to come. David & Fran.
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AROUND THE WORLD
During my final year of university I was given an amazing opportunity: a year of traveling around the world doing independent research on medical anthropology. However, I didn’t really know where to begin or how to plan this trip. Dianne helped me put together an ‘Around the World’ ticket which put me in the parts of the world I wanted to work in and kept me within budget. The ticket is basically a string of tickets going around the world until I got back to where I started (in my case Cincinnati, Ohio). And she didn’t simply stop there, the entire time I was gone Dianne paid attention to my travels and helped me whenever my plans needed to change. She even helped my parents arrange a trip to India to meet me for Christmas!
I ended up in twenty-six countries over the year, some of which were: Australia, China, Tibet, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, India, South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. This trip was amazing. The simple diversity of life – let alone the indigenous medical practices – was astounding and I wouldn’t trade this opportunity for anything. I lived in Thai villages, worked in Cambodian hospitals, taught in refugee camps in Jordan, and delivered anti-HIV drugs in China. How many people can say that? Let alone doing everything within a year?
I am currently in medical school, but cannot wait to travel again. When I do get the chance, I know I will be contacting Dianne to help me plan. And I know my parents agree. She understood exactly what I wanted out of my trip, and helped me achieve that and more. Thank you, Dianne! Jonathan H
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Honeymoon St. Lucia, Caribbean
Tim and I had such a wonderful honeymoon at Jade Mountain! I really do not think that we could have gone to a better place for our honeymoon. The resort and the views from the room were both absolutely gorgeous. The resort is a wonderful mixture of relaxation, delicious food, beautiful views, and fun activities. The activities that we enjoyed the most were the scuba diving (first time for both of us!), snorkeling, hiking, yoga (Tim’s first time!) and jungle biking. There is nothing better than relaxing in the privacy of your own pool, with a breathtaking view of the pitons, and a cocktail in your hand delivered by your butler. I would recommend Jade Mountain to anyone!
We loved planning our honeymoon with you. It was so nice that you had actually been to so many of the resorts and could compare them to each other, saying which was better depending on what type of rooms, activities, etc. we were looking for. We also were SO happy for the upgrades and free night you got for us! Best of all was just having someone to help us plan our honeymoon who knew so much more than we did. When we first started talking about where to go on our honeymoon, we had both felt very overwhelmed and weren’t sure where to start. In contrast, when we talked to you, everything fell into place so easily and we were able to plan our honeymoon without any stress. I would definitely recommend you to anyone planning a trip! Betsy and Tim Dillon
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COSTA RICA
What a perfect family vacation we had in Costa Rica! Great recreational experiences, great outdoor adventures, great people, great monkeys! We particularly liked our accomodations in Manuel Antonio. Dianne had us well prepared for the trip with drivers, excursions and accomodations. There were no surprises which helps when you are traveling with a family of five. Bonnie
Dianne Titlestad's travel blog 