Great Getaways

Congrats to us for being selected as a member of 25 Under 25 Class of 2012! Every year for the past 10 years Kansas City companies have been nominated to become a member of this elite group. For the Class of 2012 over 1000 companies were nominated and only 25 selected.

Not familiar with this award? Here’s what Thinking Bigger Business says on their website:

http://www.ithinkbigger.com/25-under-25r-awards/about-the-awards

ABOUT THE 25 UNDER 25 ® AWARDS

Awards Criteria & Selection Process

·         Employ fewer than 25 full-time employees (or full-time equivalents)

·         Operate a for-profit business for three or more years

·         Be located within the Greater Kansas City area

Nominations are accepted from the business community from August to mid-October each year. Qualified nominees complete an application and provide additional support materials that are reviewed by a panel of third-party judges from the business community. The panel of judges reviews the applicants and selects the final 25 honorees according to the following:

·         Financial stability

·         Ability to overcome obstacles/adversity/challenges

·         Community involvement/service

·         Distinguishing or defining characteristics/qualities

·         Company vision

The 25 finalists are announced in mid-December, and events are scheduled throughout the following February and year to honor the finalists. Honorees are profiled in a special 25 Under 25® supplement in the February issue of Thinking Bigger Business magazine and are invited to be guests on the “Smart Companies” radio show. In addition, a pre-gala dinner is held for the honorees in mid-February. The events culminate in a black tie optional awards Dinner & Gala held in February. The 25 Under 25® Dinner & Gala features a cocktail reception, Wall of Fame, dinner and awards presentation.

SAVE THE DATE: Dinner and Awards Gala will be held on March 3, 2012. Will you join us?

Need a flight to KC to join us on March 3rd? We can help arrange your flight and hotel stay! We might even take you to Oklahoma Joe’s for the best BBQ in the world!

To quote the Pointer Sisters “I’m so excited!” 

I used to live in a world of “Yes, but…”, of the half-empty glass, and all the sayings that scream “Barbara, you have a negative attitude!” Why I changed or how it occurred is not nearly as important as the fact that I have had a profound change of attitude. “And why,” you ask, “is this relevant here on your blog?”

I travel a lot, a whole lot. I am constantly learning about new destinations, new properties, experiencing places so I can create a magical vacation for you as well as fulfill my passion to explore our planet (and Space, too!). I have visited places of enormous material abundance and those of enormous emotional abundance. Sometimes they are one and the same, often they are not. And, for all of those experiences, I am grateful.

In the past several years of my life, gratitude has switched from a noun to a verb. Daily I review my actions to see whether I demonstrated gratitude or if I indulged in entitlement. Was I “giving” or only interested in “getting”?

Even here, while writing this blog, what is my motive behind my motive? Of course, I want you to remember Great Getaways Travel and call on us to help you plan your next vacation. Yet, there is more than profit motive at work. As we begin to celebrate our 20th year in business, I find my passion for travel has not ebbed; rather, it has increased. There is always a new place to experience, a new food to try, a new friend to make and I want to share my joy of discovery with you. My wish for you is that your life is filled with what we, at Great Getaways Travel, call the “luxury” of experience.

I invite you to celebrate our 20th year of business with us. We are truly grateful to those of you who have experienced our vacations, to those who have helped us created memorable moments for our clients,  to those who are reading this blog, and to the many souls, known and unknown, who have made this journey so satisfying.

The video below by Louie Schwartzberg, award-winning cinematographer, from a TED Conference in San Francisco,   is our gift to you:

 

Driving in Manhattan, London, or Rome is NOT on my bucket list. It’s not on any list I have unless you count lists that start with “Are you serious?” I could tell you it’s the influence of becoming more eco-aware, but the reality is I’m intimidated by people who, when behind the wheel, drive like Mario Andretti.

On one of my favorite sites, Netted by the Webbys, I discovered an app http://www.mapnificent.net that offers interactive transit maps for many US cities as well as some in Europe and a few in Australia. Test drive it and let me know whether you’d use this app. There are several apps available per city and very few that cover the world. The downside of this app is it is not available on android and that, while created in Germany, most maps are for the US. I still like the ease of using Google maps, with transit routes available in the US. As global as Google is, I am surprised they haven’t conquered the world’s transit maps yet….maybe tomorrow?