Meet Stefanie
Travel advisor. Hotel obsessive. Frequent traveler.
Thirty years of exploring—and still taking notes.
I believe the best travel advice comes from actually going: staying in the hotels, walking the neighborhoods, meeting the people behind the properties and experiencing a destination the way my clients will.
That firsthand experience, combined with relationships built over years in the luxury travel industry, is at the heart of how I plan.
It started with a backpack and a phone card.
I always knew I wanted a career in travel. I graduated in the late ’90s with a degree in History, French and International Relations, studied abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France, and spent summers backpacking through Europe with an actual backpack, a Let’s Go Europe book and a phone card. (If you don’t know what those are, ask your parents.)
But the traditional travel-agency path never felt quite right. I went into advertising and marketing instead, eventually moving into sales and brand development and opening the first lululemon store on the Las Vegas Strip.
Then came a plot twist. After two children, I learned I was expecting identical twin boys. Too restless to sit still, I started a “mommy blog,” which eventually evolved into travel writing and then planning trips for friends. When I realized I could build a travel business from home while raising four kids, I was unstoppable.
Back in Aix-en-Provence, where my story with travel began.
From travel writing to building RSMLVTravel.
Today, RSMLVTravel is a referral-driven luxury travel business built largely through repeat clients and introductions from the people I’ve planned for along the way.
As a President’s Club Elite advisor with Montecito Village Travel and one of the agency’s leading hotel producers, I plan travel around the world for couples, families, small groups and corporate clients.
But growth hasn’t changed the way I approach a trip. I still want to understand the details for myself before I recommend them to someone else.
And whenever possible, I go first.
I like to know before I recommend.
When I’m planning an important trip or small group, I’ll often make an effort to get there first—walking the neighborhoods, touring the hotels, meeting local partners and experiencing the logistics for myself.
I want to know which hotel actually works best, how long that transfer really feels, where everyone should meet for dinner and which experiences are genuinely worth their time.
When people are relying on me to get it right, I’d rather know than guess.
The relationships behind the trip.
Travel is a relationship business. Over the years, I’ve built relationships with hotel teams, destination partners and suppliers around the world. These are the people I call when I need the right room, an honest opinion, a special experience or help solving a problem.
Preferred partnerships and amenities are valuable, but the relationship behind the reservation often matters just as much.
My clients may never meet many of these people.
But they benefit from knowing I have.
MEET KATY PATERSON
Another perspective. The same approach to travel.
Katy brings extensive firsthand travel experience to RSMLVTravel, including years spent living in Australia and Singapore. Her particular knowledge of Australia, New Zealand and Asia adds another layer of destination expertise to the team.
