Sasa Camargo, CAT Intern

It feels like I’ve been traveling with Camargo Adventure Travel (CAT) my entire life. From my baptism in Colombia to a nice trip to visit my grandma in France nearly 24 years later, CAT has always planned the most incredible trips and made me feel like a top priority. Rumor has it that when I first joined CAT, I was so in awe of his trip planning prowess that I “trembled like a leaf.”

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One recent example of the CAT staff going above and beyond for me was at Martha’s Vineyard when I didn’t bring my ID to dinner and got carded. Of course, after "we're her parents" failed, Carlos immediately pulled up a photo of my passport on his phone in an attempt to convince the waitress. Although I was ultimately unable to get my mojito, the passion with which Carlos debated our waitress to get me my drink was inspiring. I’ve also spent A LOT of time traveling with the head travel agent, who I now refer to as my “roomie,” over the past couple of months. I've particularly enjoyed his monthly California trips. One constant in all of these trips is our daily walk, which includes engaging discussion on any topic I select and advising sessions for junior staff members.

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As I grew up, I was lucky enough to be selected for the CAT intern program, which taught me how to become a CAT-defined "world class traveller." I now make sure to check all of my surroundings for lost items, review the entry requirements of each country (I haven't yet snuck onto a plane but there's time), plan trips at least 1.5 years in advance, and most importantly, consume a lot of pizza. The intern program also includes the perk of Father Daughter trips. These were always incredibly fun and enabled me to see some rather REMOTE parts of the US. A couple of highlights were:

• Exploring Nashville, Tennessee and learning about the history of the city. We explored the area, went to an interactive country music museum,  and attended a small live performance. To supplement our experience, Carlos created an incredible Nashville-related movie line up for us to watch together.

• Exploring the plateaus and indigenous settlements in New Mexico.

• Driving around South Dakota on a foggy night searching for Mount Rushmore and suddenly seeing a NOSE emerge from the clouds. CAT never fails! I appreciate that we also learned about the Lakota Sioux who originally owned the Black Hills area. 

• Visiting D.C. during my spy phase! You know you have an attentive tour guide when he brings you to the D.C. SPY MUSEUM(!!) and lets you jot down the license plates of every taxi you ride!

• Receiving a pet fish during our stay at a hotel. What a genius hotel (and CAT-sponsored) idea to give guests a fish to take care of during their stay. I still think about that lil one to this day.

• Visiting West Virginia, a place I never thought I would visit but no state is too small for CAT! Highlights included ending up in the middle of this random county and not the town we were looking for, driving to a random store off the highway that we saw SO many signs for; and speeding super fast on the highway.

And more recently, I’ve loved our kiteboarding + Scuba adventures and learning more about CAT travel agent’s lives in general. Not only is Carlos Camargo a fountain of knowledge for all things booking (i.e. flights, hotels, agenda), he’s also a great life planner and confidant! I feel very lucky to have been selected for this internship so early on in my travel planning career and know that he’ll always have my back!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!