I didn't come to luxury travel through a brochure. I came through years of living in the places people dream of visiting — across the U.S., Latin America, and Europe — long enough to understand that the difference between a good trip and an extraordinary one is almost never the destination.
Michelle Escala-Summach, Founder, Escapes by Escala
That's why I founded Escapes by Escala in 2014. Not a booking service. Not a call center with rotating staff who pull up your file and start from scratch every time. A small practice, deliberately kept small, where every trip gets the kind of attention that's only possible when you're not spread thin.
I'm a Virtuoso-affiliated advisor, which matters in practical terms — access to properties and cruise lines and experience operators that don't open their doors the same way to everyone, amenities that don't show up when you book on your own, relationships built over more than a decade that occasionally make the impossible merely difficult. But honestly, the access is only as good as the judgment behind it. I've been to a lot of the places I recommend. When I haven't, I say so — and I have colleagues I trust who have. The recommendation is grounded either way.
What it comes down to, every time, is figuring out what a great trip looks like for you — and then making sure that's what happens.