Craig Beal – Owner
Favorite Quote: Not sure whose quote this is originally but I heard it from Susan Saunders: “Life should not be measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.”
My Travels
My Specialties
- South Africa
- Botswana
- Zimbabwe
- Namibia
- Zambia
- Mozambique
- Hawaii
- Galapagos
- Luxury Cruises
My Past Jobs and Experience
US Navy: 1994-2005 – Submarine Officer
Woodhill Country Club: 1984-1989 – Golf Caddy
Awards: Travel + Leisure Magazine A-List 2011 & 2012, Travel Agent Magazine Top 25 Agents of 2011
My Favorite Trip I’ve Designed
Cape Town, Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia by private aircraft with a four day trip to Mauritius at the end.
Things I Enjoy Most About Consulting
I love designing first time safaris. It is so much fun to channel a client’s excitement and use my experience to design the perfect trip that exceeds their expectations.
My Most Memorable Travel Moment
I loved our family vacation to Africa in 2008. My kids were finally old enough to go on safari. Seeing the looks in everyone’s eyes when they saw their first Lion in the wild reassured me I had the best job in the world!
My Most Embarrassing Travel Moment
I left my passport in the safe on the Rovos Rail and went to the Johannesburg airport. The train manager saved the day and I got my passport back thirty minutes before our flight. My second most embarrassing moment involved my passport too! I was with 30 clients on a luxury cruise from Miami to the Western Caribbean. I left my passport on my desk at the office in Minnesota. The cruise line was not going to let me onboard. Based on my experience working with immigrations and customs on a submarine I knew I did not technically need the passport on the first day because our first port was Key West (in the USA). Logically, this is the same reason we don’t need a passport to fly from New York to Miami. So, I convinced them I could get my passport in Key West. Thanks to my wife Kay, Bob Gaston, and Federal Express, I got my passport the next day and stayed onboard with the 30 clients I was hosting.
Hidden Talents Outside of Work
Making all kinds of smoothies; green vegetable smoothies, peanut butter tofu smoothies, and fruit smoothies. Freakish math and engineering skills. Few people know I have a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from Georgia Tech and I was a college math instructor at Valdosta State University in 2000-2001 (while I had a desk job in the navy between ship assignments).