Sarah Founder, Travel Designer
I grew up traveling; my parents had me on my first cross-country flight at age 1. When I was 8, a flight attendant on a long haul between Germany and the US gave me the paper flight map; to this day it hangs over my desk as a reminder of the powerful connections that result from travel.
Growing up, I always wanted to be an architect. After graduating from Miami University, I moved to Scotland to pursue a masters in Classical Archaeology & Ancient History.
A family vacation on a Lindblad Expeditions ship in Alaska opened my eyes to a new world. I went to work for Lindblad, on board the ships, for three years.
I find the world fascinating. I collect old maps/globes, and read the news every morning over coffee. When I discovered that my passion was a mixture of travel and education, I booked a one-way ticket to New Zealand, threw my computer and camera in a bag, and set off to solo road trip across NZ, Australia, and Asia. 9 countries, 19 months, and 163gb of photos later, I returned home.
To me, travel opens doors you never knew were there and opens your eyes to the many threads that make up your life. Building a business takes determination and passion. I like to think I have both.
I believe in going to the end of the road. In experiencing the unknown in order to realise the known.
Country count: 39 // State count: 43
I’m determined to create the very best custom itinerary for you, sharing my passion for travel that literally infuses every single aspect of my life (I even have a map tattoo!). I’m very excited to be a luxury travel advisor, helping you realise your travel dreams, so please get in touch with me!
Koa Te Aroha Barketing Director
Koa oversees pawject management of social media stories (he’s partial to ones he’s featured in but as you know, I give equal airtime to everyone), supervises brand relations (no favs), and sets aside far too many time blocks for meetings, which of course we take while outside.
He came to PI&P two years ago from another local travel advisor, and has said that his experience there – overseeing two headstrong, dynamic underlings – prepared him for a solo role. When I met him, they were about to add another team member and Koa was looking for new pastures.
Koa says his future goals are to manage a team of two or more (I have no current plans to expand), and feels confident he could even manage some new industry hires. Cats are unfortunately not allowed to apply; we currently have 4 on staff and quite frankly they don’t do anything.
Koa is partial to road trips. His 2021 travels have this far introduced him to two new states and opened his eyes to the glorious world of sticking your head out the car window as it rushes down the highway in the sea breeze. He’s hoping to get to Canada later in the year, and is working on getting his first passport.