Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake

12/29/2024

Some days all a girl needs after grocery shopping is a really good latte ☕️

It’s been a while since I’ve visited White Frog Cafe but I will be back more in the New Year. Not only do they have good coffee which they make themselves, they are also always so kind and truly appreciative of their customers.

PS…Did you know you can buy their coffee Sylvan Lake Sobeys!

12/28/2024

Let’s book some trips🎄My vacation is over and I’m so excited to get back to work✈️☀️Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake

12/28/2024

We have some clients that like to visit us in Canada so this one is for you🇨🇦We can’t recommend coming our way for a ski vacation 🎿We don’t mean to brag but we have some of the best mountains right in our backyard and some that are a little further away but not too bad of a drive. 😉⛷️

Today we visited beautiful Lake Louise. The snow was great, the weather was perfect and we even had a little sunshine. ☀️ Next month we will be showing off Fernie which is one of our absolute favorite mountains in BC. Staying on the hill with some of our closest friends always makes it extra special.

If a skication is on your bucket list we highly recommend coming to visit! Here are a few other mountains to check out too.

🎿Nakiska
🚠Sunshine
⛷️Panorama

Call Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake to book your next adventure. Not a skier? That’s ok! There are so many other winter activities to check out so not to worry. The Ice Fields, Dog Sledding and Kananaskis Nordic Spa are fun, along with shopping, dining and hiking. ❄️We have so many recommendations depending on your vision of what you want to do.

12/26/2024

Our clients contacted us a few months ago with a vision of enjoying a small hotel in Puerto Vallarta over the Christmas holidays that was something a little different than the All Inclusive experience. When we found this boutique hotel that is family owned with nothing but wonderful reviews we knew they were the perfect couple for this location. 🇲🇽

We loved receiving these pictures from them right before Christmas and hearing about all the fun they are having. This is what travel is all about✈️
Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas from our family to yours ♥️✈️♥️
Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake

12/24/2024

This morning has us reflecting on 2024 and how grateful we feel to have the opportunity to send our wonderful clients on vacations around the world. 🌎 We take our job seriously and do everything in our power to make your dreams & visions come to life. So let me begin with saying we have had a tremendous year with our business. 🙏🏼 We feel that it’s something to celebrate for both our clients and ourselves. 🥂We 💯 know that is thanks to YOU!

What we have taken away from 2024 is that almost all of the time vacations have gone really well. We feel though that this isn’t good enough. Sadly over the past 6 weeks we have had a handful of bookings that were tossed around by either large airlines which we all use or a resort that has in the past been amazing but has now lost our business. As a small business with clients who put their trust in us we are not ok with this and we feel it is important for you to know this. We won’t mention this resort, you will just no longer see quotes for it from us in the new year.

Our goal is to create trust and for us trust begins with us, the airlines and resorts. If we feel something is broken we will no longer support it and we look at that as their loss, your gain. Unfortunately for this to happen sadly someone has been affected with a vacation that wasn’t what it should have been. It’s probably one of the worst feelings in this profession to see that happen. We know the work it took for you to take your vacation, the trust you have put in us and the hours of planning involved from start to finish. We don’t take it lightly.

So thank you 2024 for teaching us to reach further and to never become complacent. ♥️Our vision for 2025 is to improve the travel experience and to make sure everyone has a vacation that they deserve to have. It’s a big, bold ask but we feel that it’s necessary and can be done.

With that, when you call us for a “good deal”, keep in mind we will continue to be picky with what we offer back to you. Our suggestion instead and what you will always hear us ask you back is …What is your budget? From there we will either create or suggest that you go at a different time of year. You won’t find us throwing out random resorts or terrible flights. If anything, we are tightening up for your sake and ours.

Wishing you a beautiful Christmas and all the best in 2025.✈️Once again George and I want to thank you for your business. He is coming up on 45 years and I am already at 6 years which is hard to believe but here we are. Always learning, always growing and above all we are here for the long haul. ♥️✈️♥️

12/22/2024

I’ve rounded up some of the best deals for those of you who might be thinking about taking a vacation with your teens after the finish up their exam week and the end of January. Here are a few that I thought might interest some of you. Of course these are also great for families of all ages. ☀️If you are one of the lucky families that still have kids 12 and under take note…your prices will be substantially less than these most of the time. 😉

PS…I won’t be taking new bookings on the 24,25 and 26th♥️🎄♥️

All of these are out of Calgary - Cancun from January 30-Feb 6,2025
2 adults, 2 teens

Royalton Riviera Cancun
$7590.00

Grand Palladium Kantenah
$7340

Royalton Splash
$8480

Grand Palladium Colonial
$8140

Ocean Coral and Turquesa
$9660

Iberostar Selection Paraiso Lindo
$11,420

Dreams Natura Resort and Spa
$13,820

Majestic Elegance Costa Mujeres
$13,940

And just for fun Check out the Dreams Sapphire Resort and Spa. Sierra Travel Sylvan Lakes the Preferred Club Indigo 2 story Villa for $37,580.00🫣

Last but not least, here is a pretty neat resort👇
Hotel Xcaret
$14,990

Call Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake to book your next vacation but do it soon before the holidays begin 😉

12/20/2024

I’m attempting to slow things down before Christmas BUT I have to share this and whatever😬I will be ready for Christmas whether you make me extra busy with more bookings or not 😂🫣

The prices on vacation packages are going crazy after February 11th! If you want to get away before then it is time to book right away. ⏰

I counted today and I have 13 couples, families and groups in destination at the moment between Portugal, Mexico, Dominican and Jamaica. I have many more heading out over the next week and some files that are due for final payments and ticketing plus new bookings rolling in daily. It’s a lot of work but so much fun and incredibly rewarding. ♥️✈️♥️George has loads of bookings happening too.

If you are craving a hot holiday soon let’s get you booked✈️I will be off from the 23-26th 😉

12/20/2024

Fantastic news!!

Great news! KLM Canada will increase the frequency of the popular non-stop route between Edmonton and Amsterdam from 4x a week in summer 2024 to 5x in 2025. Additionally, they will be adding a sixth weekly flight for the entire month of June! That’s more opportunities for you to explore all the magic Amsterdam has to offer, or connect to over 150 destinations worldwide on KLM’s massive network.

12/19/2024

I was thinking this morning about how interesting it would be to head to Cancun for 5 nights and explore 5 different All Inclusive resorts that we have really grown to love for our clients over the years. ✈️My vision is to start in Playa Mujeres and end in Tulum where I would fly back to Calgary.

Let’s just call it my version of Freestyle Vacations in Mexico because yes this can be done anywhere in the world and yes you can stay in more than one resort if you want to. Obviously we don’t suggest 5 but maybe 2 would be fun! We even have a wonderful Transfer company that we work with to take you from one resort to the next.

What part of Cancun and area do you like best?
👇
Playa Mujeres
Cancun
Playa Del Carmen
Tulum

Or would you want to stay out in Conzumel for a few nights?

Who knew there were so any options right?

☀️Huge thanks from our clients who sent these to us a couple days ago while they are soaking up the sun at their beautiful resort. There is nothing more valuable to us than seeing our own clients reviews and pictures. 🙏🏼

Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake

12/17/2024

Ok, I’m back to work after sleeping 22 hours yesterday and another 7 last night🤪😷That flu bug was a doozy! 🤢My best advice is to rest up this week so you don’t end up sick over Christmas or on your vacation if you are heading out soon. Mike & I actually both ended up sick yesterday but thankfully not with the same thing. I’m blaming it out our nurse (daughter)who was sick last week who comes home with all the things that you can imagine from working in the Peds unit.🤷‍♀️

So let’s chat Travel 🧳 My inbox was flooded with inquiries about quotes for January, February and March over the weekend. A few for Easter break in April as well! I also have a few coming in for Freestyle Vacations this summer & fall for Europe. I think almost everyone has the travel bug this year. ✈️Personally our family is trying out a freestyle vacation in Hawaii this April, a destination that we have never visited together yet. We’re so excited. 🌸

I will be in my office today catching up and likely doing a few bookings. If for some reason you don’t hear from me by 1:00 and you have been waiting for a quote please text me at (403) 340-6724. I always look forward to working with new & existing clients Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake

Cheers 🎄

12/16/2024

The dreadful stomach flu 😷 hit me hard at 3am this morning and will hopefully take a hike by tomorrow! If you are waiting for a quote or a response from an email, text or message I just wanted to let you know that I will get back to you asap! This is a busy week for our Travel Agency so the timing isn’t great. 🙃

If you have an urgent matter please call or text George at 780-753-6869.

✈️

12/16/2024

Our client Ken Jones always likes to immerse himself in the culture when visiting Ixtapa. From walking rescue pups to exploring markets and enjoying the Mexican food. He is living his best life.

12/15/2024

Good morning✈️ George and I are taking today to rejuvenate for the busy week ahead❄️Sundays in December are always important for that. Christmas for any business owner always means that you must learn to balance work, family and taking care of yourself so you actually enjoy the season for what it is. 🎄

For us this is a season of remembering to give, to be present for your loved ones, to feel thankful for all that you have and to appreciate how far you have come this year. ♥️

We often say that the greatest gift of travelling to so many different parts of the world over the years has given us so much appreciation for the small things in life. We have visited countries that have taught us so much, we have had flight delays, cancellations, taxi’s that got lost after you have travelled from Canada to Europe with your little kids and now it’s dark and you are tired because you have been on 3 different flights to get there😴, shuttle vans break down in Costa Rica with 3 families on board, vehicles break down on a busy highways where no one speaks your language (Italy), hotel rooms that weren’t what you had hoped for (Mal Pais,Costa Rica), luggage carts start on fire after you have had a two year old in the hospital for 3 days out of the 7 you had there (Dominican). Oh I can’t forget my jaw dislocating after snorkeling 🤿 or my daughter having giant swollen lips from too much sun! I mean so big that she looked like a Kardashian🤣We have also ran full speed through airports, been stuck in customs because I forgot to take foundation out of my carry on and have had a random night in Texas due to snow storms which was a layover. I share all of this not to downplay anything that happens to our clients or to say we don’t have specific expectations such as hotels/resorts being good to our clients. I share this to express the reality of what can easily happen the moment you decide to travel. We always hope for the best but most of the travelling experience is about embracing the unknown. George can tell you many stories of their travels to Australia, Vietnam, Argentina, across the USA and Mexico. Just to name a few!

If you want a story from us at Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake we have one for you! And guess what, we still love to travel and we have immense appreciation for being home too.

So after hearing all of the what if’s that can happen when you leave your home where in the world will you go next? 😉 We love all of it from Tropical destinations, cruises, custom tours to freestyle vacations which are something that we create from scratch with our clients.

Happy Sunday!

12/12/2024

Good morning✈️I will be in my office until 1:00 today and then I will be taking a little “Christmas Party” break for my husbands company. 🎄Tis the season!

If you are in need of a quote or booking from me please reach out this morning. George will be around taking care of things at the office as per usual this week.

Happy Holidays 🎄

12/11/2024

Some great tips from George Meiklejohn ✈️🧳

THINGS KEEP CHANGING!! ... In the Travel business it feels like every 30 minutes or so something new or different gets thrown our way!!
1/. Many countries now require digital entry forms and have done away with paper forms. This usually requires going online a few hours before you go and completing the form.
2/. Many countries now have digital entry at the airport where you just need to scan your passport and may or may not even speak to a customs officer
3/. This very thing will also happen when you return home.

It seems that you pretty much need a cell phone now to scan QR codes , receive updates from your tour company or airline and a place to store your receipts which you may or may not need but should retain.

Just a few other mentions:

The state of Quintana Roo which pretty much covers the Cancun area North/South now has a a mandatory tax to pay on departure.

The Mexican government has plans to implement a $42 fee per person that is arriving by cruise ship.

Air Canada is set to implement a fee for carry on bags with wheels or duffle type bags. Without a doubt the others will follow.

To enter the UK starting in the New Year a digital entry will need to completed on line before you go.

Just a word of advice is to keep all your paperwork in a safe place just in case you are asked for it by an airline or customs officer. We have been through many airports in the past year or so and have not had any issues but we do keep all receipts and save things on our phone!!

Busy travel times ahead !!

Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake Ph/Txt 780 753-6869 - George Meiklejohn or Ph/txt 403 340-6724 - Trish Ratzlaff

12/11/2024

Freestyle Vacations are filing my days up and as you know they are on the top of some of my favorite adventures to create for our clients.

So where is everyone off to with their freestyle adventures?

France 🇫🇷
Italy 🇮🇹
Spain 🇪🇸
Portugal 🇵🇹
Philippines 🇵🇭
Vietnam 🇻🇳
Mexico 🇲🇽
Canada 🇨🇦
United States 🇺🇸

Just to name a few 😉

Where can we send you? Many of our clients are booking their flights and hotels between now to October. It’s not too early, it’s actually the best time so you can get the early booking discount perks and first pick with some of the hotels that we have had our own clients in over this past year. Our top hotels are growing quickly as we receive feedback from our travellers. 🧳
Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake

12/10/2024

🚢

When in Italy, every corner tells a story 🇮🇹🛵

If you’ve cruised to Italy, tell us your favorite story from your trip 👇

📍: Trieste
📸: tsianchali (IG)