Plane Conversations

Social media is such an amazing tool – what was once just a shiny new soapbox for marketing to the masses, has now evolved into an entirely different way for people to coordinate, organize, and produce the things that society needs. And, when the economy slows down, people don’t sit around waiting for Wall Street to bail them out, they come up with the great ideas that change the world forever.

A New Class of Entrepreneur

Cassandra Harris is the CEO of Black Diamond Sanctuary, a boutique travel company that caters specifically to exclusive ladies leisure and recreation. From their Website:

“The Black Diamond Sanctuary specializes in fostering friendship and sisterhood through luxury retreat excursions. Our retreats are especially designed to give you a rich cultural travel experience that is sure to be tantalizing to all of your senses. We provide an environment where you can relax and revive, all while indulging in social enjoyment with others like yourself.”

Black Diamond Sanctuary has offered vacation packages to such places as the Caribbean, Antigua, South Africa, Dominican Republic, and Grenada.  Domestic packages have landed in Santa Barbara, Niagara Falls, New York City, etc.  Next year, Black Diamond is planning excursions to Abu Dhabi and Oman, among several other locales.

Keep in mind, these are not typical tourist traps, Black Diamond locations appeal to the adventurous, curious, educated, and even the politically intrigued. Once at the destination, the activities that Black Diamond Sanctuary plans include everything from casual relaxation to serious high-wired adventure.

At Social Flights, we see our partnership with Black Diamond Sanctuary as a natural fit with our business model.  Currently, Black Diamond clients fly in on commercial airlines from all over the states.  Social Flights can offer point-to-point service allowing Cassandra to focus on plugging into pre-existing social networks and seasonal opportunities.

Then the Magic Started

As I continued to speak with Cassandra, something magic started to happen – it was as if I could hear her brain jump into overdrive.  She started rattling off all sorts of new business opportunities could be accomplished with her expertise combined with our national network of private air service operations.

We jumped all over each other’s thoughts, even finished each other’s sentences discussing weekend getaways, special events, and serial events where one group would fly in while the other group flies out.  All of these scenarios would either be impossible with the dysfunctional commercial airlines or truly competitive in price, time, luxury, and convenience – yet superlative in the experience  using our vast network of private jet service.

A Cast of Thousands

Soon I learned that Cassandra has a diverse background in many entertainment and hospitality verticals. It dawned on me that there must be hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs like Cassandra who have no intention of depending on anyone for their success and prosperity.  I imagine legions of smart and motivated people like Cassandra Harris who can look at the data and see “supply = demand” where the rest of the world sees “recession = depression”.

Cassandra Harris is the New Class of Entrepreneur.  We are proud to be a part of the her emerging revolution in social capitalism.

Social Flights is featuring this property sharing opportunity from AirBnB.com and it’s owner to present a unique way to visit the Olympic Peninsula and the Olympic National Park in the State of Washington. This is the first time we’ve done this because it is a great way to demonstrate the versatility of Private Social Travel.

Cinnamon Bear Cabin is walking distance to the (semi) private and uncrowded Lake Cushman Golf Course and within a few miles of three amazing bodies of water; Lake Cushman, Lake Kokanee, and the Hood Canal (actually a Fjord remnant of the ice ages).  Hood Canal is known for crystal clear saltwater scuba diving, crabbing, clam digging and seasonal salmon fishing.  Lake Cushman is a 4000 acre  glacier fed lake at the foot of 7000 ft mount Washington in the Olympic Range.  Lake Kokanee sits below the Lake Cushman dam and offers a serene  trout fishing experience through its meandering canyons.

The nearest commercial airport is 2 hours away, but Social Flights can bring you and your group directly into Sanderson Field in a private aircraft from anywhere in the US, less than 15 minutes from this very special location where you will pick up your car, keys, and license for fun and adventure.

Olympic National Park is comprised of nearly 1 million acres of the Olympic Mountain range. The Olympics literally halted the glaciers that carved the surrounding geography many thousands of years ago and are now home to unique species and wildlife ecosystems.  The ONP is one of the last remaining temperate rain forests in the World with ancient old growth featuring trees of astonishing size.  Yes we all know of the great sequoias of California, but Imagine cedars, douglas firs, sitka spruce, and hemlock trees 15 ft in diameter and up to 300 feet tall.

Indian heritage is alive and dominant in several areas offering cultural and recreational opportunities found nowhere else.  You can also visit Lake Quinault, The Western shores, and many hot spring locations all easily accessible from Cinnamon Bear Cabin.  In the Northern portion of ONP, you’ll find crystal clear Crescent Lake - a body of water so rare and so old that it’s the home of some species of fishes that exist nowhere else on Earth. Crescent Lake is called a “National Treasure” with 5 stars on TripAdvisor.com

Hiking, camping, Kayaking, festivals, casinos, local artisans, scuba diving, golfing, fishing, sky diving, are all abundant in the Olympic Peninsula.  What you will not find are crowds, tourist traps, tourist crime, pollution, blight, traffic, and harassment.  The Olympic Peninsula has one of the lowest population densities in the US. Local prices are local prices and not tourist prices.  Cinnamon Bear Cabin is perfect for people who want to experience the best of the Pacific Northwest without needing a vacation from their vacation afterwards.

The choice is yours, you can navigate the Gauntlet of the travel industry whose sole purpose is to drive revenue, add fees, sell advertising impressions, waste your time, and reach into your wallet at every fork and bend  on the roads most traveled. Or, you can go for a private experience with all the cherished memories that you expect for your time and money at a cost that is comparable to anything that the commercial travel “processing” industry has to offer. It’s about a colors of time for your money, not the colors of money for your time. You live once, make it count