Melissa McKinley - My Story

My passion for travel began at the young age of 9, so it seemed only fitting my first real job out of college was to follow my dream to work in travel. I was hired and trained by the best in the industry at the time - Rosenbluth Travel. My role was a dedicated onsite corporate travel agent to a global consumer firm. Corporate travel is very much about taking orders get to people from A to B, fast and cheap. Period. However, I was young, my foot was in the door, and I could not have been happier. Travel, exploring and new cultures has always been a passion. It did not matter at the time whether it was corporate or leisure travel, I was just thrilled to work in the industry I loved.

As time passed and life changed, my careers and locations changed. At the time I left travel for something I thought would make me happy – Project Management. Similar skillset of managing tasks and people with time and budget constraints. First supporting an optical networking team, then to customer management for online technology purchasing for all of Europe, promoted to application development and design for a tool that would outsource all our jobs, relocated to regulatory management of cellular licenses and towers - which lead me to my last big corporate role, Transition Program Management supporting key business initiatives in Commercial, Financial and Government verticals for a variety of projects and programs. In this technical business, the key challenge was to manage the all the various IT project activities after normal business hours, on weekends, on holidays and on the road where the client was located. Think unusually long work weeks for months on end, weekly travel, understaffed, underfunded, and time sensitive deadlines. However, we delivered successfully on every project and program.

From this role grew great compassion and respect. I understood the life of a road warrior. I understood what priorities were important in my life and what I didn’t want. Even better I learned the impact this lifestyle has on a physical body. So if you have little to no personal life, limited to no quality family time, no annual vacations if ever, but know the ins and outs of hotel and airline programs, know exactly what room you want and which seat on what flight you like – then you understand where I was. It paid well but there is no salary that is worth that poor quality of life. Time is the one resource we use and get no refunds or do overs!

In 2008, I left the corporate rat race to do what brings me more joy. First, I took time to travel for pleasure! Second, I went back to my passion to start Travel With Melissa a luxury travel firm for exceptional travelers. I work with select clientele who value my in-depth knowledge, experience and connections.

Travel With Melissa is about dreaming big, offering wow experiences you may not even be aware are possible, and delivering magical memories.

Click HERE for Melissa’s Virtuoso profile

Let's Work Together

Why Work With Me?

To start, I am not a discount seller of vacation packages. My focus is on providing the best in high quality and private access experiences. Much like any professional services – legal, finance, medical – I learn my clients’ core desires, preferences, interests, and challenges when it comes to travel, and then curate an experience tailored exclusively for them.

Five pillars support my business core: Quality. Deliver above and beyond expectations with every trip. Always add exceptional value, insights, and planning excellence in everything we do. Integrity. My high touch service is reliable, dependable and trustworthy. Relationships. Travel is highly personalized and my strength is in who I know and partner with. Human connection matters greatly to our success. Collaboration. My belief is it is better to create and innovate together than apart. And last but not least Fun. It is a driving force to make decisions that preserve the joy of living an extraordinary life.

Don’t just take my word for it, hear from past clients experiences. HERE