Anyone who came of age in the days of wood-panelled station wagons, metal Coleman coolers, and slightly musty mismatched sleeping bags is likely to remember at least one family road trip to a national park. Whether you were eating bologna sandwiches along the side of the highway en route to Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, it was a rite of passage like no other—mosquito bites and all.
Jim Staples, founder and president of Orbridge Alumni Travel, is reinventing that experience. Drawing from his fond childhood memories and a lifelong admiration of North America’s natural splendour, Staples and his team curated a distinctive series of national park programmes that cater to a sophisticated new generation of travellers.
Gone are the dog-eared, improperly folded maps and stale bag of homemade trail mix in the wagon’s “way back”. Orbridge’s national park programmes offer a far more elevated experience.
From the Canadian Rockies to Yellowstone and Yosemite, Orbridge’s exclusive itineraries pair some of North America’s most historic parks and landmarks with comfortably luxurious hotels and in-park lodges, custom-outfitted safari vans for ultimate wildlife viewing, and expert expedition leaders.
‘Even when the world opened up after the pandemic, we had all these domestic trips on the books that we thought might fall off,’ explains Staples, an alumni travel industry veteran who founded Orbridge in 2008. ‘They didn’t. If anything, they were even more popular. Many of our travellers did this trip in the back of a station wagon. They want to relive the same experience with their children and grandchildren in a luxury motor coach, staying in luxury properties.’
Imagine flying north across the Arctic Circle from Denali National Park to behold the Alaskan wilderness, seeing the majestic Grand Canyon National Park by helicopter, or taking a horse-drawn sleigh ride through the National Elk Refuge on a magical winter sojourn through Yellowstone. The options to customize your adventures abound.
‘People travel to create memories and bond with friends and family. Our goal is to provide immersive and meaningful experiences,’ Staples adds. ‘North America is one of my favourite continents. It’s rewarding to know we can play a role in helping our guests share the wonder of these natural treasures with the next generation of travellers.’
For more information about these one-of-a-kind national park itineraries, visit orbridge.com.