Steven Callas

NorthBrook, IL Travel Agent

CALL ME

Steven Callas

NorthBrook, IL Travel Agent

Gilded Travels LLC

CALL ME

18 Reviews

100% Recommended

3 Years of Experience

Additional Languages

Bespoke Travel: Families, Couples & Private Groups

I design custom trips for families, couples, and small private groups. I came to this work from Hollywood film production, which is essentially logistics under pressure. A multi-generational trip across three countries has the same moving parts as a location shoot, and I treat it that way. Every itinerary starts with a real conversation about how you actually want to travel. From there I bring in my partners on the ground. The local guides, boutique hotels, and family-owned villas that actually know the places you are visiting. That is what sustainable travel looks like in practice. Your spending stays in the community, and the trip is built around the people taking it. I love this work, and it shows up in the details. Tell me about the trip you have been thinking about.

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My Travel Specialties

Bespoke Travel: Families, Couples & Professionals

I plan custom international trips for families, couples, and professionals who don't have time to research on their own. You have a trip in mind and a life that keep...

Family Vacations & Reunion Planning

Family travel is both rewarding and overwhelming. The internet sells the dream, but it hides the friction of moving children and grandparents through foreign airport...

Greece Travel Agent | Custom & Private Trips

Greece is not a destination I discovered. I grew up with the language, the culture, and the people. With native fluency in Greek and over 30 visits, the knowledge I ...

Italy Travel Agent Specialist | Expert Planning

Italy rewards good planning more than almost anywhere else. Traveling to Italy without a clear plan tends to mean queues at sites bookable in advance, stays in the w...

Japan Travel | Expert Itineraries & Ryokans

Most people who go to Japan come back saying it was the best trip of their lives. Planning Japan travel takes more thought than people expect. The best experiences (...

Expedition Cruise: Antarctica, Arctic, & Galapagos

I have stood on Antarctic ice and my first thought was "we should not be here." That reaction shaped how I plan every expedition trip. These are voyages on research-...

River Cruising: Europe & the Mekong

River cruising is one of the most efficient ways to see the interior of a continent. You unpack once and the hotel moves with you. The problem is that the market is ...

Patagonia Travel Agent | Expert Trip Planning

There is a version of Patagonia travel that is stitched together from forum posts and blog guides, and a version that actually delivers. I work here specifically so ...

Spain Travel Specialist | Custom Itineraries

Spain runs deeper than most people expect: fourteen distinct wine regions, a northern coast that looks more like Ireland than Iberia, and a culinary culture serious ...

Portugal Travel Agent | Duoro, Algarve, & Lisbon

Most people who visit Portugal once come back with a completely different trip in mind for the second time. The Algarve and the Douro Valley are not the same country...

New Zealand Travel Agent | Vacation Planning

The flight from the US West Coast to Auckland runs about 12 hours, and most people who reach out to me have already made peace with that. What they're less clear on ...

Costa Rica Travel Agent | Expert Trip Planning

There's a version of Costa Rica where you're watching a scarlet macaw from the deck at Lapa Rios with nothing on the schedule. There's another where your kids are st...

Tahiti & Bora Bora | Expert Travel Agent

There’s a reason French Polynesia keeps showing up on people’s short lists, and it goes well beyond the overwater bungalow photograph that started the conversati...

Argentina Travel Expert | Bespoke & Custom Trips

Travelers tend to land in Buenos Aires expecting Europe and leave realizing Argentina is something else entirely. Dinner at 9pm is early, an asado is a three-hour so...

Chile Travel Specialist | Custom Itineraries

Chile is a long country, and the travelers who get the most out of it go in with a clear sense of what they want. Patagonia is the headline for most people, but the ...

Iceland Travel Specialist | Expert Custom Trips

The drive from the airport into Reykjavík stops most first-timers cold. Lava fields in every direction, steam rising from the ground, not a tree anywhere. Getting a...

Bali Travel Agent | Private Trips Built for You

A Bali vacation takes more upfront thinking than most trips, mostly because the island is bigger and more varied than people expect. Uluwatu and Ubud feel like compl...

Jordan Travel Specialist | Expert & Bespoke Trips

Jordan has been on a lot of people's bucket lists for years, and the ones who finally go almost always say the same thing: they wish they had done it sooner. Petra, ...

Wellness Travel Expert: Retreats & Recovery

Most of the professionals who come to me for a wellness trip are not looking for a spa week. They are burned out, not sleeping well, and need something that actually...

Sustainable Travel & Conservation Specialist

I stood on Antarctic ice in 2018 and my first thought was "we should not be here." That moment reshaped how I think about every trip I plan. Sustainable travel, at i...

Extended Stay & Remote Work Travel

I plan extended stay luxury travel for professionals who need to keep working while they are abroad. A month in Buenos Aires, six weeks in a staffed villa in Bali, a...

Malta Island | Expert Vacation Specialist

You will be surprised by how much Malta fits into a small space. Valletta is the EU's smallest capital, with Baroque churches, Grand Harbour views, and a restaurant ...

Slovenia Travel Advisor | Custom Trip Specialist

Slovenia does not advertise itself the way other European destinations do, and that is a big part of what makes it worth paying attention to. The country has built a...

Gibraltar Travel Agent | Custom Trips

Gibraltar packs a remarkable amount into two and a half square miles. The Rock of Gibraltar sits right where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, and on a clear day...

Cyclades Specialist | Santorini, Mykonos, & More

The Cyclades are a group of roughly two dozen islands in the Aegean. Santorini and Mykonos dominate most conversations about Greece, but some of the best islands in ...

Turkey Travel Agent | Custom Cappadocia & Istanbul

Istanbul is where most Turkey trips start and often where the planning stops, which means a lot of people come home having only seen one city. A Turkey vacation tha...

Cyprus Travel Specialist | Custom Trips

Cyprus is small enough to cross in two hours and varied enough to take two weeks. There’s a coastline that runs from Aphrodite’s Rock near Paphos to the sea cave...

Albania Travel Advisor | Trips & Planning

Albania sits on the Adriatic and Ionian coasts, sandwiched between Greece and Montenegro, and most Americans have never seriously considered it. That is starting to ...

Mediterranean Specialist | Custom Trips & Cruises

The Mediterranean runs from Morocco’s Atlantic coast to the western edge of Turkey, and somewhere between those two points sit fourteen countries worth building a ...

French Riviera Travel Advisor | Côte d’Azur

The French Riviera is one of those destinations that almost plans itself in people’s heads before they call me. They’ve got the images: Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo...

Morocco Travel Planner | Custom Trips

Morocco covers more ground than most first-time visitors expect. Putting together Morocco trips that actually work means choosing between Atlantic surf towns, Sahara...

Egypt Vacation Travel Agent | Nile & Pyramids

Few destinations deliver the way Egypt does. The Pyramids are genuinely as impressive as advertised, and the Valley of the Kings is more overwhelming than any photog...

Montenegro Travel Expert | Private Advisor

Montenegro doesn't need a hard sell. The Bay of Kotor is an inland sea ringed by medieval walls, Venetian church towers, and mountains that drop straight to the wate...

France Travel Agent | Custom Itineraries

If France is on your list, you are probably not short on ideas. Paris, the French Riviera, Provence, the Alps, the wine regions. The country covers a lot of ground, ...

Monaco Travel Advisor | Monte Carlo Expert

Monaco may be small but that doesn't mean it's lacking in things to do. Two square kilometers hold a Formula 1 circuit through real streets, a Casino de Monte-Carlo...

Croatia Travel Advisor | Adriatic Expert

Croatia sat under the radar for years until Game of Thrones rewrote the travel map overnight. The crowds followed, but the country has held onto what made it worth v...

Maldives Travel Agent | Luxury Resorts & Diving

A Maldives vacation is one of my favorite things to plan. The atolls stretch across roughly 500 miles of the Indian Ocean, there are over 150 resorts, and almost ev...

Cayman Islands Travel Advisor | Vacation Planner

The Cayman Islands are as photogenic as any destination in the Caribbean, and Seven Mile Beach holds up to every image you have seen. The restaurants in George Town ...

Bahamas Travel Agent | Islands Expert

The Bahamas runs on Eastern Time, accepts U.S. dollars, and clears customs without much hassle. What surprises most people is how much variety exists within that eas...

Dubai & Abu Dhabi | Luxury Travel Advisor

The United Arab Emirates is one of the easier international trips to pull off, and that tends to surprise people who expect it to feel complicated. The country puts ...

Mexico Travel Agent | Custom Trips Specialist

A lot of people come to me having already decided on Mexico but not quite sure which Mexico. That gap is actually where the interesting work happens. Cabo and Oaxaca...

Bespoke Travel: Families, Couples & Professionals

I plan custom international trips for families, couples, and professionals who don't have time to research on their own. You have a trip in mind and a life that keep...

Family Vacations & Reunion Planning

Family travel is both rewarding and overwhelming. The internet sells the dream, but it hides the friction of moving children and grandparents through foreign airport...

Greece Travel Agent | Custom & Private Trips

Greece is not a destination I discovered. I grew up with the language, the culture, and the people. With native fluency in Greek and over 30 visits, the knowledge I ...

Italy Travel Agent Specialist | Expert Planning

Italy rewards good planning more than almost anywhere else. Traveling to Italy without a clear plan tends to mean queues at sites bookable in advance, stays in the w...

Japan Travel | Expert Itineraries & Ryokans

Most people who go to Japan come back saying it was the best trip of their lives. Planning Japan travel takes more thought than people expect. The best experiences (...

Expedition Cruise: Antarctica, Arctic, & Galapagos

I have stood on Antarctic ice and my first thought was "we should not be here." That reaction shaped how I plan every expedition trip. These are voyages on research-...

River Cruising: Europe & the Mekong

River cruising is one of the most efficient ways to see the interior of a continent. You unpack once and the hotel moves with you. The problem is that the market is ...

Patagonia Travel Agent | Expert Trip Planning

There is a version of Patagonia travel that is stitched together from forum posts and blog guides, and a version that actually delivers. I work here specifically so ...

Spain Travel Specialist | Custom Itineraries

Spain runs deeper than most people expect: fourteen distinct wine regions, a northern coast that looks more like Ireland than Iberia, and a culinary culture serious ...

Portugal Travel Agent | Duoro, Algarve, & Lisbon

Most people who visit Portugal once come back with a completely different trip in mind for the second time. The Algarve and the Douro Valley are not the same country...

New Zealand Travel Agent | Vacation Planning

The flight from the US West Coast to Auckland runs about 12 hours, and most people who reach out to me have already made peace with that. What they're less clear on ...

Costa Rica Travel Agent | Expert Trip Planning

There's a version of Costa Rica where you're watching a scarlet macaw from the deck at Lapa Rios with nothing on the schedule. There's another where your kids are st...

Tahiti & Bora Bora | Expert Travel Agent

There’s a reason French Polynesia keeps showing up on people’s short lists, and it goes well beyond the overwater bungalow photograph that started the conversati...

Argentina Travel Expert | Bespoke & Custom Trips

Travelers tend to land in Buenos Aires expecting Europe and leave realizing Argentina is something else entirely. Dinner at 9pm is early, an asado is a three-hour so...

Chile Travel Specialist | Custom Itineraries

Chile is a long country, and the travelers who get the most out of it go in with a clear sense of what they want. Patagonia is the headline for most people, but the ...

Iceland Travel Specialist | Expert Custom Trips

The drive from the airport into Reykjavík stops most first-timers cold. Lava fields in every direction, steam rising from the ground, not a tree anywhere. Getting a...

Bali Travel Agent | Private Trips Built for You

A Bali vacation takes more upfront thinking than most trips, mostly because the island is bigger and more varied than people expect. Uluwatu and Ubud feel like compl...

Jordan Travel Specialist | Expert & Bespoke Trips

Jordan has been on a lot of people's bucket lists for years, and the ones who finally go almost always say the same thing: they wish they had done it sooner. Petra, ...

Wellness Travel Expert: Retreats & Recovery

Most of the professionals who come to me for a wellness trip are not looking for a spa week. They are burned out, not sleeping well, and need something that actually...

Sustainable Travel & Conservation Specialist

I stood on Antarctic ice in 2018 and my first thought was "we should not be here." That moment reshaped how I think about every trip I plan. Sustainable travel, at i...

Extended Stay & Remote Work Travel

I plan extended stay luxury travel for professionals who need to keep working while they are abroad. A month in Buenos Aires, six weeks in a staffed villa in Bali, a...

Malta Island | Expert Vacation Specialist

You will be surprised by how much Malta fits into a small space. Valletta is the EU's smallest capital, with Baroque churches, Grand Harbour views, and a restaurant ...

Slovenia Travel Advisor | Custom Trip Specialist

Slovenia does not advertise itself the way other European destinations do, and that is a big part of what makes it worth paying attention to. The country has built a...

Gibraltar Travel Agent | Custom Trips

Gibraltar packs a remarkable amount into two and a half square miles. The Rock of Gibraltar sits right where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, and on a clear day...

Cyclades Specialist | Santorini, Mykonos, & More

The Cyclades are a group of roughly two dozen islands in the Aegean. Santorini and Mykonos dominate most conversations about Greece, but some of the best islands in ...

Turkey Travel Agent | Custom Cappadocia & Istanbul

Istanbul is where most Turkey trips start and often where the planning stops, which means a lot of people come home having only seen one city. A Turkey vacation tha...

Cyprus Travel Specialist | Custom Trips

Cyprus is small enough to cross in two hours and varied enough to take two weeks. There’s a coastline that runs from Aphrodite’s Rock near Paphos to the sea cave...

Albania Travel Advisor | Trips & Planning

Albania sits on the Adriatic and Ionian coasts, sandwiched between Greece and Montenegro, and most Americans have never seriously considered it. That is starting to ...

Mediterranean Specialist | Custom Trips & Cruises

The Mediterranean runs from Morocco’s Atlantic coast to the western edge of Turkey, and somewhere between those two points sit fourteen countries worth building a ...

French Riviera Travel Advisor | Côte d’Azur

The French Riviera is one of those destinations that almost plans itself in people’s heads before they call me. They’ve got the images: Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo...

Morocco Travel Planner | Custom Trips

Morocco covers more ground than most first-time visitors expect. Putting together Morocco trips that actually work means choosing between Atlantic surf towns, Sahara...

Egypt Vacation Travel Agent | Nile & Pyramids

Few destinations deliver the way Egypt does. The Pyramids are genuinely as impressive as advertised, and the Valley of the Kings is more overwhelming than any photog...

Montenegro Travel Expert | Private Advisor

Montenegro doesn't need a hard sell. The Bay of Kotor is an inland sea ringed by medieval walls, Venetian church towers, and mountains that drop straight to the wate...

France Travel Agent | Custom Itineraries

If France is on your list, you are probably not short on ideas. Paris, the French Riviera, Provence, the Alps, the wine regions. The country covers a lot of ground, ...

Monaco Travel Advisor | Monte Carlo Expert

Monaco may be small but that doesn't mean it's lacking in things to do. Two square kilometers hold a Formula 1 circuit through real streets, a Casino de Monte-Carlo...

Croatia Travel Advisor | Adriatic Expert

Croatia sat under the radar for years until Game of Thrones rewrote the travel map overnight. The crowds followed, but the country has held onto what made it worth v...

Maldives Travel Agent | Luxury Resorts & Diving

A Maldives vacation is one of my favorite things to plan. The atolls stretch across roughly 500 miles of the Indian Ocean, there are over 150 resorts, and almost ev...

Cayman Islands Travel Advisor | Vacation Planner

The Cayman Islands are as photogenic as any destination in the Caribbean, and Seven Mile Beach holds up to every image you have seen. The restaurants in George Town ...

Bahamas Travel Agent | Islands Expert

The Bahamas runs on Eastern Time, accepts U.S. dollars, and clears customs without much hassle. What surprises most people is how much variety exists within that eas...

Dubai & Abu Dhabi | Luxury Travel Advisor

The United Arab Emirates is one of the easier international trips to pull off, and that tends to surprise people who expect it to feel complicated. The country puts ...

Mexico Travel Agent | Custom Trips Specialist

A lot of people come to me having already decided on Mexico but not quite sure which Mexico. That gap is actually where the interesting work happens. Cabo and Oaxaca...

Reviews

18 Reviews

A perfect Mallorca experience

I never would have picked Mallorca as a vacation destination. My wife likes the beach, I like adventure. Gilded Travels created the perfect one-week itinerary that had us exploring the beautiful beaches, hiking through rustic mountain villages, and dining at incredible restaurants on the island. No day felt too full or too empty. It was the perfect balance. Neither of us felt like we needed a "vacation from our vacation." I definitely recommend Steven and Gilded Travels and will be using them again!

Makis S. - Deerfield, IL - Traveled to Balearic Islands ~ Spain ~ Europe

6 of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? YES | NO

10/10 recommend- WORTH IT!

Steven was amazing to work with. I’m an anxious traveler and he made the process so easy! I’ve always wanted to go to Patagonia but didn’t even know where to start. Steven took control and created an itinerary for me that I could’ve never done myself. We worked together to tweak it a bit and next thing you know I’m climbing a glacier in Argentina! 10/10 recommend his services- WORTH IT!

Tina K - Chicago, IL - Traveled to Patagonia ~ Argentina ~ South America

5 of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? YES | NO

Dream Trip

My wife and I worked with Steven for a trip of a lifetime in Greece. Steven went out of his way to provide service in recommending destinations, things to do and activities at each island we visited. We enjoyed incredible accommodations while exploring Greek culture, food and beverage. This was a memorable journey, which wouldn't have been so easy without his assistance. we highly recommend Steven for help in planning your getaways!

LBACE - Mishawaka. IN - Traveled to Greece ~ Europe

2 of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? YES | NO

Trip of a lifetime!

My husband and I planned an ambitious European trip and Steven made it happen. He was able to take our wishes and plan an itinerary which we thoroughly enjoyed. He worked with us as we fine tuned our plans, gave us options to choose from, and answered all of our questions. We were grateful that prior to our trip he checked in to be sure we had taken care of the items we needed to handle. During our trip we experienced a train delay which caused us to miss a connecting train and Steven was able to give us guidance so we could reach our destination. It was a pleasure to work with Steven, he showed real interest in our plans, and checked in once we returned. Thanks Steven!

Nancy P. - Arlington Heights, IL - Traveled to Europe

2 of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? YES | NO

Gratitude for an excellent experience

The balance was perfect; a fantastic mix of planned activities and personal time to explore. The meetings to pre-plan the trip were concise, helpful and relevant. Lots of great moments. Petra and Bethany by the Jordan were both highlights. It exceeded my expectations.

Russ H. - Orlando, FL - Traveled to Jordan | Middle East