Friends that travel will stay friends forever, and no one knows better than Gabrielle Profit and Katrina Craft Trifilo. The fun duo and long-time friends who love exploring and traveling decided to merge their skills and passion for adventure and start a full-service travel agency – Besties That Travel.

Besties That Travel Was Intended to be a Travel Blog

Trifilo remembers that initially, the idea behind Besties that Travel was to be presented as a travel blog during their 2020 trip to Destin. However, due to the pandemic and freeze on travel, the two besties decided to post about all previous travels and share their experience publicly, so they started getting inquiries from people asking for advice.

After seeking guidance and assistance with logistics, the two best friends became business partners and started Besties That Travel. Another great plus for the duo was Profit’s working experience as a travel agent for the last four years.

The duo offers custom-tailored packages for clients such as couples, solo travelers, groups, and corporate travelers. Services include but are not limited to reserving flights, lodging, private transportation, planning excursions, and daily itineraries.

The Travel Duo With Several Upcoming Ventures

The “besties” are both New Orleans natives and have always had their travel passion and shared road tripping experiences together for over 10 years. Slowly turning their hobby into a legitimate, fully sustainable business comes just naturally.

Besties That Travel has planned several upcoming ventures and includes a women’s group excursion scheduled for October 2021 to Bali, Indonesia. The two friends have opened up 10 spots and quickly sold out. The duo is excited to explore the tropical islands with a group of like-minded women. What makes this trip even more special is the fact that this would be their first trip as a company.

The besties are also launching a new travel apparel line, BTT Apparel in the Summer of 2021.

Amber has always been a status symbol associated with elegance and wealth. Protected by Prussian law starting in the 13th century, the fossilized resin was used for the fabrication of religious and royal objects throughout Eastern Europe, and more especially Russia.

The Amber Room was designed for royalty in Prussia and Russia and featured a series of panels mounted on gold-leaf walls adorned with mirrors and mosaics. The room was part of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg, Russia’s imperial capital.

The Chamber Was Gifted to Russia’s Tsar

The room was created in the early 18th century as an opulent 172sq ft showpiece chamber for Frederick I, the King of Prussia. Approximately six tons of amber were used for the fabrication of the panels. In 1716, the room was gifted to Tsar Peter the Great and was relocated to the Catherine Palace.

To match the palace’s spacious rooms, Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo was called upon by the Tsar and given the task to expand the luxurious chamber. Under Bartolomeo’s guidance, the panels were successfully incorporated into a 592sq ft room, which was decorated with more gilded figures, mosaics, candelabras, and amber.

Nazi Forces Stole the Room

In 1941, German forces invaded Russia and dismantled the Amber Room before moving it to Königsberg Castle. The Red Army seized the castle at the end of the Second World War and was ordered to discover the chamber. However, no traces of the room were found.

After decades of looking, the Soviet government decided to reconstruct the chamber by using 86 black-and-white photographs taken just before WWII and a single box of relics. The project took more than two decades but successfully recreated the Amber Room, which is considered by many to be the “eighth wonder of the world.”

The chamber is displayed at Catherine Palace in the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum and Heritage Site and is one of Russia’s most visited landmarks.