u/VirginiaOnSafari

One thing I’ve noticed after years working in the luxury safari space is that many first-time travelers do not realize how massive the difference is between a luxury travel marketer and an owner-operator actually working on the ground.

It’s one of the biggest reasons I built my business model the way I did.

I wanted to create something far more personal than simply selling trips from behind a computer screen. I wanted clients to feel like they had somebody in their corner who truly knew these places, understood the realities on the ground, and could guide them through the experience with confidence and firsthand knowledge.

My luxury clients love the high-touch experience, knowing I’m handling every detail behind the scenes and constantly thinking several steps ahead. In Africa, things occasionally go sideways. Flights change. Bush planes get delayed. Roads flood. Luggage disappears into Johannesburg. Properties occasionally have operational issues. Weather impacts wildlife movement and accessibility.

That’s exactly why I always have backup plans, contingency plans, and then backup plans for the backup plans.

When those moments happen, clients need more than somebody forwarding supplier emails from another continent. They need somebody with operational knowledge, real relationships, and firsthand understanding of what is actually happening in real time.

Being able to provide exceptional service while also living a life of adventure that I genuinely love is a dream come true for me. Nothing makes me happier than seeing thrilled clients return home with incredible memories, knowing they felt cared for, heard, and supported throughout the entire experience.

I spend months each year in Southern Africa, building real relationships, inspecting properties personally, understanding changing conditions firsthand, and staying actively involved in the logistics and realities of travel on the ground.

Luxury travel is not just beautiful lodges and a large price tag. It’s communication, responsiveness, attention to detail, feeling supported, and feeling heard.

At the luxury level, responsiveness should absolutely be part of the product.

And I truly believe that boots-on-the-ground involvement and genuine relationships make all the difference.

I may be late to the game on sonic toothbrushes… because I’ve always loved the feeling of actually scrubbing my teeth.

BUT, after facial surgery, scrubbing is not your friend.

Forget your normal toothbrush.
Forget your rotating head toothbrush.

You can barely open your mouth. And I mean barely. The night of surgery and day one post-op, I don’t think I could’ve fit a quarter through the slot I was working with.

A sonic toothbrush is the answer.

It does the work for you with minimal effort, minimal jaw movement, and minimal mouth opening – which is exactly what you need in those early days.

Sometimes it’s the unglamorous details that make a big difference in recovery.

Fantastic interview with my Mac Daddy surgeon, Dr. T. Gerald O’Daniel, featured by TikTok’s RichAuntie59.

She’s built a following around breaking down cosmetic procedures in a real way, helping women understand what’s realistic, what’s not, and what to expect.

For those of you who keep asking about the surgical net Dr. T. Gerald O’Daniel used on me – he goes into the why behind it here and the benefits in detail.

If you’re thinking about a face or neck lift, don’t just scroll. Watch this clip, then go find her on TikTok (RichAuntie59) and watch the full interview. This is the kind of information people wish they had beforehand.

I’ve gotten quite a few comments, and even more DMs, about what I jokingly call my “Sally stitches,” those long stitches you see at my temples and under my chin.

So I’m sharing some of the information I learned during my research process, including techniques my surgeon uses (and teaches worldwide on) and why I specifically chose him. One of the biggest things that stood out to me was something called hemostatic surgical netting.

Before this journey, I didn’t even know what hematomas and seromas were. Now I do.

Hemostatic surgical netting is used instead of bulky compression face bras, incision tapes, or surgical drains. The idea is to provide broad, even support across the surgical area, stabilize tissue while it heals, and reduce fluid buildup and bleeding beneath the skin.

This technique has actually been used widely in other parts of the world for years and is only more recently gaining traction in the United States. One of the reasons I chose my surgeon is because he is considered a master of this particular technique and has extensive experience using it successfully.

My hemostatic netting was removed on post-op day three.

One of the reasons this approach appealed to me is that sleeping with tubes coming out of my neck attached to suction bulbs collecting fluid? Ugh. I find it disgusting. 🤢

More importantly, the things that really caught my attention were the potential impacts on scarring, post-operative bleeding, fluid accumulation, bruising, and infection risk. When tension is distributed more evenly and tissue is stabilized well during healing, it may contribute to smoother recovery and finer scars over time.

Prior to my plastic surgery, I had many questions about the process, and understanding why a surgeon operates the way they do became just as important to me as before-and-after photos or pricing.

I did an enormous amount of homework before making this decision, and I’m happy to share some of what I learned along the way.

I’m beginning to research Montenegro for the first time and would love advice from people who know it well.

I have absolutely zero firsthand experience there, starting research from scratch. This is honestly refreshing for me because I guide travel groups across southern Africa as my job. It’s been a while since I planned my own pleasure trip.

This trip would simply be me and my husband traveling over the Christmas holidays.

At the moment I’m trying to understand what Montenegro actually feels like as a destination during that time of year, beyond the polished travel photos and influencer content online.

What’s the atmosphere like over Christmas and New Year’s? What surprised you? Did it feel festive, cozy, quiet, lively? How was the weather in reality? How was the service?
What was the actual level of luxury like compared to what’s marketed online?
Did you love it, or wish you’d gone elsewhere? Hotel or AirBnB it?

We’re experienced travelers, but completely new to this part of the world, so I’d love unfiltered opinions, favorite towns, accommodations recommendations, professional guides, mistakes to avoid, and anything you wish you’d known beforehand.

First night in a recliner + lingering anesthesia = very little sleep. By morning, swelling and discomfort had increased, but pain stayed manageable. The whole day is a blur.

I hadn’t showered since surgery and looked exactly how you’d expect - ROUGH. I’m sharing these first photos because this is real, unfiltered recovery.

Around noon, Dr. O’Daniel’s concierge nurse came to my hotel. Decades of plastic surgery experience, now working exclusively with him, and she’s had a face and neck lift herself. She carefully walked me through my first post-op shower, incision care, and hair washing. That calm, expert support meant everything.

And that shower… truly the best of my life. Baby shampoo and all.

Clean, refreshed, and emotionally lighter, you can see it in the after photos.

I was also surrounded by incredible care: my cousin Kelley, my friend/esthetician Marissa, and my personal physician Dr. Deb. Meds on schedule, cold compresses, applesauce and pudding, ointment, constant check-ins with my surgeon and nurses. I couldn’t have done this without them.

You cannot go this alone.

Feeling WAY better than I look! After Surgery, feeling no pain, thanks to modern medicine.

Africa’s Travel Indaba Day 1

Meetings, meetings, meetings. Amazing properties, including a $130,000 per night, exusive use private Indian Ocean island that sleeps 8.

If anyone wants to splurge on that, I’ll hook you up. 😳

After work, an outrageously amazing business dinner at the famed Oyster Box. The jewel of the Durban area, with old school colonial design, unparalled location, and perfect service. If I’m in KZN, I simply can’t pass up the opportunity.

Arrived Monday. Show began yesterday.

I was pitched a $130,000 per night exclusive use Indian Ocean island that sleeps 8. If anyone is interested, I can hook you up!😂

If anyone is attending Africa’s Travel Indaba this weekend, reach out!

Right before surgery, my surgeon laid it all out.

35 years of experience.
His first assist, 26 years with him.
Scrub tech, 26 years.
Anesthesia provider, 30 years.

Over 120 years of experience in one operating room, and more importantly, those people working TOGETHER as a team.

People online love to treat plastic surgery like ordering from a menu or bargain shopping for a deal. Meanwhile this is someone literally dissecting your face.

So yes, I did my homework.

Published work. Surgical education. Peer training. Long-term staff retention. Consistency. Decades of befores and afters. Reputation among other surgeons, not just social media followers. Quiet confidence.

The surgeon’s surgeon.

Sitting there getting marked up for surgery, I felt calm. That quiet confidence in the room told me everything I needed to know.

Our last day in Mozambique was another perfect day by the sea. Hammocks, swinging like a kid over the infinity pool, and one last boat ride across the Indian Ocean.

No crowds, no loud resort chaos, just quiet beaches, fresh seafood, warm ocean air, and that feeling that time had slowed down a little. The exclusivity of this place is the luxury.

I spend about half the year working in southern Africa, and places like this still stop me in my tracks. Bush one week, beach the next. It’s a pretty incredible way to live.

Now it’s back to South Africa, to trade the ocean for elephants.

Part 5, pre-op markings.

What my surgeon is mapping out:

He’s breaking down what’s called the gonial triad, the structure that gives you that snatched jawline.

My entire face had shifted downward over time, as they do… My jaw went from a sharp, defined triangle to a rectangle with my skin seeming to puddle under my jaw and chin, and I was hyper aware of it. Restoring my jawline was one of the main reasons I chose surgery.

He’s showing where my jaw had flattened with age, compared to the shape I had when I was younger, and why that definition had softened.

You can see the submandibular gland bulge contributing to the loss of shadow under the jaw, so the plan was to reduce it, not remove it, just carefully shave it down to restore a clean, more youthful contour.

And for everyone who asks, that gland is still there. I still produce saliva normally and I don’t have dry mouth. It was reduced, not taken out, it still works, and you have multiple other salivary glands doing the job, as well.

I’ve seen a lot of deep plane facelifts where that gland isn’t addressed. The early results can look great, but over time, as swelling settles and tissues relax, that fullness under the jaw usually reappears. Tightening alone won’t give long term results, I’ve seen enough before and afters to appreciate Dr. O’Daniel’s reasons for addressing mine. Shave them down, Doc!

Then he walks through repositioning, using existing structures like the tail of the parotid to lengthen my jaw, and moving the buccal fat pad to my cheek for fullness. Instead of fillers, he used my own tissue, which is natural and regenerative.

He addressed all the deeper structures, not just tightening the surface, so the result actually holds. I certainly do not want to recover from facelift surgery again, to get to my original goal, as my recovery has been intense.

Did a full wine tasting day through South Africa’s coastal Winelands and the variety packed into one region is incredible. What a far cry the coastal winelands are from Stellencosch, Franschhoek, Paarl, etc!

Started at Idiom Wines with wine pairings alongside fresh pasta dishes, then headed over to Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate for wine and chocolate pairings overlooking the water.

Then we ended the night at a luxury Airbnb on the water with a hot pink hot tub and a giant unicorn statue like that was the most normal progression possible.

South African wine country is elite, but also occasionally feels like someone mixed luxury travel with a fever dream, and I mean that as a compliment. 🍷🦄

One of my favorite things about being on a private concession inside Kruger National Park is getting to sit with a sighting like this and actually watch behavior unfold naturally.

No chaos, no convoy of vehicles, just a lioness completely locked in while our guide talked us through every move she was making.

The crouch. The pauses. The ears twitching. The way she used the grass and wind.

The tension in moments like this is unreal because you know something is about to happen… you just don’t know if she’s going to pull it off.

Do you think she made the kill? 🦁

Day 3 in Mozambique

I’ve become very committed to the art of doing absolutely nothing.

Champagne in hand, book in my lap, watching fishermen in traditional dhows deliver the day’s fresh catch, while the sun drops into the Indian Ocean.

I normally struggle to sit still. But here? It just happened effortlessly. Realizing 2 hours had passed while reading without interruption was my big accomplishment of the day.

I think that’s what I loved most about this place. It felt quiet in a way that’s getting hard to find anymore. Not touristy AT ALL. Not overbuilt AT ALL. Just beautiful and calm and completely removed from real life for a little while.

Only 4 units, exclusive use only. So very nice.

From a trip last year off Mozambique near the Bazaruto Archipelago.

We went out by boat hoping to catch some marine life and it turned into one of those days where everything happens at once.

Humpbacks surfacing nearby, spinner dolphins moving fast and disappearing just as quickly, and a boat that wasn’t exactly helping with stability.

At some point I gave up on getting “good footage” and just watched it instead.

The coastline there sits between reef systems and open ocean, so you get a mix of species moving through rather than one predictable sighting.

The diving and snorkeling are INSANE.

I went to St. Sebastian, Mozambique and flew into Vilankulo. A short drive later they loaded our luggage onto a boat and we headed out across the Indian Ocean.

The chalets were one of my favorite parts. They’re huge, open, airy, and wrapped in these long grass roofs that move with the breeze.

They open straight out to the water, and to get onto the deck I had to push through the grass with my hands. It sounds like nothing, but it really gave me a thrill! 😂

Inside, it was soft light, big bed under mosquito netting, everything neutral and calm. Outdoor shower, fireplace, big lounge, and gorgeous lighting in the evenings. You wake up with the ocean right there, no barrier between you and it.

We had the whole place to ourselves, it’s exclusive use, so it was just our group. The staff-to-guest ratio was kind of wild, but not in a formal, stuffy way. Things just happened without asking.

What I probably appreciated most was how flexible everything was. If we wanted to go out on the water, we’d give them about an hour’s notice and the boat was ready. Fishing, diving on pristine reefs, or just heading out to watch whales pass through. Champagne picnics to enjoy…

I’ve stayed in a lot of “luxury” places and this is one I’ll definitely return to.

We’re used to building, leading, solving, producing.

This wasn’t that.

I took a trip with a few of my C-level, always-on, high-performing girlfriends to a remote lodge tucked deep in the Soutpansberg Mountains in South Africa, and it did something I didn’t think was possible.

It slowed us down.

No packed itinerary. No pressure to “make the most of it.” No constant stimulation.

Just space.

Days looked like champagne by the pool, long, unhurried hikes with ridiculous mountain and waterfall views, spa treatments that recalibrated our nervous systems, and meals where nobody was checking their phone between bites.

And then the evenings shifted everything.

Outdoor showers at sunset. Conversations that went way past surface level. The kind you don’t have time for in real life.

And the sky… I’ve never seen anything like it. No light pollution, just layers of stars that really put things into perspective.

One night, we did a private sleep-out.

No walls, no noise, no distractions. Just lying there under that sky with your thoughts. And leopard calling in the distance. 😳

No notifications. No decisions. No one needing anything from you.

This kind of experience isn’t flashy. It’s not over-the-top. It’s just… intentional.

And honestly, I don’t think it would appeal to everyone.

But for the right group of women, at the right time in their lives, it hits in a way that’s hard to explain until you’ve felt it.

Luxury doesn’t always mean over-the-top glitz.

Sometimes it looks like a remote beach lodge on the Indian Ocean, so far off the beaten path I was convinced GPS had us lost getting there.

Nothing 100 miles north, nothing 60 miles south, and not another person in sight.

No beach clubs. No crowds. No noise.

Just a quiet stretch of coastline, warm water, and the kind of space that’s getting harder and harder to find.

We finally arrived… and it was worth every mile.

Curious how others here define luxury, does this count for you?