Countless athletes decide to head out and explore the world once their respective offseasons begin.
Larry Fitzgerald just happens to be better at it than most.
Conde Nast Traveler's Anna Katherine Clemmons introduces us to the Arizona Cardinals receiver's greatest passion off the gridiron. As Clemmons describes, Fitzgerald has a tremendous appetite for not only travel but the unique experiences commensurate with immersive vacations.
It's not enough to unpack the bags and hit the local restaurant; Fitzgerald is that traveler who wants to jump into a culture.
It's that very notion that has helped spawn an intriguing travel company called Nomad Hill, billed on its website as a travel design company. Its business is about crafting a very specific, unique adventure for the kind of traveler who wants to look well beyond the tourist attractions.
Fitzgerald helped start the company along with David Jones, a former shareholder of the luxury travel firm Ker & Downey.
Nomad Hill isn't just another luxury travel option, however. It's specifically aimed at catering to millennials.
Jones explains a bit more to CN Traveler: "The travel industry, especially in the high end, has left the millennial to themselves because they don't know how to deal with them. It's a diverse population. It's not just about going on a tour; it's about experiences. They want to be engaged in their experiences because they've been engaged in what they've done their whole life."
Launched last July, Nomad Hill explains on its website that "no two travel experiences are the same."
Last April, Expedia unveiled a study on millennials and the generation's travel habits and tendencies. It found 77 percent of respondents had no qualms with offering up personal information if it meant a more thorough travel experience.
Expedia's senior vice president and head of retail Gary Morrison stated at the time: "I think it's not that we're getting less adventurous but a sense of risk aversion is growing. The sense that 'I need to know that it's going to be authentic, I need to know that people are going to look favorably on it.'"
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The generation, according to Jones and Expedia, wants authenticity above all else, and it's companies like Nomad Hill that are prepared to give it to them.
Fitzgerald is the perfect example of the type of traveler that would leap at such a service. He has been to 93 countries so far and had no problem taking an extensive solo trip during his first offseason: A 45-day trek around Asia.
Jones says of the 10-time Pro Bowl, franchise receiver: "So many guys, when they get fame, they just want to party and go crazy. Larry likes to have a good time, but he also really plans so that he can travel to places where people don't know him, and where he can really pursue his passion and learn."
So it was natural for Fitzgerald-a man with the means and hunger for travel-and someone with experience in the industry to launch a travel company that would specialize in more exceptional opportunities.
Fitzgerald jokes that he got his taste for travel with childhood trips to National Parks-adventures that were, well, light on the adventure: "My parents are both from the city, so rather than camping, we'd rent a hotel room with running water and clean sheets. We were definitely exploring and sight-seeing, but they weren't too into the outdoors stuff."
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Let that be a lesson for parents out there, no matter what generation you fall into: Even family jaunts to popular national parks can one day lead to an awesome idea like Nomad Hill.
Fitzgerald explains to CN Traveler on the name behind the company: "I like to go out and venture around, and David is the same way. I feel like I am a nomad."
This nomad is doing more than wandering the world every chance he gets; He is helping bring that kind of experience to those who crave it.
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