BTAG was created not just because I saw the need among business travelers, but because of a very personal experince that hit close to home.

In 2017 my mom was enjoying a cruise through Panama when she became ill and had a heart attack. She was removed from the ship while my father and their friends were on a shore excursion. They didn’t know at the time until they returned to the cruise ship.

The cruise ship personnel already had everything packed and told my dad upon his return he needed to go to the hospital where my mother was taken.

He spent the next 24-48 hours dealing with getting the hospital paid, insurance companies and more.

I arrived the next morning and I wasn’t sure my mom was going to make it and was told she required a triple-bypass.

In the end – we were able to get my mom on a flight back to NYC where she had the triple-bypass surgery, and she is doing much better today.

The flight alone cost $30,000 and the hospital was running what seemed like an extortion scheme where everything had to be paid upfront. Even admission to the hospital and they constantly threatened to move her to the public hospital. The U.S. embassy contact told me whatever happens, DO NOT let that happen.

Upon my return to the United States, I created the Business Travel Awareness and Guidance Toolkit to help others especially business travelers like myself. With that said, though the BTAG Toolkit is geared toward business travelers, anyone that travels can benefit from it.