About The Hidden Gemologists

Spotlight Sojourns can help you with that.

Spotlight Sojourns is founded by the Hidden Gemologists, Marilee and Paul Kostadimas.

We’re professional travel bloggers, creators, and storytellers. Archaeologists by education and training. Strategic consultants by trade. And travel partners in life, through life, for life.

Our specialty is your hidden gems. With focus on history, arts, culture, and community –– oh yes, and coffee!

Here's WHY.

At the pinnacle of corporate success, we suddenly and unexpectedly left everything behind to care for our last parent 3,000 miles away.

During Mamma's two-year final journey, we learned the profound power of storytelling.

Because Mamma’s daily stories of her epic life and travels in Africa, Asia, and Europe became part of her legacy.

Then a transformational moment in Lisbon, Portugal, subsequently led to Spotlight Sojourns’ mission to:

Inspire and connect eager travelers with travel, tourism, and hospitality brands through storytelling.
~ and ~
Inspire and motivate others to tell their own stories.

Because meaningful travel is part of a meaningful life.

And stories enrich the meaning.

"If you are looking for storytellers to draw visitors to your destination look no further than Marilee and Paul.” (Kathryn Cotter, Director of Marketing, Discover Albany)

We create the "wow" that you forward.

Here's how we do it.

Through original photography, videos, drone footage, and professional writing, we create the “wow” that you forward.

But the “wow’ is more than a pretty shot.

It’s a cohesive end-to-end story to inspire and connect the audience with your location.

It’s the kind of storytelling that stirs emotion…

Motivates action…

And helps keep your reservation agents busy with advance bookings.

"They are helping us build a new audience and spark interest in our part of NYS. I highly recommend working with Spotlight Sojourns and can’t wait for our next project together!" (Sarah Calero, President, Oneida County Tourism)

Here's what we do.

We create Showcases, our signature digital storytelling series.

Showcases feature:

Eye-popping, jaw-dropping visual content.
Expert, engaging narrative context.
Resonant, relevant subtext.

Showcases focus on:

Authentic experiences.
Genuine connections.
Candid recommendations.

We craft Showcases through our proprietary frameworks. These derive from deep expertise and lifetime travel experiences.

You, of course, can arrange to receive the digital assets for your own portfolio.

Here's what that looks like.

Maybe you’ve watched a video, read a blog or an email, seen a social post about a place, a hotel, a museum.

And you’ve said, “Wow, I have to go there.”

Maybe you’ve forwarded that video, blog, newsletter, or social post to someone else.

Now, of course, they have to go there, too.

The results augment your marketing plan...

Amplify your word-of-mouth...

And increase your relevance.

It's all about meaningful travel.

Meaningful travel is the:

Purpose to broaden horizons, create connections, and deepen understanding (our love language is experiences).
Passion to collect moments that echo in memory (moments > things).
Path to seek beauty and find joy, wherever you are (even from an armchair).
Perspective that WHY you go matters more than WHERE you go (must-visit list > checklist).

Meaningful travel is indeed part of our own story from the very beginning.