Steamboat’s Blue Egg Travel Launches Luxury Design Firm

Robin Merrill sits in her Steamboat Springs office, surrounded by the quiet hum of a business that didn’t exist six months ago. She’s not just booking flights. She’s mapping out dinners with geisha in Kyoto and hidden trailheads in Patagonia, crafting itineraries that feel less like vacations and more like invitations to a life she’s lived before.

Blue Egg Travel launched in January 2025, and it’s already positioning itself as a luxury travel design firm for clients who want more than a stamped passport. Merrill, a former flight attendant and part-time registered nurse, says her approach is rooted in the kind of deep, off-the-beaten-path exploration her parents practiced decades ago. They traveled in the 1950s, long before jet lag was a common complaint or tourist traps were ubiquitous. They went where the maps ended.

“I think the biggest thing for me is creating experiences,” Merrill said. “I don’t just get my clients a ticket into Japan — I will find out who is doing food tours, who’s doing dinners with a geisha, who are who is doing the anime museum tours, and I bring that back to my client to decide. Then we go from there and we plan the whole thing from day one to the end of the trip.”

That distinction matters. It’s the difference between visiting a place and inhabiting it. Merrill’s background — flying for airlines, caring for patients, traveling with parents who valued connection over convenience, has given her a specific toolkit. She knows how to troubleshoot. She knows how to read a room, or a cabin, or a client’s unspoken anxiety about money or time.

“My whole background has been in travel,” she said. “I was a flight attendant in my 20s, and I traveled with my parents from age 10.”

Her parents didn’t just sightsee. They connected. They visited places people “never got into” because they liked to meet locals on a different level. Merrill wants to replicate that for her Steamboat clients, even as global travel becomes easier and more accessible.

“They traveled in the 1950s and were in places that people just never got into because they liked to connect to the locals in those places. When they went on vacation, they saw a chance to meet people on a different level.”

Now, the “back door” is open for everyone. But the skill lies in finding the right door for the right person. The firm offers adventure travel, cruises, rail journeys, luxury packages, and group trips. The process starts with an interview. Merrill asks about budgets, party sizes, dates, and desires. But the real work happens after the data collection. She dives into the hidden treasures of the destination, filtering out the generic must-sees to find the soul of the place.

“What sets Blue Egg apart, is that I really connect with the individual with the places they are visiting,” Merrill said.

It’s a service model that relies heavily on her nursing background. Working with patients taught her how to understand needs before they’re fully articulated. It taught her how to fix problems before they become crises. That clinical empathy translates directly to travel design. You don’t just book a hotel; you ensure the room is right for the person who will sleep in it. You don’t just reserve a tour; you ensure the pace matches the traveler’s energy.

Merrill still works part-time as a registered nurse. It keeps her grounded. It reminds her that people are fragile, complex, and unpredictable. Travel is the same.

“I know how to troubleshoot, fix it the problems and design a vacation; I fit right into this career not to mention my love for travel.”

The result is a one-of-a-kind package. Merrill doesn’t sell off-the-rack vacations. She sells curated moments. She presents the options, the hidden gems, and the logistical details, then lets the client choose. The goal is to remove the stress of planning while maximizing the opportunity for connection.

In a town like Steamboat, where tourism is the lifeblood of the local economy, Blue Egg Travel is betting that locals and visitors alike are willing to pay for depth. They’re betting that people are tired of checking boxes and ready to start collecting stories.

Merrill’s office is small. The website is clean. But the itineraries are getting complex. A trip to Japan isn’t just a flight and a hotel. It’s a curated sequence of cultural immersions, designed by someone who knows how to listen. It’s a reflection of a philosophy that started in the 1950s and landed, fully formed, in Steamboat Springs in 2025.

Outside, the Colorado sun dips below the peaks. Inside, Merrill is on the phone, negotiating a private dinner in a Kyoto kitchen. The ticket is booked. The experience is waiting.