Vacation Dreamin'

How a St. Louis couple turned a stay-at-home summer into a thriving small business

- JEN ROBERTS

AS OTHER PARENTS were daydreaming of all the places they’d go once it was safer to travel, Kirkwood resident Gwendolyn Taylor was thinking about how to make life more fulfilling close to home.

Taylor, who works full time as compliance counsel at Edward Jones, began considering alternative options for getaways after the pandemic forced her family to cancel a trip to Jackson Hole, in Wyoming.

“Glamping was a constant suggestion on Facebook traveling groups so I started looking into the idea locally,” she says. “With no options available, I invested in a tent for my crew and delved into an untapped local market.”

The choice was an unusual one for Taylor, a self-proclaimed city girl who doesn’t camp, but her husband, Ray Taylor, quickly jumped on board. “He thought the worst-case scenario is that we own a tent,” she says, laughing.