When Director of Customer Service Operations Jenn Reagan and her husband, Techno-Functional SAP Specialist I Brett Reagan spent a year living and working in Sydney, Australia, supporting implementation projects and other logistics operations for Arthrex, they became good friends with Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Head of Operations Evan Wallace and his wife, Bec.
When it came time to plan Jenn’s Years of Service trip in celebration of 10 years with Arthrex, the four friends started planning a trip together.
“Evan and Bec had been to the U.S. before,” Jenn said. “But they’d never been to New York – and Brett and I had only been there briefly – so that was a must.”
While in New York, the group took the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty, walked both the Brooklyn Bridge and the High Line (a park built on an abandoned elevated train line) and visited the city’s Starbucks Reserve Roastery – where they saw actress Mary Lynn Rajskub (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 24).
Then they went to a New York Rangers hockey game at Madison Square Garden – on a night Jimmy Fallon was also in attendance.
But the real highlight of their time in the Big Apple was their pedicab ride through Central Park.
“There are no squirrels in Australia,” Jenn explained, “and Bec really wanted to feed a squirrel.”
The owner of the pedicab company surprised the group by giving them a bag of walnuts, which allowed Bec to feed, what Jenn described as, “a lot” of squirrels during their time in the city.
From New York, the group traveled to Chicago, in large part, because the Bears are Bec’s favorite football team, and she and Evan wanted to experience American football tailgating.
They also took a river cruise that combined Chicago history and architecture, spent time at Navy Pier and visited a pop-up pumpkin patch complete with a corn maze, ax throwing and carnival games – which Jenn described as “the perfect fall activity.”
Then the group headed to Las Vegas.
“I’m honestly not sure why we chose Vegas,” Jenn said. “It just seemed like a great place to wrap up our adventures.”
Among the seemingly endless possibilities of entertainment in Vegas, Jenn’s favorite outings included eating at Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen restaurant, taking a gondola ride at the Venetian Resort and seeing the Cirque du Soleil show, Michael Jackson ONE.
Jenn and Brett had previously combined their five-year Trips of a Lifetime to take a 12-night British Isles cruise. But, in celebration of their 10-year anniversaries with Arthrex, they’d decided to use Jennifer’s benefit for this trip and save Brett’s benefit for a little later.
“We might wait and go to London next Christmas,” Jenn said. “Or, we like Sydney – and Evan and Bec – enough, maybe we’ll just decide to use Brett’s trip to go there.”
Jenn expressed her gratitude for the Trip of a Lifetime benefit, saying, “I am so proud to work for Arthrex.”
For every five years of employment with Arthrex, employees are eligible for a company-paid Trip of a Lifetime to recognize their dedication. Look for more Trip of a Lifetime highlights on the Arthrex Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.