They say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step…that may be true but one particular journey of 9,000 miles began with 11 days of planning and packing and several years of wishing and dreaming.

Vision Quest Media

began with an idea Greg Mitts had three years ago after learning about Real Tour Vision, the leader in virtual tour technology. Greg received his degree in Commercial Photography from North Georgia Technical College and spent ten years as the owner of a professional photography studio. While weddings and portraits were a great business for a while, Greg was looking for something that would allow him to use his photography expertise without the limitations of a brick and mortar studio.

When he originally researched virtual tours, he saw it as a way to make additional income. As he learned more about the business of virtual tours, he began to see what an incredible opportunity this could be and the "vision" for Vision Quest Media was born. Along the way, Greg met and married Paige LeFevre Mitts and they began to discuss the possibility of making Vision Quest Media their life’s work.

The first big break in the business came when Paige happened on the owner of a vacation rental management company. After a chance conversation in the grocery store, the owners of this cabin company agreed to be the guinea pigs and let Vision Quest shoot virtual tours on their 45 rental cabins. These first 45 virtual tours allowed Greg to refine his process and systems and really learn what RTV technology was capable of creating.

The big "Aha" moment came however when Greg shot a virtual tour for a therapeutic boarding school where Paige was working as Assistant Director of Admissions. The website for the school featured the virtual tour on the front page and the hit reports for the tour revealed that the tour was getting between 100 and 175 hits every week! The hit reports also showed that more than two thirds of visitors watched the virtual tour in its entirety. Most importantly, Paige began to notice that parents of prospective students had a different comfort level on the initial inquiry phone call after watching the tour. Having already "toured" the school, they were able to envision the features and activities Paige was describing.

While on their honeymoon in Florida, Paige visited a rehab center which had referred several students to the school. In yet another chance conversation, Paige mentioned that Greg had just shot a virtual tour of the beautiful condo on the beach where they were staying. Since they were already there and had all of their equipment in the car, Paige offered to have Greg shoot a tour for the rehab facility for a greatly reduced price. The virtual tour of the rehab center showcased the gorgeous beachfront property as well as providing an insiders view of the facility.

Understanding that big decisions require a big picture view, Vision Quest Media creates virtual tours that allow prospective clients to "walk through" the place and look around every corner. Not all virtual tours providers are alike – some offer nothing more than slide shows put to music but Vision Quest Media’s virtual tours are truly interactive 360 degree high definition experiences which showcase the property from every angle. Whether they are choosing a school, hospital or clinic, vacation rental or private home, most people appreciate the opportunity to take a look behind the curtain before committing to an in person visit.

After seeing the virtual tour for the rehab center, the corporate office asked if Vision Quest Media would be interested in bidding on some of the company’s 125 other locations. Greg and Paige were originally scheduled to shoot 11 virtual tours in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, South Dakota, Oregon, New Mexico and Utah. Within the first four days of planning for the trip, Paige booked 5 additional tours for the first week including a boarding school, vacation rental by owner home, bed and breakfast, rodeo arena and saloon, and an inn and dairy. And so began the planning to leave in less than two weeks for a journey of 9,000 miles!