Why did you become a travel agent? In the last 3 weeks, I've heard this question over and over again from friends and family. My quick answer is "Because I'm already planning vacations for everyone - why not get paid to do it at no cost to you?". But in all honesty, the answer is so much more than that. It's using the culmination of all my travel experiences to help you get somewhere easily so you can focus on the excitement and hope of an amazing vacation.
I remember my first trips as a little girl. I could talk about how wonderful and joyous they were, but let's get real. There was some of that, but as they were long road trips, there were also fights, crying and general boredom! Ha! I remember us loading everything into the family's station wagon in preparation. Generally, my younger sister and I ended up facing backwards in the rear seat (yes, younger folks...that was really a thing). I would try not to get aggravated as my younger sister crossed the middle line in the seat and breathed my air (yes, I think I actually complained about that). My parents and sisters in the middle seat would say "OH, look at that ____" and fill in the blank with bird, dog, train, whatever. Being in the rear seat meant I was straining to see what everyone else saw but having an entirely opposite vantage point. While everyone else looked where they were going, I could only see where we'd been. While challenging, it wasn't the end of the world. I knew, for example, that seeing that one flashing stoplight overhead in the rear window meant we'd finally arrived to the little town in Iowa where Grandpa and Grandma lived. It meant soon I'd be helping Grandma make egg drop coffee just the way Grandpa liked it. Or I'd be running through town with my sisters as we rushed to the community pool for a day of splashing in the water. Or inevitably Dad would take us to the Mercantile for a fountain cherry cola. Nothing tasted cooler or sweeter to me in those hot days of summer.
Fast forward several years, one divorce and two marriages later and I had new experiences to look forward to. As an employee of Northwest Airlines, my step-dad opened our worlds up to airline travel. I remember the fear and excitement of my first flight from Minneapolis to Chicago. I remember a family trip to Alaska, complete with earthquake! I remember our temporary relocations to Florida and Hawaii, where we so immersed in the local culture that I even learned and performed the hula. I remember my parents taking me to Europe my senior year of high school where we explored castles, historic homes and took boat rides on rivers and canals. All through these years, little did I know that I was developing an unquenchable thirst for travel.
When I was putting myself through college, one of the part-time jobs I worked was at the front desk of a hotel. There, I helped people in their best and worst times. I helped honeymooners and vacationers. I helped business travelers. I helped people in the area visiting sick relatives or those who just passed away. Everyone had a story to tell, and I loved learning their stories. Fast-forward to post-college graduation and I was on the hunt for a career. I thought I'd found it when I got a job at Northwest Airlines on the benefits team. I really enjoyed the work I did there. Not only did I get to hear stories from employees as they discussed their benefits, because it was never just about benefits, but I also got to travel myself! It's how my husband and I went to our first all-inclusive in Montego Bay, Jamaica and where I learned not to trust star ratings in other countries...but that's a story for another blog post. Unfortunately, I worked for the airlines at the time of 9/11. I'll never forget that day...but again, that's a story for another blog post. That day drove me to look for other, more financially stable work.
Sunset on the Gulf of Mexico
Shortly after 9/11, I took a job in the insurance industry and I've been there since. Now, many might think that's sad and unfortunate. But though I worked in a non-travel industry, I had the benefit of being a business traveler! For somewhere around the last 12 years, I've visited more states than I can count as a business traveler and one thing I always tried to do was make time for a fun experience wherever I went. In Philadelphia, I spent a few hours trying the competing cheesesteaks and viewing the Liberty Bell. In Boston, I only had 4 hours to spare, so took a hop-on/hop-off bus tour to absorb as much history as I could. In Nashville, I spent several late nights at various honkey tonks listening to some amazing performers. In Fort Lauderdale, I found a restaurant by the beach and enjoyed fresh seafood from a deck on the ocean (yes, I said on). Don't get me wrong, during this time I took many personal vacations as well. I went to all-inclusives in Florida, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. I went on a cruise to The Bahamas. I visited the Gulf shores of Alabama and the natural beauty of the Outer Banks. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit and travel ground to a stop.
During the pandemic, I watched as many coworkers and friends completely changed careers and thought to myself "I want to do that too". I was looking in the rear window of my life and realized how much I missed the freedom of traveling for personal reasons, not just because I had a business meeting, a client to sell, or a conference to present at. I subscribed to job alerts for airlines and travel agencies. I couldn't figure out how to get a job in travel and still provide for my family the way I have been in my current career. I had the mindset that someone else needed to get me to where I wanted to be - that I'd be in that rear facing seat while someone else drove me there. It wasn't until my mother-in-law and I were talking about her various trips - ones she'd been on recently and ones she was planning - where she brought up how much I was always helping people research and organize their vacations. She asked why I wasn't a travel agent so I could make money doing what I was already doing. What a concept! I found a wonderful host agency, set up my website and my relationships with suppliers, and very soon was reaching out to friends and family to see what vacations I could plan and book for them. I'm still working my full-time job. I really do like what I do there! But now, I feel a light in my soul that was dimmed for a long time. I love spending my evenings and weekends vacation planning. I love looking in my rear window and using my travel experiences to help guide my clients. I love talking to clients and hearing their hopes for their next vacation and their excitement when we've landed on just the right destination and just the right experience.
If you're ready to talk with someone about your vacation dreams, contact me here. I'd love to spend some time hearing where you want to go and what you want to do. Let's make your vacation dreams a reality!