You know what I love about honeymoons? It is your first family vacation. There will be no other “first” that encompasses what this trip does, and because of that, I think it is SO important! 

In light of that, what will make this first trip as Mr. & Mrs. incredibly perfect for you, is to make sure it is created with you in mind. Your honeymoon should be perfectly suited to your tastes and desires, and this is true whether you have traveled the world extensively, or the last time you went on a vacation was with your parents to Disneyland when you were 12.

I don’t call myself a Travel Agent. But for all intents and purposes I am, in the sense that I have the proper setup and credentials in order to book and sell travel. But looking at it from that frame of mind would not encompass all that I do, nor highlight what I believe to be the valuable service I bring to my clients.

Working with a Travel Professional such as myself has it’s advantages because my business is set up to not just provide travel agency services, but also act as your advisor, consultant, and concierge. In that regard, you end up with a service that makes the planning and booking of travel through a Travel Agent a better, faster, and certainly more valuable way to go.

Happy 2016!!!

There are so many amazing places out there for us to experience, picking one can sometimes be the hardest part. But there are certain destinations that make my “Hottest Destinations” list this year because they are an incredible place to go NOW. I’d love to share them with you.

The Must-See Destination of 2016: CUBA

Playa Grande, Costa Rica is a gorgeous beach area off the beaten path, just north of Tamarindo. This beach is incredibly popular with surfers, and is the place to go if you consider yourself a pro, or are interested in honing your skills. I saw all skill sets benefitting from the awesome waves there. I don’t surf — at all— but it was enjoyable to simply sit on the beach and watch the waves crashing and the surfers do their thing. 

Visiting Monteverde is something that many visitors to Costa Rica make part of their itinerary, and it is one of the top destinations in the country.  People come here to experience nature at it’s very finest.  The cloud forests are brimming with plants and animals, the zip lines and suspension bridges are the longest (and most exciting) in the country, and the coffee is tasty, local and cheap. Each of these diversions – as well as countless other activities – can be enjoyed through a number of exciting tours.

Costa Rica is one of my favorite places. In fact, it was the first place I traveled when I retired as an athlete and wanted to escape to a place where I could just reconnect with myself, think about my life and the direction it was going, and experience what this “pura vida” was all about. I did all that and then some. Costa Rica truly is a destination that speaks to your soul and makes it sing.

Could you imagine anything worse than a two week trip in Italy without being able to eat pizza and pasta?! I have a hard time wrapping my brain around such a concept, and an even harder time knowing why someone would consider a trip to the land of “BEST. FOOD. EVER.”, if they couldn’t eat most of it.  

Such was almost the case of a recent trip to Italy that I planned. I believe that food is an integral part of any vacation, and I knew that some research and planning needed to be done so that this trip to Cinque Terre, Florence, and Rome could be vegetarian and sans gluten— yet still amazing in the foodie department.

I used to never purchase travel insurance for my own personal travel. To me it seemed like an extra, unnecessary cost that covered who knows what— but whatever it covered was more than likely not going to happen to me and so I would rather save my money. But now that I plan travel on a daily basis, I have vastly changed my tune. For starters, good travel insurance actually covers so many things that happen quite frequently! And because I have a front row seat to a lot of people’s travel misfortunes, I see how often it is needed.

I remember about 5 years back when I first traveled internationally with one of my dearest friends on the planet. I had already been friends with her for over 15 years, so surely we have had plenty of time to know each other’s personalities and likes. But traveling with someone is different. 

Why wasn’t she in more of a hurry to get down to breakfast before it was over?

When was she going to realize that my internal itinerary that had outwardly been expressed as “no real plans” was being thrown off? 

How come she wanted to spend SO MANY HOURS inside a museum?

Ireland is magical. There is beauty to be found across the whole country, and so much of that you get to see by actually driving from place to place.  Whereas sometimes driving on vacation is a necessary evil, in Ireland it’s part of the specialness. So, whether you take an extended vacation and see the whole country, or get specific by just picking one half or the other and take your time to see and do more at each of your stops, there will be no shortage of things that leave you speechless.  

Creating itineraries for people who don’t travel very extensively can be exciting. It also can be a bit challenging in it's own way. Whereas you can have some clients who know exactly what they like and what they want to do, the flip-side is having clients who don’t know too much about what they might enjoy while traveling. Case in point- I just had a honeymoon couple return from an absolutely amazing trip in Europe that had never been, yet wanted a fully customized, off the beaten path trip that was all their own.

The hard part at the beginning though, was being able to uncover what the experience was they were after. Our literal starting point was: “We want to spend about three weeks in Europe.” No specific countries, no specific type of trip… just Europe.  A whole entire continent of goodness.