Hi, I’m Cheryl and travel is my passion! I blame my parents – when I was in high school, I wasn’t doing very well in German class (not great when your dad is from Germany) and as “punishment” they sent me to Switzerland for 3 weeks to visit my aunt and uncle and improve my speaking skills. I returned with a better understanding of the language as well as a very long list of other places I now needed to visit! I say needed because seeing the world, experiencing new cultures, meeting new people, and learning what other people have experienced in their travels was like air to me. As necessary, and as important.
But not only did I want to see the world, I wanted everyone else to see it as well. I remember telling my parents that I wanted to be a travel agent when I was little, and even in college my favorite class was “Geography of Tourism” where I did my final paper on Walt Disney World! I may have taken a windy path, but a bachelor’s in Psychology, certificate in Project Management, and a master’s in Health Services Administration later - I am doing what I dreamed of all those years ago. And I love it!
Why I Love Travel Planning
Every day, I get to help my clients expand their horizons, check items off their travel bucket lists, and make wonderful life-long memories with their children, parents, and friends. It is the best job in the world, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to do it.
Travel in a Pandemic
But I am not going to lie, the last 20 months have been really difficult for the travel industry. In March 2020, when the world shut down, and as I spent days and weeks on hold with suppliers, canceling trips, and talking through options with my clients, the joy was gone. It was scary, sad, and none of us knew what was going to happen next. This was, of course, was not unique to travel. The whole world was now only visible via Zoom. Would we be able to leave our houses any time soon? Would it be safe? Were our travel plans and bucket lists just reminders of a world long gone?
Getting Back to the World
Luckily, resorts are now welcoming guests, the world is opening its borders, and people are venturing out and seeing it once again. So, now seems like the perfect time to rethink how that is going to look, and what my place in that experience is going to be.
The Foundations of Holiday Road Adventures
Allegra and I have worked very hard at creating a company that is based on building trusting relationships between clients and their travel designers, as well as between the travel designers and the company. We will work with you to design the vacation experience of your dreams, providing unique itinerary options that support smaller local businesses alongside the larger more well-known travel destinations. The pandemic taught us how important human interaction is, so we want to create a community among our clients so that everyone can share their travel experiences with one another. And we want to build a company culture that supports, encourages, educates, and listens so that every Travel Designer has the best tools available to create your dream vacation. We can’t wait to get you there. And if you want to be a part of our team, we would love to have you!