Month: July 2020

One thing this pandemic has taught us, is that we have one life to live and that this is not a practice run for the future, this is it!! So, let’s focus on what is truly important to us, and DREAM of where in the world we want to go and what we want to get out of that experience. Are you with me? Are you ready to DREAM?

If there are things you want to do in your life, you should really make them a priority. Instead of waiting for “someday” or “retirement” to experience it, making a concrete plan is smart, and I want to help you with that!

Growing up, “traveling” meant something a whole lot different for most of us than booking a flight and filling up our passport pages. With 5 kids in tow, my parents would often just pack up our Ford Fairmont station wagon and drive us to visit relatives in a neighboring state. That was our version of vacation.

So, instead of hopping on planes, I explored the world by turning the pages of National Geographic Magazine. I poured over fantastic images of faraway places – places I could hardly believe existed. Those magazines inspired not only my love of travel, but my passion for photography. I received my first camera in the 4th grade and have filtered my world through the camera lens ever since.

“A picture paints a thousand words” and connects us to the people, places, feelings and stories that they tell. Just like this picture of me when I was in Thailand and this friendly elephant caught me by surprise and gave me a hearty elephant hug! Or when we ventured to the Andes Mountains to see one of the “Seven Wonders of the World” … Machu Picchu. I have vivid memories of walking along a steep, rocky pathway with beautiful foliage on both sides and then turning a corner and right there before my eyes was the most breathtaking view of Machu Picchu. I was awestruck! It was magical to say the least. What memorable experiences!!

• 

• 

Pictures provide us with the opportunity to DREAM, connecting us to the most magical places and experiences around the world and make us feel inspired just like National Geographic Magazine did for me when I was a young child.

So, let’s take this inspiration to a whole new level. My travel consortia, Virtuoso, has created an exciting way to help you, my clients, DREAM TODAY SO THAT YOU CAN TRAVEL TOMORROW.

Check out this motivating video below!

Wanderlist by Virtuoso is a really neat comprehensive global platform (It’s a really cool app.) that offers a fun, free way to create and share travel wish-lists. It’s fairly simple to use! You can explore destinations and hotels around the world, as well as unique and specialized things to do in those destinations.

Plus, if you’ve ever planned a group adventure for your family or friends, you already know how difficult it can be to please everyone. Wanderlist by Virtuoso was designed to make it easy and seamless (and enjoyable!) to DREAM together.

Here’s a screen shot of my Wanderlistl   I’m Dreaming of visiting Greece.

Are you ready to try it?  Here’s how it works:

1. CLICK the blue button below for your exclusive invitation link to the “Welcome to Wanderlist” homepage.
2. CREATE an account – it’s quick and easy!
3. EXPLORE the world using the interactive map to find places, hotels and experiences that intrigue, inspire, and interest you.
4. COLLECT & CUSTOMIZE Make it yours. Select and save ideas you discover to your very own travel wish list. You can create lists for any trip you are dreaming of. Whether it’s the time of year you plan to travel, the people you want to go with, or a special milestone celebration, organize your lists for a future of exciting trips.
5. SHARE and invite your family and friends, and then invite me, your travel advisor, to share in the fun. Everybody can contribute and view each other’s ideas, offering suggestions to inspire the planning process. It’s more fun when you DREAM together! Your wish lists are secure and only seen by those you choose.
6. PLAN Let’s work together to plan your next epic adventure!

I am hoping this will be a useful first step to encouraging future travel and I will never stop inspiring you.  I also hope it helps you connect with your families, friends and me around your future travel dreams.

We will travel again and creating your own Wanderlist will encourage you to learn, DREAM about and anticipate where you may want to travel when it feels right for you!

Until then, LET’S DREAM TOGETHER!

I hope you had a fun-filled 4th of July! Our family enjoyed spending the day on the lake, participating in the largest boat parade on Lake Norman (over 4,000 boats), grilling out and watching the neighbors set off fireworks from their driveway. My grandson and I also visited “Field of Flags” and were in awe of the beauty of 600 American flags blowing in the wind that were dedicated to and honored our local community Veterans, Active Military and First Responder Heroes – past or present. It was a fun-filled Independence Day.

This week I wanted to share about the many travel and destination rules, regulations, protocols and restrictions that are ever changing – day by day, hour by hour or even minute by minute. Special thanks to my travel colleague, John Rees, for letting me share some of the information he gathered for my blog. 

Staying on top of these changes is a lot of what I do these days. Whatever your personal time-frame may be for future travel, I would bet you will have some questions regarding the current process and guidelines and I will have answers for you. Hopefully you will find this information helpful for when you are ready to travel both domestically or internationally.

So, this week I will feature 5 of the most useful online resources to provide you with as much detail as possible to assist in making informed decisions.

Here are the top resources that may answer your  Where?  When?  How?  Should We?

Caribbean Travel Advisories (click on the picture above)

The Caribbean is the first area to be reopening that is happy to receive visitors from the USA, but even that is not true for every island and just because a location is “reopened” there still may be strong enough restrictions in place, that you may prefer not to travel.  Aruba, for example, currently in a Phase 1 reopening, requires residents of more than 20 states that are considered to be of higher risk of Covid-19, must upload proof of a negative test taken between 12 and 72 hours of inbound travel. Island guests must also purchase mandatory Aruba Visitors Insurance to cover up to $75,000 in expenses should they test positive for Covid-19 during their stay. The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association are doing an excellent job of keeping this Google doc (click pic above) updated and they expect many restrictions to be lifted in time for the holiday season at the end of 2020.

Europe (click on the picture above)

The European Union is debating daily whether to extend the ban on incoming US residents, along with many other countries that have high numbers of Covid-19 cases. Croatia, for example, is opening their borders to members of the EU, but American tourists may visit only with proof of paid accommodations.  Meanwhile, they have put together a decent app (click pic above) that covers the entire EU and answers questions on entry, transit, trains and air.

Global Timeline (click on the picture above)

Skift has put together a powerful resource that collects travel news events and catalogs them by date and geographical area. You have to be careful to read the articles in their entirety as it can sometimes be misleading to go by the headline alone, but nonetheless this has been a great resource for me when searching for a particular country I have received little prior information on. They also have a domestic USA section which is important to be aware of if you are planning to travel between States this summer.

Covid-19 Checker (click on the picture above)

If you are concerned about how Covid has developed in other countries you may potentially be traveling to, this app will give you the true number of cases around the world, combined with the latest restrictions regarding the same country. A great tool to help understand any risk and keep track of global travel restrictions. Please keep in mind that some countries are definitely under-reporting Covid due to lack of testing. It is important that we talk this through should one of these countries be of interest. If you want to see who navigated this best, click on New Zealand.

Flights (click on the picture above)

The International Civil Aviation Organization has been top notch with providing data during these uncertain times. Their website goes all out on everything flight related and lists the number of flights from each country daily, and places them into sub-categories of cargo/passenger/repatriation. They also indicate the percentage week over week change for each airport. This is a very useful site if you need airport specific information.

So, hang on to these valuable links and let’s refer back to them when you feel the time is right to travel to your favorite destination. I’m here to partner with you to make it happen.

Before I review our upcoming Italian Adventure below, I have to recap the excitement from the European River Cruising adventure we had with 44 of our travel friends last Thursday with AmaWaterways!  🧳🌍

WOW! What a night!! We had fun learning about the many advantages of traveling with AmaWaterways — They are an all-inclusive river cruise line with elegantly appointed riverview staterooms and suites—most with not one, but two private balconies (a French and a full balcony)—that provide unique views of the ever-changing scenery. They use the freshest locally sourced cuisine which is perfectly paired with fine wine served during lunch and dinner. And you’ll be treated to a variety of small group excursions ranging from hiking and biking adventures to culturally immersive experiences, all included. So with all this combined together, it makes for a spectacular river cruise! Are you ready for this type of an adventure?

River cruises are the hot 🔥🔥 bucket list vacation 🧳 for many reasons:

1. Smaller ships that sail on rivers not oceans – you are always in sight of the scenery.
2. They voyage on the inland waterways – rivers – of Europe, Asia, Egypt & the America’s.
3. Port stops are often the region’s oldest & most colorful villages & towns. 👍🏻

There are so many amazing itineraries!! 🌍

Guess what? We have many adventurous travelers that attended the virtual tour that want to go on a river cruise, so we are going to set-up a group European River Cruise in the summer of 2021! Think Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Linz, Passau…all those beautiful places! And on the AmaMagna…the largest ship in their fleet!   If you are interested, please send me an email, [email protected],  and I’ll fill you in!!  Keep in mind space is limited. So it is first come, first serve.

Now onto our next destination – ITALY!. With amazing art and architecture, unequaled cuisine (YUM!), shopping, compelling religious and historical sites, picturesque scenery and friendly people, Italy is a never-ending journey, a virtual banquet where you’ll find yourself doing things you never dreamed of – or always dreamed of.  This journey highlights Italy’s grand past, romantic cities and exquisite wonders.

One of my favorite things to do in Italy is to hang out with the locals for a more authentic experience. I like to dine in restaurants where the locals frequent, or walk through the markets to take in the sights and sounds of the hustle and bustle of their shopping, or visit off the beaten path historical sites or have a chat with a local and ask them about their day.  It’s also fun to go all in and take a cooking class in the home of an Italian family.  There’s nothing better than learning how to make pasta or gelato from scratch from a native. Doesn’t this sound like fun? You will be hearing more about these amazing experiences that are available to you.

We’ll be joined by my colleague, Valentina Losavio, from See Italy – a native of Italy to share about her beautiful country, locally immersive experiences, fabulous cuisine and the history and architecture!  You are in for a real treat especially when you hear her beautiful Italian accent!

• 

• 

• 

Italian cuisine is oh so good!! As you walk through the streets of any village, town or city you will most likely smell the amazing scents that are classic to Italy – garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, pasta, wine and more. To add to our experience, I hope you will join me in cooking one of the tasty delights that are quite typical in Italy.

Warren Egnal, owner of DouxVin, will also be sharing about the beautiful country and winelands of Italy. We will be tasting 2 wines from northern Italy (that some of you ordered) under the guidance of Warren. If you thought the wines from South Africa and Portugal were tasty, just wait until you sample the wines from Italy. They will be a feast for the eyes and the palate.

If you’d like to see more details on previous trips, click here to see a few of my newsletters:

https://preview.mailerlite.com/s6i0r5

https://preview.mailerlite.com/b6o6d9

https://preview.mailerlite.com/p7u5y7

https://preview.mailerlite.com/e2t6l3