I truly have my dream job.
When I was growing up, my parents made family vacations a priority. There were some years that we went across the country, and some years that we stayed close to home. But as a kid, what stuck out was the fact that my parents WANTED to spend time with us, and they fostered environments that grew our family bonds.
When my husband and I were engaged, I started planning our "delayed honeymoon" trip to Walt Disney World. Because of his job, we could only take a couple of days after our wedding, but I researched and planned our "newlywed trip" for 11 months, and when we finally arrived, we had the trip of a lifetime! I was HOOKED on planning trips. I started planning Disney trips for friends and family (unofficially since I wasn't an agent), and I planned countless hypothetical (and a few real) vacations for us.
Fast-forward to 2013: I was talking with a friend that I met on a Disney discussion board back when I planned our "newlywed trip", and I mentioned that I would love to work with her and help plan Disney trips for people. She got me in touch with the owner of her travel agency. Soon after that, I joined my friend as an agent with Fairy Godmother Travel!
I could finally start officially planning Disney trips! From my very first day, I knew that THIS is what I was made to do. I loved taking courses about the various destinations, and learning how to best help my clients. I was finally able to put my countless hours of Disney research to good use. I quickly became known as "The Disney Lady", and I lit up every time I was able to "talk Disney" with someone.
Shortly after I began planning Disney trips, I also started helping people travel to Universal Orlando. My husband and I are HUGE Harry Potter fans, which means we also love the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. It was so much fun helping others get to experience it for themselves.
In February of 2015, I started training for my first cruise line: Princess Cruises. I fell in love with the fact that my clients could unpack once and yet visit multiple destinations in one trip. I slowly began adding other cruise lines to my travel agent tool belt.
In April of 2017, our agency began to partner with other suppliers (cruise lines, resorts, etc.). As I began to train for these various new companies, I started to notice a pattern in what I was getting SUPER EXCITED about. Small cruise lines (river and ocean cruises) whose focus was on the destinations, cultures, nature, adventure, and off-the-beaten path experiences captured me.
TODAY, I am able to work from home, homeschool our three amazing kids, and help others experience the world at the same time. Whether I am planning a first (or 15th) visit to Walt Disney World for a family, or dreaming with clients about a bucket list cruise to the Mediterranean, I come alive when I get to help others travel. Empathy has always been one of my strong suits, and it truly gives me joy to see others making memories and going on dream vacations. Not many people get to say that they have their dream job. I DO. And I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else.
