Ep. # 124 Navigating the World with Angela Pope's Go Vacay Your Way

Ever wondered why that $700 flight to Paris seems too good to be true? According to travel expert Angela Pope, it usually is. As owner of Go Vacay Your Way travel agency, Angela pulls back the curtain on common travel misconceptions while sharing her journey from marketing professional to dream vacation curator.

Growing up as the youngest of eight children, Angela's travel passion began with family camping trips across America in a green Army tent. These formative experiences visiting state capitals and national parks laid the foundation for what would become her calling during the pandemic. When marketing opportunities dried up, a friend with four decades of safari experience recognized Angela's perfect fit for the travel industry and encouraged her to leverage her extensive background in hospitality and marketing.

What separates Angela's approach from the countless online booking sites? Relationships. From riverboat cruises that take you through countries rather than merely to them, to authentic local experiences that can't be Google-searched, Angela crafts personalized journeys that reflect each traveler's unique preferences. "You don't travel the same way I do," she explains, "and your grandmother certainly doesn't." This philosophy drives her white-glove service, where planning begins ideally six to eight months before European adventures and a full year ahead for destinations with limited travel windows like Alaska.

Beyond just booking transportation and accommodations, Angela provides something invaluable: peace of mind. Her global network of contacts helps clients avoid common pitfalls like luggage logistics on European trains or potential scams that target tourists. The result is a travel experience that feels both adventurous and secure. Ready to transform your next vacation from stressful to spectacular? Connect with Angela at GoVacayYourWay.com and discover why true travel expertise might be the most valuable souvenir you bring home.

Dream Vacations - GoVacayYourWay.com

Angela Pope

[phone]

GoVacayYourWay.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Regina Lee.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another episode
of the Good Neighbor Podcast.
I'm here in South Charlotte andmy favorite thing to do is talk
to local business owners, andI'm super excited today to talk
to Angela Pope.
She is the owner of Go Vacayyour Way, which is a travel
agency.
Welcome, angela.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Thank you so much.
Good to be here.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
You've got the dream job, I guess, and it's called
Dream Vacations as well.
I'm sure your friends areenvious of you.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
You know they are and everybody thinks well, you're a
travel agent, you travel forfree.
That's got to be great,everything's awesome.
But yes, I do have a lot offriends who enjoy hearing about
what I do.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, tell us a little bit, first about your
agency, and then what inspiredyou to do this and get into this
industry.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
What inspired you to do this and get into this
industry.
Sure, you know, I've been inbusiness 25 years.
I've got a background inmarketing and sales and travel,
hospitality.
And as a kid we camped.
I'm the youngest of eight.
There wasn't a lot of extramoney, but my mom always took
three weeks off and we wouldcamp in a tent Green Army tent.

(01:25):
State capitals were on theagenda national parks, state
parks.
We visited Montreal, canada,had a sister who had studied
there and visited Niagara fallsat you know the age of three or
four, smoky mountains, beachesgrew up, going to Folly beach
and Charleston lakes likeNorman's national state Park.
So you know, like otherbusiness owners, during the

(01:49):
pandemic, I found myself kind ofasking you know what next?
And everything in marketing hadshut down.
So I called, phoned a friendwho had been doing Africa
safaris for 40 years and he saidyou know, there's never going
to be more pent up demand thanin travel and it sounds like you
know you are a good fit forthat.
So I thought about my careerand bringing all that forward.

(02:13):
Kids in college are going to be, and how do I get them engaged
in travel and what would we face?
So I was up for the challengeand it's kind of how I got
started in travel and it's kindof how I got started in travel
and where all that started.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
So to become an agent and own your own agency.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
What requirements are there?
Yeah, so again, just to comparemy businesses and marketing it
was organic, grassroots.
I had to form every vendorrelationship.
I had to hire every accountant,attorney, bookkeeper, and when
I looked at a Dream Vacationsfranchise, it was really
leveling that up and thatinvestment really got me to be
diamond.

(02:53):
Platinum preferred with all ofmy cruise vendors, all of the
land vendors gives me theopportunity to literally make
relationships in other countries.
So to get you know, vetted orlicensed, there's a training
process, there are fees that youpay as a franchisee.

(03:13):
But to really do this, there'sso many ways to do it.
Right, I might have taken fivecruises.
Or I might've gone to Jamaicaand said, oh my gosh, I should
do this.
Or somebody says you loveplanning trips, you should do
this, but no trip that I plan isthe way that I would do it
Because, right, you don't travelthe same way as I do, and your
grandmother certainly doesn'tand your spouse, who's never

(03:35):
left wherever, doesn't.
So we all travel differentlyand there's always continuing
education as well.
I'm taking webinars all thetime and phone calls.
I'm on WhatsApp as much as I'mon text.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
That's because it's international.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yeah, I work with vendors all over the world and I
work with other travel agentsall over the world.
So really, it's your trainingand your certifications can be
this or they can be, you know,daily, hourly.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Well, I love what you said about being a part of
Dream Vacations.
It does open so many doors andthat brand is there, so that
makes a lot of sense.
Do you happen to specialize inany kinds of travel?
I?

Speaker 3 (04:22):
do I specialize in Europe and really abroad.
Europe can be reallypersonalized.
They say bespoke experiences,you know, when someone's going
to travel again with a partner,a spouse, even solo, their you
know fear of safety or how do Ido this?

(04:44):
So really walking hand in handwith clients, from the time that
we have the first phone callthrough people sending me
pictures from their trip whilethey're there hey, did you ask
about this?
It's really delightful to getthose messages.
But yes, I really specialize incustomized overseas itineraries

(05:06):
, also hand in hand with rivercruises that make traveling very
easy.
You know you pack and unpackonce you get off every morning
in a different country and wesay you know, cruises take you
to countries and rivers take youthrough countries.
So really depends on whatyou're looking for.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
I love that.
So when you think about youknow me myself trying to do it
myself the plan versus usingsomeone amazing like you by the
way, your reviews are amazing,many, many Pfizer reviews.
What do you see as some of thebiggest mistakes people make
when they're trying to do it ontheir own?

Speaker 3 (05:47):
Well, I think, initially, is people take that
quick look online and they see,oh my gosh, $700 to Paris.
Or you know, I can do thismyself.
It's a click here and a clickthere on Travelocity or Orbitz,
wherever they are, and theydon't realize those are travel
agents, those are travelagencies.

(06:07):
You're paying them to do ityourself and so you're not
getting that expertise.
So, yes, with a trip likeEurope you know I break that
down Italy and you want to go toMilan and Florence or Venice,
or somebody else wants to go toRome and see the Vatican or the
Colosseum and the Amalfi Coast,but they don't know how to do

(06:30):
that.
They don't know that they'regoing to schlep their luggage
you know, their American luggage, as I say, on a train.
They don't know that there arepeople posing as train reps that
are not that could scam you.
So I think the mistakes are youjust don't know what you don't
know and that $700 to Paris,that's not, that's half a leg,

(06:52):
that's one leg, that's not theas as Andy, I can't remember the
radio host, but and the rest ofthe story is, you know and in
the end result we save you money, I save you money, I save you a
lot of time, a lot of money andI've got a lot of resources who
really level up, take you fromthat novice to expert pretty

(07:16):
quickly so that you might dosomething else in the future on
your own.
It might not be a part of everytrip love to be, but maybe not,
depending on what your needs are.
So I build relationships.
I'm not looking for atransaction, and I think that
online is one of those things.
The other thing is that travelis unsafe.
Travel is not unsafe.

(07:36):
You may hear that Mistakes are,you know, listening.
Online, Social media can sendus down a path of hey, Greece,
you want to jump off a cliff anddive under the rocks and all
these crazy adventurous thingsthat most people don't have to
do.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Gotcha, how far out should we think about reaching
out to you when we want to plana Europe trip or a cruise ocean
or river?

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Great question as soon as possible.
As soon as you start thinkingabout it and start looking, the
next call would be me.
You're not obligated right upfront, but it does give me an
idea to put you if you reallywant to be on our project list.
We have a process.
I have an easy travel setupform that gives me the
information that I need aboutyou and those traveling with you

(08:26):
.
If you've already spent sixmonths working on this, it's
really harder for me to go backand put the puzzle together the
way that we might from thebeginning, because your mindset
is that, oh, I already did allthis work.
But I really say, whether it'syour first or 50th trip, I'm
interested in having aconversation much sooner than
later.

(08:46):
When it comes to cruising, youknow cabins are available
earlier with a very low costdeposit, even $25 with some of
our partners.
Up to you know refundabledeposits.
You can reserve your space on acruise and even with some
overseas hotels, we always bookwhere you can cancel.
We also introduce things liketrip protection.

(09:08):
So the sooner the better isreally when you want to work
with a professional, because Ialready have 25, 30 trips in the
hopper for the next year and Iwon't be able to necessarily fit
you in if it's too far down theroad.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yes.
So is it realistic, say, a sixmonth out to put a European
vacation together?

Speaker 3 (09:30):
Usually six to eight months is a great time and be
prepared to kind of move on that.
You know, when we start lookingat air, charlotte is, you know,
a hub for one of the majorairlines and we kind of try to
work around that sometimes.
But yeah, six to eight monthsfor Europe.
Alaska is one that you want tobe at least a year out.
Those spaces sell out becauseAlaska has a very short window

(09:54):
of travel.
You know same thing with, youknow, the Glacier National Park.
You have a very short window oftravel and some people want to
see from the American side Maybethey don't have a passport.
Other people want to see fromthe BAMF side, the Canadian side
, and you want to make sure youget those places, those spaces
to live, to stay.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
That makes a lot of sense.
What do you wish people knewabout your company?
You guys, specifically.

Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yeah, so I alluded to this before when I said I work
locally, differently than mycrews and my national and
international cruises.
I get to talk with people allover the world and I really
build relationships so that youhave that local experience when
you're in another country.
I'm from Charleston, as Imentioned before the show, and

(10:46):
the number of times that peopleask me what do we do?
What do locals do?
What do you want?
That's what people want.
They want that authenticallylocal.
They want to have a great meal.
They want to do these thingsthat you can't find online.
They want to be with a localguide A lot of my clients.
They don't want to be on a buswith 40.
Or if they do, they want tomake sure they're getting the
right tour and the right package.

(11:08):
So I think that's it thatyou're really getting me and
someone who's you know.
I've been in the travelindustry for probably a dozen
years, having been in nationalaccounts travel advertising at
the Charlotte Observer group,sales manager at the Performing
Arts Center.
I bring a lot of my corporateto, you know, to the table and
personal relationships aroundthe world.

(11:29):
That's really a game changerwhen you're looking at wanting
to feel safe and have a greattime.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
I love that.
So you work in this amazingworld.
What do you do for fun whenyou're not doing your travel
agency?

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Yeah, well, fun's good.
My husband and I like comedy sowe enjoy going to see comedians
and just watching.
Sharing that we also love music, both in different ways.
I'm a musician and vocalist.
I've sung in choirs for decades.
I got to sing at Carnegie Hallwith Casting Crowns one time.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
And that was a blast.
So we went and did thattogether this year.
This past year I got toaccompany a group to Ireland,
scotland and London and some ofthat was family, some of it was
friends and other clients.
So travel is a big part of myfun.
I also enjoy friends, family,neighbors, just building

(12:28):
relationships.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
Well, I love it, so tell our listeners how they can
find you guys.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, absolutely Well , the easiest way is to remember
Go Vacay your Way, it's yourvacation, we want to make it
your way and that'sGoVacayYourWay.
com.
And then my email, apope atdreamvacationscom.
I take texts and calls fromeight to eight.
Just send me a quick message.

(12:56):
You can find all that on mywebsite.
So really the internet andGoogle.
You can certainly Google AngelaPope, dream vacations or go
vacay your way, and it all willcome up.
I'll do a Zoom call.
I can meet you in person.
You know any needs that youhave.
Hopefully I can meet those.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yes, very white glove .
I see you do personalizeeverything.
Well, Angela, it has been apleasure getting to know about
Go Vacay your Way and reallythank you for joining us today.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
Thank you for having me.
Really appreciate yourinvitation and good to meet you
here.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go toGNPSouthCharlottecom.
That's GNPSouthCharlottecom, orcall 980-351-5719.