January 24, 2025 • 53 mins
The Wishing Well's Terrie Dean and Harry Reif discuss this week's travel news and Hot Deals!
Discover the essence of luxury travel in 2025! Join us as we dive into the 5 pillars that define opulent journeys, offering personalized, meaningful, and curated experiences. Explore how these elements shape the ultimate travel experience, ensuring every trip is unforgettable.
Discover the essence of luxury travel in 2025! Join us as we dive into the 5 pillars that define opulent journeys, offering personalized, meaningful, and curated experiences. Explore how these elements shape the ultimate travel experience, ensuring every trip is unforgettable.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a Lifeless Ordinary. It's a travel show and
podcasts from your friends at the wishing Well two forty
three f avenue in harsmerg and online at the wishing
Well dot this. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury concierge,
travel agency and a Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show
and podcasts hosted by Terry Dean, bringing for over forty
years of experience in the travel industry to help guide
(00:20):
you to great experiences in your travel, whether it be
around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Say hello, Good morning sir.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Good morning Terry. It's good. I'm well. Before we get
into anything else, I want to say hi to Harry
as well. Harry right from the wishing Well.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Well, good morning, Chris.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
It is good to see you. Harry.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
It's great.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Now, how's everybody's week been? Well?
Speaker 4 (00:43):
You know what, I feel very fortunate. We made it
through the solar whatever it was, the alignment. Is that
what it was with all of these planets. Yeah, So
we made it through that, So we're good. We're probably
good for another century.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Probably the only thing in the Solar system right now
that has been aligned. You know what.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
I think it does affect people, though, I really do.
I think it has effect on people's moods and their
attitudes and everything else. I just I quite frankly, just
get sharper during those times. So not to break.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Sure, I'm thinking when you said that, I'm like cutting
or or.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
I'm kiding, of course, but you know it did happen,
and it was it made national news, and I just
thought I would mention that today because we're still here.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, well the is it's warming up, yea for a
couple of days.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
We've had the water running in our bathroom for about
three days straight. Well, I guess yesterday we stopped.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
The pipe so it wouldn't freeze in the pipes.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Well, it started to the water was barely coming through
the pipe and I was down crawling under the house
when it was three degrees outside, trying to find the
pipes to thaw out. And yeah, I mean, I'll be
happy when spring this year.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Yeah, we all will. I think that's absolutely true. So
but you want to get started with some good old
travel news, Shyeah, I'd love to hear one of the
things that hit my desk got I was so excited
about this, because you know, talking about spring, the birth
of new off spring for wild animals and that kind
(02:25):
of thing that always seems to announce spring. But just recently,
the giant panda's returned to the National Zoo in Washington,
d C. And they did that on January the twenty fourth.
They didn't wait till spring. They made their entrants a
little early. The pandas arrived October of twenty twenty four
on a FedEx cargo plane from Chingdu, China.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Can I tell you a fun story about the pandas.
When I guess it was four or five years ago now,
I was in Memphis for my visit, my annual visit
to Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital, and waiting in the
airport for the flight back. There's a group of people
sitting there and they're like, yeah, we're part of the
crew transporting the pandas. It was when they were leaving
(03:11):
to go back to China.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
How exciting.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And you know, FedEx is based in Memphis, and so
their employees were there. And so for about an hour
as I waited for the plane, I got to hear
them talking. They weren't talking to me, but I was eavesdropping,
because that's what a good, good Virginia kid does when
he's in Memphis listening to him. Just what a what
a neat job to be able to be able to
help transport the pants because they get their own FedEx plane.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, it's amazing, it is.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And one question is why did the pandas actually return? Well,
they returned as part of a ten year agreement between
the Smithsonian and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, And that
agreement is actually part of China's panda diplomacy campaign. Yes,
there is such a thing. And the panda's return is
(03:58):
a sun that really relations between the US and China
have improved, So they say.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
What a great pr move on China's part.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Exactly, And actually, what happened to the pandas before they returned?
In twenty twenty three, three pandas left the National Zoo
and they returned to China due to an expired agreement
and strained US China relationship. The National Zoo was without
pandas for the first time in almost twenty five years. Now,
(04:31):
what's going to happen to the pandas after they return? Well,
China retains ownership of the Pandas and any cubs born
to the Pandas have to be returned to China by
the time they are age four. And I thought it
was real interesting. Just as soon as this news made
it across my desk, well, lo and behold, the National
(04:54):
Geographic Tourist Association sent me a package that you you
can actually book into Washington, d C. A package called
a zoocation in Washington, d C. To experience the magic
of the Pandas. You can enjoy deluxe accommodations, a twenty
five dollars daily breakfast credit, and a zoo themed welcome amenite,
(05:18):
all while celebrating the return of these beloved pandas. And
if you're interested in that, you can actually give us
a call at the Wishing Well and find out more
about I just think that's the happiest story that came
across my desk in a long time, and I really
wanted to share it here today.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
I'm a fun n verse five four nine, eight, twenty
three thirty three.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Now another piece of news that I found very interesting,
kind of a shameless news article really for me to
share today, though, concerns our home base of Virtuo, so
they are targeting a high level of consumer with a
brand new division that it says will reaffirm its leadership
in the luxury space. The company just this past Thursday
(06:01):
announced that it was launching an ultra high net worth
business division, targeting a new set of the savviest and
most discerning consumers as well as those who cater to them. Now,
this division is going to be led by a former
Virtuoso travel agency owner in Camelback Odyssey Travel in Phoenix.
(06:23):
They are also a special advisor to Virtuoso COO Brad
Cortland and have been since twenty twenty two. Virtuoso said
this division plans to collaborate with companies outside the travel
industry in the high ultra high net worth space, including
luxury brands in fashion, art, culture, wine, jewelry, wellness, and
(06:49):
a lot more. Now, in just a few minutes, you're
going to see why this article is so poignant today,
and that is because we are going to take a
deep dive in to the world of luxury travel. The
name of our storyline today is the Five Seas of
Luxury Travel, so we're gonna be talking a lot more
(07:09):
about that. But I think it was very apropos that
Virtuoso came out with this news article just in time
for our show today here a Lifeless Ordinary. Now another
story that I thought was equally you know, kind of
melded well with the storyline today is one of our
(07:32):
preferred tour operators, TALC. We talk a lot about them
here on a Lifeless Ordinary. In the very near future,
we're gonna have one of Talk's executives join us here
on a Lifeless Ordinary and talk about their product. They
have everything from luxury land based fully escorted tours to
river cruises, ocean liners as well, and they are an
(07:56):
all inclusive type luxury product. And when I say that, Chris,
I mean literally everything is included. Unlike with a lot
of other cruise lines that we have dealt with before
and we continue to deal with, they have a great product.
We have to look for who fits what you know.
And TALC, however, has one of these products that if
(08:17):
you're doing one of their river cruises, everything is included,
all of your shore excursions, not just some, but all
of them. Your gratuities are included, your alcoholic beverages are included,
and if you wanted something from their vintage winery and
pick a bottle even that is included in the price
of what you get with TALC. So you know, a
lot of good reasons for us to have them here
(08:41):
and host them on a lifeless ordinary. But today's news
about TAUC is that they're rolling out a series of
savings for solo travelers. That's an area and a sect
of travelers that sometimes gets overlooked far too many times
are the folks that want to go solo. And they're
doing this on all of their European river cruises as
well as on select landteurs. On its European river cruisees,
(09:05):
Talk is waving the single supplement rates on all of
its Category one riverboat cabins for every departure of every
TALC River Cruise itinerary. In total, the single supplement is
being waived on more than two hundred and fifty TALC
River cruise departures this year. So again, if you're interested
(09:27):
in that, if you are a solo cruiser hery, I
know you've got some folks interested in the TALC product.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
And this is especially appropriateary for a lot of folks
that are you know, widows or widowers that are out
there and they want to travel. They've enjoyed traveling with
their spouse, but now their spouse isn't with them, but
they still enjoy traveling. They want to be able to
travel in a way where they don't feel out of place,
they don't feel constrained, they don't feel uncomfortable. And I
(09:55):
think TALK, along with some other cruise lines that are
also catering more and more to solo travelers, now are
recognizing that this market of many of these people are seniors.
That's what they want. They want an experience where they
feel like they fit in, they feel like they're welcome,
and in fact, the cruise lines are doing tremendous things
(10:17):
to welcome them. And when you talk about the Talk experience,
I can't help but say, when you talk about excursions,
there are excursions, and there are excursions the talk excursions.
Every time I look at them, they're just awesome. They're
the people that take you behind the ropes, you know,
at some of the best places in the world. And
(10:37):
I think they do that. And we'll talk about this
more when we get them on the air, but I
want to ask them some of the questions about how
they get some of the things that they get to
make available to our travelers. They're very exclusive and I
think a lot of it is because the way they
do things. They have very small, intimate ships and they
(10:57):
just really do a great job of reading the market.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Yeah, and I think at a time when people are
concerned about income and outgo in their homes and how
they're operating, and they still want vacations, I think it's
impressive that TALC is what I call doing the right thing.
And so for solo travelers, I like it. I think
it's a great move on their part. I think it
(11:21):
will earn them some business and I can't wait to
host them here on the show.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
And you talk about solo travelers. One of the things
also really interesting about them, and we're kind of jumping
ahead in terms of what this show will be about,
but they're one of the few cruise lines where you
can put more the river cruise lines where you can
put more than two people into a stateroom, which is
again very attractive for families. They may be traveling, you know,
with a grandparent somebody like that, they want to put
(11:47):
three people into a room. Most of the river cruise
lines cannot accommodate that.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
TALC can so look forward to hearing more about the
day that we're going to be hosting talk here on
a Lifeless Ordinary. We'll try to keep you posted so
that you can tune in, especially on that particular episode.
Now more news. I got an announcement from Delta Airlines
this past Thursday that they will begin to restart service
(12:15):
from JFK International Airport in New York to Tel Aviv's
airport in Israel, becoming the first US carrier to announce
that return. Delta will operate seven weekly flights between the
two cities starting April first. The carrier said the decision
(12:36):
came after a comprehensive security review conducted in close coordination
with government and private sector partners. It also noted that
it has implemented additional precautions to ensure the safety of
both its crew and its customers. American Airlines currently says
it won't resume flights into Israel until at least September
(12:58):
of twenty twenty five, while unan it says it's going
to keep their flight suspended until it deems it's safe
to return back to Tel Aviv. So a couple of
great pieces of news. I think all of that's very encouraging.
And Chris, I know you had something that came across
your desk too.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, I saw the story and I thought, this sums
up everything that we talk about here on a lifeless
a lifeless ordinary. It's how much American tourism is driving
the economy in Spain. The article I read was saying
that there's you know what we've talked about here, revenge travel.
After the pandemic ended, everybody wanted to get out and
(13:37):
just spend that money they'd be they were able to
save up when they weren't able to go spend it anywhere.
But in Spain particularly, they are seeing just a robust
economy and they say it's all because of tourism from
US Americans.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
And you know how much that thrills me, because honestly,
Spain is one of my favorite countries in Europe.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
I love the people there, I love the food, I
love the history. Sight seeing there is second to none.
It's just a really it's a magical place to be
and I can well understand why their tourism is up.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
And you should be in the United Airlines says we
hear you. So they have put a direct flight from
Chicago to Madrid starting the spring.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Excellent I'm surprised. The currency has a lot to do
with it. The people have a lot to do with it,
and I think American people are curious and this revenge
travel is not something that is slowing down. We've seen
it for well well over a year now right here, Yeah,
exactly two years easily that people since COVID have said
(14:42):
we're going to get out and do things, and they
are in big ways, which makes it tough for us
sometimes because all the great deals, all the great things
that we talk about on the air, A lot of
people will call us almost immediately after the show, which Chris,
thanks for that. We love. But people that are calling
(15:03):
are sometimes being disappointed if they wait too long, because
the things that we talk about are the things that
are the best things. So if you're here something that
you like, you know, give us a call and let
us know, you know, whether that's the right thing that
you want to do, and we'll work with.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
You on that. You mentioned great deals, and I know
you have some great deals this week.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Yes I do. And one of the ones that I
want to talk about is one of the airlines that
you read about in the news, Frontier. Frontier does some
of the strangest things in the airline industry when it
comes to prices. There a price leader. How about a
flight for nineteen dollars please? Yeah. So they've got flights
(15:43):
from many cities around the United States. The one that
I picked for nineteen dollars was going from Atlanta to
Boston nineteen dollars each way. Now, you got to be
part of a special club that they have in there.
But you can join that club and go in. I
know I have a relative that she travels all the
time on these special flights. You got to watch for him.
(16:04):
I think you're going to see some more of that
as airlines are ramping up and increasing capacity again. You know,
Boeing's producing jets again, getting planes in the air. The
system's becoming more efficient. So watch for some great airline
sales all across the board. But Frontier is nineteen dollars. Now,
(16:24):
some of the more expensive ones can be as much
as sixty nine dollars. That's to go across the country. Chris,
start in Portland, Oregon and go down to Tampa floor
to sixty nine dollars. Sure, how much gas would it
cost you to put in your car to go from
Portland to Tampa.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Well, considering I now drive a pickup truck, I've spend
that much money just getting to the airport.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
You'd have to take out a line of creditor, a
loan on your house or something like that, all right.
So that's one one of the other things came across
the news desk this week in terms of sales that
I'm pretty excited about. The perennial ones. Viking is out there.
They've returned to twenty five dollar deposits. You can hold
a cruise for only twenty five dollars. They've got some
(17:05):
other promotions out there where they've reduced some of their
international airfares. They're also offering travelers on select cruises either
one thousand dollars shipboard credit or free beverage and gratuity packages.
That special is out there only through the end of
this month. So if you're looking at doing a European
(17:26):
river cruise, Viking should be on your radar. Lots of
cruise lines out there doing river cruises now, but Viking
is one that people are very familiar with. Another one
that's out there that we like a lot is avalon
river cruises. They have a special going on right now
where they're taking one thousand dollars off a couple on
(17:47):
certain cruises. I found some cruises out there where they're
taking three thousand dollars off the price on a river cruise.
That's fifteen hundred dollars a person off of a river cruise. Again,
the dates are selling out very quickly, so you have
to watch for the correct dates and if you have
flexibility in your schedule, and many people don't, but for
(18:10):
those of us who do have some of that flexibility,
it's a great time to look for some bargains out there.
All part of what we were talking about last week.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Terry with may have something that beats frontiers and nineteen
dollars airfares, don't they Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
One of the other things I should mention with the
Avalon is on selected cruise. They're also offering free airfare.
That's an addition to those discounts per cabin so free
airfare for some of the river cruises in Europe on
Avalon again selected cruises, selected dates. But call us, let
us know that you have that kind of flexibility, will
(18:44):
we will find those deals for you.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
You're going to have to hire more people to answer
the phone for you. After these deals. Let me give
you the phone number five four h nine oh eight
twenty three thirty three.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
You got it. Let's switch over to another one. We're
talking about cruises. Emerald Cruises, they're so great as well.
We love them. They've got some two for one fares
and free air on some of their selected cruise again
certain river journeys. Emerald's a great cruise line, one of
the luxury cruise lines out there. We like them very much, Terry,
(19:16):
I don't know whatever.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Else focused on the European market. We talked a little
bit about them last week when we talked about the
wave month and the deals that are going on. Emerald
Cruise Line really does have their anchor in very much
into the European market. They would be a cruise line
though that cater to a more discerning travelers, someone who
(19:40):
maybe has been to Europe a couple of times and
wants to see it in a completely different way. Their
itineraries are very unique and their offerings on board are
very inclusive, so all the more reason why you should
put Emerald Cruise Line on your Hey, I want to
check that out list.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
And one of the things that you can get when
you get with an advice or like Terry or myself,
any of the advisors at the Wishing Well, we will
help you choose between the different cruise lines because much
like you know if we're going to go out to
dinner and choose a restaurant, it's a function of who
you are, what you want, what you like to eat,
your lifestyle, all the things that you're looking for. You
(20:18):
can spend time and sort through that yourself or we
can help you with that. And the best part about
it is it doesn't cost you to have that assistance
in that kind of advice. Let me jump out of
the water for a second, so to speak, and I
want to talk about another deal that's out there people
talk about every year, the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby
(20:40):
is coming up. Tickets for the Kentucky Derby and the
packages that we will have available at the Wishing Well.
Those go on sale the twenty seventh of January every year.
They have packages that are two day packages, single day passes,
several varieties of things if you're interested in the Kentucky Derby,
(21:00):
and this is the once in a lifetime experience where
you get to put on your fency hat and go
out and watch the ponies run it.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
And.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
I think you're horrible.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Never had one.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
You drink them because it's tradition, not because you want sure,
and you get to wear the hat. You get to
wear the hat, and you get to wear the hat.
So Kentucky Derby is the other thing I wanted to
put out there in terms of things happening this week
going on sale. We have some special packages and when
you get to an event like the Kentucky Derby, it's
important you can't just show up there and look for tickets.
(21:35):
You have to plan that in advance so that you
have a place to stay, so that you have your tickets.
And there are always perks involved too with those tickets,
where you get to do pre race events, pre race gatherings,
things like that. Very very important to plan those kinds
of events in advance. If this is on your bucket list,
your assignment Monday is to call the wishing Well, Yes sir,
(21:58):
and that number is fine for a nine oh eight
twenty three thirty three Jerry, you mentioned earlier. Our show
today is the five Seas of Luxury Travel. We've talked
luxury on past episodes of A Lifeless Ordinary. Today we've
got five s's. You're not telling me what those are yet,
but I'm sure we're going to learn. We were very strategic.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Let me just say, in the choice of our news
and our sales today, So I'll give you that as
a tease. Coming up as we learn about how luxury
is going to play a role in twenty twenty five
and where people will.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Go, we'll find out in thirty seconds here on a
Life Less Ordinary.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Protect your vacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and help you avoid pitfalls
they can spoil your hard earned vacation. We'll plan your
trip and have your back as you travel. All of
this without support or so called convenience fees. We're on
the web at tho Wishingwell dot biz or call us
at five four zero nine zero eight two three eight
(22:58):
three three. That's five four zero U nine zero eight
two three thirty three. The wishing Well really does make
dreams come true.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
And welcome back to a Life less Ordinary. This is
your travel show and podcast from your friends at the
wishing Well. You'll find them on nef Avenue and Harrisonburg.
They're online at the Wishingwell dot biz. By the way,
you can get past episodes of a Life Less Ordinary
on the website or give them a call at five
four h nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Right
before we went to break, we were talking about our
(23:27):
show today, which is called the Five Seas of Luxury Travel.
We've done a lot of setup to this. Let's get
into what these five seas are.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Yeah, I have to tell you before we launch into this, Chris,
I had a great conversation with one of our clients
this past week and she was asking me because we
are a Virtuoso Travel agency, which, for those of you
listening and you're hearing that for the first time, Virtuoso
is the world's largest luxury travel network that backs up
(23:58):
a lot of people. And we've talked about that here
on Lifeless Ordinary. Chris about how people can sometimes have
an ill conceived idea of what that means. Some people think, oh, well,
that must mean that you charge a whole lot more
for what you do, and in fact that's not it
at all. And I thought it was really important today
to talk about the whole concept of what luxury travel
(24:21):
is kind of break it down a little bit more
so that people can fully understand what that's all about.
My conversation with this lady was about sort of bringing
her knowledge level up to the point where she also
understood what luxury is. One of the things that you
will not hear under the five c's of luxury travel
(24:44):
is cash currency that's never talked about. That is not
what drives luxury.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Well, you've talked a lot on past episodes that luxury
is what you want luxury to be.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
It is you define it yourself, and for a lot
of people, Chris, we've talked about that it means convenience.
Direct NonStop flights. I can tell you right now, this
girl behind this mic today can tell you a direct
NonStop flight that's my happy place. That is truly the
beginnings of a luxury vacation for me. I don't care
if I'm going to some place and staying in a
(25:19):
three star hotel. If you can put me on a
direct NonStop flight to get there, to me, that's part
of my luxury experience.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
But today we're going to really drill down into this
and talk about some of the things that for perhaps
maybe a few people, maybe everybody finds indicative of luxury
travel when we talk about that, So you're anxious to
get started, I am, okay. So those five pillars that
(25:46):
we're talking about actually define what I call the essence
of luxury travel for twenty twenty five. It offers personalized,
kind of meaningful and really what I can say, or
a curated experience for people. The first one of the
seas that I want to talk about is culture. And
(26:08):
when we talk about luxury, a trip can be defined
as luxurious if people are seeking an authentic connection with
where they're going, and that includes sometimes heritage sites, it
includes traditional performances, maybe immersive art experiences. And I'm going
to try to give some examples of these because I
(26:30):
think it's important that people don't just hear what my
definition of it is, but actually hear an example of
that and go, oh, you know, I get that. So
one of the examples of a great luxurious cultural experience
might be a private tour of historic landmarks, Harry, you'll
identify with this, like the Pyramids of Egypt, which you
(26:52):
just experienced, or maybe an exclusive access to cultural festivals
like the Venice Carnival exactly.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
And part of what makes that culture so important is
if it's delivered to you or you experience it with
people that are immersed in that culture. They're native people
of the place that you're going and visiting Terry. That's
what makes it so exciting. Those folks are passionate, they're
excited about their place. They have the history about that place,
(27:21):
and that's what makes culture come to life. I'm not
someone who loves studying history, you know, growing up in school.
But when I experience history through cultural experiences as you're
talking about, that's the way that it lights up inside
of my head and says, Aha, I see why these people,
you know, do what they do, why they think the
(27:41):
way they think, and how they can produce the fantastic
art and food and all of the other artifacts that
we see.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
So and I think all that's true.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
I mean, people tend to get excited about and I
think of all the seas that we're going to cover,
they get most excited about the cultural experience. Because if
if you can immerse somebody in a culture, they're going
to remember that trip when they come back and they
talk about it. That's what they're going to say, you
heard from Harry, he just returned from Egypt. Those memories
(28:14):
stay very vivid pertaining to the cultural aspect and the
experience that he had, which I think is remarkable. Now,
the next sea on my list is cuisine that tends
to play I think a very important and pivotal role
in a great luxurious travel experience. Food is central to travel,
(28:36):
It really is. I said that earlier with an emphasis
on farm to table. I know that's kind of an
overly used cliche these days, but good lord, it is
everywhere people want it. It's all a part of the
health movement that everybody's involved in and wants to be
a part of. And it's locally sourced food and culturally
(28:58):
rich dining experiences. Everybody wants something exclusive, and sometimes that
culinary experience is just the box that is checked off
with a luxurious travel experience that makes that trip memorable.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
It makes me laugh to think about that when I
think about the first time I went to Hawaii, and
you talk about cuisine. Everybody does a luau in Hawaii,
right Terry. Very soon people make it to Hawaii without
going to an authentic Hawaiian luau, And one of the
smallest containers on every lu al that you go to,
you remember what it is Hoi, Yeah, Poi, and that's
(29:35):
probably some of the worst tasting food I've ever had
in my life. However, Chris, I can look at you
this morning, I can speak to the listeners this morning
and say, yes, I have tasted Poi, and I didn't
just hear it's bad.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
I know it's awful.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
But I've also had many, many, many, many more experiences
where I visited none another country. Spain was a great example.
Took a cooking course, we cooked Spanish cuisine, we ate
Spanish cuisine. We were trained by a Spanish chef. And
if you do take a vacation and you don't try
(30:12):
something different, even if you go to Philly, you gotta
try a cheese steak. But if you're going on a
vacation around the world, you have to try their local cuisine.
You have to experience it. You don't have to like
it all, but you can come back with braggen rice
to say I tried that. I know what that is.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Now.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Another good example of perhaps a great luxury experience that's
centered around food comes from a vendor that we use
in Cancoon, Mexico, of all places. Sometimes it's part of
the Charisma hotel properties it's called Eldorado Royal Gourmet. Now
at this property, which is a huge property, it's almost
(30:49):
like a city unto itself. They actually produce and grow
in their own greenhouses, produce that they make farm to
table for all of their guests. The chef gleans from
these greenhouses that they have and prepares the meals directly
from that. They also butcher their own meat, so that
(31:12):
means cattle and chickens alike. So we'll, you know, when
we are looking to put you in a culinary experience,
even if you're going to just someplace like Mexico, why not,
why not add that to your experience.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
I went to Cancun twenty some years ago and I
still tell the story about these I was told they
were shrimp, they were lobster tails, these prawns, I don't know.
They were bigger than my hand. And you ate them
on a deck that was out over the water. I
guess there's like the bay that Cancun goes around. I'll
(31:50):
tell you. We could talk for the next hour just
about Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
And one of the most exhilarating culinary experiences that I
had was actually at this property at Elderada Royal gourmet
at a little restaurant called Leschikh, and it was the
same farm to table experience. However, they did what they
called fusion cooking there where the smoke comes up under
(32:13):
the glass and you have these wall to wall wine
bottles on the wine that create part of the decorps
I mean we're talking. I mean what kind of memories
are those to take home from a great experience, very
very unique.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
One of the things also we talk about with cuisine
a lot of times people who go on a cruise,
who eats the best on a cruise? Captain?
Speaker 1 (32:39):
I was gonna say everybody, if you miss.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
An opportunity on a cruise to dine at the captain's table,
you're missing a very important culinary experience as well. And
that's something that many people don't know to ask for,
But if you know to ask for it, that's something
that you might very well enjoy on your next cruise.
You want to dine at the captain's table.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Right, sure, anytime you can. That's always a great experience. Now,
the third see in our five seas of Luxury travel
is community, and travel is really focused when it's working
with the community on connecting you as a traveler with
that local community, supporting sustainable tourism there and giving back,
(33:26):
and it's.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Possible to do both.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
I mean, the thing today is we want to leave
as small a carbon footprint as we can. And the
mantra in travel in years past, actually since COVID is
no matter where you're going, do no harm. So when
you go, it's very important that you look at how
you can least affect negatively and have the least amount
(33:51):
of negative impact on an area that you're going. But
more importantly, can I by traveling there benefit that community anyway?
And I think we do that all the time when
we pour our tourism dollars back into some areas that suffer.
Take for example, Maui, Hawaii, when they went through their
(34:13):
devastating fires. Lahina is now back open for business and
they are beckoning people to come back and spend their
tourism money there. If you do that, you're actually doing
something very positive for a community that was very damaged before.
Another example of that is visiting community run lodges in
the Amazon, or participating in local artists and workshops, maybe
(34:37):
in Peru. These are people who make money off of
the work that they do with you, but elevate your
experience as a vacationer.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
I think those are great.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
And lots of UNESCO World Heritage Sites where you can
go and you meet the people who are indigenous to
those sites, who live in the neighborhoods around those, having
the opportunity to exchange with them. Some of the tours
you actually go and have dinner in people's homes, and
(35:10):
I think that's a great kind of tour. You visit
somebody's home in a region of the world and they've
prepared dinner for you. When you go to something like that,
you not only enjoy the wonderful dinner, but you enjoy
the community. You're sitting at a table with somebody that
you've never met before, that has a whole head full
and life full of experiences, and you're gonna have conversations
(35:33):
during that jurney, You're gonna learn things, you're gonna make
new friends.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
I think we talked about that, it might have been
two years ago now about they do like cooking classes
in their home. They bring you in, they'll show you
how to make pasta exactly.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
There's actually a top vendor that we work with, one
of our preferred vendors called Eat With and they will
actually take you into any corner of the world where
you may be visiting, put you inside someone's home who
actually does prepare and help school you. If you want
to through a cooking class and then you get to.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Eat what you cook.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
I want to go to Italy now and do a
cooking class in some Italian ladies.
Speaker 4 (36:13):
Hell, that's very popular in the Tuscany area, Chris, that's
very popular.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
I can hook you up man, all right. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
Now, the fourth sea of the luxury travel matrix that
we're working on today is content, and I don't think
that would probably surprise anybody because obviously everything that you
put together with regard to a vacation package, it's really
all about the content, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
I mean, what does it have?
Speaker 4 (36:38):
It's a curated travel itinery that tells a story, whether
that's inspired by literature, history, or personal passions. Now, an
example of that is a tour operator Chris that we
hosted here on the show, had the privilege of having
Luxury Gold. They actually do music tours in and around Nashville,
and I'll tell you they bring on some of Nashville's
(37:00):
greatest to meet and greet you when you do those tours.
Same with Talp Tours. I was actually just in Nashville
received my certification with Talp Tours and I met one
of Nashville's most elite songwriters and we actually wrote a
song together.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Sure, that's awesome.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
It was Actually it was a great experience and one
that I will never forget. And that's part of this
example of what I'm talking about when I talk about content.
Another operator that does this is Viking. But you would
never imagine the destination I would pick to highlight that,
it's the Viking cruise that does the Mississippi River. There
(37:41):
you're going to experience a wealth of history and literature.
They bring Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn into a lot
of the experiences that you have on board that Viking cruise.
So those are all things that tend to help curate
a great experience or a Shakespeare inspired journey through England.
(38:03):
You know, nothing says a great experience or historic experience
than somebody who really loves Shakespeare being able to tour
the original Globe Theater in Europe in England.
Speaker 3 (38:16):
And when you look at content and you look on
the Internet and you look at a big city and
you look at you know, the top ten things to do.
You pick any of the websites, they'll tell you the
top ten things do in that city. Those are the
things that all of the people visiting that city do.
The content that Terry's talking about, Chris, is the content
that you get from having somebody local, most often through
(38:39):
this virtuoso network that we're so fortunate to be a
part of. That local person is there and they know
to take you to those special places. They know to
take you to those off the beaten path places that
can't accommodate everybody. So the only way you're going to
learn about those places is the only way you're going
to get to those places is to find someone who
(39:01):
can take you down that side road and know the
destination and know how to get you inside of that
location for that private experience.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
So it really is who you know.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
It is absolutely name. I think from being around the
right people you know get you into the best places,
the right places, and you don't miss anything.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
All right. So we've hit four of our five seeds already. Culture, Cuisine,
Community content. I'm dying to find out what the fifth
CE is on our list. But we're gonna have to wait.
We'll come right back and we'll find out here as
we're talking about the five seas of luxury travel on
a lifeless ordinary.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Who would think of driving off to a new destination
without guidance from Google to Syria.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Let the Wishing World guide your next travel experience.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
Travel the world as you enjoy the very best destinations
and all they offer at the best prices. Our mobile
travel app keeps your vacation on track and keeps you
connected with our team of experts.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
For help, if you need it, call us at five.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
Four zero nine zero eight two three three three, stop
by two forty three nef Avenue, or visit us at
the Wishingwell dot.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Bizz and welcome back to the five seeds of luxury
travel Here on a Lifeless Ordinary. Every Saturday we sit
down with our friends from the wishing Well and Harrisonburg,
Terry Dean and Harry Rife. You can call them if
you'd like on Monday five four o nine oh eight
twenty three thirty three. Actually, can they give you a
call today?
Speaker 2 (40:25):
They could?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
All right, we'll call today, don't wait four nine eight
twenty three thirty three The wishing Well dot biz or
stop in to the wishing Well. They're on ne f
Avenue and Harrisonburg. I mentioned our show is called the
Five Seas of Luxury Travel. We've hit four of those seas, culture, cuisine, community,
and content. And before we get done with the show,
(40:47):
I'm going to tell you a few of my sees
of how to interact with the wishing Well.
Speaker 4 (40:52):
Excellent. I would love to have been taking notes. That's awesome.
That's awesome. And again, I want to just reiterate that
in none of the examples that we've given have we
talked anything about cost, because that is not what makes
a luxurious experience. Does it sometimes equate to luxury if
(41:13):
you've paid a good bit for something, I think there's
some truth to that, But it's in your experience, through
your eyes, how you travel, what you want that defines
that luxury experience for you. And the last see on
my list today, Chris, is customization. And certainly any vacation
(41:36):
experience that is customized is certainly something that I think
we could put into the luxurious category. I want you
to think for just a minute about two things really
that we purchase. Almost all of us have at some
point in our lives purchased either a home or a car.
And the truth is this, if you go looking for
(41:59):
a home home and it's just what I would call
or what my grandparents probably would have called a row house,
or those that are built as builder grade homes, that's
going to be a certain price. If, on the other hand,
you say to the builder, I love this home, however,
I want to customize mine a bit. I want to
upgrade the cabinets, I want to upgrade the countertops. I'd
(42:22):
like to have something very special in the bath. I'd
like a spa bath, I'd like these extra things. That's
the definition of customizing. Now what would have been an
ordinary builder grade home, and now you've got a customized home.
Same is true with a car. It can certainly buy
something off the lot. But if you go in and say,
(42:42):
really like to order mine directly from the manufacture, and
I want all the bells and whistles, that's a customized package.
And I think the truth here is I will talk
about dollars for just a minute. I think just as
true as it is with cars and homes that you purchase,
the price certainly is reflective of your desires, your wants,
(43:05):
your needs. When it goes to buying a home or
car like that, the same is true with travel. If
you're going to take the extra steps to customize that
experience for yourself, think you could expect to pay somewhat
more for it than you would if you bought something
that was just a generic trip. Now, bespoke travel designed
(43:25):
to fit individual preferences include everything from private yacht charters
to tailor made wellness retreats. Now an example of those
might be an exclusive Safari lodge in Africa where you
have your own private god. You have your own what
they call a luxury pop up tent, complete with a
(43:48):
butler and prepared meals every day that you design.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
You say this is what I want, this is what's cooked.
Speaker 4 (43:57):
And you've also got a a designed multi country itinerary
around your hobbies. Now we do that almost on a
daily basis at the Wishing Well, where we customize multi
country itineraries for folks who have great tools to do that,
but it'll cost a bit more than say, perhaps you
buying a ready made tour out of a brochure. Those
(44:20):
are the kind of things that go into a customized tour.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
And sometimes customization doesn't always mean upgrading something. Sometimes in
the travel world, or in the automobile world as you're
talking about, or in the home world, you may say
I don't need that feature. I can omit that. I'm fine,
you know without that feature and customization. The tools that
(44:44):
we have let us take things out. And sometimes it's
just a manner of substituting one thing for another, and
it may be an equal substitution, and maybe that it
lowers the cost, or maybe that it raises the cost.
All are possible.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
One of the things you guys talk about on cruise
is it's always the drink packages. My wife and I
don't drink. Yeah, I mean, we'll drink if you put
in front of us, but it's not something we're looking for,
right I'd be saying that, can we do something else
other than a drink package. I'd rather have, you know,
you know, a window in my room if I could. Yeah, well,
your preference.
Speaker 4 (45:17):
Actually, Chris is very much in vogue right now because
what we're seeing are a lot of mocktails that have
become more important.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Again.
Speaker 4 (45:25):
This whole trend toward healthiness and wellness has caused people
to start to look at what does alcohol do to
me anyway? And so they're looking now at more of
the trends that we're starting to see with a new
age in travel, and that is that people are shying
away from the all inclusive alcohol included packages.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
So I see, hey, I want a fitness package, and
I'll give up the alcohol package and I'll take the
fitness package instead.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
I probably wouldn't be asking for that either. But what
I was going to ask is, if customers are continuing
to customize their requests, does the industry look at that
and start to think maybe we should be offering something different?
I mean, does that have an.
Speaker 4 (46:12):
Enter travel industry is very reactive to what the consumer's
desires are. And I can tell you that as a
Virtuoso travel agent, being a certified agent at several levels
with some of these tour operators, I am constantly asked
for my expertise and to fill out surveys for them,
let them know what are your consumers asking you for.
(46:35):
That information is translated into a database and then the
information is fed in to the travel industry and they
then react to that and produce what the average consumer
is wanting to purchase.
Speaker 3 (46:50):
Yeah, just recently, Virtuoso asked agents like Terry myself. What
are you hearing? What are you seeing? What's the most
popular destination? You're hearing people want? What are the features
that people want? And they share that with those providers,
and those providers are crazy not to listen because if
(47:11):
it gives them a competitive advantage over some other provider,
that's exactly what they're going to do.
Speaker 4 (47:16):
And we see that, And I can tell you something, Chris,
If we were doing this list of the five seeds
of Luxury travel ten years ago, this list would not
look like this. This list would have a lot of
what I now would consider and what most travelers would
consider unnecessary fluff. You see, the consumer traveler today is
(47:39):
looking for a more what we call bespoke experience. They
want something that is curated for them so that they
can get the most out of it. And they want
to know that when they go to Africa, when they
go to Mexico, that the experience that they come back
with and share with their friends family didn't sound exactly
(48:02):
like yours. Nobody wants to be exactly like anybody else anymore.
We're looking for independent identities when we travel, and that's
the beauty of what's happening in the travel industry, terry.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
I have to ask myself at least when when I
hear you say that, is that because we are in
the Instagram mindset where everybody is trying to one up
each other? Is it because we have made travel more
obtainable for people? I mean, you and I have talked
about this. I've never used a travel advisor because we've
(48:37):
never really traveled anywhere that I felt like I needed
help on it because I was booking basic vacations. We
went to Vegas, I you know, took whatever they gave us.
But now I feel like that I've done that on
my own. I want to use a travel advisor because
I feel like I missed out on so much.
Speaker 4 (48:53):
Well, it kind of throws a question back to you.
Have and really, even since you have been helping us
host here a lifeless ordinary, have your desires for maybe
what you want to see and what you want to
do evolved since even you've been here with us.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
Absolutely? Yeah, no, And because every time you talk about
some even today's show, I'm sitting here thinking why have
I not? Even I would have never thought about that.
I would have never asked to be at the Captain's table.
By the way, if I ever go on a cruise,
I'm doing that.
Speaker 3 (49:23):
You should definitely do.
Speaker 1 (49:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
And one of the interesting things I think Harry pointed to,
one of the things that ties in very nicely with
our luxury sees for today's show was the tickets to
the Kentucky Derby. Now there's an event that people will
actually plan their travel around, it would be considered a
luxury event because those tickets aren't cheap and the experience
(49:47):
is there aren't cheap. Some other examples that I can
point to, or some athletic adventures that people actually use
and combine adventure with wellness and fitness all around. Certain
events like the Monaco Grand Prix that's a big one
this year, Formula One racing from May the twenty fifth
to the twenty eighth that's going to feature exclusive parties,
(50:09):
luxury yachting events and that kind of thing. Even something
as simple that we take for granted on a daily basis.
I can tell you I used to be a competitor
in mountain biking. But there's something called the gravel Races,
the Big Sugar Gravel Race that's going to take place
October twelfth through the eighteenth in Bentonville, Arkansas is going
(50:30):
to draw thousands of people, but like minded people, health
nuts who are interested in biking and mountain biking in particular.
But you have all of these things that create these
bespoke experiences that I'm talking about that we've seen an
evolution in in the travel industry. And to your answer
(50:50):
to your question, Chris, is it the Instagram?
Speaker 1 (50:53):
Is it?
Speaker 4 (50:54):
What is it exactly? I think the answer to that
is it's all of that, and it's all of what
we were rob Dove after COVID that now we look
at and we go just what you said before with
that's going on in Spain, revenge travel. We're after it
and we want it all we do.
Speaker 3 (51:11):
Well. One of the things I was going to say
about this to answer your question Chris too, is a
lot of times people don't know what they don't know,
and part of the purpose of this show is to
talk about things like these Five Seas. There are a
lot of people that are traveling that have traveled, you know,
like yourself, that never you mentioned you never knew what
you didn't know. If you had asked for advice, you
(51:34):
would have maybe learned about the Five Seas a little
bit earlier and you would be demanding some of these
things to know that you can get these things, the
Captain's table, everything else we've been talking about today.
Speaker 1 (51:45):
What I just got from Harry is, Chris, if you
would have been smart enough to ask for help, you
would have been doing No. I'm being serious, all right.
So I want to review up before we werer on
out of time. I want to hit my seas of
why you should be working with the wishing Well. Our
five seas today, culture, cuisine, community, content, and customization. When
you call the wishing Well, you're going to get a
(52:07):
curated experience and it's convenient. It is, So how do
we get in touch with you?
Speaker 4 (52:12):
Before I get to that, Chris, I want to just
summarize and give you some key insights that are actually
driving the luxury travel growth these days, and those are
demographic shifts. We've seen younger, more affluent travelers prioritizing experiences
over material goods. I know that because I witness that
(52:33):
with some of my clients too. Is sustainability concerns. You've
got an echo conscious community that is becoming more of
a status symbol. If you're traveling sustainably, that's a status
symbol for a lot of folks and then the post
pandemic connections that I mentioned, longing from meaningful experiences and
(52:55):
shared moments that just drives the demand for luxury travel.
Speaker 2 (52:59):
So that's really where we are. And again, if.
Speaker 4 (53:01):
You're looking to find out more about these packages what
it would mean for you to have a real, truly
luxury experience, we invite you to reach out to us
at the wishing Well. We're at two forty three NEF
Avenue in the Valley Center in Harsenburg. You can call
us We're at five four oh nine oh eight two
three three three, or look us up on the web.
(53:21):
We're at the Wishingwell dot biz.
Speaker 1 (53:25):
This has been a Life Less Ordinary, the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three NEP Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes
are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll see again
next Saturday morning at ten for a Life Less Ordinary
(53:47):
from the wishing Well
This is a Lifeless Ordinary. It's a travel show and
podcasts from your friends at the wishing Well two forty
three f avenue in harsmerg and online at the wishing
Well dot this. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury concierge,
travel agency and a Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show
and podcasts hosted by Terry Dean, bringing for over forty
years of experience in the travel industry to help guide
(00:20):
you to great experiences in your travel, whether it be
around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Say hello, Good morning sir.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Good morning Terry. It's good. I'm well. Before we get
into anything else, I want to say hi to Harry
as well. Harry right from the wishing Well.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Well, good morning, Chris.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
It is good to see you. Harry.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
It's great.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Now, how's everybody's week been? Well?
Speaker 4 (00:43):
You know what, I feel very fortunate. We made it
through the solar whatever it was, the alignment. Is that
what it was with all of these planets. Yeah, So
we made it through that, So we're good. We're probably
good for another century.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Probably the only thing in the Solar system right now
that has been aligned. You know what.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
I think it does affect people, though, I really do.
I think it has effect on people's moods and their
attitudes and everything else. I just I quite frankly, just
get sharper during those times. So not to break.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Sure, I'm thinking when you said that, I'm like cutting
or or.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
I'm kiding, of course, but you know it did happen,
and it was it made national news, and I just
thought I would mention that today because we're still here.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, well the is it's warming up, yea for a
couple of days.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
We've had the water running in our bathroom for about
three days straight. Well, I guess yesterday we stopped.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
The pipe so it wouldn't freeze in the pipes.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Well, it started to the water was barely coming through
the pipe and I was down crawling under the house
when it was three degrees outside, trying to find the
pipes to thaw out. And yeah, I mean, I'll be
happy when spring this year.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Yeah, we all will. I think that's absolutely true. So
but you want to get started with some good old
travel news, Shyeah, I'd love to hear one of the
things that hit my desk got I was so excited
about this, because you know, talking about spring, the birth
of new off spring for wild animals and that kind
(02:25):
of thing that always seems to announce spring. But just recently,
the giant panda's returned to the National Zoo in Washington,
d C. And they did that on January the twenty fourth.
They didn't wait till spring. They made their entrants a
little early. The pandas arrived October of twenty twenty four
on a FedEx cargo plane from Chingdu, China.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Can I tell you a fun story about the pandas.
When I guess it was four or five years ago now,
I was in Memphis for my visit, my annual visit
to Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital, and waiting in the
airport for the flight back. There's a group of people
sitting there and they're like, yeah, we're part of the
crew transporting the pandas. It was when they were leaving
(03:11):
to go back to China.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
How exciting.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And you know, FedEx is based in Memphis, and so
their employees were there. And so for about an hour
as I waited for the plane, I got to hear
them talking. They weren't talking to me, but I was eavesdropping,
because that's what a good, good Virginia kid does when
he's in Memphis listening to him. Just what a what
a neat job to be able to be able to
help transport the pants because they get their own FedEx plane.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, it's amazing, it is.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And one question is why did the pandas actually return? Well,
they returned as part of a ten year agreement between
the Smithsonian and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, And that
agreement is actually part of China's panda diplomacy campaign. Yes,
there is such a thing. And the panda's return is
(03:58):
a sun that really relations between the US and China
have improved, So they say.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
What a great pr move on China's part.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Exactly, And actually, what happened to the pandas before they returned?
In twenty twenty three, three pandas left the National Zoo
and they returned to China due to an expired agreement
and strained US China relationship. The National Zoo was without
pandas for the first time in almost twenty five years. Now,
(04:31):
what's going to happen to the pandas after they return? Well,
China retains ownership of the Pandas and any cubs born
to the Pandas have to be returned to China by
the time they are age four. And I thought it
was real interesting. Just as soon as this news made
it across my desk, well, lo and behold, the National
(04:54):
Geographic Tourist Association sent me a package that you you
can actually book into Washington, d C. A package called
a zoocation in Washington, d C. To experience the magic
of the Pandas. You can enjoy deluxe accommodations, a twenty
five dollars daily breakfast credit, and a zoo themed welcome amenite,
(05:18):
all while celebrating the return of these beloved pandas. And
if you're interested in that, you can actually give us
a call at the Wishing Well and find out more
about I just think that's the happiest story that came
across my desk in a long time, and I really
wanted to share it here today.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
I'm a fun n verse five four nine, eight, twenty
three thirty three.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Now another piece of news that I found very interesting,
kind of a shameless news article really for me to
share today, though, concerns our home base of Virtuo, so
they are targeting a high level of consumer with a
brand new division that it says will reaffirm its leadership
in the luxury space. The company just this past Thursday
(06:01):
announced that it was launching an ultra high net worth
business division, targeting a new set of the savviest and
most discerning consumers as well as those who cater to them. Now,
this division is going to be led by a former
Virtuoso travel agency owner in Camelback Odyssey Travel in Phoenix.
(06:23):
They are also a special advisor to Virtuoso COO Brad
Cortland and have been since twenty twenty two. Virtuoso said
this division plans to collaborate with companies outside the travel
industry in the high ultra high net worth space, including
luxury brands in fashion, art, culture, wine, jewelry, wellness, and
(06:49):
a lot more. Now, in just a few minutes, you're
going to see why this article is so poignant today,
and that is because we are going to take a
deep dive in to the world of luxury travel. The
name of our storyline today is the Five Seas of
Luxury Travel, so we're gonna be talking a lot more
(07:09):
about that. But I think it was very apropos that
Virtuoso came out with this news article just in time
for our show today here a Lifeless Ordinary. Now another
story that I thought was equally you know, kind of
melded well with the storyline today is one of our
(07:32):
preferred tour operators, TALC. We talk a lot about them
here on a Lifeless Ordinary. In the very near future,
we're gonna have one of Talk's executives join us here
on a Lifeless Ordinary and talk about their product. They
have everything from luxury land based fully escorted tours to
river cruises, ocean liners as well, and they are an
(07:56):
all inclusive type luxury product. And when I say that, Chris,
I mean literally everything is included. Unlike with a lot
of other cruise lines that we have dealt with before
and we continue to deal with, they have a great product.
We have to look for who fits what you know.
And TALC, however, has one of these products that if
(08:17):
you're doing one of their river cruises, everything is included,
all of your shore excursions, not just some, but all
of them. Your gratuities are included, your alcoholic beverages are included,
and if you wanted something from their vintage winery and
pick a bottle even that is included in the price
of what you get with TALC. So you know, a
lot of good reasons for us to have them here
(08:41):
and host them on a lifeless ordinary. But today's news
about TAUC is that they're rolling out a series of
savings for solo travelers. That's an area and a sect
of travelers that sometimes gets overlooked far too many times
are the folks that want to go solo. And they're
doing this on all of their European river cruises as
well as on select landteurs. On its European river cruisees,
(09:05):
Talk is waving the single supplement rates on all of
its Category one riverboat cabins for every departure of every
TALC River Cruise itinerary. In total, the single supplement is
being waived on more than two hundred and fifty TALC
River cruise departures this year. So again, if you're interested
(09:27):
in that, if you are a solo cruiser hery, I
know you've got some folks interested in the TALC product.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
And this is especially appropriateary for a lot of folks
that are you know, widows or widowers that are out
there and they want to travel. They've enjoyed traveling with
their spouse, but now their spouse isn't with them, but
they still enjoy traveling. They want to be able to
travel in a way where they don't feel out of place,
they don't feel constrained, they don't feel uncomfortable. And I
(09:55):
think TALK, along with some other cruise lines that are
also catering more and more to solo travelers, now are
recognizing that this market of many of these people are seniors.
That's what they want. They want an experience where they
feel like they fit in, they feel like they're welcome,
and in fact, the cruise lines are doing tremendous things
(10:17):
to welcome them. And when you talk about the Talk experience,
I can't help but say, when you talk about excursions,
there are excursions, and there are excursions the talk excursions.
Every time I look at them, they're just awesome. They're
the people that take you behind the ropes, you know,
at some of the best places in the world. And
(10:37):
I think they do that. And we'll talk about this
more when we get them on the air, but I
want to ask them some of the questions about how
they get some of the things that they get to
make available to our travelers. They're very exclusive and I
think a lot of it is because the way they
do things. They have very small, intimate ships and they
(10:57):
just really do a great job of reading the market.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Yeah, and I think at a time when people are
concerned about income and outgo in their homes and how
they're operating, and they still want vacations, I think it's
impressive that TALC is what I call doing the right thing.
And so for solo travelers, I like it. I think
it's a great move on their part. I think it
(11:21):
will earn them some business and I can't wait to
host them here on the show.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
And you talk about solo travelers. One of the things
also really interesting about them, and we're kind of jumping
ahead in terms of what this show will be about,
but they're one of the few cruise lines where you
can put more the river cruise lines where you can
put more than two people into a stateroom, which is
again very attractive for families. They may be traveling, you know,
with a grandparent somebody like that, they want to put
(11:47):
three people into a room. Most of the river cruise
lines cannot accommodate that.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
TALC can so look forward to hearing more about the
day that we're going to be hosting talk here on
a Lifeless Ordinary. We'll try to keep you posted so
that you can tune in, especially on that particular episode.
Now more news. I got an announcement from Delta Airlines
this past Thursday that they will begin to restart service
(12:15):
from JFK International Airport in New York to Tel Aviv's
airport in Israel, becoming the first US carrier to announce
that return. Delta will operate seven weekly flights between the
two cities starting April first. The carrier said the decision
(12:36):
came after a comprehensive security review conducted in close coordination
with government and private sector partners. It also noted that
it has implemented additional precautions to ensure the safety of
both its crew and its customers. American Airlines currently says
it won't resume flights into Israel until at least September
(12:58):
of twenty twenty five, while unan it says it's going
to keep their flight suspended until it deems it's safe
to return back to Tel Aviv. So a couple of
great pieces of news. I think all of that's very encouraging.
And Chris, I know you had something that came across
your desk too.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, I saw the story and I thought, this sums
up everything that we talk about here on a lifeless
a lifeless ordinary. It's how much American tourism is driving
the economy in Spain. The article I read was saying
that there's you know what we've talked about here, revenge travel.
After the pandemic ended, everybody wanted to get out and
(13:37):
just spend that money they'd be they were able to
save up when they weren't able to go spend it anywhere.
But in Spain particularly, they are seeing just a robust
economy and they say it's all because of tourism from
US Americans.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
And you know how much that thrills me, because honestly,
Spain is one of my favorite countries in Europe.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
I love the people there, I love the food, I
love the history. Sight seeing there is second to none.
It's just a really it's a magical place to be
and I can well understand why their tourism is up.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
And you should be in the United Airlines says we
hear you. So they have put a direct flight from
Chicago to Madrid starting the spring.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Excellent I'm surprised. The currency has a lot to do
with it. The people have a lot to do with it,
and I think American people are curious and this revenge
travel is not something that is slowing down. We've seen
it for well well over a year now right here, Yeah,
exactly two years easily that people since COVID have said
(14:42):
we're going to get out and do things, and they
are in big ways, which makes it tough for us
sometimes because all the great deals, all the great things
that we talk about on the air, A lot of
people will call us almost immediately after the show, which Chris,
thanks for that. We love. But people that are calling
(15:03):
are sometimes being disappointed if they wait too long, because
the things that we talk about are the things that
are the best things. So if you're here something that
you like, you know, give us a call and let
us know, you know, whether that's the right thing that
you want to do, and we'll work with.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
You on that. You mentioned great deals, and I know
you have some great deals this week.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Yes I do. And one of the ones that I
want to talk about is one of the airlines that
you read about in the news, Frontier. Frontier does some
of the strangest things in the airline industry when it
comes to prices. There a price leader. How about a
flight for nineteen dollars please? Yeah. So they've got flights
(15:43):
from many cities around the United States. The one that
I picked for nineteen dollars was going from Atlanta to
Boston nineteen dollars each way. Now, you got to be
part of a special club that they have in there.
But you can join that club and go in. I
know I have a relative that she travels all the
time on these special flights. You got to watch for him.
(16:04):
I think you're going to see some more of that
as airlines are ramping up and increasing capacity again. You know,
Boeing's producing jets again, getting planes in the air. The
system's becoming more efficient. So watch for some great airline
sales all across the board. But Frontier is nineteen dollars. Now,
(16:24):
some of the more expensive ones can be as much
as sixty nine dollars. That's to go across the country. Chris,
start in Portland, Oregon and go down to Tampa floor
to sixty nine dollars. Sure, how much gas would it
cost you to put in your car to go from
Portland to Tampa.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Well, considering I now drive a pickup truck, I've spend
that much money just getting to the airport.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
You'd have to take out a line of creditor, a
loan on your house or something like that, all right.
So that's one one of the other things came across
the news desk this week in terms of sales that
I'm pretty excited about. The perennial ones. Viking is out there.
They've returned to twenty five dollar deposits. You can hold
a cruise for only twenty five dollars. They've got some
(17:05):
other promotions out there where they've reduced some of their
international airfares. They're also offering travelers on select cruises either
one thousand dollars shipboard credit or free beverage and gratuity packages.
That special is out there only through the end of
this month. So if you're looking at doing a European
(17:26):
river cruise, Viking should be on your radar. Lots of
cruise lines out there doing river cruises now, but Viking
is one that people are very familiar with. Another one
that's out there that we like a lot is avalon
river cruises. They have a special going on right now
where they're taking one thousand dollars off a couple on
(17:47):
certain cruises. I found some cruises out there where they're
taking three thousand dollars off the price on a river cruise.
That's fifteen hundred dollars a person off of a river cruise. Again,
the dates are selling out very quickly, so you have
to watch for the correct dates and if you have
flexibility in your schedule, and many people don't, but for
(18:10):
those of us who do have some of that flexibility,
it's a great time to look for some bargains out there.
All part of what we were talking about last week.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Terry with may have something that beats frontiers and nineteen
dollars airfares, don't they Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
One of the other things I should mention with the
Avalon is on selected cruise. They're also offering free airfare.
That's an addition to those discounts per cabin so free
airfare for some of the river cruises in Europe on
Avalon again selected cruises, selected dates. But call us, let
us know that you have that kind of flexibility, will
(18:44):
we will find those deals for you.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
You're going to have to hire more people to answer
the phone for you. After these deals. Let me give
you the phone number five four h nine oh eight
twenty three thirty three.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
You got it. Let's switch over to another one. We're
talking about cruises. Emerald Cruises, they're so great as well.
We love them. They've got some two for one fares
and free air on some of their selected cruise again
certain river journeys. Emerald's a great cruise line, one of
the luxury cruise lines out there. We like them very much, Terry,
(19:16):
I don't know whatever.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Else focused on the European market. We talked a little
bit about them last week when we talked about the
wave month and the deals that are going on. Emerald
Cruise Line really does have their anchor in very much
into the European market. They would be a cruise line
though that cater to a more discerning travelers, someone who
(19:40):
maybe has been to Europe a couple of times and
wants to see it in a completely different way. Their
itineraries are very unique and their offerings on board are
very inclusive, so all the more reason why you should
put Emerald Cruise Line on your Hey, I want to
check that out list.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
And one of the things that you can get when
you get with an advice or like Terry or myself,
any of the advisors at the Wishing Well, we will
help you choose between the different cruise lines because much
like you know if we're going to go out to
dinner and choose a restaurant, it's a function of who
you are, what you want, what you like to eat,
your lifestyle, all the things that you're looking for. You
(20:18):
can spend time and sort through that yourself or we
can help you with that. And the best part about
it is it doesn't cost you to have that assistance
in that kind of advice. Let me jump out of
the water for a second, so to speak, and I
want to talk about another deal that's out there people
talk about every year, the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby
(20:40):
is coming up. Tickets for the Kentucky Derby and the
packages that we will have available at the Wishing Well.
Those go on sale the twenty seventh of January every year.
They have packages that are two day packages, single day passes,
several varieties of things if you're interested in the Kentucky Derby,
(21:00):
and this is the once in a lifetime experience where
you get to put on your fency hat and go
out and watch the ponies run it.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
And.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
I think you're horrible.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Never had one.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
You drink them because it's tradition, not because you want sure,
and you get to wear the hat. You get to
wear the hat, and you get to wear the hat.
So Kentucky Derby is the other thing I wanted to
put out there in terms of things happening this week
going on sale. We have some special packages and when
you get to an event like the Kentucky Derby, it's
important you can't just show up there and look for tickets.
(21:35):
You have to plan that in advance so that you
have a place to stay, so that you have your tickets.
And there are always perks involved too with those tickets,
where you get to do pre race events, pre race gatherings,
things like that. Very very important to plan those kinds
of events in advance. If this is on your bucket list,
your assignment Monday is to call the wishing Well, Yes sir,
(21:58):
and that number is fine for a nine oh eight
twenty three thirty three Jerry, you mentioned earlier. Our show
today is the five Seas of Luxury Travel. We've talked
luxury on past episodes of A Lifeless Ordinary. Today we've
got five s's. You're not telling me what those are yet,
but I'm sure we're going to learn. We were very strategic.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Let me just say, in the choice of our news
and our sales today, So I'll give you that as
a tease. Coming up as we learn about how luxury
is going to play a role in twenty twenty five
and where people will.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Go, we'll find out in thirty seconds here on a
Life Less Ordinary.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Protect your vacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and help you avoid pitfalls
they can spoil your hard earned vacation. We'll plan your
trip and have your back as you travel. All of
this without support or so called convenience fees. We're on
the web at tho Wishingwell dot biz or call us
at five four zero nine zero eight two three eight
(22:58):
three three. That's five four zero U nine zero eight
two three thirty three. The wishing Well really does make
dreams come true.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
And welcome back to a Life less Ordinary. This is
your travel show and podcast from your friends at the
wishing Well. You'll find them on nef Avenue and Harrisonburg.
They're online at the Wishingwell dot biz. By the way,
you can get past episodes of a Life Less Ordinary
on the website or give them a call at five
four h nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Right
before we went to break, we were talking about our
(23:27):
show today, which is called the Five Seas of Luxury Travel.
We've done a lot of setup to this. Let's get
into what these five seas are.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Yeah, I have to tell you before we launch into this, Chris,
I had a great conversation with one of our clients
this past week and she was asking me because we
are a Virtuoso Travel agency, which, for those of you
listening and you're hearing that for the first time, Virtuoso
is the world's largest luxury travel network that backs up
(23:58):
a lot of people. And we've talked about that here
on Lifeless Ordinary. Chris about how people can sometimes have
an ill conceived idea of what that means. Some people think, oh, well,
that must mean that you charge a whole lot more
for what you do, and in fact that's not it
at all. And I thought it was really important today
to talk about the whole concept of what luxury travel
(24:21):
is kind of break it down a little bit more
so that people can fully understand what that's all about.
My conversation with this lady was about sort of bringing
her knowledge level up to the point where she also
understood what luxury is. One of the things that you
will not hear under the five c's of luxury travel
(24:44):
is cash currency that's never talked about. That is not
what drives luxury.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Well, you've talked a lot on past episodes that luxury
is what you want luxury to be.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
It is you define it yourself, and for a lot
of people, Chris, we've talked about that it means convenience.
Direct NonStop flights. I can tell you right now, this
girl behind this mic today can tell you a direct
NonStop flight that's my happy place. That is truly the
beginnings of a luxury vacation for me. I don't care
if I'm going to some place and staying in a
(25:19):
three star hotel. If you can put me on a
direct NonStop flight to get there, to me, that's part
of my luxury experience.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
But today we're going to really drill down into this
and talk about some of the things that for perhaps
maybe a few people, maybe everybody finds indicative of luxury
travel when we talk about that, So you're anxious to
get started, I am, okay. So those five pillars that
(25:46):
we're talking about actually define what I call the essence
of luxury travel for twenty twenty five. It offers personalized,
kind of meaningful and really what I can say, or
a curated experience for people. The first one of the
seas that I want to talk about is culture. And
(26:08):
when we talk about luxury, a trip can be defined
as luxurious if people are seeking an authentic connection with
where they're going, and that includes sometimes heritage sites, it
includes traditional performances, maybe immersive art experiences. And I'm going
to try to give some examples of these because I
(26:30):
think it's important that people don't just hear what my
definition of it is, but actually hear an example of
that and go, oh, you know, I get that. So
one of the examples of a great luxurious cultural experience
might be a private tour of historic landmarks, Harry, you'll
identify with this, like the Pyramids of Egypt, which you
(26:52):
just experienced, or maybe an exclusive access to cultural festivals
like the Venice Carnival exactly.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
And part of what makes that culture so important is
if it's delivered to you or you experience it with
people that are immersed in that culture. They're native people
of the place that you're going and visiting Terry. That's
what makes it so exciting. Those folks are passionate, they're
excited about their place. They have the history about that place,
(27:21):
and that's what makes culture come to life. I'm not
someone who loves studying history, you know, growing up in school.
But when I experience history through cultural experiences as you're
talking about, that's the way that it lights up inside
of my head and says, Aha, I see why these people,
you know, do what they do, why they think the
(27:41):
way they think, and how they can produce the fantastic
art and food and all of the other artifacts that
we see.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
So and I think all that's true.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
I mean, people tend to get excited about and I
think of all the seas that we're going to cover,
they get most excited about the cultural experience. Because if
if you can immerse somebody in a culture, they're going
to remember that trip when they come back and they
talk about it. That's what they're going to say, you
heard from Harry, he just returned from Egypt. Those memories
(28:14):
stay very vivid pertaining to the cultural aspect and the
experience that he had, which I think is remarkable. Now,
the next sea on my list is cuisine that tends
to play I think a very important and pivotal role
in a great luxurious travel experience. Food is central to travel,
(28:36):
It really is. I said that earlier with an emphasis
on farm to table. I know that's kind of an
overly used cliche these days, but good lord, it is
everywhere people want it. It's all a part of the
health movement that everybody's involved in and wants to be
a part of. And it's locally sourced food and culturally
(28:58):
rich dining experiences. Everybody wants something exclusive, and sometimes that
culinary experience is just the box that is checked off
with a luxurious travel experience that makes that trip memorable.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
It makes me laugh to think about that when I
think about the first time I went to Hawaii, and
you talk about cuisine. Everybody does a luau in Hawaii,
right Terry. Very soon people make it to Hawaii without
going to an authentic Hawaiian luau, And one of the
smallest containers on every lu al that you go to,
you remember what it is Hoi, Yeah, Poi, and that's
(29:35):
probably some of the worst tasting food I've ever had
in my life. However, Chris, I can look at you
this morning, I can speak to the listeners this morning
and say, yes, I have tasted Poi, and I didn't
just hear it's bad.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
I know it's awful.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
But I've also had many, many, many, many more experiences
where I visited none another country. Spain was a great example.
Took a cooking course, we cooked Spanish cuisine, we ate
Spanish cuisine. We were trained by a Spanish chef. And
if you do take a vacation and you don't try
(30:12):
something different, even if you go to Philly, you gotta
try a cheese steak. But if you're going on a
vacation around the world, you have to try their local cuisine.
You have to experience it. You don't have to like
it all, but you can come back with braggen rice
to say I tried that. I know what that is.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Now.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Another good example of perhaps a great luxury experience that's
centered around food comes from a vendor that we use
in Cancoon, Mexico, of all places. Sometimes it's part of
the Charisma hotel properties it's called Eldorado Royal Gourmet. Now
at this property, which is a huge property, it's almost
(30:49):
like a city unto itself. They actually produce and grow
in their own greenhouses, produce that they make farm to
table for all of their guests. The chef gleans from
these greenhouses that they have and prepares the meals directly
from that. They also butcher their own meat, so that
(31:12):
means cattle and chickens alike. So we'll, you know, when
we are looking to put you in a culinary experience,
even if you're going to just someplace like Mexico, why not,
why not add that to your experience.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
I went to Cancun twenty some years ago and I
still tell the story about these I was told they
were shrimp, they were lobster tails, these prawns, I don't know.
They were bigger than my hand. And you ate them
on a deck that was out over the water. I
guess there's like the bay that Cancun goes around. I'll
(31:50):
tell you. We could talk for the next hour just
about Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
And one of the most exhilarating culinary experiences that I
had was actually at this property at Elderada Royal gourmet
at a little restaurant called Leschikh, and it was the
same farm to table experience. However, they did what they
called fusion cooking there where the smoke comes up under
(32:13):
the glass and you have these wall to wall wine
bottles on the wine that create part of the decorps
I mean we're talking. I mean what kind of memories
are those to take home from a great experience, very
very unique.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
One of the things also we talk about with cuisine
a lot of times people who go on a cruise,
who eats the best on a cruise? Captain?
Speaker 1 (32:39):
I was gonna say everybody, if you miss.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
An opportunity on a cruise to dine at the captain's table,
you're missing a very important culinary experience as well. And
that's something that many people don't know to ask for,
But if you know to ask for it, that's something
that you might very well enjoy on your next cruise.
You want to dine at the captain's table.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Right, sure, anytime you can. That's always a great experience. Now,
the third see in our five seas of Luxury travel
is community, and travel is really focused when it's working
with the community on connecting you as a traveler with
that local community, supporting sustainable tourism there and giving back,
(33:26):
and it's.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Possible to do both.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
I mean, the thing today is we want to leave
as small a carbon footprint as we can. And the
mantra in travel in years past, actually since COVID is
no matter where you're going, do no harm. So when
you go, it's very important that you look at how
you can least affect negatively and have the least amount
(33:51):
of negative impact on an area that you're going. But
more importantly, can I by traveling there benefit that community anyway?
And I think we do that all the time when
we pour our tourism dollars back into some areas that suffer.
Take for example, Maui, Hawaii, when they went through their
(34:13):
devastating fires. Lahina is now back open for business and
they are beckoning people to come back and spend their
tourism money there. If you do that, you're actually doing
something very positive for a community that was very damaged before.
Another example of that is visiting community run lodges in
the Amazon, or participating in local artists and workshops, maybe
(34:37):
in Peru. These are people who make money off of
the work that they do with you, but elevate your
experience as a vacationer.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
I think those are great.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
And lots of UNESCO World Heritage Sites where you can
go and you meet the people who are indigenous to
those sites, who live in the neighborhoods around those, having
the opportunity to exchange with them. Some of the tours
you actually go and have dinner in people's homes, and
(35:10):
I think that's a great kind of tour. You visit
somebody's home in a region of the world and they've
prepared dinner for you. When you go to something like that,
you not only enjoy the wonderful dinner, but you enjoy
the community. You're sitting at a table with somebody that
you've never met before, that has a whole head full
and life full of experiences, and you're gonna have conversations
(35:33):
during that jurney, You're gonna learn things, you're gonna make
new friends.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
I think we talked about that, it might have been
two years ago now about they do like cooking classes
in their home. They bring you in, they'll show you
how to make pasta exactly.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
There's actually a top vendor that we work with, one
of our preferred vendors called Eat With and they will
actually take you into any corner of the world where
you may be visiting, put you inside someone's home who
actually does prepare and help school you. If you want
to through a cooking class and then you get to.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Eat what you cook.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
I want to go to Italy now and do a
cooking class in some Italian ladies.
Speaker 4 (36:13):
Hell, that's very popular in the Tuscany area, Chris, that's
very popular.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
I can hook you up man, all right. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
Now, the fourth sea of the luxury travel matrix that
we're working on today is content, and I don't think
that would probably surprise anybody because obviously everything that you
put together with regard to a vacation package, it's really
all about the content, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
I mean, what does it have?
Speaker 4 (36:38):
It's a curated travel itinery that tells a story, whether
that's inspired by literature, history, or personal passions. Now, an
example of that is a tour operator Chris that we
hosted here on the show, had the privilege of having
Luxury Gold. They actually do music tours in and around Nashville,
and I'll tell you they bring on some of Nashville's
(37:00):
greatest to meet and greet you when you do those tours.
Same with Talp Tours. I was actually just in Nashville
received my certification with Talp Tours and I met one
of Nashville's most elite songwriters and we actually wrote a
song together.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Sure, that's awesome.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
It was Actually it was a great experience and one
that I will never forget. And that's part of this
example of what I'm talking about when I talk about content.
Another operator that does this is Viking. But you would
never imagine the destination I would pick to highlight that,
it's the Viking cruise that does the Mississippi River. There
(37:41):
you're going to experience a wealth of history and literature.
They bring Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn into a lot
of the experiences that you have on board that Viking cruise.
So those are all things that tend to help curate
a great experience or a Shakespeare inspired journey through England.
(38:03):
You know, nothing says a great experience or historic experience
than somebody who really loves Shakespeare being able to tour
the original Globe Theater in Europe in England.
Speaker 3 (38:16):
And when you look at content and you look on
the Internet and you look at a big city and
you look at you know, the top ten things to do.
You pick any of the websites, they'll tell you the
top ten things do in that city. Those are the
things that all of the people visiting that city do.
The content that Terry's talking about, Chris, is the content
that you get from having somebody local, most often through
(38:39):
this virtuoso network that we're so fortunate to be a
part of. That local person is there and they know
to take you to those special places. They know to
take you to those off the beaten path places that
can't accommodate everybody. So the only way you're going to
learn about those places is the only way you're going
to get to those places is to find someone who
(39:01):
can take you down that side road and know the
destination and know how to get you inside of that
location for that private experience.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
So it really is who you know.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
It is absolutely name. I think from being around the
right people you know get you into the best places,
the right places, and you don't miss anything.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
All right. So we've hit four of our five seeds already. Culture, Cuisine,
Community content. I'm dying to find out what the fifth
CE is on our list. But we're gonna have to wait.
We'll come right back and we'll find out here as
we're talking about the five seas of luxury travel on
a lifeless ordinary.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Who would think of driving off to a new destination
without guidance from Google to Syria.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Let the Wishing World guide your next travel experience.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
Travel the world as you enjoy the very best destinations
and all they offer at the best prices. Our mobile
travel app keeps your vacation on track and keeps you
connected with our team of experts.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
For help, if you need it, call us at five.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
Four zero nine zero eight two three three three, stop
by two forty three nef Avenue, or visit us at
the Wishingwell dot.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Bizz and welcome back to the five seeds of luxury
travel Here on a Lifeless Ordinary. Every Saturday we sit
down with our friends from the wishing Well and Harrisonburg,
Terry Dean and Harry Rife. You can call them if
you'd like on Monday five four o nine oh eight
twenty three thirty three. Actually, can they give you a
call today?
Speaker 2 (40:25):
They could?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
All right, we'll call today, don't wait four nine eight
twenty three thirty three The wishing Well dot biz or
stop in to the wishing Well. They're on ne f
Avenue and Harrisonburg. I mentioned our show is called the
Five Seas of Luxury Travel. We've hit four of those seas, culture, cuisine, community,
and content. And before we get done with the show,
(40:47):
I'm going to tell you a few of my sees
of how to interact with the wishing Well.
Speaker 4 (40:52):
Excellent. I would love to have been taking notes. That's awesome.
That's awesome. And again, I want to just reiterate that
in none of the examples that we've given have we
talked anything about cost, because that is not what makes
a luxurious experience. Does it sometimes equate to luxury if
(41:13):
you've paid a good bit for something, I think there's
some truth to that, But it's in your experience, through
your eyes, how you travel, what you want that defines
that luxury experience for you. And the last see on
my list today, Chris, is customization. And certainly any vacation
(41:36):
experience that is customized is certainly something that I think
we could put into the luxurious category. I want you
to think for just a minute about two things really
that we purchase. Almost all of us have at some
point in our lives purchased either a home or a car.
And the truth is this, if you go looking for
(41:59):
a home home and it's just what I would call
or what my grandparents probably would have called a row house,
or those that are built as builder grade homes, that's
going to be a certain price. If, on the other hand,
you say to the builder, I love this home, however,
I want to customize mine a bit. I want to
upgrade the cabinets, I want to upgrade the countertops. I'd
(42:22):
like to have something very special in the bath. I'd
like a spa bath, I'd like these extra things. That's
the definition of customizing. Now what would have been an
ordinary builder grade home, and now you've got a customized home.
Same is true with a car. It can certainly buy
something off the lot. But if you go in and say,
(42:42):
really like to order mine directly from the manufacture, and
I want all the bells and whistles, that's a customized package.
And I think the truth here is I will talk
about dollars for just a minute. I think just as
true as it is with cars and homes that you purchase,
the price certainly is reflective of your desires, your wants,
(43:05):
your needs. When it goes to buying a home or
car like that, the same is true with travel. If
you're going to take the extra steps to customize that
experience for yourself, think you could expect to pay somewhat
more for it than you would if you bought something
that was just a generic trip. Now, bespoke travel designed
(43:25):
to fit individual preferences include everything from private yacht charters
to tailor made wellness retreats. Now an example of those
might be an exclusive Safari lodge in Africa where you
have your own private god. You have your own what
they call a luxury pop up tent, complete with a
(43:48):
butler and prepared meals every day that you design.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
You say this is what I want, this is what's cooked.
Speaker 4 (43:57):
And you've also got a a designed multi country itinerary
around your hobbies. Now we do that almost on a
daily basis at the Wishing Well, where we customize multi
country itineraries for folks who have great tools to do that,
but it'll cost a bit more than say, perhaps you
buying a ready made tour out of a brochure. Those
(44:20):
are the kind of things that go into a customized tour.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
And sometimes customization doesn't always mean upgrading something. Sometimes in
the travel world, or in the automobile world as you're
talking about, or in the home world, you may say
I don't need that feature. I can omit that. I'm fine,
you know without that feature and customization. The tools that
(44:44):
we have let us take things out. And sometimes it's
just a manner of substituting one thing for another, and
it may be an equal substitution, and maybe that it
lowers the cost, or maybe that it raises the cost.
All are possible.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
One of the things you guys talk about on cruise
is it's always the drink packages. My wife and I
don't drink. Yeah, I mean, we'll drink if you put
in front of us, but it's not something we're looking for,
right I'd be saying that, can we do something else
other than a drink package. I'd rather have, you know,
you know, a window in my room if I could. Yeah, well,
your preference.
Speaker 4 (45:17):
Actually, Chris is very much in vogue right now because
what we're seeing are a lot of mocktails that have
become more important.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Again.
Speaker 4 (45:25):
This whole trend toward healthiness and wellness has caused people
to start to look at what does alcohol do to
me anyway? And so they're looking now at more of
the trends that we're starting to see with a new
age in travel, and that is that people are shying
away from the all inclusive alcohol included packages.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
So I see, hey, I want a fitness package, and
I'll give up the alcohol package and I'll take the
fitness package instead.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
I probably wouldn't be asking for that either. But what
I was going to ask is, if customers are continuing
to customize their requests, does the industry look at that
and start to think maybe we should be offering something different?
I mean, does that have an.
Speaker 4 (46:12):
Enter travel industry is very reactive to what the consumer's
desires are. And I can tell you that as a
Virtuoso travel agent, being a certified agent at several levels
with some of these tour operators, I am constantly asked
for my expertise and to fill out surveys for them,
let them know what are your consumers asking you for.
(46:35):
That information is translated into a database and then the
information is fed in to the travel industry and they
then react to that and produce what the average consumer
is wanting to purchase.
Speaker 3 (46:50):
Yeah, just recently, Virtuoso asked agents like Terry myself. What
are you hearing? What are you seeing? What's the most
popular destination? You're hearing people want? What are the features
that people want? And they share that with those providers,
and those providers are crazy not to listen because if
(47:11):
it gives them a competitive advantage over some other provider,
that's exactly what they're going to do.
Speaker 4 (47:16):
And we see that, And I can tell you something, Chris,
If we were doing this list of the five seeds
of Luxury travel ten years ago, this list would not
look like this. This list would have a lot of
what I now would consider and what most travelers would
consider unnecessary fluff. You see, the consumer traveler today is
(47:39):
looking for a more what we call bespoke experience. They
want something that is curated for them so that they
can get the most out of it. And they want
to know that when they go to Africa, when they
go to Mexico, that the experience that they come back
with and share with their friends family didn't sound exactly
(48:02):
like yours. Nobody wants to be exactly like anybody else anymore.
We're looking for independent identities when we travel, and that's
the beauty of what's happening in the travel industry, terry.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
I have to ask myself at least when when I
hear you say that, is that because we are in
the Instagram mindset where everybody is trying to one up
each other? Is it because we have made travel more
obtainable for people? I mean, you and I have talked
about this. I've never used a travel advisor because we've
(48:37):
never really traveled anywhere that I felt like I needed
help on it because I was booking basic vacations. We
went to Vegas, I you know, took whatever they gave us.
But now I feel like that I've done that on
my own. I want to use a travel advisor because
I feel like I missed out on so much.
Speaker 4 (48:53):
Well, it kind of throws a question back to you.
Have and really, even since you have been helping us
host here a lifeless ordinary, have your desires for maybe
what you want to see and what you want to
do evolved since even you've been here with us.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
Absolutely? Yeah, no, And because every time you talk about
some even today's show, I'm sitting here thinking why have
I not? Even I would have never thought about that.
I would have never asked to be at the Captain's table.
By the way, if I ever go on a cruise,
I'm doing that.
Speaker 3 (49:23):
You should definitely do.
Speaker 1 (49:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
And one of the interesting things I think Harry pointed to,
one of the things that ties in very nicely with
our luxury sees for today's show was the tickets to
the Kentucky Derby. Now there's an event that people will
actually plan their travel around, it would be considered a
luxury event because those tickets aren't cheap and the experience
(49:47):
is there aren't cheap. Some other examples that I can
point to, or some athletic adventures that people actually use
and combine adventure with wellness and fitness all around. Certain
events like the Monaco Grand Prix that's a big one
this year, Formula One racing from May the twenty fifth
to the twenty eighth that's going to feature exclusive parties,
(50:09):
luxury yachting events and that kind of thing. Even something
as simple that we take for granted on a daily basis.
I can tell you I used to be a competitor
in mountain biking. But there's something called the gravel Races,
the Big Sugar Gravel Race that's going to take place
October twelfth through the eighteenth in Bentonville, Arkansas is going
(50:30):
to draw thousands of people, but like minded people, health
nuts who are interested in biking and mountain biking in particular.
But you have all of these things that create these
bespoke experiences that I'm talking about that we've seen an
evolution in in the travel industry. And to your answer
(50:50):
to your question, Chris, is it the Instagram?
Speaker 1 (50:53):
Is it?
Speaker 4 (50:54):
What is it exactly? I think the answer to that
is it's all of that, and it's all of what
we were rob Dove after COVID that now we look
at and we go just what you said before with
that's going on in Spain, revenge travel. We're after it
and we want it all we do.
Speaker 3 (51:11):
Well. One of the things I was going to say
about this to answer your question Chris too, is a
lot of times people don't know what they don't know,
and part of the purpose of this show is to
talk about things like these Five Seas. There are a
lot of people that are traveling that have traveled, you know,
like yourself, that never you mentioned you never knew what
you didn't know. If you had asked for advice, you
(51:34):
would have maybe learned about the Five Seas a little
bit earlier and you would be demanding some of these
things to know that you can get these things, the
Captain's table, everything else we've been talking about today.
Speaker 1 (51:45):
What I just got from Harry is, Chris, if you
would have been smart enough to ask for help, you
would have been doing No. I'm being serious, all right.
So I want to review up before we werer on
out of time. I want to hit my seas of
why you should be working with the wishing Well. Our
five seas today, culture, cuisine, community, content, and customization. When
you call the wishing Well, you're going to get a
(52:07):
curated experience and it's convenient. It is, So how do
we get in touch with you?
Speaker 4 (52:12):
Before I get to that, Chris, I want to just
summarize and give you some key insights that are actually
driving the luxury travel growth these days, and those are
demographic shifts. We've seen younger, more affluent travelers prioritizing experiences
over material goods. I know that because I witness that
(52:33):
with some of my clients too. Is sustainability concerns. You've
got an echo conscious community that is becoming more of
a status symbol. If you're traveling sustainably, that's a status
symbol for a lot of folks and then the post
pandemic connections that I mentioned, longing from meaningful experiences and
(52:55):
shared moments that just drives the demand for luxury travel.
Speaker 2 (52:59):
So that's really where we are. And again, if.
Speaker 4 (53:01):
You're looking to find out more about these packages what
it would mean for you to have a real, truly
luxury experience, we invite you to reach out to us
at the wishing Well. We're at two forty three NEF
Avenue in the Valley Center in Harsenburg. You can call
us We're at five four oh nine oh eight two
three three three, or look us up on the web.
(53:21):
We're at the Wishingwell dot biz.
Speaker 1 (53:25):
This has been a Life Less Ordinary, the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three NEP Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes
are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll see again
next Saturday morning at ten for a Life Less Ordinary
(53:47):
from the wishing Well
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