Unlocking Luxury Travel Secrets with The Blonde Atlas: Tips, Transformations, and Unique Experiences
August 27, 2024 • 43 mins
Curious about traveling luxuriously on a budget? In this episode, we chat with Whitney from Blonde Atlas, who reveals insider tips on maximizing travel perks, working with travel advisors, and navigating post-pandemic travel costs using the Amalfi Coast as an example.
Whitney shares her inspiring journey from advertising to travel advising, turning a passion for travel into a successful career. She also discusses her innovative women’s group travel experiences, offering unique adventures like truffle hunting and cooking classes that go beyond typical retreats. Tune in to learn how to create unforgettable travel experiences with expert guidance.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Confessions of a Wannabe it Girl
, the podcast helping you filterout the BS in pursuit of
becoming the next it Girl.
In today's episode, we're goingto dive into the world of
traveling.
Now, as we know, traveling hasbecome very Instagrammable, very
TikTok focused.
You know all about the outfitsand the things, which, at the
same point, love it.
(00:21):
Great, we feel it.
I am so there for that moment.
If you do not think that thesetrips I'm going on this summer I
do not have a content foldersaved for as well as outfits,
you would be mistaken because Ido.
But also there's a lot of otherthings about traveling being
immersed in the culture, theexperience, even just like,
maybe, seeing the tourism sites.
(00:41):
There are layers of travelingthat don't always make the
Instagram feed because they'renot really able to be captured
in a picture, and I thinksomebody who really gets that is
Whitney from the Blonde Atlas,and in today's episode, she is
joining us to give us tips andtricks about traveling, as well
as talking about two differentsides of her business the
(01:02):
traditional side, the travelagent, or now I've learned it's
called the ambassador side ofher business, where she can help
you get the most out of yourtrip, as well as talking about
her other side of her business,which is these women group trips
around the world that have justsuch amazing range in
activities, and you're gettingthe Instagram photos, but you're
(01:22):
also getting a holisticexperience.
Whitney is just reallythoughtful about travel and
she's also really for women andthis is like by women.
So, without further ado, let'sdive into the episode.
Welcome to Confessions of aWannabe it Girl.
I'm your host, marley Fregging,and I'm here to help you filter
(01:43):
out all the bullshit and becomethe next it girl.
This podcast explores thereality of what it really takes
to make it out there.
As it turns out, it is way lessinstagrammable than I thought
it was going to be.
I'm still very much a work inprogress, but there's simply
nothing else I'd rather be doingthan chasing my dreams.
So let's learn from my mistakesand work together to achieve
(02:04):
our dreams with more confidence,clarity and direction.
Let's get after it.
Welcome back to Confessions ofa Wannabe it Girl.
I am joined today by Whitneyfrom the Blonde Atlas.
I am so excited to dive intotalking about how we can live
our Wannabe it Girl dreamstraveling around the world.
So thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Thanks for having me.
I'm so excited to chat travelwith you today.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, travel is.
I think it's something that youknow we all want to be doing
totally like a luxury, but likewe also want to do it and like
live that luxurious life whichis sometimes, you know, if you
don't know how to do it, youdon't know how to do it, so
let's dive right in there.
Can you share some maybe likesecret tips or tricks for, like
(02:53):
a beginner of luxury travelingor maximizing the perks, like
what's your best upgrade hack go?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
for it?
Sure, yeah.
So I would say first thing islike I did not know until
probably like the last decadethat, like I thought travel
agents were such a thing in thepast because in my mind, people
used to use travel agents whenor advisors as they're called
now when you didn't have accessto information.
(03:24):
And now we have such anabundance of information that
it's like, well, why would youever need that?
But the reality is that there'stoo much information and so
sifting through it can be sooverwhelming.
So a lot of people don'trealize that if you work with a
travel advisor, now differentadvisors are going to have
different minimum spend, so youwant to check on budget and
things like that.
But if you're wanting to doluxury travel, it is so
(03:46):
advantageous to work with anadvisor because a lot of times
we can get you perks andupgrades at a lot of the hotels
that you would want to bookanyway, at no additional cost to
you.
So essentially it's this nicelittle mutually beneficial
triangle where the hotels wantleads, so they give advisors
commission, essentially to say,hey, the leads that you bring us
(04:07):
, we'll give you a kickback.
And then in order to make ourclients be like, well, why
should we use an advisor?
Then it's like well, we get youperks and upgrades that you
wouldn't get otherwise.
So if you're using third-partysites like bookingcom and stuff
like that, a lot of times youdon't have someone who's
advocating on your behalf.
You're just going to get kindof whatever room is left over
Not necessarily, but you're morelikely to be in that position
(04:28):
Whereas you have a traveladvisor.
We've built relationships withthese hoteliers who are able to
say okay, you know what, we havean extra room available, that
this top suite hasn't beenbooked and we know it's a really
special occasion for yourclient, so we're going to make
you look like a rock star andput you in that suite, so things
like that that we can just kindof pull pull strings and things
like that.
So I highly recommend at leastlooking into working for a
(04:49):
travel advisor to see if that'sgreat for you.
But then I also know a setbackfor a lot of people who want to
do luxury travel.
It can be budget like travel ingeneral has just gotten a lot
more expensive than it used tobe.
Post pandemic it's.
There's a huge demand for it.
We all want to do it.
I think we all kind of realizewhat that is hugely important to
us, and so prices are a lotmore expensive than they used to
(05:13):
be.
One example that I will give islike top.
Okay, if we think somewherelike a Malfi Coast, that's a
super in demand destination thateveryone wants to go to.
So it's expensive, if you wantto say it, like the top
five-star hotels.
A few years ago that would costyou like a thousand dollars a
night, the top hotels.
Now on Amalfi coast we'reselling more, like three to
(05:34):
4,000 a night this summer, andthat's just in a couple of years
.
That doesn't mean that that hasto be your budget for any hotel
.
That's it.
That's kind of an extremesituation If you're going during
like peak season and you know,to one of the most coveted
destinations.
My point is just simply thattravel is more expensive than it
used to be.
Um, there are tons ofdestinations that can kind of
give you a similar vibe withoutthat kind of splurge.
Um, and something that I loveto kind of help clients get that
(05:57):
experience when they don't havelike right, like three grand to
cash out a night is, let's say,you're doing a trip to Italy,
you might do like Rome, florence, and then end in Amalfi Coast
and you might be like I want todo luxury the whole time.
So I might say, well, how muchare you actually going to be in
your hotel when you're in Romeand Florence?
Right, like, you're out, you'regoing to be at the Vatican and
(06:19):
the gallery and eating and likewondering.
So it's like that's actuallyprobably not the best use of
your budget to splurge on aluxury hotel there.
Like go for a more comfortableboutique hotel where you can
save some of those pennies andthen, once you get to Amalfi
coast even if you only you knowmaybe you want to do two
different towns start at a morelike boutique hotel and then
(06:39):
your last couple of nights ofthe trip splash out on that
expensive hotel hotel where youget to enjoy the pool and use
the amenities and really take itall in.
Or even if you were doing a citytrip, let's say you're in Paris
the whole time, having yourfinal night of the trip, be like
you know what I've done, thestuff I want to do.
I'm not looking forward togoing home tomorrow, but I'm
(06:59):
exhausted.
I'm just going to check into afancy hotel, order room service
and like relish in thisluxurious experience and watch
the Eiffel tower sparkle from myroom.
So we love helping clients kindof identify, like what do you
want?
Like everybody has a differentidea of luxury, like to some
people it's like location, tosome other people it's view, to
some other people it's service,and so helping you kind of
(07:21):
identify what's important to youand then finding ways that you
can kind of like make yourbudget and your goals align a
little bit so that you can havethe experience you want, even if
you have to compromise in otherareas.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Well, I love that because I feel like a lot of
times we just think like luxuryand that means like just the
best of the best, the highest,the highest, whatever is the
most expensive, that's what Ishould go for if I want luxury.
And yet we're looking at this soholistically in the fact of
like, well, you know what areyou going to be doing, how much
are you going to be in yourhotel, all the things.
It's a very fullback approachand also, I think, sometimes get
(07:54):
the idea from.
I mean, travel agent does seemlike such an old term and it's
hilarious because my mom wasonce a travel agent.
How was she was once a travelagent, oh yeah, crazy, um, and
whatnot.
But like you, you think like,oh, like there there's hidden
fees and there's all this stuffand like they would never tell
(08:15):
me to take the cheaper option orwhatnot.
But like that is a very for theclient approach and I feel like
it's really folk comes from aplace of like you really want
the experience to mean somethingto somebody who's traveling.
And is there like a certainreason you got into travel,
being a travel ambassador, likethis.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, I think honestly it was just a case of
like personal passion.
I don't really think I ever setout with the objective to work
in travel.
I have a background inadvertising, so that's what I
did for the first like sevenyears post-university and I
worked on a few tourism accountsso I at least like understood
(08:55):
the industry enough to kind ofknow like the difference between
, like a convention and visitorsbureau versus tourism board and
like some of the like vendorpartners and things like that.
So I kind of like first learnedindustry like slogan or uh
jargon that's what I'm lookingfor um in the advertising days.
And then I went through like aseries of big life changes, one
(09:15):
that included getting laid offum and our favorite one, I know
I know and um, yeah, I just waslike, yeah, going through a lot
of other personal stuff and Iwas just like travel is
something that's really bringingme joy right now, and so this
wasn't the most responsibledecision.
But I took my severance moneyand I was like I never studied
abroad and I'm going to do whatI call adult study abroad and
(09:38):
I'm going to go travel for a fewmonths.
I'm going to take this money,I'm going to rent my house out
on Airbnb, find ways to likecover my costs back home and
just like scrape by on pennieswhile I travel and like gain
some life experiences that, yeah, just kind of could bring me
the joy that I was sodesperately seeking.
And it slowly just turned intome being like, well, I don't
want to not keep doing this,like you know, and so I would,
(10:02):
yeah, I would find I I'd comehome for a bit and like I was
doing things that were, you know, as a 30 year old at the time,
um, were like seemed very likebackward, like a step backwards,
like I was babysitting or, youknow, doing all these things
that like I have a collegedegree.
Why am I, you know, like notgoing and getting another job
and it's like I would do it fora few months to save money and
(10:24):
just like stash things away,leave again, and so, you know,
do some like find ways to dofreelance consulting, find ways
to.
You know, just like I was soscrappy with it and I think that
it truly just like there's notlike some.
The inciting incident was likegetting laid off or like going
through those personal changesthat led me to be like, okay,
(10:44):
let's just do this for a littlewhile.
But then from there it was likea snowball effect where it was
really just like, little bylittle, brick by brick, I kind
of just wanted to like keepdoing it and it slowly grew.
I think it's funny Like therewasn't one magic secret, there
wasn't one specific thing.
It was just like, yeah, timeand investment and passion, and
(11:06):
yeah, those things can have hugeimpact over time.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
So you were like how can I keep doing this?
And then you realized that Ikeep doing this, and then you
realized that I can do this forother people as well.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah, yeah, honestly, I genuinely didn't think I kind
of stumbled into being a travelagent because, like I, I I was
getting.
I slowly started.
Like I had a travel blog atfirst and it was, you know, like
slowly growing, um, you knownothing crazy, but it was enough
to, you know, be able tonegotiate here and there, like,
and I I found myself getting somany like questions or DMS from
people and being like, oh, I'mgoing to Paris and I saw you
(11:42):
were just there, can you give mesome suggestions?
And I was like this is likestarting to take up a lot of
time and it's cutting into myability to like do some of these
other side hustles.
So, kind of just to protect mytime, I put a splash page up on
my website with like an hourlyrate and I, now that I know what
the industry is like, Iactually started as what we
would call like more of a DMC,which is a destination
(12:04):
management company, so where youkind of specialize in one or
select few areas.
So I had my you know, rome,paris, like these cities that
are, you know, popular spots inEurope that I knew quite well.
And so I, rather than workingjust off, commission, cause my
clientele was like people likeme who didn't have the budget to
be staying at five-star hotelsand getting commissioned that
(12:25):
way.
Um, and I just had an hourlyrate that I would charge people
and in exchange for time, and Ireally genuinely thought like
maybe a couple people would doit.
I didn't expect for it toevolve the way that it has, but
it's back to kind of thatdiscovery that I stumbled into,
which was, yeah, there used tobe not enough information and
now there's too much information.
It is so overwhelming and evenif you have access to
(12:47):
information, sometimes you don'thave time to like sift through
all of it.
You want someone you know.
So, like for me, I was likesharing what I was doing on
social media and people would belike, wow, that looks amazing,
like that trip that you just did, can you just plan that for me?
And and so it kind of, yeah,evolved that way.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Well, and as somebody who probably like looks at all
the not correct things to reallylock down a travel fan like I'm
looking at Instagram and I'mlooking at TikTok and I'm like I
would like to go there.
Like there's no research.
I have no idea how close thingsare to each other.
I'm just like that looks goodon this person's Instagram.
I would like to do that.
How can?
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I do that, that's kind of the.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
You know that is the wealth of information you know
as we dive into.
And so, as you're planning foryour clients and whatnot and for
the first time, maybe that itwasn't for yourself you booked
something, maybe like crazy, forsomebody.
What was it and how did you doit?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So the first time that I booked something for a
client, you mean, that was likewild, or yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Wild, like you were like okay, okay, this is like a
big thing, like I don't know,like the penthouse suite
someplace.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
The biggest thing that I did earliest on, that
felt like oh, oh, my gosh, wow,I can't believe I just booked.
This was the first time.
So another one part of mybusiness is I'm a travel advisor
.
It's like traditional travelagent.
The other part of my businessis I have I do group tours for
women.
So like if you've ever wantedto like go on a trip but you
don't have anyone who you canconvince to like take the trip
(14:18):
out of the group chat, or yeah,you just like have wanted but
still want to travel with likegirls, um, we, we do group trips
for women who want to travelwith like-minded women.
A lot of times like it's I'msingle and all my friends are
married.
Or sometimes it's I'm marriedwith kids but none of my other
mom friends will leave theirkids and I still want to do
girls trips, so people whoprioritize travel and don't have
(14:41):
other people in their life whoprioritize it the same way, and
so that's a huge part of mybusiness.
And the first trip I ever didwas like pretty early on into
the travel advising stuff and itwas just me realizing that like
I was sending people back tothe same hotel in Tuscany over
and over because people loved itso much and I had been on a
(15:04):
yoga retreat a few years beforeand I loved it.
But I was also like why is itthat if you want to travel and
like do a trip like this, youcan it kind of has to be titled
a yoga retreat?
I didn't feel like there weremany things that were like
people who just wanted to gotruffle hunting or cooking
classes or like do these funactivities, and so I just
started like crunching numbersand like asked the um, the hotel
(15:27):
that I kept sending all thoseclients to.
I was like, okay, if I havethis many people, what does that
look like?
And do you have a transfercompany you can connect me to?
And it turned into this likelet's just do it once and see if
I can sell it.
Um, it felt like a huge riskbecause I had to front the money
for the hotel and like hopethat it's old and thankfully it
did.
But to me, honestly, that'swhat pops into my mind is
(15:49):
because it was like it was thisbig booking of like 10 rooms and
you know, for a week in Italy,and like I didn't have the
people to go yet but I couldn'tadvertise it until I had, you
know, like a space for everyone.
So it was really scary, butalso like my heart was racing,
you know, at the thought of likebringing this kind of just idea
(16:11):
to life and then actuallyworking.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah, I love that and like I love this.
You know, women just wanting totravel together.
Whoever you are, whoever youmay be, let's get together.
We have this mutual interestand like, let's just go for it.
Have you gone on the trips withthe girls as well?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, so we've done over 25 now around the world and
I've been on almost everysingle one except like one or
two.
We are starting to expand moreand it's just like when you
factor in like personal travel,like scouting trips, and like
just also like the demand, likethe types of destinations that
these people want to go to, it'slike there's so many the types
of destinations that thesepeople want to go to.
(16:49):
It's like there's so many.
So I've started to like grow myteam.
I have an amazing team that Iwork with who's like I'm just
like so proud of them becausethey're so international.
Like I have someone who's halfGreek, half English and she
speaks Italian, french, greekand.
English Casual, but like it's socool because she's half Greek.
(17:10):
So when we do Greece trip she'stalking to the locals in Greek.
She was raised by her Greek dad.
Like she understands theculture.
So like we're not just planninga fun girls trip.
Like you're getting anauthentic experience and same
with, like you know, we're ableto have these like nurtured
relationships with the localsand the destinations where we're
going because of the languageswe speak and because of like
heritage and background from theteam.
(17:31):
Um, because of the languages wespeak and because of like
heritage and background from theteam, because of you know, my
relationships through the hotelindustry and things like that,
so it's like a really authenticexperience we're able to provide
.
But as my team has done moreand more trips and they've
gotten so good at what they do,there's times that I'm like I
don't need to be on every singletrip and like we can cover more
ground when we divide andconquer.
So, yeah, I mean we are a lotof our trips tend to be focused
(17:51):
in Europe, but we've done NewZealand, south Africa, we're
doing Morocco this fall, sowe're covering like kind of all
over the place now, which isreally exciting.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
No, it is so exciting and I feel like it's a great
trip to kind of just get yourlike heart fulfilled by all
these like amazing opportunitiesand being around you know just
women who want to be in the sameplace.
Like, have you seen friendshipsblossom out of these like
groups?
And what does it look like,getting packing up your stuff,
(18:24):
going on a trip with all thesewomen you've never met before?
And then you're like here, likewhat does that look like?
Speaker 2 (18:33):
met before, and then you're like here like what does
that look like?
Yeah, it's all.
I think it's always like alittle bit nerve wracking for
someone who's coming on a tripfor the first time, um, and we
try to do everything we can tooffset that anxiety.
So we do like little travelerprofile forms that you fill out
where you say, like your name,where you're from, your social
media, like fun facts about you,and we send it out so that
everyone can kind of put a faceto a name of who they're
(18:54):
traveling with.
You can connect on social mediabefore you can see things like
oh, I'm also an attorney, or oh,wow, she's also from Boston, or
whatever, and kind of makeconnections before you're even
on the trip.
We also ask like hyper-specificthings, because the rooms rooms,
like the price is based ondouble occupancy, so, like twin
beds, you're not sharing a bed,but you're sharing a room unless
(19:16):
you pay an additional fee foryour own room.
Most people choose to share,though.
So we get super specific, likeasking how do you like the
temperature of your room, andare you a morning bird or early
bird or a night owl, and so likewe can pair people and like
really try to be selective aboutensuring that everyone has a
good roommate situation.
But you know it's funny, we doa pre trip call try to like like
(19:39):
let everyone connect before askany questions and just try to
like ease anxiety as much aspossible but like without fail,
every time it's like really coolto see just how disarmed
everyone is straight away, likeeveryone's relieved to meet each
other.
I think it takes a certain typeof personality, like if you're
willing to sign up for a triplike this, then chances are like
you're an open-minded person.
We're really explicit aboutthat in our registration of like
(20:01):
hey, if you're not like kindand open-minded and wanting to
make friends and like beinclusive and have like a spirit
of connection, like this tripprobably isn't for you.
It's not a mean girl situationyeah, like it's not.
Like you know there's tons ofother group trip companies, but
like we have core values thatwe're really rooted in, um,
first one being like funexperiences.
(20:21):
Like we're really committed toitineraries that are for like
the culturally curious, thatlike we're not just it's not
just like party vibes, like youknow some of the there's nothing
wrong with that but likeContiki or some of the ones that
are like straight out ofuniversity and it's just like
party, party, party.
But we're also not likeretirees on a coach.
We're like women in ourthirties who, you know, want to
(20:42):
experience a little bit ofculture, want to drink spritz,
but like we want balance right.
Like we want to see like greatfood, great wine, fun
experiences, shopping, downtime,connection, like that that's
the vibe that we attract.
So like, fun experiences,seconds meaningful connection,
so like really coming into itwith the intention to connect
with people.
(21:03):
And then the third is empoweringbetter travelers.
So like not just being aboutconsumption, not just about like
the Insta selfies and then, butlike how do you actually learn
from your experiences?
How do you go home?
A more open-minded human who'sbeen like touched by travel.
We try to do a lot of stuff withlike offsetting our carbon
footprint, donating to likelocal organizations, to like try
(21:23):
to, yeah, use travel as a forcefor good, as a way to open our
hearts and minds, and so that'swhat we try to attract and we
try to be really explicit aboutthat so that we attract the
right type of group, and I thinknaturally that creates like a
cool like.
I'm always hesitant when I saylike-minded because we're
like-minded but we'reopen-minded, so we're not a
carbon copy of each other, rightLike we're all different and
(21:46):
bring like something unique tothe table, but we share that
like-minded passion for like andcuriosity for travel and the
world and all of that.
So it's amazing, though, wehave such a strong alumni
community and we've donemultiple trips that are just
repeat customers because we wewe did a reunion trip um a few
weeks back and we had almostlike just under 50 girls who'd
(22:09):
all been on trips before, wholike further kind of were
connecting within the Atlascommunity, and so it's really
special.
Like it's people who you know Ifeel like our society kind of
creates structures of like yourcommunity is like who you know
parents and their friends orkids at school, or it's you know
, your neighbors are like alittle bit more like traditional
(22:31):
community aspects and there'snothing wrong with those, but
they don't necessarily noteveryone fits in those boxes.
Like there's people who don'thave partners or families yet,
or there's people who do, but,like you know, they're chasing
careers and if, and some oftheir other friends are like
just like prioritizing differentthings.
So it's just like a specialplace that, through these trips,
(22:54):
like you can connect, likethere's so many broader
spectrums of ways to connectwith people.
Like I travel to Austin.
I'm just this is an exampletravel to Austin all the time
for work, and like I met thisgirl who lives in Austin and so
now when I'm going, I'm nothaving to like eat dinner by
myself.
I I'm like have other friendsin different cities and it just
makes the world feel smaller.
It's really, really special tobe a part of.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yeah, it feels very thoughtful, Like it's very
thoughtful in your team'sapproach of, like you know,
sustainability, learning aboutthe culture, not just, you know,
for the Instagram, even though,like, we love the Instagram
shop, but like, what was thatexperience?
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Like we don't even know though.
Like we love the Instagram shop, but like what was that
experience?
Like totally, totally like wehave a photographer like we have
tons of photographers on ourteam.
Yeah, well, so like, a lot ofour team is trained in
photography, so that's notnecessarily like their, their
sole purpose on the trip, butlike, yeah, we and like one of
the things that we'll offer.
It depends on the trip and who'scoming and availability and
stuff but a lot of times whatwe'll offer is like a photo
(23:50):
package.
So, essentially, like, if youdon't want to have to worry
about trying to get all thephotos it depends on the trip
and who's coming andavailability and stuff but a lot
of times what we'll offer islike a photo package.
So, essentially, like, if youdon't want to have to worry
about trying to get all thephotos and you want some great
shots of you, you could for likean additional, like add on fee,
you can have there's likeselect moments on the trip where
, like call times a little bitearlier and you meet with our
photographer and they take somephotos of you.
So you know you're going to getsome great professional quality
(24:16):
photos of you in these selectdestinations.
Like in Paris it might be likethe Eiffel tower and, um, you
know, arc to triumph, whatever.
So you know you're going to getsome great photos of you
without having to like,constantly be like.
Can someone take my picture?
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Oh, you put my feet off, Like you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
It's like and that just lets you be present and in
the moment.
So we're not at all againsttaking photos we love taking
great photos but I think it'sjust like not letting that be
where the bill stops Right, likewanting to go a little bit
deeper, wanting to like havemore to take away from your
vacation than a photo for women,with women in mind, by women.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
It's just so thought out and I love that.
Can you tell us maybe some ofthe experiences or activities
that you've loved and maybe thelocation they were at?
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Sure, I mean the thing that comes to mind
instantly anytime somebody'sfavorite is safari.
I did my first safari like ayear and a half ago, and it was
the most life-changingexperience.
Like run, don't walk.
My team would love to help youplan.
We know how to do like the bestone in terms of the best ones
(25:22):
in terms of like sustainability,but also like yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, like good for the animals, we don't want to,
you know.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Yes, yes, Making sure that we're like supporting good
partners who are doing a tonfor like conservation and things
like that.
But we did our first AtlasSafari in March this past year
and it was just so specialbecause I don't know how to
explain it, but I mean the Bushin general, like being on safari
.
I think it just takes you outof your day-to-day routine, Like
(25:51):
so many of the things that wefocus on.
Again, nothing wrong with thesethings, Like I love, you know,
my wardrobe and like stuff.
There's nothing wrong withmaterial stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
but like yeah, but like.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
I think that can bring us like joy, but like to
an extent, and I think it's soeasy for us, like in our society
, to just get like that's whatis like.
You know, we live in acapitalistic society that's
constantly like buy more, you'renot enough, you need this, and
so to be somewhere that is soremoved from all of that you
don't have cell phone connection, you are like out with the
animals, just watching nature,be nature, and there's something
(26:27):
so, yeah, like life changingabout that and so being building
friendships amongst that too,and like connecting with women
who are like it.
Just it creates lots of likevulnerability, lots of like lots
of philosophical kind of likewhat is the purpose of life,
questions and just like reallyauthentic conversation around
(26:49):
like what really matters to meand like why, why am I focusing
on the things that I focus on?
And like what really matters inlife and and just being so
rooted and grounded in likegratitude that, like by a
landslide, stands out to me.
Safari will always be one of mylike favorites, if you ask me,
but I would also say, just likeon a lighter note we always try
(27:11):
to include something on ourtrips that you couldn't just do
if you booked the trip yourself,right, like there's power in
numbers.
So, like in Paris, we have aclose relationship.
I don't know if you're familiarwith the brand Cezanne, but
they're from Paris, theiroriginal apartment is there and
so, like we have a greatrelationship with their team and
so on every Paris trip theykeep the apartment open like
(27:32):
after hours for us and we havelike a private shopping
experience where, like the girlshave the store to themselves,
we have like champagne andsnacks, everyone.
It's just like so fun havingall the girls like try on
outfits with each other and youdon't have to, like you know,
fight for the changing room withlike everybody else.
It's just like a special touchto have like the space reserved
for us.
And so, yeah, we do that kindof stuff on like a lot of our
(27:53):
trips.
It's just like what's somethingspecial that we can create that
you know, if you were justbooking the trip yourself, you
couldn't shut down the wholestore or whatever it may be, and
I think it's nice.
It's nice to like you know weall deserve to.
I think, especially, I relatedto this a lot like back in the
day.
I don't feel like I see it asmuch anymore.
But when influencers reallystarted to first surface, you'd
(28:14):
see all these like press trips,and I think they still do happen
.
But I think, like as a consumer, you're just like sitting at
home watching this happen andkind of feeling like I don't
know if left out is the rightword, but you'd feel this sense
of like.
Well, it must be nice.
These people get to go on theselike splash brand trips and
they're getting spoiled left andright and get all these cool
experiences and like I'm eating,you know, chips on my sofa, um,
(28:37):
and so I think like somethingthat's like special for us is to
be able to create theseexperiences that, like all are
welcome and, like you know, youget to have, you get to feel
special and have these kind oflike once in a lifetime
opportunities too, cause, likewe all deserve that you know.
So I think that, like, wereally pride ourselves in.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Oh I could.
I could write a little mininovel on the feelings behind
brand trips and whatnot and allthe things and what that's done
to like us as a culture orwhatnot.
But I just love the range thatyou guys offer.
We've got everything from youknow getting deep into our
philosophical thoughts on safari, when we're finally all removed
from technology, to shoppingwith champagne, and it's like it
(29:18):
doesn't need to be one or theother.
I'm not trying to like at theyoga retreat but, like you know,
sometimes it's like we don'twant there to be only one
mission, we want the range.
We're multidimensional and thisis giving us multidimensional.
That being said, in your lineof work I am sure you hear
people's horror stories andcringe about the mistakes they
(29:40):
made in planning.
What are the common things?
Maybe us who don't know as muchabout traveling?
What are the common mistakesyou hear about or often want to
correct for people whentraveling?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
The first thing that comes to mind for me is hotels,
because so often people willtake like a brand, recognized
name like I don't know.
I'm trying to think likeMarriott, for example, and
they'll be like oh, I'm Marriottloyal, so I booked, I used
points and booked this.
And I'm like, oh my gosh, whydidn't you?
I understand if you want to usepoints, but like now your whole
itinerary is thrown off becauseyou booked this Marriott.
(30:14):
That's like way over here andlike in this random area and
like it sounds good on paper andthe pictures look pretty on the
website.
But like you did not, like youshould have talked to me first,
Right?
So I think, yeah, like a lot oftimes people get like tricked
into booking a hotel orsomething because they're like
oh, this sounds easy, click,book rather than actually
(30:36):
thinking through you know moreholistically, like what kind of
experience do I want?
And like if I want to see allthese things, and now I'm
staying an hour outside the cityand like that's going to dampen
my experience.
I'm like, why are you flying allthe way to Rome to stay at this
hotel when you're going to belike transferring it out?
It just like cheapens yourexperience.
Like at that rate, like stay inlike a you know, super cheap
(31:00):
Airbnb.
That's like nothing fancy, butat least you're like in a good
location and like spot.
Yeah, I don't know.
So that's a common mistake thatI see.
A lot is people not really umunderstanding, and I don't blame
them for not understanding, butacting without like having
either spoken to someone whounderstands.
It's like if you're going tocome to me, your travel advisor
(31:21):
now like why not?
Why don't let me like advise onthat too?
Because now I feel like you'reasking me to make like lemon
lemonade out of oranges.
I'm trying to make this amazingtrip happen for you, but, like
you didn't give me a greatfoundation to go off of, so
that's probably something Iwould see is like the more that
the sooner you can pull someonein.
It doesn't mean we have to doeverything for you.
(31:42):
I understand some people likeprefer to do certain elements,
but, like we love when youinvolve us in every capacity so
that we can like really guideyou in the right direction and,
yeah, everybody wins you get tohave a great experience.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
That being said, I mean I just can't.
I feel like I can't not ask youlike what is your feelings
about points programs and creditcard points and mileage point?
Like being in your line of work, I like it there's so much buzz
for us to use them and like,have them.
And then there's a lot of mathinvolved in and I don't really
like it Totally.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, no.
So, um, I have a ton of pointsbecause I, like you know,
through business and stuff, I'mlike spending a lot of money
like for on all these trips andeverything, and so I get you
know through the businessaccount.
So I get a ton of points.
I don't know the first thingabout how to redeem them to your
point, it is so complex.
I literally, right before thiscall, had one of my best friends
(32:37):
.
She is like, knows the game andeverything, and I gave her my
login.
I was like Andrew and I aretrying to book our honeymoon.
I don't know how to do this.
Can you book me a flight?
I just need to get from here tohere.
If I can be in business class,great.
And she's like here's youritinerary.
So I think it's great forpeople like um, like the points
guy, if you don't follow him,like wonderful resource.
(32:58):
It is like a commitment to learnthe game and you have to be
willing to like.
For example, we're going tostart our honeymoon in India, um
, and, and then go from there to.
We're trying to figure outstill.
But, um, we, so we were flyingfrom, like London to Delhi, and
it's like we could like becauseeveryone's competing for the
same reward availability.
(33:19):
So it goes quickly.
So, like we could, we couldhave done direct, but it wasn't
available by the time we looked.
So now we're going by a Dohaand having a layover and like
it's a little more clunky, butI'm like, yeah, well, I'd rather
have a layover it's only twoand a half hours and I get to be
in business class versus likeyou know, um, so I, I'm all for
it if you want to learn, butit's like very complex.
(33:41):
Um, it doesn't typically likealign with our work.
So like, for example, like, ifyou're hiring a travel advisor
like and there's probably peoplewho you can hire who are more
like points advisors, that's notus but, um, we typically don't.
It'd be one thing if you said,hey, I already booked my flights
with points, but we want tohelp with all the hotels and
stuff, then like great happy todo that, but we aren't
(34:03):
necessarily the ones who arelike the hotels and stuff, then
like great happy to do that, butwe aren't necessarily the ones
who are, like you know, helpingyou use your points to book the
whole trip because you know it'sthat's not what we're trained
to do.
So totally understand thatpeople want to use points, like
I have tons of points and I needhelp using them.
So that's what I have my myfriends for.
I help them with their trips,they help me with my points.
So think both can exist, but Ithink it's it's.
(34:26):
They're different worlds interms of who's kind of
specializing and helping inthose.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
No, totally.
And, that being said, you knowthere's so many places people
want to go.
I feel like you know we hearall the buzz ones, the Instagram
like feed, popular ones at thetime like Malfi Coast.
Is there any destinations thatyou kind of think like are the
best kept secrets right now, orlike the top ones you're kind of
like, ooh, this looks reallygreat.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
It's so tricky because I, I, I, I don't know if
I, if this is like actuallyaccurate, but I almost fear we
live in a time where there's nobest kept secrets anymore
because, like with social mediaand not even just social media,
but like our generation'spassion for travel, it's like
the places that are like reallyworth going that will wow you.
(35:14):
I feel like, to an extent, havebeen discovered or they're
really really difficult to getto, and that's like a barrier to
entry for a lot of people whohave a limited amount of time,
right, um, there's tons ofwonderful places and places that
are like.
I think part of it is likedestinations can go through
cycles a little bit.
Um, so like a multi coast wasactually hugely popular back in
(35:37):
like I don't know like Kennedyera.
Like I feel like like JackieKennedy and some of them and
then I feel like it kind of likeI don't know, I didn't hear
about it growing up but likeonly recently, yeah, only
recently it was like wait, theKennedys and stuff were going
there too.
And now it's like having thishuge resurgence.
And I'm not saying it'll go outof style, but I think it's like
people, these destinations getso crowded and then, like some
people are like, okay, I've beenthere, done that, it's too
(36:00):
crowded, now I'm going to go toanother destination, but that
doesn't mean they won't ever goback, or oh, you're kidding,
sorry, oh my gosh, she's thelove of my life.
Sorry, hunter, I mean, sorry,the love of my life.
But yeah, I, um, I forgot whatI was saying.
(36:23):
Yeah, so there's, um, I woulddefinitely say, like as a travel
advisor, like there's alwaysgoing to be.
Like kind of a buzzworddestination, a buzzworthy
destination of the year, the onethat I keep hearing about that
like all the advisors arescrambling to try to get to,
because it's like, oh, my gosh,have you heard?
It is Bhutan.
It's like, and I'm dying to go.
(36:44):
I haven't been.
But um, so, yeah, I think it'slike there's always going to be.
I think that's the cool thingnow is like the world's so much
more accessible than it used tobe.
So, like between shoulderseasons, like traveling off peak
, um knowing what kind of tripyou want, like you can always
find ones that aren't going tobe too crowded.
But I kind of have given up onthe like I don't need to.
(37:06):
Like I know we love that, likeit makes us feel good when we're
like in the know.
Yeah, like I found this place.
Like I know something you don'tknow.
Like it makes people feel good.
But I also just think like andand and that's could be true.
Like there's no way that we canall know about every
destination, right, so, likesomething that you maybe never
have heard of, I could have been, but that doesn't mean that
there's not tons of other peoplewho know about it too, you know
(37:26):
.
So I think I just encouragepeople to like not worry so much
about, like what's the bestkept secret and try to just get
really clear on like what areyou looking for?
Like you want to flop and drop,relax, unplug.
Like do you want culture?
Cause?
Like okay, for example,somewhere Amalfi coast, I'd put
(37:50):
in this category, tulum I'd putin this category.
Like they are not.
You don't go there necessarilyfor, like a cultural immersion,
not to say you don't get localculture when you go, but they're
very much touristicdestinations and but they're
beautiful and they do have.
Like you can get amazingMexican food in Tulum, you can
get amazing Italian food inAmalfi coast, but you're not
amongst locals there, right?
Like you're going for thebeautiful views.
You're going for the funrestaurants, the tourist spot,
(38:11):
like so if if you don't wanttouristic, then don't go to a
destination like that.
Go somewhere that's like alittle more off the beaten path
or like not as touristy.
So I think that's what I liketo encourage people is like get
really clear on what kind ofholiday you want, what
experiences you want.
Do you care about food?
Do you care about culture?
Do you want to be amongst like?
Do you want awesome views?
Do you want um?
Speaker 1 (38:32):
yeah, what's your pillar of importance here?
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Exactly, exactly, and then you can kind of choose
your destination accordingly.
But I kind of, personally, I'mjust like surrendering the idea
of best kept secret, cause I'mjust like I just feel like that
can steer you in the wrongdirection.
You could end up somewhere.
That's like, yeah, this isn't asecret, it's just not that
exciting.
I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
Yeah, no, fair, fair.
And when you travel, which likepillar do you usually tend to
go for?
Is it usually?
Speaker 2 (38:59):
culture, is it food, all of them?
All of them, honestly, like itdepends what I'm in the mood for
, like, uh, I would.
I would typically say I like, Iwould love, like a combo, so
like, for example, we're lookingto do, um, india for our
honeymoon, and so that's likeculture, adventure, um, like see
, do, experience, um, but thenwe're probably going to end
(39:21):
somewhere, like I don't know ifthe Maldives, we're trying to
figure out, like weather, what'sthe best time of year.
Somewhere, then it's like Idon't know the Maldives, we're
trying to figure out, likeweather, what's the best time of
year, but somewhere then it'slike okay, we just went and
adventured and like went so hard, and now we just kind of want
to like decompress and likerelax and recharge a little bit
before we go home.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Transition back to home.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
We actually exactly, exactly, but I love all of it.
Like I think it's just like theseason you're in, like I've
been on a really busy season,work wise, and so there's days
that I'm like man I can feelmyself.
I used to never be a like whatwe call flop and drop in the UK
Um, I just like.
I'm like that's boring.
Anyone could do a beachvacation.
(39:55):
Like I want to go see so muchand do so much and uh, so that's
like what I normally gravitatetowards.
But as I've been in a more likebusy season of life, I'm like
no, there is beauty in slowingdown and I totally respect and
appreciate people who needholidays to do that and like
(40:15):
don't, don't need it and theyjust want to like, unplug and
recharge, like I get that and Ineed that.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
That's so funny my parents, my mom being a travel-
agent when I you know before Iwas born and then a little bit
kind of when was growing up.
They were always adventure, go,go, go and I think I did it so
much as a kid that now I'm justlike a fluff and sleep on the
beach girl Like I'm like I don'tsee anything.
I mean, I do, I do want to seethings, but like they were
definitely like going for theadventures, like I'd always joke
that you know I would see my wecruised a lot growing up.
(40:42):
We'd see my like friends fromthe kids club like going on like
the nice, organized, cleancruise ship organized.
And then there'd be us withlike a local who like barely
speaks English, like going theother direction I'd be like bye,
like you know, like my mom's,like we gotta be there at 7am,
you know.
So it's it's fun to have therange and like they each serve
(41:02):
their purpose and it is a reallyamazing experience I had as a
child.
But yes, different times inlife lean us to be piqued by the
curiosity of one or the other.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Yeah, and that's the beauty of travel is it can serve
so many purposes, you know,like you can.
Even.
I know travel is often pinnedas being, you know like, oh,
it's like so energeticallydraining and this and it's like
no, but travel takes you outsideof your everyday routine and it
can be like give you fresh eyesand perspective and inspire you
(41:34):
.
It can recharge you if you like, cause you aren't distracted by
everything at home.
So it can, you know.
It can stimulate you, it canrelax you Like it can it.
Just it's all contingent uponthe destination, and I think
that's the beauty is like whatyou need in life and seeking it
out and letting travel do whattravel does.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Oh, that is such a beautiful thought.
And, whitney, you are so lovely.
You have to tell everybodywhere they can find you and find
your company and all the goodthings as well.
Speaker 2 (42:04):
Thank you.
Yeah, so you can follow blondeunderscore Atlas on Instagram.
That's my account, so it's acombination of like travel that
I do kind of for travel planningclients, like that kind of
scouting, research, plus alittle bit of Atlas Adventures
trips too, and then, if you wantto follow the trips
specifically, it's AtlasAdventures trips.
All one word on instagram, um,on our, you can also go to
(42:27):
blondeatlascom.
That has all my information.
If you want us to um plan atrip for you has like rates, all
of our trips that are available.
We're about to announce a bunchof new trips for atlas under
the um group trip section, solots of information on there, um
and be, and then on our websiteyou can also find how to
subscribe to our newsletter,because newsletter subscribers
(42:47):
get priority access onregistering for any of our trips
.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Amazing.
Winnie, thank you so much fortaking the time to immerse us
and excite me to travel againthis summer.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Thank you for having me.
It's lovely chatting with you.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
Thank you so much for listening to Confessions of a
Wannabe it Girl.
Don't forget to rate andsubscribe to the show.
As always, we'll see you nextTuesday.
Welcome back to Confessions of a Wannabe it Girl
, the podcast helping you filterout the BS in pursuit of
becoming the next it Girl.
In today's episode, we're goingto dive into the world of
traveling.
Now, as we know, traveling hasbecome very Instagrammable, very
TikTok focused.
You know all about the outfitsand the things, which, at the
same point, love it.
(00:21):
Great, we feel it.
I am so there for that moment.
If you do not think that thesetrips I'm going on this summer I
do not have a content foldersaved for as well as outfits,
you would be mistaken because Ido.
But also there's a lot of otherthings about traveling being
immersed in the culture, theexperience, even just like,
maybe, seeing the tourism sites.
(00:41):
There are layers of travelingthat don't always make the
Instagram feed because they'renot really able to be captured
in a picture, and I thinksomebody who really gets that is
Whitney from the Blonde Atlas,and in today's episode, she is
joining us to give us tips andtricks about traveling, as well
as talking about two differentsides of her business the
(01:02):
traditional side, the travelagent, or now I've learned it's
called the ambassador side ofher business, where she can help
you get the most out of yourtrip, as well as talking about
her other side of her business,which is these women group trips
around the world that have justsuch amazing range in
activities, and you're gettingthe Instagram photos, but you're
(01:22):
also getting a holisticexperience.
Whitney is just reallythoughtful about travel and
she's also really for women andthis is like by women.
So, without further ado, let'sdive into the episode.
Welcome to Confessions of aWannabe it Girl.
I'm your host, marley Fregging,and I'm here to help you filter
(01:43):
out all the bullshit and becomethe next it girl.
This podcast explores thereality of what it really takes
to make it out there.
As it turns out, it is way lessinstagrammable than I thought
it was going to be.
I'm still very much a work inprogress, but there's simply
nothing else I'd rather be doingthan chasing my dreams.
So let's learn from my mistakesand work together to achieve
(02:04):
our dreams with more confidence,clarity and direction.
Let's get after it.
Welcome back to Confessions ofa Wannabe it Girl.
I am joined today by Whitneyfrom the Blonde Atlas.
I am so excited to dive intotalking about how we can live
our Wannabe it Girl dreamstraveling around the world.
So thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Thanks for having me.
I'm so excited to chat travelwith you today.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, travel is.
I think it's something that youknow we all want to be doing
totally like a luxury, but likewe also want to do it and like
live that luxurious life whichis sometimes, you know, if you
don't know how to do it, youdon't know how to do it, so
let's dive right in there.
Can you share some maybe likesecret tips or tricks for, like
(02:53):
a beginner of luxury travelingor maximizing the perks, like
what's your best upgrade hack go?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
for it?
Sure, yeah.
So I would say first thing islike I did not know until
probably like the last decadethat, like I thought travel
agents were such a thing in thepast because in my mind, people
used to use travel agents whenor advisors as they're called
now when you didn't have accessto information.
(03:24):
And now we have such anabundance of information that
it's like, well, why would youever need that?
But the reality is that there'stoo much information and so
sifting through it can be sooverwhelming.
So a lot of people don'trealize that if you work with a
travel advisor, now differentadvisors are going to have
different minimum spend, so youwant to check on budget and
things like that.
But if you're wanting to doluxury travel, it is so
(03:46):
advantageous to work with anadvisor because a lot of times
we can get you perks andupgrades at a lot of the hotels
that you would want to bookanyway, at no additional cost to
you.
So essentially it's this nicelittle mutually beneficial
triangle where the hotels wantleads, so they give advisors
commission, essentially to say,hey, the leads that you bring us
(04:07):
, we'll give you a kickback.
And then in order to make ourclients be like, well, why
should we use an advisor?
Then it's like well, we get youperks and upgrades that you
wouldn't get otherwise.
So if you're using third-partysites like bookingcom and stuff
like that, a lot of times youdon't have someone who's
advocating on your behalf.
You're just going to get kindof whatever room is left over
Not necessarily, but you're morelikely to be in that position
(04:28):
Whereas you have a traveladvisor.
We've built relationships withthese hoteliers who are able to
say okay, you know what, we havean extra room available, that
this top suite hasn't beenbooked and we know it's a really
special occasion for yourclient, so we're going to make
you look like a rock star andput you in that suite, so things
like that that we can just kindof pull pull strings and things
like that.
So I highly recommend at leastlooking into working for a
(04:49):
travel advisor to see if that'sgreat for you.
But then I also know a setbackfor a lot of people who want to
do luxury travel.
It can be budget like travel ingeneral has just gotten a lot
more expensive than it used tobe.
Post pandemic it's.
There's a huge demand for it.
We all want to do it.
I think we all kind of realizewhat that is hugely important to
us, and so prices are a lotmore expensive than they used to
(05:13):
be.
One example that I will give islike top.
Okay, if we think somewherelike a Malfi Coast, that's a
super in demand destination thateveryone wants to go to.
So it's expensive, if you wantto say it, like the top
five-star hotels.
A few years ago that would costyou like a thousand dollars a
night, the top hotels.
Now on Amalfi coast we'reselling more, like three to
(05:34):
4,000 a night this summer, andthat's just in a couple of years
.
That doesn't mean that that hasto be your budget for any hotel
.
That's it.
That's kind of an extremesituation If you're going during
like peak season and you know,to one of the most coveted
destinations.
My point is just simply thattravel is more expensive than it
used to be.
Um, there are tons ofdestinations that can kind of
give you a similar vibe withoutthat kind of splurge.
Um, and something that I loveto kind of help clients get that
(05:57):
experience when they don't havelike right, like three grand to
cash out a night is, let's say,you're doing a trip to Italy,
you might do like Rome, florence, and then end in Amalfi Coast
and you might be like I want todo luxury the whole time.
So I might say, well, how muchare you actually going to be in
your hotel when you're in Romeand Florence?
Right, like, you're out, you'regoing to be at the Vatican and
(06:19):
the gallery and eating and likewondering.
So it's like that's actuallyprobably not the best use of
your budget to splurge on aluxury hotel there.
Like go for a more comfortableboutique hotel where you can
save some of those pennies andthen, once you get to Amalfi
coast even if you only you knowmaybe you want to do two
different towns start at a morelike boutique hotel and then
(06:39):
your last couple of nights ofthe trip splash out on that
expensive hotel hotel where youget to enjoy the pool and use
the amenities and really take itall in.
Or even if you were doing a citytrip, let's say you're in Paris
the whole time, having yourfinal night of the trip, be like
you know what I've done, thestuff I want to do.
I'm not looking forward togoing home tomorrow, but I'm
(06:59):
exhausted.
I'm just going to check into afancy hotel, order room service
and like relish in thisluxurious experience and watch
the Eiffel tower sparkle from myroom.
So we love helping clients kindof identify, like what do you
want?
Like everybody has a differentidea of luxury, like to some
people it's like location, tosome other people it's view, to
some other people it's service,and so helping you kind of
(07:21):
identify what's important to youand then finding ways that you
can kind of like make yourbudget and your goals align a
little bit so that you can havethe experience you want, even if
you have to compromise in otherareas.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Well, I love that because I feel like a lot of
times we just think like luxuryand that means like just the
best of the best, the highest,the highest, whatever is the
most expensive, that's what Ishould go for if I want luxury.
And yet we're looking at this soholistically in the fact of
like, well, you know what areyou going to be doing, how much
are you going to be in yourhotel, all the things.
It's a very fullback approachand also, I think, sometimes get
(07:54):
the idea from.
I mean, travel agent does seemlike such an old term and it's
hilarious because my mom wasonce a travel agent.
How was she was once a travelagent, oh yeah, crazy, um, and
whatnot.
But like you, you think like,oh, like there there's hidden
fees and there's all this stuffand like they would never tell
(08:15):
me to take the cheaper option orwhatnot.
But like that is a very for theclient approach and I feel like
it's really folk comes from aplace of like you really want
the experience to mean somethingto somebody who's traveling.
And is there like a certainreason you got into travel,
being a travel ambassador, likethis.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, I think honestly it was just a case of
like personal passion.
I don't really think I ever setout with the objective to work
in travel.
I have a background inadvertising, so that's what I
did for the first like sevenyears post-university and I
worked on a few tourism accountsso I at least like understood
(08:55):
the industry enough to kind ofknow like the difference between
, like a convention and visitorsbureau versus tourism board and
like some of the like vendorpartners and things like that.
So I kind of like first learnedindustry like slogan or uh
jargon that's what I'm lookingfor um in the advertising days.
And then I went through like aseries of big life changes, one
(09:15):
that included getting laid offum and our favorite one, I know
I know and um, yeah, I just waslike, yeah, going through a lot
of other personal stuff and Iwas just like travel is
something that's really bringingme joy right now, and so this
wasn't the most responsibledecision.
But I took my severance moneyand I was like I never studied
abroad and I'm going to do whatI call adult study abroad and
(09:38):
I'm going to go travel for a fewmonths.
I'm going to take this money,I'm going to rent my house out
on Airbnb, find ways to likecover my costs back home and
just like scrape by on pennieswhile I travel and like gain
some life experiences that, yeah, just kind of could bring me
the joy that I was sodesperately seeking.
And it slowly just turned intome being like, well, I don't
want to not keep doing this,like you know, and so I would,
(10:02):
yeah, I would find I I'd comehome for a bit and like I was
doing things that were, you know, as a 30 year old at the time,
um, were like seemed very likebackward, like a step backwards,
like I was babysitting or, youknow, doing all these things
that like I have a collegedegree.
Why am I, you know, like notgoing and getting another job
and it's like I would do it fora few months to save money and
(10:24):
just like stash things away,leave again, and so, you know,
do some like find ways to dofreelance consulting, find ways
to.
You know, just like I was soscrappy with it and I think that
it truly just like there's notlike some.
The inciting incident was likegetting laid off or like going
through those personal changesthat led me to be like, okay,
(10:44):
let's just do this for a littlewhile.
But then from there it was likea snowball effect where it was
really just like, little bylittle, brick by brick, I kind
of just wanted to like keepdoing it and it slowly grew.
I think it's funny Like therewasn't one magic secret, there
wasn't one specific thing.
It was just like, yeah, timeand investment and passion, and
(11:06):
yeah, those things can have hugeimpact over time.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
So you were like how can I keep doing this?
And then you realized that Ikeep doing this, and then you
realized that I can do this forother people as well.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah, yeah, honestly, I genuinely didn't think I kind
of stumbled into being a travelagent because, like I, I I was
getting.
I slowly started.
Like I had a travel blog atfirst and it was, you know, like
slowly growing, um, you knownothing crazy, but it was enough
to, you know, be able tonegotiate here and there, like,
and I I found myself getting somany like questions or DMS from
people and being like, oh, I'mgoing to Paris and I saw you
(11:42):
were just there, can you give mesome suggestions?
And I was like this is likestarting to take up a lot of
time and it's cutting into myability to like do some of these
other side hustles.
So, kind of just to protect mytime, I put a splash page up on
my website with like an hourlyrate and I, now that I know what
the industry is like, Iactually started as what we
would call like more of a DMC,which is a destination
(12:04):
management company, so where youkind of specialize in one or
select few areas.
So I had my you know, rome,paris, like these cities that
are, you know, popular spots inEurope that I knew quite well.
And so I, rather than workingjust off, commission, cause my
clientele was like people likeme who didn't have the budget to
be staying at five-star hotelsand getting commissioned that
(12:25):
way.
Um, and I just had an hourlyrate that I would charge people
and in exchange for time, and Ireally genuinely thought like
maybe a couple people would doit.
I didn't expect for it toevolve the way that it has, but
it's back to kind of thatdiscovery that I stumbled into,
which was, yeah, there used tobe not enough information and
now there's too much information.
It is so overwhelming and evenif you have access to
(12:47):
information, sometimes you don'thave time to like sift through
all of it.
You want someone you know.
So, like for me, I was likesharing what I was doing on
social media and people would belike, wow, that looks amazing,
like that trip that you just did, can you just plan that for me?
And and so it kind of, yeah,evolved that way.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Well, and as somebody who probably like looks at all
the not correct things to reallylock down a travel fan like I'm
looking at Instagram and I'mlooking at TikTok and I'm like I
would like to go there.
Like there's no research.
I have no idea how close thingsare to each other.
I'm just like that looks goodon this person's Instagram.
I would like to do that.
How can?
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I do that, that's kind of the.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
You know that is the wealth of information you know
as we dive into.
And so, as you're planning foryour clients and whatnot and for
the first time, maybe that itwasn't for yourself you booked
something, maybe like crazy, forsomebody.
What was it and how did you doit?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So the first time that I booked something for a
client, you mean, that was likewild, or yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Wild, like you were like okay, okay, this is like a
big thing, like I don't know,like the penthouse suite
someplace.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
The biggest thing that I did earliest on, that
felt like oh, oh, my gosh, wow,I can't believe I just booked.
This was the first time.
So another one part of mybusiness is I'm a travel advisor
.
It's like traditional travelagent.
The other part of my businessis I have I do group tours for
women.
So like if you've ever wantedto like go on a trip but you
don't have anyone who you canconvince to like take the trip
(14:18):
out of the group chat, or yeah,you just like have wanted but
still want to travel with likegirls, um, we, we do group trips
for women who want to travelwith like-minded women.
A lot of times like it's I'msingle and all my friends are
married.
Or sometimes it's I'm marriedwith kids but none of my other
mom friends will leave theirkids and I still want to do
girls trips, so people whoprioritize travel and don't have
(14:41):
other people in their life whoprioritize it the same way, and
so that's a huge part of mybusiness.
And the first trip I ever didwas like pretty early on into
the travel advising stuff and itwas just me realizing that like
I was sending people back tothe same hotel in Tuscany over
and over because people loved itso much and I had been on a
(15:04):
yoga retreat a few years beforeand I loved it.
But I was also like why is itthat if you want to travel and
like do a trip like this, youcan it kind of has to be titled
a yoga retreat?
I didn't feel like there weremany things that were like
people who just wanted to gotruffle hunting or cooking
classes or like do these funactivities, and so I just
started like crunching numbersand like asked the um, the hotel
(15:27):
that I kept sending all thoseclients to.
I was like, okay, if I havethis many people, what does that
look like?
And do you have a transfercompany you can connect me to?
And it turned into this likelet's just do it once and see if
I can sell it.
Um, it felt like a huge riskbecause I had to front the money
for the hotel and like hopethat it's old and thankfully it
did.
But to me, honestly, that'swhat pops into my mind is
(15:49):
because it was like it was thisbig booking of like 10 rooms and
you know, for a week in Italy,and like I didn't have the
people to go yet but I couldn'tadvertise it until I had, you
know, like a space for everyone.
So it was really scary, butalso like my heart was racing,
you know, at the thought of likebringing this kind of just idea
(16:11):
to life and then actuallyworking.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah, I love that and like I love this.
You know, women just wanting totravel together.
Whoever you are, whoever youmay be, let's get together.
We have this mutual interestand like, let's just go for it.
Have you gone on the trips withthe girls as well?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, so we've done over 25 now around the world and
I've been on almost everysingle one except like one or
two.
We are starting to expand moreand it's just like when you
factor in like personal travel,like scouting trips, and like
just also like the demand, likethe types of destinations that
these people want to go to, it'slike there's so many the types
of destinations that thesepeople want to go to.
(16:49):
It's like there's so many.
So I've started to like grow myteam.
I have an amazing team that Iwork with who's like I'm just
like so proud of them becausethey're so international.
Like I have someone who's halfGreek, half English and she
speaks Italian, french, greekand.
English Casual, but like it's socool because she's half Greek.
(17:10):
So when we do Greece trip she'stalking to the locals in Greek.
She was raised by her Greek dad.
Like she understands theculture.
So like we're not just planninga fun girls trip.
Like you're getting anauthentic experience and same
with, like you know, we're ableto have these like nurtured
relationships with the localsand the destinations where we're
going because of the languageswe speak and because of like
heritage and background from theteam.
(17:31):
Um, because of the languages wespeak and because of like
heritage and background from theteam, because of you know, my
relationships through the hotelindustry and things like that,
so it's like a really authenticexperience we're able to provide
.
But as my team has done moreand more trips and they've
gotten so good at what they do,there's times that I'm like I
don't need to be on every singletrip and like we can cover more
ground when we divide andconquer.
So, yeah, I mean we are a lotof our trips tend to be focused
(17:51):
in Europe, but we've done NewZealand, south Africa, we're
doing Morocco this fall, sowe're covering like kind of all
over the place now, which isreally exciting.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
No, it is so exciting and I feel like it's a great
trip to kind of just get yourlike heart fulfilled by all
these like amazing opportunitiesand being around you know just
women who want to be in the sameplace.
Like, have you seen friendshipsblossom out of these like
groups?
And what does it look like,getting packing up your stuff,
(18:24):
going on a trip with all thesewomen you've never met before?
And then you're like here, likewhat does that look like?
Speaker 2 (18:33):
met before, and then you're like here like what does
that look like?
Yeah, it's all.
I think it's always like alittle bit nerve wracking for
someone who's coming on a tripfor the first time, um, and we
try to do everything we can tooffset that anxiety.
So we do like little travelerprofile forms that you fill out
where you say, like your name,where you're from, your social
media, like fun facts about you,and we send it out so that
everyone can kind of put a faceto a name of who they're
(18:54):
traveling with.
You can connect on social mediabefore you can see things like
oh, I'm also an attorney, or oh,wow, she's also from Boston, or
whatever, and kind of makeconnections before you're even
on the trip.
We also ask like hyper-specificthings, because the rooms rooms,
like the price is based ondouble occupancy, so, like twin
beds, you're not sharing a bed,but you're sharing a room unless
(19:16):
you pay an additional fee foryour own room.
Most people choose to share,though.
So we get super specific, likeasking how do you like the
temperature of your room, andare you a morning bird or early
bird or a night owl, and so likewe can pair people and like
really try to be selective aboutensuring that everyone has a
good roommate situation.
But you know it's funny, we doa pre trip call try to like like
(19:39):
let everyone connect before askany questions and just try to
like ease anxiety as much aspossible but like without fail,
every time it's like really coolto see just how disarmed
everyone is straight away, likeeveryone's relieved to meet each
other.
I think it takes a certain typeof personality, like if you're
willing to sign up for a triplike this, then chances are like
you're an open-minded person.
We're really explicit aboutthat in our registration of like
(20:01):
hey, if you're not like kindand open-minded and wanting to
make friends and like beinclusive and have like a spirit
of connection, like this tripprobably isn't for you.
It's not a mean girl situationyeah, like it's not.
Like you know there's tons ofother group trip companies, but
like we have core values thatwe're really rooted in, um,
first one being like funexperiences.
(20:21):
Like we're really committed toitineraries that are for like
the culturally curious, thatlike we're not just it's not
just like party vibes, like youknow some of the there's nothing
wrong with that but likeContiki or some of the ones that
are like straight out ofuniversity and it's just like
party, party, party.
But we're also not likeretirees on a coach.
We're like women in ourthirties who, you know, want to
(20:42):
experience a little bit ofculture, want to drink spritz,
but like we want balance right.
Like we want to see like greatfood, great wine, fun
experiences, shopping, downtime,connection, like that that's
the vibe that we attract.
So like, fun experiences,seconds meaningful connection,
so like really coming into itwith the intention to connect
with people.
(21:03):
And then the third is empoweringbetter travelers.
So like not just being aboutconsumption, not just about like
the Insta selfies and then, butlike how do you actually learn
from your experiences?
How do you go home?
A more open-minded human who'sbeen like touched by travel.
We try to do a lot of stuff withlike offsetting our carbon
footprint, donating to likelocal organizations, to like try
(21:23):
to, yeah, use travel as a forcefor good, as a way to open our
hearts and minds, and so that'swhat we try to attract and we
try to be really explicit aboutthat so that we attract the
right type of group, and I thinknaturally that creates like a
cool like.
I'm always hesitant when I saylike-minded because we're
like-minded but we'reopen-minded, so we're not a
carbon copy of each other, rightLike we're all different and
(21:46):
bring like something unique tothe table, but we share that
like-minded passion for like andcuriosity for travel and the
world and all of that.
So it's amazing, though, wehave such a strong alumni
community and we've donemultiple trips that are just
repeat customers because we wewe did a reunion trip um a few
weeks back and we had almostlike just under 50 girls who'd
(22:09):
all been on trips before, wholike further kind of were
connecting within the Atlascommunity, and so it's really
special.
Like it's people who you know Ifeel like our society kind of
creates structures of like yourcommunity is like who you know
parents and their friends orkids at school, or it's you know
, your neighbors are like alittle bit more like traditional
(22:31):
community aspects and there'snothing wrong with those, but
they don't necessarily noteveryone fits in those boxes.
Like there's people who don'thave partners or families yet,
or there's people who do, but,like you know, they're chasing
careers and if, and some oftheir other friends are like
just like prioritizing differentthings.
So it's just like a specialplace that, through these trips,
(22:54):
like you can connect, likethere's so many broader
spectrums of ways to connectwith people.
Like I travel to Austin.
I'm just this is an exampletravel to Austin all the time
for work, and like I met thisgirl who lives in Austin and so
now when I'm going, I'm nothaving to like eat dinner by
myself.
I I'm like have other friendsin different cities and it just
makes the world feel smaller.
It's really, really special tobe a part of.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yeah, it feels very thoughtful, Like it's very
thoughtful in your team'sapproach of, like you know,
sustainability, learning aboutthe culture, not just, you know,
for the Instagram, even though,like, we love the Instagram
shop, but like, what was thatexperience?
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Like we don't even know though.
Like we love the Instagram shop, but like what was that
experience?
Like totally, totally like wehave a photographer like we have
tons of photographers on ourteam.
Yeah, well, so like, a lot ofour team is trained in
photography, so that's notnecessarily like their, their
sole purpose on the trip, butlike, yeah, we and like one of
the things that we'll offer.
It depends on the trip and who'scoming and availability and
stuff but a lot of times whatwe'll offer is like a photo
(23:50):
package.
So, essentially, like, if youdon't want to have to worry
about trying to get all thephotos it depends on the trip
and who's coming andavailability and stuff but a lot
of times what we'll offer islike a photo package.
So, essentially, like, if youdon't want to have to worry
about trying to get all thephotos and you want some great
shots of you, you could for likean additional, like add on fee,
you can have there's likeselect moments on the trip where
, like call times a little bitearlier and you meet with our
photographer and they take somephotos of you.
So you know you're going to getsome great professional quality
(24:16):
photos of you in these selectdestinations.
Like in Paris it might be likethe Eiffel tower and, um, you
know, arc to triumph, whatever.
So you know you're going to getsome great photos of you
without having to like,constantly be like.
Can someone take my picture?
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Oh, you put my feet off, Like you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
It's like and that just lets you be present and in
the moment.
So we're not at all againsttaking photos we love taking
great photos but I think it'sjust like not letting that be
where the bill stops Right, likewanting to go a little bit
deeper, wanting to like havemore to take away from your
vacation than a photo for women,with women in mind, by women.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
It's just so thought out and I love that.
Can you tell us maybe some ofthe experiences or activities
that you've loved and maybe thelocation they were at?
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Sure, I mean the thing that comes to mind
instantly anytime somebody'sfavorite is safari.
I did my first safari like ayear and a half ago, and it was
the most life-changingexperience.
Like run, don't walk.
My team would love to help youplan.
We know how to do like the bestone in terms of the best ones
(25:22):
in terms of like sustainability,but also like yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, like good for the animals, we don't want to,
you know.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Yes, yes, Making sure that we're like supporting good
partners who are doing a tonfor like conservation and things
like that.
But we did our first AtlasSafari in March this past year
and it was just so specialbecause I don't know how to
explain it, but I mean the Bushin general, like being on safari
.
I think it just takes you outof your day-to-day routine, Like
(25:51):
so many of the things that wefocus on.
Again, nothing wrong with thesethings, Like I love, you know,
my wardrobe and like stuff.
There's nothing wrong withmaterial stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
but like yeah, but like.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
I think that can bring us like joy, but like to
an extent, and I think it's soeasy for us, like in our society
, to just get like that's whatis like.
You know, we live in acapitalistic society that's
constantly like buy more, you'renot enough, you need this, and
so to be somewhere that is soremoved from all of that you
don't have cell phone connection, you are like out with the
animals, just watching nature,be nature, and there's something
(26:27):
so, yeah, like life changingabout that and so being building
friendships amongst that too,and like connecting with women
who are like it.
Just it creates lots of likevulnerability, lots of like lots
of philosophical kind of likewhat is the purpose of life,
questions and just like reallyauthentic conversation around
(26:49):
like what really matters to meand like why, why am I focusing
on the things that I focus on?
And like what really matters inlife and and just being so
rooted and grounded in likegratitude that, like by a
landslide, stands out to me.
Safari will always be one of mylike favorites, if you ask me,
but I would also say, just likeon a lighter note we always try
(27:11):
to include something on ourtrips that you couldn't just do
if you booked the trip yourself,right, like there's power in
numbers.
So, like in Paris, we have aclose relationship.
I don't know if you're familiarwith the brand Cezanne, but
they're from Paris, theiroriginal apartment is there and
so, like we have a greatrelationship with their team and
so on every Paris trip theykeep the apartment open like
(27:32):
after hours for us and we havelike a private shopping
experience where, like the girlshave the store to themselves,
we have like champagne andsnacks, everyone.
It's just like so fun havingall the girls like try on
outfits with each other and youdon't have to, like you know,
fight for the changing room withlike everybody else.
It's just like a special touchto have like the space reserved
for us.
And so, yeah, we do that kindof stuff on like a lot of our
(27:53):
trips.
It's just like what's somethingspecial that we can create that
you know, if you were justbooking the trip yourself, you
couldn't shut down the wholestore or whatever it may be, and
I think it's nice.
It's nice to like you know weall deserve to.
I think, especially, I relatedto this a lot like back in the
day.
I don't feel like I see it asmuch anymore.
But when influencers reallystarted to first surface, you'd
(28:14):
see all these like press trips,and I think they still do happen
.
But I think, like as a consumer, you're just like sitting at
home watching this happen andkind of feeling like I don't
know if left out is the rightword, but you'd feel this sense
of like.
Well, it must be nice.
These people get to go on theselike splash brand trips and
they're getting spoiled left andright and get all these cool
experiences and like I'm eating,you know, chips on my sofa, um,
(28:37):
and so I think like somethingthat's like special for us is to
be able to create theseexperiences that, like all are
welcome and, like you know, youget to have, you get to feel
special and have these kind oflike once in a lifetime
opportunities too, cause, likewe all deserve that you know.
So I think that, like, wereally pride ourselves in.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Oh I could.
I could write a little mininovel on the feelings behind
brand trips and whatnot and allthe things and what that's done
to like us as a culture orwhatnot.
But I just love the range thatyou guys offer.
We've got everything from youknow getting deep into our
philosophical thoughts on safari, when we're finally all removed
from technology, to shoppingwith champagne, and it's like it
(29:18):
doesn't need to be one or theother.
I'm not trying to like at theyoga retreat but, like you know,
sometimes it's like we don'twant there to be only one
mission, we want the range.
We're multidimensional and thisis giving us multidimensional.
That being said, in your lineof work I am sure you hear
people's horror stories andcringe about the mistakes they
(29:40):
made in planning.
What are the common things?
Maybe us who don't know as muchabout traveling?
What are the common mistakesyou hear about or often want to
correct for people whentraveling?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
The first thing that comes to mind for me is hotels,
because so often people willtake like a brand, recognized
name like I don't know.
I'm trying to think likeMarriott, for example, and
they'll be like oh, I'm Marriottloyal, so I booked, I used
points and booked this.
And I'm like, oh my gosh, whydidn't you?
I understand if you want to usepoints, but like now your whole
itinerary is thrown off becauseyou booked this Marriott.
(30:14):
That's like way over here andlike in this random area and
like it sounds good on paper andthe pictures look pretty on the
website.
But like you did not, like youshould have talked to me first,
Right?
So I think, yeah, like a lot oftimes people get like tricked
into booking a hotel orsomething because they're like
oh, this sounds easy, click,book rather than actually
(30:36):
thinking through you know moreholistically, like what kind of
experience do I want?
And like if I want to see allthese things, and now I'm
staying an hour outside the cityand like that's going to dampen
my experience.
I'm like, why are you flying allthe way to Rome to stay at this
hotel when you're going to belike transferring it out?
It just like cheapens yourexperience.
Like at that rate, like stay inlike a you know, super cheap
(31:00):
Airbnb.
That's like nothing fancy, butat least you're like in a good
location and like spot.
Yeah, I don't know.
So that's a common mistake thatI see.
A lot is people not really umunderstanding, and I don't blame
them for not understanding, butacting without like having
either spoken to someone whounderstands.
It's like if you're going tocome to me, your travel advisor
(31:21):
now like why not?
Why don't let me like advise onthat too?
Because now I feel like you'reasking me to make like lemon
lemonade out of oranges.
I'm trying to make this amazingtrip happen for you, but, like
you didn't give me a greatfoundation to go off of, so
that's probably something Iwould see is like the more that
the sooner you can pull someonein.
It doesn't mean we have to doeverything for you.
(31:42):
I understand some people likeprefer to do certain elements,
but, like we love when youinvolve us in every capacity so
that we can like really guideyou in the right direction and,
yeah, everybody wins you get tohave a great experience.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
That being said, I mean I just can't.
I feel like I can't not ask youlike what is your feelings
about points programs and creditcard points and mileage point?
Like being in your line of work, I like it there's so much buzz
for us to use them and like,have them.
And then there's a lot of mathinvolved in and I don't really
like it Totally.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, no.
So, um, I have a ton of pointsbecause I, like you know,
through business and stuff, I'mlike spending a lot of money
like for on all these trips andeverything, and so I get you
know through the businessaccount.
So I get a ton of points.
I don't know the first thingabout how to redeem them to your
point, it is so complex.
I literally, right before thiscall, had one of my best friends
(32:37):
.
She is like, knows the game andeverything, and I gave her my
login.
I was like Andrew and I aretrying to book our honeymoon.
I don't know how to do this.
Can you book me a flight?
I just need to get from here tohere.
If I can be in business class,great.
And she's like here's youritinerary.
So I think it's great forpeople like um, like the points
guy, if you don't follow him,like wonderful resource.
(32:58):
It is like a commitment to learnthe game and you have to be
willing to like.
For example, we're going tostart our honeymoon in India, um
, and, and then go from there to.
We're trying to figure outstill.
But, um, we, so we were flyingfrom, like London to Delhi, and
it's like we could like becauseeveryone's competing for the
same reward availability.
(33:19):
So it goes quickly.
So, like we could, we couldhave done direct, but it wasn't
available by the time we looked.
So now we're going by a Dohaand having a layover and like
it's a little more clunky, butI'm like, yeah, well, I'd rather
have a layover it's only twoand a half hours and I get to be
in business class versus likeyou know, um, so I, I'm all for
it if you want to learn, butit's like very complex.
(33:41):
Um, it doesn't typically likealign with our work.
So like, for example, like, ifyou're hiring a travel advisor
like and there's probably peoplewho you can hire who are more
like points advisors, that's notus but, um, we typically don't.
It'd be one thing if you said,hey, I already booked my flights
with points, but we want tohelp with all the hotels and
stuff, then like great happy todo that, but we aren't
(34:03):
necessarily the ones who arelike the hotels and stuff, then
like great happy to do that, butwe aren't necessarily the ones
who are, like you know, helpingyou use your points to book the
whole trip because you know it'sthat's not what we're trained
to do.
So totally understand thatpeople want to use points, like
I have tons of points and I needhelp using them.
So that's what I have my myfriends for.
I help them with their trips,they help me with my points.
So think both can exist, but Ithink it's it's.
(34:26):
They're different worlds interms of who's kind of
specializing and helping inthose.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
No, totally.
And, that being said, you knowthere's so many places people
want to go.
I feel like you know we hearall the buzz ones, the Instagram
like feed, popular ones at thetime like Malfi Coast.
Is there any destinations thatyou kind of think like are the
best kept secrets right now, orlike the top ones you're kind of
like, ooh, this looks reallygreat.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
It's so tricky because I, I, I, I don't know if
I, if this is like actuallyaccurate, but I almost fear we
live in a time where there's nobest kept secrets anymore
because, like with social mediaand not even just social media,
but like our generation'spassion for travel, it's like
the places that are like reallyworth going that will wow you.
(35:14):
I feel like, to an extent, havebeen discovered or they're
really really difficult to getto, and that's like a barrier to
entry for a lot of people whohave a limited amount of time,
right, um, there's tons ofwonderful places and places that
are like.
I think part of it is likedestinations can go through
cycles a little bit.
Um, so like a multi coast wasactually hugely popular back in
(35:37):
like I don't know like Kennedyera.
Like I feel like like JackieKennedy and some of them and
then I feel like it kind of likeI don't know, I didn't hear
about it growing up but likeonly recently, yeah, only
recently it was like wait, theKennedys and stuff were going
there too.
And now it's like having thishuge resurgence.
And I'm not saying it'll go outof style, but I think it's like
people, these destinations getso crowded and then, like some
people are like, okay, I've beenthere, done that, it's too
(36:00):
crowded, now I'm going to go toanother destination, but that
doesn't mean they won't ever goback, or oh, you're kidding,
sorry, oh my gosh, she's thelove of my life.
Sorry, hunter, I mean, sorry,the love of my life.
But yeah, I, um, I forgot whatI was saying.
(36:23):
Yeah, so there's, um, I woulddefinitely say, like as a travel
advisor, like there's alwaysgoing to be.
Like kind of a buzzworddestination, a buzzworthy
destination of the year, the onethat I keep hearing about that
like all the advisors arescrambling to try to get to,
because it's like, oh, my gosh,have you heard?
It is Bhutan.
It's like, and I'm dying to go.
(36:44):
I haven't been.
But um, so, yeah, I think it'slike there's always going to be.
I think that's the cool thingnow is like the world's so much
more accessible than it used tobe.
So, like between shoulderseasons, like traveling off peak
, um knowing what kind of tripyou want, like you can always
find ones that aren't going tobe too crowded.
But I kind of have given up onthe like I don't need to.
(37:06):
Like I know we love that, likeit makes us feel good when we're
like in the know.
Yeah, like I found this place.
Like I know something you don'tknow.
Like it makes people feel good.
But I also just think like andand and that's could be true.
Like there's no way that we canall know about every
destination, right, so, likesomething that you maybe never
have heard of, I could have been, but that doesn't mean that
there's not tons of other peoplewho know about it too, you know
(37:26):
.
So I think I just encouragepeople to like not worry so much
about, like what's the bestkept secret and try to just get
really clear on like what areyou looking for?
Like you want to flop and drop,relax, unplug.
Like do you want culture?
Cause?
Like okay, for example,somewhere Amalfi coast, I'd put
(37:50):
in this category, tulum I'd putin this category.
Like they are not.
You don't go there necessarilyfor, like a cultural immersion,
not to say you don't get localculture when you go, but they're
very much touristicdestinations and but they're
beautiful and they do have.
Like you can get amazingMexican food in Tulum, you can
get amazing Italian food inAmalfi coast, but you're not
amongst locals there, right?
Like you're going for thebeautiful views.
You're going for the funrestaurants, the tourist spot,
(38:11):
like so if if you don't wanttouristic, then don't go to a
destination like that.
Go somewhere that's like alittle more off the beaten path
or like not as touristy.
So I think that's what I liketo encourage people is like get
really clear on what kind ofholiday you want, what
experiences you want.
Do you care about food?
Do you care about culture?
Do you want to be amongst like?
Do you want awesome views?
Do you want um?
Speaker 1 (38:32):
yeah, what's your pillar of importance here?
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Exactly, exactly, and then you can kind of choose
your destination accordingly.
But I kind of, personally, I'mjust like surrendering the idea
of best kept secret, cause I'mjust like I just feel like that
can steer you in the wrongdirection.
You could end up somewhere.
That's like, yeah, this isn't asecret, it's just not that
exciting.
I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
Yeah, no, fair, fair.
And when you travel, which likepillar do you usually tend to
go for?
Is it usually?
Speaker 2 (38:59):
culture, is it food, all of them?
All of them, honestly, like itdepends what I'm in the mood for
, like, uh, I would.
I would typically say I like, Iwould love, like a combo, so
like, for example, we're lookingto do, um, india for our
honeymoon, and so that's likeculture, adventure, um, like see
, do, experience, um, but thenwe're probably going to end
(39:21):
somewhere, like I don't know ifthe Maldives, we're trying to
figure out, like weather, what'sthe best time of year.
Somewhere, then it's like Idon't know the Maldives, we're
trying to figure out, likeweather, what's the best time of
year, but somewhere then it'slike okay, we just went and
adventured and like went so hard, and now we just kind of want
to like decompress and likerelax and recharge a little bit
before we go home.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Transition back to home.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
We actually exactly, exactly, but I love all of it.
Like I think it's just like theseason you're in, like I've
been on a really busy season,work wise, and so there's days
that I'm like man I can feelmyself.
I used to never be a like whatwe call flop and drop in the UK
Um, I just like.
I'm like that's boring.
Anyone could do a beachvacation.
(39:55):
Like I want to go see so muchand do so much and uh, so that's
like what I normally gravitatetowards.
But as I've been in a more likebusy season of life, I'm like
no, there is beauty in slowingdown and I totally respect and
appreciate people who needholidays to do that and like
(40:15):
don't, don't need it and theyjust want to like, unplug and
recharge, like I get that and Ineed that.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
That's so funny my parents, my mom being a travel-
agent when I you know before Iwas born and then a little bit
kind of when was growing up.
They were always adventure, go,go, go and I think I did it so
much as a kid that now I'm justlike a fluff and sleep on the
beach girl Like I'm like I don'tsee anything.
I mean, I do, I do want to seethings, but like they were
definitely like going for theadventures, like I'd always joke
that you know I would see my wecruised a lot growing up.
(40:42):
We'd see my like friends fromthe kids club like going on like
the nice, organized, cleancruise ship organized.
And then there'd be us withlike a local who like barely
speaks English, like going theother direction I'd be like bye,
like you know, like my mom's,like we gotta be there at 7am,
you know.
So it's it's fun to have therange and like they each serve
(41:02):
their purpose and it is a reallyamazing experience I had as a
child.
But yes, different times inlife lean us to be piqued by the
curiosity of one or the other.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Yeah, and that's the beauty of travel is it can serve
so many purposes, you know,like you can.
Even.
I know travel is often pinnedas being, you know like, oh,
it's like so energeticallydraining and this and it's like
no, but travel takes you outsideof your everyday routine and it
can be like give you fresh eyesand perspective and inspire you
(41:34):
.
It can recharge you if you like, cause you aren't distracted by
everything at home.
So it can, you know.
It can stimulate you, it canrelax you Like it can it.
Just it's all contingent uponthe destination, and I think
that's the beauty is like whatyou need in life and seeking it
out and letting travel do whattravel does.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Oh, that is such a beautiful thought.
And, whitney, you are so lovely.
You have to tell everybodywhere they can find you and find
your company and all the goodthings as well.
Speaker 2 (42:04):
Thank you.
Yeah, so you can follow blondeunderscore Atlas on Instagram.
That's my account, so it's acombination of like travel that
I do kind of for travel planningclients, like that kind of
scouting, research, plus alittle bit of Atlas Adventures
trips too, and then, if you wantto follow the trips
specifically, it's AtlasAdventures trips.
All one word on instagram, um,on our, you can also go to
(42:27):
blondeatlascom.
That has all my information.
If you want us to um plan atrip for you has like rates, all
of our trips that are available.
We're about to announce a bunchof new trips for atlas under
the um group trip section, solots of information on there, um
and be, and then on our websiteyou can also find how to
subscribe to our newsletter,because newsletter subscribers
(42:47):
get priority access onregistering for any of our trips
.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Amazing.
Winnie, thank you so much fortaking the time to immerse us
and excite me to travel againthis summer.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Thank you for having me.
It's lovely chatting with you.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
Thank you so much for listening to Confessions of a
Wannabe it Girl.
Don't forget to rate andsubscribe to the show.
As always, we'll see you nextTuesday.
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