July 19, 2023 • 33 mins
This week, I talk with @travelagentandy who is a lgbtq+ travel agent and SO many great practical tips and tricks on how to see the world as a queer person. ESPECIALLY when it comes to traveling with your partner, he has you covered so that you can travel safely and not worry about anything as you travel or go on your honeymoon as a lgbtq+ person. Enjoy!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(01:30):
Greatly beloved, welcome back tothis week's episode.
My name is Anna.
I use she her pronouns, and Ihave someone super exciting with
me here today.
We have been chatting overInstagram for a long time.
Um, I actually discovered thisperson via TikTok, which I don't
know, I feel like it's just.
(01:51):
A cool way to connect people.
And so I'm really excited tofinally have Andy with us here
today.
So Andy, would you pleaseintroduce yourself, your
pronouns, and any otheridentities you wanna share?
Of course, Anna.
I am very excited to be here.
Um, my name is Andy.
My pronouns are he, him, and Iam a very proud member of the
(02:13):
gay community, um, and a veryproud gay travel agent.
Heck yes.
Oh my gosh.
I didn't know you were married.
That's so exciting.
Yep.
Um, well, actually no, I'm notmarried.
Um, wait.
Married?
I thought, I thought I heard yousay married.
(02:33):
Maybe.
I totally made that up already.
Messed this up.
No, I'm not married.
Oh, okay.
Did I say, did I say married?
I, it's already a rough start.
No, you're good.
You're good.
Maybe I, maybe I heard it wrong.
(02:53):
Okay.
You, you're in a relationship.
I'm in a relationship.
Perfect.
Amazing.
That's great.
How long have you been with yourperson?
Um, we've been together forabout two and a half years now.
Oh, congrats.
That's super exciting.
Made the, uh, the move out to,uh, a separate coast together.
So it was, uh, it was, uh, he's,he's the, the real one.
(03:18):
Yeah.
Oh, that makes me really happyfor you.
Wow.
Yeah.
Well, I love to hear like alittle bit more about you, what
you do, and kind of how you gotstarted in all of it.
Yeah, definitely.
So, um, I live in NorthCarolina, um, with my boyfriend
Grayson and my dog Jumbo.
(03:39):
And I am a travel agent whoworks primarily with couples,
um, some small families, but Ireally enjoy working with, with
couples, um, on just creating acustomized vacation experience
for them, um, that is reallyunique to them.
So, um, whether it's just hotelbookings or like building out
full itineraries for an entiretrip, um, That is just kind of
(04:01):
my, my job.
And I have loved, uh, lovedconnecting with now a hundred
plus, uh, different clients ontheir variety of trips.
Yeah.
That's so fun.
Is there like a particular likearea or type of experience that
(04:22):
is your favorite or you reallyenjoy?
I really enjoy, I really enjoyit all.
Um, I think I.
I, I personally know, likeMexico is the location the best.
And so I really love talkingabout like different regions of
Mexico and like what areexciting to plan, what you know.
What is exciting about eachregion to plan trips for, but
(04:43):
um, I also just got back fromtraveling around Europe.
I would say the majority of myclients are booking European
travels, and so just kind ofworking with them one-on-one on
figuring out like what the bestitinerary is and what the best
trip is.
Um, I, yeah, really can't picklike a favorite experience or
destination, but I just reallyenjoy that initial conversation
(05:05):
when someone's looking forsomething and then, Getting to
talk to them after the trip andhearing how it went.
Yeah.
Aw, that must be a really goodfeeling.
Like, yeah, look at you two hadso much fun and Yeah, I gotta
have a part in that.
Yeah.
And it's like, it's such a big,um, you know, it's such a big
thing, whether it's just like a,you know, a long weekend
(05:27):
vacation or just, um, you know,a destination wedding or a
honeymoon or whatever it is.
It's like that a vacation isstill a really special moment
for a lot of people.
And so I love having.
You know, whatever hand I canhave to help in it.
Yeah.
And I'd love to know too, howmuch of your time you also spend
traveling and kinda getting newinformation and seeing new
(05:50):
places.
Yeah, I, um, a lot, a lot oftime.
So, um, yeah, I mean really likethe first half of this year we
were going on like, Um, maybe atrip a month.
Um, and it was, I am alwaysgrateful to experience new
places and see new destinationsand new hotels and get to build
(06:10):
a relationship with thosedifferent hotels.
But, um, I also am a homebody aswell, surprisingly.
So we, as I said, we just gotback from a trip to Europe and,
um, we don't really haveanything major planned for.
The foreseeable future over thenext few months, and we're very
excited to just be, be stayingput.
But it usually does, uh, comewith a lot of perks to be able
(06:32):
to actually get to experiencethe places that I'm, that I'm
selling to clients.
Yeah.
I mean, hey, like, that'sbusiness in my mind.
You're like, yeah, I'll, I'lltake it.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
That is amazing.
Wow.
Well, yeah, I, I really wantedto have you on today because, I
(06:53):
mean, truth be told, I've neverseen anybody else doing what
you're doing.
And you know, obviously there'sother travel agents, but I've
never seen someone who'sspecifically dedicated to
serving like couples and alsocouples within the L G B LGBTQ
community.
Like that's so awesome and soneeded.
(07:14):
Yeah.
I.
I especially love, I mean, beinga member of the L G B LGBTQ
community, love working with,um, you know, with clients in,
in that space.
And it's just really importantfor me, I think even after just
traveling on my own to eitherplaces in the US where places
internationally to like find thespots that are really open and
(07:36):
accepting to us and other placesthat I experience that I'm like,
You know, maybe anotherdestination would've been better
to pick.
And so as the years have goneby, I feel like I've gained more
and more experience in thatrealm.
And, um, I just love, you know,working with, with other folks
in the LGBTQ community who likemaybe don't travel all that
often, or like really want aperfect honeymoon planned out,
(08:00):
that, you know, you want to goas smoothly as possible.
And so it's been really specialto be able to, uh, to work with,
with others in the community.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
And on that note, um, yeah, bigreason that I thought it'd be
super cool to have you on isbecause I think there's kind of
(08:21):
been this growing conversationslash debate within the
community of, obviously withthings like TikTok now, people
will rate places in terms of howfriendly they are towards the
community and things like that,and that's kind of sparked some
conversation, even in my own,like with my partner and in my
(08:41):
own friend groups as far aslike, okay, there's this really
amazing place.
Like it'd be so fun to go thereand also, It's not very LGBTQ
friendly at the same time.
Mm-hmm.
And so I'm just kind of curiouslike what you think about that.
Like is it worth it to try torisk it?
(09:02):
Is it like, what do you think?
Yeah, that is a great questionand honestly, the same question
that comes up with almost everyL G B Q couple that I work with.
So, um, I, first and foremost,it, it sucks that we, you know,
live in a world that we evenhave to think about what
destinations we go to.
And, you know, it would be greatif we could just travel anywhere
(09:25):
without thinking twice about it.
But at the same time, we arealso very fortunate to be living
in a time when we can.
Freely travel to so manylocations in the world without
any problems.
Um, so whenever I, you know,whenever I'm talking about like
a specific destination withclients and what they're looking
(09:45):
for, I always like to, I mean,first like separate, um,
Separating the difference of,you know, what is considered to
be like gay friendly versus gayaccepting versus just like
purely not really safe oraccepting, you know?
And so, you know, the gayfriendly places that you can
(10:05):
think of, like, just off the topof my head, like Reiki, vk
Iceland, or um, San Francisco orMexico City or places, or Port
of Ida.
Places that you go to and yousee gay flags everywhere and you
just like kind of feel likeyou're being hugged and opened
up into that community.
Um, whereas there are otherplaces that are I, you know,
(10:26):
more accepting like, you know,honestly, most cities that I've
been to in Europe, like I feelcomfortable holding my partner's
hand.
There might might not be sideflags hanging everywhere, but
like you can get the generalsense that like, we are welcome
and.
Accepted into that, thatcommunity.
Um, and then there's the areasthat like, you know, whether
(10:47):
culturally or, you know, withgovernment restrictions, like
they are very discriminatorytowards L g, BT Q people.
Um, and if there's ever a clientthat comes to me and says, I
really want to go to Barbados,um, and Barbados being like one
of the Caribbean islands, it islike, The least gay friendly
destinations.
(11:08):
Um, I'll always, you know, firstinform them of just like the
laws that are in place and justlike culturally what, you know,
what is, is and isn't toleratedthere.
Um, if they didn't already knowthat way it can, you know, just
educate them more on theirultimate decision.
Um, but then I'll also just diveinto more of like, As you said
on TikTok, people are alwaysseeing Overwater bungalows or
(11:31):
like this very specific beach,or if it's that type of
experience that they're lookingfor, then I'll always kind of
dig into that a little bit more.
And then usually I'll recommendan alternative to go to, you
know, or like an alternativecountry or destination or
whatever it may be.
Um, but that being said, there'ssometimes like a specific area
(11:52):
that.
That an LGBTQ couple reallywants to go to and like, you
know, maybe they're tracingtheir family roots back to
Barbados and they, you know,it's on their bucket list to go
visit it.
Um, in those types of situationswhere it's like known to not be,
you know, very safe for us, um,I'll always recommend, like, I
(12:12):
love boutique hotels myself, butI always kind of err on the side
of safety with like a largerhotel brand, just because they
usually have.
Like global kind of requirementsfor all their employees to
follow when it comes todiscrimination against L G B T Q
people.
Um, so like that would be anangle that I would point them to
(12:33):
is like, don't stay in anAirbnb, don't stay in some mom
and pop shop hotel, but like,let's get somewhere that will,
you know, at least for a placeto stay, make you feel as safe
as possible.
Um, and then from there, Ialways just like recommend if
you're.
Going out and adventuring orgoing out and exploring, um, if
it's truly a place that's notsuper safe, like find a guide.
(12:53):
Um, and that's something that Ihelp folks with, like finding
someone that can take youaround, take you to the spots
that are good.
Um, and yeah, that's just kindof, kind of my general thoughts
about it.
I think it totally just dependson the experience.
If you're just looking forspecifically a resort to sit on
the beach, even if a country isrelatively, you know, Not
(13:15):
accepting of us.
That resort will usuallygenerally be okay to be at, you
know?
Um, but I always like to err onthe side of finding a better
alternative cuz you don't wannabe thinking about that on a
vacation.
Yeah, absolutely.
That's super helpful.
And I mean, yeah, definitelysomething that, again, I've
(13:37):
talked about with people like.
I think there's this idea too,of when it has come up with
people who aren't in thecommunity, their response is
usually something like, well,can't you just like be friends
for a week?
Mm-hmm.
You know, like, can't you justlike not hold hands or whatever?
And it's kinda like, okay, butfirst of all, like, do, do you
(14:00):
hear yourself like, yes, that,that to me wouldn't necessarily
feel like I.
A vacation if I can't, you know,be fully myself and hold my
partner's hand and.
Whatever, like, I'm gonna be onedge the whole time.
Mm-hmm.
Like, what happens if I doaccidentally hold her hand?
Like what?
Like that's not a vacation, youknow?
(14:20):
Yeah.
Nobody wants to be thinkingabout that.
And I mean, I think you make avery, very valid point too,
especially just like on, youknow, some of my tos that, you
know, the haters had madecomments on of like, oh, I don't
realize, I didn't realize thatyou needed to mention that you
were gay before saying that youwere a travel agent or something
like that.
And I'm like, yeah, because youdon't understand.
(14:40):
The, I guess the value thatcomes out of like having a
partner in planning this type ofexperience.
But there are so many thingsthat we need to consider when
going into a vacation like thisthat many are fortunate to not
have to think about.
Right?
Yeah.
Like if you're, As a straightwhite couple, like chances are
(15:02):
you can go pretty much anywhereand like figure it out and be
fine.
Mm-hmm.
Versus like, yeah.
So again, thank you for doingwhat you do.
It's super cool.
Yeah, of course.
I, I, I love doing it and Ilove, I, as I said, I love
working with, with couples thatare actively thinking about it
as well and, and wanting to findthe perfect fit for them.
(15:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I love the idea too thatthere's, there's alternatives
usually like yeah, there arealways, there are always
alternatives.
And that's the thing that Ilike, try to push the most.
As I said, if someone is likedead set on a specific
destination, they understand therisks.
Like I will still.
Work with them as much aspossible.
(15:45):
But, um, I also think theimportant thing to note too is
that whenever, whenever anyonereaches out to me and says like,
I just want a safe L G B T Qdestination, um, I always let.
All of my clients know that,like I can never personally
guarantee anyone's safetyanywhere.
Like unfortunately, anything canhappen in any location, even if
(16:07):
it's like the most gay friendlycity in the world.
Like there still can be thingsthat happen.
And so, um, it's just theeducational piece of just like,
you know, I can't guaranteesafety.
But here are some locations thatlike historically have been very
welcoming and very accepting.
Um, And yeah, the alternativesare the biggest piece because
(16:28):
while there's not, you know,certain landmarks or uh, you
know, geographic regions inevery country, like you can find
something similar to, you know,find that experience that you're
looking for, that you don't haveto be thinking twice about
showing affection to yourpartner on the trip.
Right, right.
(16:49):
And it's so interesting too, tohear you say that.
It sounds like it really is likea spectrum.
And you said it went fromfriendly to accepting to pretty
much like unsafe, right?
Yeah.
Or like not accepting.
Yeah.
And you can like feel that too.
I mean I um, me personally andwhat I will like tell friends
(17:11):
and clients too is that likeeven when you're researching.
Um, when you're researchingvacation destinations or cities,
like even if you're not a bigdrinker, like I always look up
just like even what gay bars arein the area, you know, and that
kind of is like a good pulse tojust kind of see what the
community is like and what thecommunity accepts.
(17:31):
And I usually use that as likekind of a good pulse of just
like seeing, I don't know,knowing what to expect going
there.
Um, and so that's kind of how,that's kind of how I break down
the like, You know, thefriendly, the accepting.
I mean, that's not the onlyreason, but you can usually get
a pretty good pulse if there'slike no present gay community
and you're walking around andyou're like, what's, what's the
(17:54):
vibe here?
You know, that's, that's when itcan get a little bit of a gray
area.
Well, that you so smart.
It's like, this is your job orsomething you would think.
Uh, yeah.
So kind of on that note, um,Kind of setting aside, obviously
there are maybe some unsafeplaces, but in general, setting
(18:17):
aside that piece, what are yourbiggest tips for LGBTQ couples
traveling?
Um, Yeah.
Um, good question.
So I think kind of tying intogether, you know, everything
that I've just said is justlike, first and foremost just
doing your research.
You know, like looking up, youknow, aside from just seeing if
there's gay bars in the area,like looking up what the, like
(18:38):
local and just government rulesand restrictions are overall.
Um, you can, most, more timesthan not just type in is X, Y, Z
country gay friendly, and likeyou can find.
A bunch of articles about it.
And so I think having that as astarting point, but then also
researching like, you know, thearea specifically just to make
(19:00):
sure that it's somewhere thatyou would actually feel
comfortable visiting.
Um, I think the important thingtoo, especially when traveling
like internationally or just anarea that you don't know at all,
um, you know, there's alwayskind of.
Some, some questions around likewhether or not to book like an
Airbnb or A V R B O orsomething.
(19:21):
And I do think that when you'retraveling with your significant
other, there is a lot of valuefor many reasons.
But you know this specificallycoming from, you know, being at
a established hotel that you canlook up all of the reviews that
you know exactly kind of, youcan see their website, you can
see everything.
Whereas like in Airbnb, youdon't always know.
(19:42):
The exact location in the exactneighborhood.
You don't know if your host isaccepting, you know?
So like just doing the researchbeforehand and making sure that
at a very baseline you feelcomfortable about where you're
going.
Um, and I think with that too,what I always like to highlight
is just like being conscious ofwhere you're spending your
money.
You know, even if there aresome, you know, If you're
(20:05):
presented with the risksinvolved or the rules or
restrictions that a governmentmight have against you, but
you're still willing to, youknow, put that risk aside or
you're okay with that risk andstill visit the destination, um,
I think it's really importantto, you know, put your money
where your mouth is and likequestion as well.
Like you, I might be staying atthe resort the whole time.
(20:26):
I feel like I'll be pretty safethere, but like, do I really
want some of this?
Money to be going to agovernment that is, you know,
actively seeking to discriminateagainst us.
Um, so I think that's likeanother really important piece
as well.
Um, and honestly just lastly,like, like if, if you are a self
planner, then that's great.
(20:48):
Like I absolutely love doing theplanning for my own trips and
obviously other people's too.
But, um, Finding a, finding atravel agent.
This is gonna be a quick plugfor myself, but like finding a
travel agent that specializes ina specific area, or specific L G
BT Q travel or whatever it is,just to have as a partner to
kind of talk through your ownideas.
(21:09):
Um, a lot of the times myclients are coming to me with
like already kind of a.
A sample itinerary or like a fewhotel ideas or a few locations
and just, you know, I work withthem to just kind of consult on
what the best options are.
Um, so it's not like you'recompletely just giving up your
trip to someone else to printyou out a sheet that says this
(21:30):
is what you're doing, but justfinding someone else to talk
through options and just kind ofconsult with you, um, I think is
is really important.
And there's so many travelagents out there that can find.
You know, that you can partnerwith that.
You know, some specialize intraveling with your dog.
Some specialize in travelingwith, uh, you know, if you're
(21:52):
traveling with a disability.
You know, just finding theperfect person to make sure that
you feel like you have a partnerwhen planning out that trip.
Yeah, that's great.
And you had mentioned somethingearlier too, about guides.
Is that something too, thatcouple should be thinking about
as far as like, um, If they'recool or, yeah, it, it depends
(22:18):
on, it depends on the locationand it depends on the experience
that they're looking for.
You know, if they're, um, Ialways like recommending guides,
especially for, for biginternational trips.
If you were wanting to do like atour in wine country or
something one day, like havingsomeone to take you around to
all the known spots.
So like, safety aside, it'salways just nice to have an on
(22:41):
the ground.
Professional that knows thearea, like the back of their
hands.
Um, but as I said, in terms ofjust like experiencing a new
city that you might, you know,might have some just discomfort
with or like, it's a newexperience in general.
Um, even starting off with justlike a day tour or like.
(23:02):
You know, one of those kind ofgroup trips just to get the lay
of the land of the city.
Um, I know the first time that Iwent to Mexico City, for
example, like when I went withmy boyfriend, um, we, you know,
got there at night.
We were walking around ourneighborhood and we were just
like, is this safe?
Or are we, you know, are we goodhere?
And then during the day, andafter spending a few days there,
(23:23):
we were like, oh, this is like,Vibrant and bright and like, you
know, we felt very safe there.
But um, it's always nice to findsomeone that like knows that
area very well to just kind ofintroduce you to a new place.
Right.
Yeah, no, that makes a lot ofsense.
Um, yeah, and I'm kind ofwondering too, obviously, I know
(23:44):
you had mentioned like you cannever guarantee safety.
Obviously that's not on you.
I mean, I.
Sometimes we're not even safe inlike our own neighborhoods in
terms of what people say or thelooks we get or things like
that.
But, um, would you ever sayanything to a couple, like in
(24:07):
the event that they aretraveling and do run into
someone from the communitythat's like, Like the local
community that is giving them ahard time or something, um, you
know, do you advise them, likesharing their location or like
just anything that you would sayin the event that something does
happen?
Yeah.
Funny that you, well, not funnythat you say that, but like,
(24:28):
sharing your location, it'sunfortunately like something
that we have to think about, butlike, we just did that even when
we were, you know, travelingaround Europe just as like a
safety measure.
Just worst case scenario.
I mean, even if someone stoleyour phone, like it'd be good to
have the location on.
Um, so things like sharinglocation, but I mean also just
having, having the conversationbefore the trip of just like
(24:52):
what your boundaries are as acouple, I think is really
important.
Um, and just kind of like, yeah,setting, I don't know, even like
setting the expectations aroundlike scenarios.
If like, if someone asks you ifyou're.
Siblings or dating or you know,like questions like that that I
think just making sure thatyou're aligned on like, or.
(25:14):
You know, are we gonna holdhands on like the public streets
or do we want to keep that justto the resort or whatever it is.
So I always think that'simportant beforehand.
A, just to make sure that youhave clarity on like safety
overall, but also like in a spurof the moment thing.
You don't want to, you know,upset your partner by calling
them your brother if like, youknow, they, they didn't want
(25:37):
that, but, um, but we likeunfortunately, have been in
situations where, We togetherhave had the conversation
beforehand.
We live in the south and havegone to some, you know, deep
parts of the south where we'relike, all right, we are, we are
brothers on this trip.
You know, if anyone asks.
So it's like, I think just,yeah, just talking with each
(25:58):
other and making sure that youare aligned and, you know,
having some kind ofunderstanding of, of what to
expect and what you're gonna dotogether.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's great.
And I, I love that you mentionedthat too, of just talking about
it and have time.
Then there's no room for like,yeah.
(26:18):
Being like, oh, so we'rebrothers now.
Did you just break up with me?
Oh, gosh.
Okay.
Yeah.
Wow.
Everything you say is sohelpful.
Thank you.
Of course.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was super, I was, I wasvery excited to, uh, to talk
with you about this.
I think, um, a lot of theclients that I work with are,
(26:40):
are straight couples, but a lotof them that I'm working with
are, are gay couples that areplanning their honeymoon.
And it's like, these are allquestions that come up all of
the time.
And so, uh, it was reallyexcited to just share them more
with you and, and your audienceas a whole, because I think they
are all very important questionsthat.
A lot of people in the worlddon't even need to think twice
(27:02):
about when they're traveling.
So it's like a, it's a very,it's a very niche thing to find
the perfect, safe, comfortableexperience for, you know, for
us, uh, for us specifically.
Yeah, yeah.
No, for sure.
I, I mean, it's something that'skind of the goal of this whole
(27:23):
podcast and everything I do islike wanting to.
You know, help people in thecommunity be connected to other
people who are like, yeah, youfor sure, like, don't have to
think twice about working withthis person.
Or, um, and also, you know,hopefully you're teaching other
people other things too alongthe way.
(27:44):
Like maybe there's other travelagents who are like, oh yeah,
maybe I should.
You know, start thinking aboutthat in my own business and
stuff too.
So, yeah, and I mean, theeducation piece is just so
important for people outside ofour community too.
It's like, you know, I'm goingon a family vacation with my mom
and siblings.
(28:05):
It's like, it was, it was aneducational moment to like tell
them just about our experience.
And like there are things thatwhen we're going places we have
to think about or we have torespond to, or when we show up
to a hotel, You know, I wastraveling with my partner and my
brother and sister and everytime that we got to the hotel
and said, you know, who wasstaying in which rooms, they
(28:25):
were like, wait, so the two ofyou are staying in one room with
a king bed and then the two ofyou?
And we're like, yes.
That's, that's, so it's like,you know, there's just always
those scenarios that I think arejust like little moments of
education that can get everyoneelse like a little bit more
understanding of just the littlethings or the big things that we
have to go through.
Yeah, absolutely.
(28:47):
Yeah.
And I do have kind of one lastlittle fun question.
Um, there's a lot of.
Couples who listen to thispodcast.
And so I'm curious if they're inthe midst of like planning their
honeymoon and stuff like that.
Um, I know even just sometimeswhen I'm out doing like
portraits with couples or thingslike that, sometimes you know,
(29:09):
someone will offer to like givethem some champagne or something
like that.
So I'm just curious if, forthose who are going on their
honeymoon, if you have any likefun tips for them to kinda
maximize their.
They're fun experience.
Oh, absolutely.
Um, another travel agent plug,but I mean, in general, like
aside from just having the wholetrip planned out for you, um, a
(29:32):
lot of folks don't know that,like a lot of travel agents are
partnered with like thousands ofhotels that can get extra
guaranteed perks or benefits.
So, um, a lot of the times folksare either getting like
discounted rates or, you know,I.
Daily breakfast or like a spacredit, um, you know, free
massages, uh, room upgrades.
(29:52):
And they're all like, verycommon as long as we're
partnered with the HO Hotels.
So, um, it's, it, it's a freeperk and a lot of the times,
like for me, if a client is likejust booking a hotel through me,
I don't charge for it.
Um, and so if they just wantedto book a hotel through me and
get the perks, then it would beat no cost to them.
(30:13):
Um, and it's always just like acool way to.
You know, experience, experiencesomething unique out of, you
know, probably a, a really biginvestment on either a honeymoon
or a vacation.
And so you might as well tapinto as many benefits as you can
out of it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So everybody, I don't know ifyou've gotten this by now, but.
(30:36):
You need to go check out Andy atTravel Agent Andy on Instagram,
right?
Yes.
Is that correct?
Yes.
Travel agent andy.com.
Yes.
Go check him out.
This has been amazing.
Seriously, like I have learnedso much, um, and I just feel
like so much more aware ofthings to think through.
(30:58):
Um, even in, I'm starting to dosome more destination weddings
and stuff like that.
So, Thank you for sharing your,your wisdom with everybody and,
um, yeah, of course.
I'm, uh, very thankful to behere and to, to you and just the
listeners too.
Um, you know, never be afraid toeven just reach out with a
question.
Even if you're thinking about atrip, that's who years down the
(31:21):
road and you're nowhere close tobooking.
Um, I think it's, you know, thepower of power of community to
just kind of talk thingsthrough.
And I'm always happy to justrespond to an email if anyone
has.
Questions about an experience ora destination or just anything
like that, so that is amazing.
Wow, you're so kind.
Thank you so much.
(31:42):
Thank you.
Yeah.
Clearly Beloved, thank you forjoining us this week.
I hope you all have a great day,and we'll see you here next
week.
Greatly beloved, welcome back tothis week's episode.
My name is Anna.
I use she her pronouns, and Ihave someone super exciting with
me here today.
We have been chatting overInstagram for a long time.
Um, I actually discovered thisperson via TikTok, which I don't
know, I feel like it's just.
(01:51):
A cool way to connect people.
And so I'm really excited tofinally have Andy with us here
today.
So Andy, would you pleaseintroduce yourself, your
pronouns, and any otheridentities you wanna share?
Of course, Anna.
I am very excited to be here.
Um, my name is Andy.
My pronouns are he, him, and Iam a very proud member of the
(02:13):
gay community, um, and a veryproud gay travel agent.
Heck yes.
Oh my gosh.
I didn't know you were married.
That's so exciting.
Yep.
Um, well, actually no, I'm notmarried.
Um, wait.
Married?
I thought, I thought I heard yousay married.
(02:33):
Maybe.
I totally made that up already.
Messed this up.
No, I'm not married.
Oh, okay.
Did I say, did I say married?
I, it's already a rough start.
No, you're good.
You're good.
Maybe I, maybe I heard it wrong.
(02:53):
Okay.
You, you're in a relationship.
I'm in a relationship.
Perfect.
Amazing.
That's great.
How long have you been with yourperson?
Um, we've been together forabout two and a half years now.
Oh, congrats.
That's super exciting.
Made the, uh, the move out to,uh, a separate coast together.
So it was, uh, it was, uh, he's,he's the, the real one.
(03:18):
Yeah.
Oh, that makes me really happyfor you.
Wow.
Yeah.
Well, I love to hear like alittle bit more about you, what
you do, and kind of how you gotstarted in all of it.
Yeah, definitely.
So, um, I live in NorthCarolina, um, with my boyfriend
Grayson and my dog Jumbo.
(03:39):
And I am a travel agent whoworks primarily with couples,
um, some small families, but Ireally enjoy working with, with
couples, um, on just creating acustomized vacation experience
for them, um, that is reallyunique to them.
So, um, whether it's just hotelbookings or like building out
full itineraries for an entiretrip, um, That is just kind of
(04:01):
my, my job.
And I have loved, uh, lovedconnecting with now a hundred
plus, uh, different clients ontheir variety of trips.
Yeah.
That's so fun.
Is there like a particular likearea or type of experience that
(04:22):
is your favorite or you reallyenjoy?
I really enjoy, I really enjoyit all.
Um, I think I.
I, I personally know, likeMexico is the location the best.
And so I really love talkingabout like different regions of
Mexico and like what areexciting to plan, what you know.
What is exciting about eachregion to plan trips for, but
(04:43):
um, I also just got back fromtraveling around Europe.
I would say the majority of myclients are booking European
travels, and so just kind ofworking with them one-on-one on
figuring out like what the bestitinerary is and what the best
trip is.
Um, I, yeah, really can't picklike a favorite experience or
destination, but I just reallyenjoy that initial conversation
(05:05):
when someone's looking forsomething and then, Getting to
talk to them after the trip andhearing how it went.
Yeah.
Aw, that must be a really goodfeeling.
Like, yeah, look at you two hadso much fun and Yeah, I gotta
have a part in that.
Yeah.
And it's like, it's such a big,um, you know, it's such a big
thing, whether it's just like a,you know, a long weekend
(05:27):
vacation or just, um, you know,a destination wedding or a
honeymoon or whatever it is.
It's like that a vacation isstill a really special moment
for a lot of people.
And so I love having.
You know, whatever hand I canhave to help in it.
Yeah.
And I'd love to know too, howmuch of your time you also spend
traveling and kinda getting newinformation and seeing new
(05:50):
places.
Yeah, I, um, a lot, a lot oftime.
So, um, yeah, I mean really likethe first half of this year we
were going on like, Um, maybe atrip a month.
Um, and it was, I am alwaysgrateful to experience new
places and see new destinationsand new hotels and get to build
(06:10):
a relationship with thosedifferent hotels.
But, um, I also am a homebody aswell, surprisingly.
So we, as I said, we just gotback from a trip to Europe and,
um, we don't really haveanything major planned for.
The foreseeable future over thenext few months, and we're very
excited to just be, be stayingput.
But it usually does, uh, comewith a lot of perks to be able
(06:32):
to actually get to experiencethe places that I'm, that I'm
selling to clients.
Yeah.
I mean, hey, like, that'sbusiness in my mind.
You're like, yeah, I'll, I'lltake it.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
That is amazing.
Wow.
Well, yeah, I, I really wantedto have you on today because, I
(06:53):
mean, truth be told, I've neverseen anybody else doing what
you're doing.
And you know, obviously there'sother travel agents, but I've
never seen someone who'sspecifically dedicated to
serving like couples and alsocouples within the L G B LGBTQ
community.
Like that's so awesome and soneeded.
(07:14):
Yeah.
I.
I especially love, I mean, beinga member of the L G B LGBTQ
community, love working with,um, you know, with clients in,
in that space.
And it's just really importantfor me, I think even after just
traveling on my own to eitherplaces in the US where places
internationally to like find thespots that are really open and
(07:36):
accepting to us and other placesthat I experience that I'm like,
You know, maybe anotherdestination would've been better
to pick.
And so as the years have goneby, I feel like I've gained more
and more experience in thatrealm.
And, um, I just love, you know,working with, with other folks
in the LGBTQ community who likemaybe don't travel all that
often, or like really want aperfect honeymoon planned out,
(08:00):
that, you know, you want to goas smoothly as possible.
And so it's been really specialto be able to, uh, to work with,
with others in the community.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
And on that note, um, yeah, bigreason that I thought it'd be
super cool to have you on isbecause I think there's kind of
(08:21):
been this growing conversationslash debate within the
community of, obviously withthings like TikTok now, people
will rate places in terms of howfriendly they are towards the
community and things like that,and that's kind of sparked some
conversation, even in my own,like with my partner and in my
(08:41):
own friend groups as far aslike, okay, there's this really
amazing place.
Like it'd be so fun to go thereand also, It's not very LGBTQ
friendly at the same time.
Mm-hmm.
And so I'm just kind of curiouslike what you think about that.
Like is it worth it to try torisk it?
(09:02):
Is it like, what do you think?
Yeah, that is a great questionand honestly, the same question
that comes up with almost everyL G B Q couple that I work with.
So, um, I, first and foremost,it, it sucks that we, you know,
live in a world that we evenhave to think about what
destinations we go to.
And, you know, it would be greatif we could just travel anywhere
(09:25):
without thinking twice about it.
But at the same time, we arealso very fortunate to be living
in a time when we can.
Freely travel to so manylocations in the world without
any problems.
Um, so whenever I, you know,whenever I'm talking about like
a specific destination withclients and what they're looking
(09:45):
for, I always like to, I mean,first like separate, um,
Separating the difference of,you know, what is considered to
be like gay friendly versus gayaccepting versus just like
purely not really safe oraccepting, you know?
And so, you know, the gayfriendly places that you can
(10:05):
think of, like, just off the topof my head, like Reiki, vk
Iceland, or um, San Francisco orMexico City or places, or Port
of Ida.
Places that you go to and yousee gay flags everywhere and you
just like kind of feel likeyou're being hugged and opened
up into that community.
Um, whereas there are otherplaces that are I, you know,
(10:26):
more accepting like, you know,honestly, most cities that I've
been to in Europe, like I feelcomfortable holding my partner's
hand.
There might might not be sideflags hanging everywhere, but
like you can get the generalsense that like, we are welcome
and.
Accepted into that, thatcommunity.
Um, and then there's the areasthat like, you know, whether
(10:47):
culturally or, you know, withgovernment restrictions, like
they are very discriminatorytowards L g, BT Q people.
Um, and if there's ever a clientthat comes to me and says, I
really want to go to Barbados,um, and Barbados being like one
of the Caribbean islands, it islike, The least gay friendly
destinations.
(11:08):
Um, I'll always, you know, firstinform them of just like the
laws that are in place and justlike culturally what, you know,
what is, is and isn't toleratedthere.
Um, if they didn't already knowthat way it can, you know, just
educate them more on theirultimate decision.
Um, but then I'll also just diveinto more of like, As you said
on TikTok, people are alwaysseeing Overwater bungalows or
(11:31):
like this very specific beach,or if it's that type of
experience that they're lookingfor, then I'll always kind of
dig into that a little bit more.
And then usually I'll recommendan alternative to go to, you
know, or like an alternativecountry or destination or
whatever it may be.
Um, but that being said, there'ssometimes like a specific area
(11:52):
that.
That an LGBTQ couple reallywants to go to and like, you
know, maybe they're tracingtheir family roots back to
Barbados and they, you know,it's on their bucket list to go
visit it.
Um, in those types of situationswhere it's like known to not be,
you know, very safe for us, um,I'll always recommend, like, I
(12:12):
love boutique hotels myself, butI always kind of err on the side
of safety with like a largerhotel brand, just because they
usually have.
Like global kind of requirementsfor all their employees to
follow when it comes todiscrimination against L G B T Q
people.
Um, so like that would be anangle that I would point them to
(12:33):
is like, don't stay in anAirbnb, don't stay in some mom
and pop shop hotel, but like,let's get somewhere that will,
you know, at least for a placeto stay, make you feel as safe
as possible.
Um, and then from there, Ialways just like recommend if
you're.
Going out and adventuring orgoing out and exploring, um, if
it's truly a place that's notsuper safe, like find a guide.
(12:53):
Um, and that's something that Ihelp folks with, like finding
someone that can take youaround, take you to the spots
that are good.
Um, and yeah, that's just kindof, kind of my general thoughts
about it.
I think it totally just dependson the experience.
If you're just looking forspecifically a resort to sit on
the beach, even if a country isrelatively, you know, Not
(13:15):
accepting of us.
That resort will usuallygenerally be okay to be at, you
know?
Um, but I always like to err onthe side of finding a better
alternative cuz you don't wannabe thinking about that on a
vacation.
Yeah, absolutely.
That's super helpful.
And I mean, yeah, definitelysomething that, again, I've
(13:37):
talked about with people like.
I think there's this idea too,of when it has come up with
people who aren't in thecommunity, their response is
usually something like, well,can't you just like be friends
for a week?
Mm-hmm.
You know, like, can't you justlike not hold hands or whatever?
And it's kinda like, okay, butfirst of all, like, do, do you
(14:00):
hear yourself like, yes, that,that to me wouldn't necessarily
feel like I.
A vacation if I can't, you know,be fully myself and hold my
partner's hand and.
Whatever, like, I'm gonna be onedge the whole time.
Mm-hmm.
Like, what happens if I doaccidentally hold her hand?
Like what?
Like that's not a vacation, youknow?
(14:20):
Yeah.
Nobody wants to be thinkingabout that.
And I mean, I think you make avery, very valid point too,
especially just like on, youknow, some of my tos that, you
know, the haters had madecomments on of like, oh, I don't
realize, I didn't realize thatyou needed to mention that you
were gay before saying that youwere a travel agent or something
like that.
And I'm like, yeah, because youdon't understand.
(14:40):
The, I guess the value thatcomes out of like having a
partner in planning this type ofexperience.
But there are so many thingsthat we need to consider when
going into a vacation like thisthat many are fortunate to not
have to think about.
Right?
Yeah.
Like if you're, As a straightwhite couple, like chances are
(15:02):
you can go pretty much anywhereand like figure it out and be
fine.
Mm-hmm.
Versus like, yeah.
So again, thank you for doingwhat you do.
It's super cool.
Yeah, of course.
I, I, I love doing it and Ilove, I, as I said, I love
working with, with couples thatare actively thinking about it
as well and, and wanting to findthe perfect fit for them.
(15:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I love the idea too thatthere's, there's alternatives
usually like yeah, there arealways, there are always
alternatives.
And that's the thing that Ilike, try to push the most.
As I said, if someone is likedead set on a specific
destination, they understand therisks.
Like I will still.
Work with them as much aspossible.
(15:45):
But, um, I also think theimportant thing to note too is
that whenever, whenever anyonereaches out to me and says like,
I just want a safe L G B T Qdestination, um, I always let.
All of my clients know that,like I can never personally
guarantee anyone's safetyanywhere.
Like unfortunately, anything canhappen in any location, even if
(16:07):
it's like the most gay friendlycity in the world.
Like there still can be thingsthat happen.
And so, um, it's just theeducational piece of just like,
you know, I can't guaranteesafety.
But here are some locations thatlike historically have been very
welcoming and very accepting.
Um, And yeah, the alternativesare the biggest piece because
(16:28):
while there's not, you know,certain landmarks or uh, you
know, geographic regions inevery country, like you can find
something similar to, you know,find that experience that you're
looking for, that you don't haveto be thinking twice about
showing affection to yourpartner on the trip.
Right, right.
(16:49):
And it's so interesting too, tohear you say that.
It sounds like it really is likea spectrum.
And you said it went fromfriendly to accepting to pretty
much like unsafe, right?
Yeah.
Or like not accepting.
Yeah.
And you can like feel that too.
I mean I um, me personally andwhat I will like tell friends
(17:11):
and clients too is that likeeven when you're researching.
Um, when you're researchingvacation destinations or cities,
like even if you're not a bigdrinker, like I always look up
just like even what gay bars arein the area, you know, and that
kind of is like a good pulse tojust kind of see what the
community is like and what thecommunity accepts.
(17:31):
And I usually use that as likekind of a good pulse of just
like seeing, I don't know,knowing what to expect going
there.
Um, and so that's kind of how,that's kind of how I break down
the like, You know, thefriendly, the accepting.
I mean, that's not the onlyreason, but you can usually get
a pretty good pulse if there'slike no present gay community
and you're walking around andyou're like, what's, what's the
(17:54):
vibe here?
You know, that's, that's when itcan get a little bit of a gray
area.
Well, that you so smart.
It's like, this is your job orsomething you would think.
Uh, yeah.
So kind of on that note, um,Kind of setting aside, obviously
there are maybe some unsafeplaces, but in general, setting
(18:17):
aside that piece, what are yourbiggest tips for LGBTQ couples
traveling?
Um, Yeah.
Um, good question.
So I think kind of tying intogether, you know, everything
that I've just said is justlike, first and foremost just
doing your research.
You know, like looking up, youknow, aside from just seeing if
there's gay bars in the area,like looking up what the, like
(18:38):
local and just government rulesand restrictions are overall.
Um, you can, most, more timesthan not just type in is X, Y, Z
country gay friendly, and likeyou can find.
A bunch of articles about it.
And so I think having that as astarting point, but then also
researching like, you know, thearea specifically just to make
(19:00):
sure that it's somewhere thatyou would actually feel
comfortable visiting.
Um, I think the important thingtoo, especially when traveling
like internationally or just anarea that you don't know at all,
um, you know, there's alwayskind of.
Some, some questions around likewhether or not to book like an
Airbnb or A V R B O orsomething.
(19:21):
And I do think that when you'retraveling with your significant
other, there is a lot of valuefor many reasons.
But you know this specificallycoming from, you know, being at
a established hotel that you canlook up all of the reviews that
you know exactly kind of, youcan see their website, you can
see everything.
Whereas like in Airbnb, youdon't always know.
(19:42):
The exact location in the exactneighborhood.
You don't know if your host isaccepting, you know?
So like just doing the researchbeforehand and making sure that
at a very baseline you feelcomfortable about where you're
going.
Um, and I think with that too,what I always like to highlight
is just like being conscious ofwhere you're spending your
money.
You know, even if there aresome, you know, If you're
(20:05):
presented with the risksinvolved or the rules or
restrictions that a governmentmight have against you, but
you're still willing to, youknow, put that risk aside or
you're okay with that risk andstill visit the destination, um,
I think it's really importantto, you know, put your money
where your mouth is and likequestion as well.
Like you, I might be staying atthe resort the whole time.
(20:26):
I feel like I'll be pretty safethere, but like, do I really
want some of this?
Money to be going to agovernment that is, you know,
actively seeking to discriminateagainst us.
Um, so I think that's likeanother really important piece
as well.
Um, and honestly just lastly,like, like if, if you are a self
planner, then that's great.
(20:48):
Like I absolutely love doing theplanning for my own trips and
obviously other people's too.
But, um, Finding a, finding atravel agent.
This is gonna be a quick plugfor myself, but like finding a
travel agent that specializes ina specific area, or specific L G
BT Q travel or whatever it is,just to have as a partner to
kind of talk through your ownideas.
(21:09):
Um, a lot of the times myclients are coming to me with
like already kind of a.
A sample itinerary or like a fewhotel ideas or a few locations
and just, you know, I work withthem to just kind of consult on
what the best options are.
Um, so it's not like you'recompletely just giving up your
trip to someone else to printyou out a sheet that says this
(21:30):
is what you're doing, but justfinding someone else to talk
through options and just kind ofconsult with you, um, I think is
is really important.
And there's so many travelagents out there that can find.
You know, that you can partnerwith that.
You know, some specialize intraveling with your dog.
Some specialize in travelingwith, uh, you know, if you're
(21:52):
traveling with a disability.
You know, just finding theperfect person to make sure that
you feel like you have a partnerwhen planning out that trip.
Yeah, that's great.
And you had mentioned somethingearlier too, about guides.
Is that something too, thatcouple should be thinking about
as far as like, um, If they'recool or, yeah, it, it depends
(22:18):
on, it depends on the locationand it depends on the experience
that they're looking for.
You know, if they're, um, Ialways like recommending guides,
especially for, for biginternational trips.
If you were wanting to do like atour in wine country or
something one day, like havingsomeone to take you around to
all the known spots.
So like, safety aside, it'salways just nice to have an on
(22:41):
the ground.
Professional that knows thearea, like the back of their
hands.
Um, but as I said, in terms ofjust like experiencing a new
city that you might, you know,might have some just discomfort
with or like, it's a newexperience in general.
Um, even starting off with justlike a day tour or like.
(23:02):
You know, one of those kind ofgroup trips just to get the lay
of the land of the city.
Um, I know the first time that Iwent to Mexico City, for
example, like when I went withmy boyfriend, um, we, you know,
got there at night.
We were walking around ourneighborhood and we were just
like, is this safe?
Or are we, you know, are we goodhere?
And then during the day, andafter spending a few days there,
(23:23):
we were like, oh, this is like,Vibrant and bright and like, you
know, we felt very safe there.
But um, it's always nice to findsomeone that like knows that
area very well to just kind ofintroduce you to a new place.
Right.
Yeah, no, that makes a lot ofsense.
Um, yeah, and I'm kind ofwondering too, obviously, I know
(23:44):
you had mentioned like you cannever guarantee safety.
Obviously that's not on you.
I mean, I.
Sometimes we're not even safe inlike our own neighborhoods in
terms of what people say or thelooks we get or things like
that.
But, um, would you ever sayanything to a couple, like in
(24:07):
the event that they aretraveling and do run into
someone from the communitythat's like, Like the local
community that is giving them ahard time or something, um, you
know, do you advise them, likesharing their location or like
just anything that you would sayin the event that something does
happen?
Yeah.
Funny that you, well, not funnythat you say that, but like,
(24:28):
sharing your location, it'sunfortunately like something
that we have to think about, butlike, we just did that even when
we were, you know, travelingaround Europe just as like a
safety measure.
Just worst case scenario.
I mean, even if someone stoleyour phone, like it'd be good to
have the location on.
Um, so things like sharinglocation, but I mean also just
having, having the conversationbefore the trip of just like
(24:52):
what your boundaries are as acouple, I think is really
important.
Um, and just kind of like, yeah,setting, I don't know, even like
setting the expectations aroundlike scenarios.
If like, if someone asks you ifyou're.
Siblings or dating or you know,like questions like that that I
think just making sure thatyou're aligned on like, or.
(25:14):
You know, are we gonna holdhands on like the public streets
or do we want to keep that justto the resort or whatever it is.
So I always think that'simportant beforehand.
A, just to make sure that youhave clarity on like safety
overall, but also like in a spurof the moment thing.
You don't want to, you know,upset your partner by calling
them your brother if like, youknow, they, they didn't want
(25:37):
that, but, um, but we likeunfortunately, have been in
situations where, We togetherhave had the conversation
beforehand.
We live in the south and havegone to some, you know, deep
parts of the south where we'relike, all right, we are, we are
brothers on this trip.
You know, if anyone asks.
So it's like, I think just,yeah, just talking with each
(25:58):
other and making sure that youare aligned and, you know,
having some kind ofunderstanding of, of what to
expect and what you're gonna dotogether.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's great.
And I, I love that you mentionedthat too, of just talking about
it and have time.
Then there's no room for like,yeah.
(26:18):
Being like, oh, so we'rebrothers now.
Did you just break up with me?
Oh, gosh.
Okay.
Yeah.
Wow.
Everything you say is sohelpful.
Thank you.
Of course.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was super, I was, I wasvery excited to, uh, to talk
with you about this.
I think, um, a lot of theclients that I work with are,
(26:40):
are straight couples, but a lotof them that I'm working with
are, are gay couples that areplanning their honeymoon.
And it's like, these are allquestions that come up all of
the time.
And so, uh, it was reallyexcited to just share them more
with you and, and your audienceas a whole, because I think they
are all very important questionsthat.
A lot of people in the worlddon't even need to think twice
(27:02):
about when they're traveling.
So it's like a, it's a very,it's a very niche thing to find
the perfect, safe, comfortableexperience for, you know, for
us, uh, for us specifically.
Yeah, yeah.
No, for sure.
I, I mean, it's something that'skind of the goal of this whole
(27:23):
podcast and everything I do islike wanting to.
You know, help people in thecommunity be connected to other
people who are like, yeah, youfor sure, like, don't have to
think twice about working withthis person.
Or, um, and also, you know,hopefully you're teaching other
people other things too alongthe way.
(27:44):
Like maybe there's other travelagents who are like, oh yeah,
maybe I should.
You know, start thinking aboutthat in my own business and
stuff too.
So, yeah, and I mean, theeducation piece is just so
important for people outside ofour community too.
It's like, you know, I'm goingon a family vacation with my mom
and siblings.
(28:05):
It's like, it was, it was aneducational moment to like tell
them just about our experience.
And like there are things thatwhen we're going places we have
to think about or we have torespond to, or when we show up
to a hotel, You know, I wastraveling with my partner and my
brother and sister and everytime that we got to the hotel
and said, you know, who wasstaying in which rooms, they
(28:25):
were like, wait, so the two ofyou are staying in one room with
a king bed and then the two ofyou?
And we're like, yes.
That's, that's, so it's like,you know, there's just always
those scenarios that I think arejust like little moments of
education that can get everyoneelse like a little bit more
understanding of just the littlethings or the big things that we
have to go through.
Yeah, absolutely.
(28:47):
Yeah.
And I do have kind of one lastlittle fun question.
Um, there's a lot of.
Couples who listen to thispodcast.
And so I'm curious if they're inthe midst of like planning their
honeymoon and stuff like that.
Um, I know even just sometimeswhen I'm out doing like
portraits with couples or thingslike that, sometimes you know,
(29:09):
someone will offer to like givethem some champagne or something
like that.
So I'm just curious if, forthose who are going on their
honeymoon, if you have any likefun tips for them to kinda
maximize their.
They're fun experience.
Oh, absolutely.
Um, another travel agent plug,but I mean, in general, like
aside from just having the wholetrip planned out for you, um, a
(29:32):
lot of folks don't know that,like a lot of travel agents are
partnered with like thousands ofhotels that can get extra
guaranteed perks or benefits.
So, um, a lot of the times folksare either getting like
discounted rates or, you know,I.
Daily breakfast or like a spacredit, um, you know, free
massages, uh, room upgrades.
(29:52):
And they're all like, verycommon as long as we're
partnered with the HO Hotels.
So, um, it's, it, it's a freeperk and a lot of the times,
like for me, if a client is likejust booking a hotel through me,
I don't charge for it.
Um, and so if they just wantedto book a hotel through me and
get the perks, then it would beat no cost to them.
(30:13):
Um, and it's always just like acool way to.
You know, experience, experiencesomething unique out of, you
know, probably a, a really biginvestment on either a honeymoon
or a vacation.
And so you might as well tapinto as many benefits as you can
out of it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So everybody, I don't know ifyou've gotten this by now, but.
(30:36):
You need to go check out Andy atTravel Agent Andy on Instagram,
right?
Yes.
Is that correct?
Yes.
Travel agent andy.com.
Yes.
Go check him out.
This has been amazing.
Seriously, like I have learnedso much, um, and I just feel
like so much more aware ofthings to think through.
(30:58):
Um, even in, I'm starting to dosome more destination weddings
and stuff like that.
So, Thank you for sharing your,your wisdom with everybody and,
um, yeah, of course.
I'm, uh, very thankful to behere and to, to you and just the
listeners too.
Um, you know, never be afraid toeven just reach out with a
question.
Even if you're thinking about atrip, that's who years down the
(31:21):
road and you're nowhere close tobooking.
Um, I think it's, you know, thepower of power of community to
just kind of talk thingsthrough.
And I'm always happy to justrespond to an email if anyone
has.
Questions about an experience ora destination or just anything
like that, so that is amazing.
Wow, you're so kind.
Thank you so much.
(31:42):
Thank you.
Yeah.
Clearly Beloved, thank you forjoining us this week.
I hope you all have a great day,and we'll see you here next
week.
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