Three Memories: My Journey to Starting a Travel Agency

This first post is a bit personal. Hopefully that’s alright with whoever is reading this. After all, what could be more personal than deciding to start your own business?

A few people I know have asked me why I decided to become a travel agent. That’s one of the questions I had to ask myself, too. Some soul-searching and internal monologuing were needed to determine whether this was actually what I wanted to do with my spare time.

To really dig into a “yes” or “no” answer, I decided to let my mind drift back to some happy memories that I’ll share today.

---

Let’s start with a more recent memory!

I’m standing on a boat, halfway between Nassau and Fort Lauderdale. More specifically, I’m standing on the Disney Destiny, one of the newer ships available on the Disney Cruise Line.

This was a special cruise for me. It was my first Disney Cruise (which was amazing, by the way). It was also a cruise I got to take with my extended family. Namely, it was my wife, my parents, my sister, her husband, and their young child. Nothing like a Disney trip with the entire family!

It was the last night of the cruise, and we were all starting to get that I’m sad that this trip is almost over, but I’m not ready to stop having fun yet vibe. If you know…you know. The rest of our crew went to bed early, but I met my parents in the ship’s main atrium for the farewell show. I was just hoping to get one last dose of magic before going to bed in my cabin for the last time.

I’m standing there, surrounded by other families who were having the time of their lives. They were likely going through the same emotions I was. Without warning, the lights dimmed. The sound of drums started echoing through the room. That’s when I realized what was happening.

The Kiss Goodnight!

I had heard that this ship did this nightly as an extra piece of magic at the end of the day. The atrium transforms from its normal, vibrant colors to a light show choreographed to music. Since Marvel had a big presence on that ship, the atrium was designed around Black Panther and Wakanda. As a big Marvel fan, when the Black Panther theme blared out of the hidden speakers, I lost it a little bit!

I scanned the room, taking in all of the changing lights, grooving to the music once the drums really kicked in. It took a moment to realize it, but I eventually felt how big the grin on my face was. I turned to look at my folks who, admittedly, aren’t the biggest Marvel fans. But they also seemed to be enjoying this one last surprise.

Standing there with my parents, on an incredible ship, experiencing that last piece of magic together was one of my favorite moments from that trip!

---

Let’s talk about another trip I took with my sister. This was about ten years ago now, which doesn’t help me feel any younger, but still… 

This trip was a vacation my sister and I decided to splurge a bit on. For this trip, we went to the Universal Orlando Resort. We’d been to the Universal theme parks plenty of times, but we’d never stayed on property before. We thought, if we’re going to do this for the first time, we’re going to do it right!

We decided to stay at one of the nicer hotels on Universal’s property, the Lowes Royal Pacific Resort. As I said, we were splurging. One of my favorite things about that resort, along with a few others on property, was the mode of transportation that gets you to the two main theme parks.

Your main way to get there is by boat!

We had our own dedicated boat service that dropped us off feet away from the theme parks and CityWalk. I remember being thrilled going on it the first time. Partly because I was minutes away from being in some of my favorite theme parks. Partly because boats are just cool, and I don’t get to go on them often. What a fun experience to take that from the hotel right to the park gates!

If you haven’t taken that resort boat, it’s an experience in itself. In the boat, you’ll meander your way down a tranquil river, surrounded by tropical flora. The rest of the resort, let alone the world, disappears completely. The boat takes a few twists and turns, and you don’t know what to expect just down the riverbend.

Then, you turn the corner one more time, and there it is! You see the Universal Orlando Resort in all its glory. It just appears out of nowhere, like the best magic trick you’ve ever seen.

I’d seen this resort before, but I hadn’t experienced it like this! This was a new, different type of experience, and one that I didn’t know I was missing. Now, it’s hard for me to imagine getting to those theme parks any other way.

---

Finally, let’s go a bit further back in time. The faraway, but not too distant past of 1998.

I was a very fortunate kid in the 90s. My parents took us to Walt Disney World a few times growing up. Some would call us spoiled, but I’ll just keep saying fortunate instead. I believe it was our third trip to “The Most Magical Place on Earth” that we experienced something very special.

We went during the opening year of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park!

We’d been to the other three parks on property multiple times by then. But this was something completely new! Something that none of us, including my parents, had ever done before. We were all incredibly excited, and awaited the day when we could check out this beautiful new park.

I remember walking through the turnstiles and starting to make our way through The Oasis. If you’ve never been to the park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a little different than the other parks at the resort. Instead of starting on something like the bustling pathway of Main Street, U.S.A, you start in a lush, tropical landscape.

You start to walk the winding pathways that lead further into the jungle. I remember thinking as a kid, “Where are the rides?” I’m sure my mom was thinking, “Where are the shops?” And I’m positive my dad was thinking, “Where is the bathroom?”

But that’s the beauty of the way you walk into that park. You get to walk into this mysterious place, surrounded by beautiful nature and, of course, wild animals. The animals are scattered throughout The Oasis, and they’re such a wonderful surprise!

Instead of being bombarded by bright lights, loud noises, and costumed characters, we were greeted by actual animals! As a child, I quickly realized this was not going to be like the other Disney parks I had been to. That wasn’t a bad thing, though!

Then, after making your way through The Oasis, you finally come out into an opening. That’s when I saw it. At the far end of the path, growing larger with each step, was the new park’s icon. Towering above everything else, there was The Tree of Life, a larger-than-life tree that could only be seen at this enchanting new park.

I still remember the feeling I had at that moment. As an adult, I can appreciate the wonderful piece of storytelling through design. Building up to that grand reveal was a deliberate and incredible choice. As a kid, though, I just remember the feeling that wouldn’t escape me through the rest of the day.

I was going on a brand new adventure!

---

Why did I want to become a travel agent? To put it simply, it’s so I can help others have similar jaw-dropping moments of their own!

I want to help people have the experiences of their dreams. The once-in-a-lifetime memories that can only be created on a fantastic vacation are not far out of reach. I want to help people get to where they want to go.

Whether it’s with your whole family, your special someone, your best friends, or just by yourself, the journey of a lifetime is possible. It’s something that can be achieved! If I can help others make memories they’ll never forget, then this won’t be just another job for me.

It will be a whole new adventure of my own!