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As a meetings and events planner, travel is in my job description. Truly it is in my blood, which is likely why I ended up going down this path. My mom worked for Marriott so I grew up in hotels. Whether it was the employee rate rooms overlooking the HVAC or later when she was traveling for work and her position granted us great views of the beach or historic city we were visiting. It didn’t matter, just being in a new town, city or even country was a thrill. I grew up traveling all over, from Florida to Europe and many places in between, and it ingrained the love of travel in me.
My Mom and I in Hawaii circa 1997
In college, I studied in London for a semester and had the opportunity to travel to other countries on the weekends and during Spring Break. When I graduated college I went to work for hotels and took advantage of my own employee rate. I miss traveling on that rate.
For the last 7 years, I have been traveling extensively for work. Sometimes the most of a city I get to see is the ride to and from the Airport, and if I’m lucky a restaurant within a block or two of the hotel. But there is just something about the act of traveling that sings to my soul. Packing, prepping, the airport and plane, the anticipation of pulling up to the hotel – just these simple things are enough to get me jazzed. Even when I’m traveling for work, I try to sneak at least a few hours in to do the ‘tourist’ thing. It may just be walking around the local outdoor market or exploring the area around the hotel on foot, but any new thing I can see or learn is not to be missed.
Taken on my city exploration I was able to swing during a site visit in Anchorage (2018)
It does get hard with my family now. We have 3 boys and as they all have C names it is easiest to just call them C1 (10), C2 (7), and C3 (almost 5). My husband is in control when I’m on work trips, but I’m lucky enough to have my parents who now live only 30 minutes away. They can and will come to help as needed. I do miss my family when I’m gone and make sure to have Facetime calls with them often, but they love the ‘boys times’ and always are excited when they get a virtual tour of my hotel room (“Mommy, show me the bed. What does the TV look like. I want to see the bathroom next!”).
As much as I love the trips, I also love the planning of them. For shorter trips that we take, such as to various beach houses, I tend to relax the planning. Playing it by ear tends to be the best fit for that kind of vacation or weekend, but about once a year we try to do a big vacation. This is where I get to really dive in and have fun. Finding things to do, shopping around for the best deals on hotels and flights, and figuring out a few fun surprises that the kids would enjoy. I find a thrill in finding deals and making itineraries -with flexibility of course, since… well kids. My planner side really comes out at vacation time.
Some years they have been road trips, but the really fun ones take place every couple of years and generally include plane rides. Last year was one of those trips. In February, we took a trip down to Florida. My parents rent a condo there for a few weeks, and we tagged along for a few days. Then when we were down there, we surprised the boys with a trip to Disney and Universal! We went one day to each and stayed at the Loews Portofino where the boys got to sleep in a fun Minion room. It was a blast. 2 weeks later, the world shut down. We got in (or out) just in the nick of time!
C1 and C2 at Disney (more on where C3 is in a later post); C1-3 at Universal (Hogwarts)
I am so excited that the world is starting to open back up. I have had my first COVID shot, with my second scheduled for early April. What is even more exciting is that I have my first work trip on the books for July and it’s to my favorite place – London! And, because It just so happens to fall over my mom’s birthday, it is finally her turn to tag along with me! Here’s hoping we at least get a view of the parking lot and not the HVAC!
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