Stumble on History

I hated history in school. Nothing about it excited me to learn about dead people, wars, and oppression. I was a math girl. Ask a student to go to the board to solve an equation, I was probably the first to raise their hand. So I don’t know when the shift came that history became interesting.

On my last day in Savannah, just like the other days, there were no real plans. I, of course, was going to find somewhere for breakfast, so before the crowds and church-goers, I had a lovely breakfast a B. Matthew’s. It was still so early and I pondered when the trolleys started their tours. To my surprise and luck, the tours would start in 20 minutes. I found a trolley stop map online and noticed I was only parked two blocks from it so I caught the trolley shuttle, purchased the tour ticket online, and rode to the “headquarters” to start my tour. I didn’t elect for the hop off- hop on option because I wanted to hit I-95 before 1 PM, so I did the 90min tour.

Exposure is a Lesson

“One day...we’re going to take the kids to Hawaii!”, “We really want to travel over to Europe, but we’re waiting until the kids are older”; “We really want to go out West and see the Grand Canyon and yellowstone, but our summers are just too busy”. Do any of those statements sound familiar to you? The average American family doesn’t think they spend enough time together. Between school, work, sports, and extracurricular activities it’s no surprise that we are all feeling disconnected and burned out. The best way to reconnect with your loved ones is to get away. No distractions and no excuses: just you and your kids (or Grandkids) spending “quality time”, enjoying each other’s company and maybe even experiencing an unfamiliar culture together. “Next Year, maybe” turns into the year after that...and so forth...until you “blink” and are sitting at their high school graduation wondering what the hell happened!

TravelDCB Travel ExperienceFebruary 24, 2022travel, family, children, vacation, lessons, exposure, experience

Solo Travel

It can be hard to find the right fit as your travel companion, it’s no wonder that people have memorable trips when they go solo.

Imagine, you have 5 vacation days you want to use before you “lose” them at work. You start a group chat/text with your sibling, best friend from childhood, bestie from college, and your favorite coworker. You’ve all celebrated milestones together but never traveled domestically or internationally. Everyone is excited about going somewhere so ideas are thrown around for a day.

What It Looks Like Now

Are you tired of the COVID discussions and new variants? I know I am but part of my job is to make sure my clients know their destination’s protocol to enter and exit the country. As you know I returned from Southern Africa and each country had its own rules that we had to abide by.

Prior to even leaving the USA, South Africa required a PCR test 72 hours prior to an international flight. Please be mindful of guidelines, some airlines take the 72 hours seriously. If your flight leaves at 7 PM on Friday, you cannot show paperwork testing from Tuesday at 5 PM. Yes, that’s within 3 days but not 72 hours. And we all know, labs are not testing after 4 PM so make sure you are the first person in the morning.

Returning "Home"

Everyone kept asking if I was excited to go on my trip to Southern Africa. My response was always yes but my facial expression and tone of inflection would not match each other. Some would say that’s my normal; however, the day I left, I felt very overwhelmed with emotions. Tears welled in my eyes but nothing fell. But when my feet hit the soil of the land of my forefathers, the tear fell. Coming “home” has been a dream and now I can soak in the beauty of the Mother City, Cape Town.

Come on this journey, as I tell you about my time in Southern Africa.

Bag Lady, You Gone Hurt Your Back

Packing Light - especially on an itinerary where you will be moving and changing locations a good bit - cannot be underestimated. In fact, it can be the difference between an enjoyable vacation and a miserable one! You will never meet anyone who says "I wish I had packed heavier" when they return from a journey. Rick Steves, the Public TV European travel guru, only allows the members of his escorted tours to bring 1 carry-on size piece of luggage per person….

That's a Deal Breaker

Have you thought about your deal breakers? As a social media influencer I follow, would say, “In life, in business, and in love”.

I have been a fan of the show Married at First Sight (MAFS) since season 1 with Monet and Vaughn, Jamie and Doug, and Courtney and Jason when it was FYI network. Yes, I actually subscribed to a “cable” package just to continue to watch this show, and now it's on Lifetime.

Each season I start off strong, watching the interviews, the “matching” episode, the weddings, and honeymoons. But some seasons, I die off faster than others as I see the train wrecks within one week of living with each other.

TravelDCB Travel ExperienceOctober 14, 2021experience, benefits, travel professional, travel, advisor, save, deal breaker

Do You Have Your Invitation?

“Where Can I Go?”

I get that question a lot and my response is where do you want to go? As my mentor expressed to me as I was sitting for my professional engineering exam, “once you pass, you have an invitation to the party. You might not want to go to the party, but you have the invitation”. That’s how I feel about a passport. You may never use it (it’s valid for 10 years) but if an opportunity comes along, you have the invitation to go if you so choose.

The Journey To Touchdown...

As much as I love football, this isn’t a sport’s article reference.

Towards the end of 2020, I made a decision that I would travel out of the country in January 2021. I knew the risks of the pandemic, but I also knew that my happy place/ peace of mind/ self-care is associated with traveling. Since the Caribbean is the main tourist destination open to the USA, I set my sights on Jamaica. On the Carnival Horizon cruise in 2019, there was a port of call in Ocho Rios. I figured revisiting the country but having the ability to stay longer would be ideal. Therefore, Montego Bay was the destination.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Football games, casinos, hurricanes, and parades, I’ve experienced it all on birthday trips. Take a trip down memory lane with me as I reflect on previous birthdays.

Travel Professionals are Alive and Well

We have all seen the headlines and read about the demise of the travel agent. Even former President Obama proclaimed us "extinct". Online booking agencies like Travelocity and Expedia, booking online directly with suppliers and now Google entering the market big time, all appear to have replaced the need for the travel advisor. But was this death notice posted prematurely? And maybe...just maybe...is the career choice of travel consultant one of today's best kept secrets?

DCB Travel ExperienceAugust 8, 2019travel, dcbtravelexperience, travel professional, benefits, experience

THE BLOG

Check out the DCB Travel blog posts to uncover our insights about some of the hottest (and most interesting) travel destinations around the world.

DCB TRAVEL EXPERIENCE