I come from a family of wanderers. As a kid growing up in Florida we spent a lot of time exploring the state from top to bottom. And it was never the cities but always the state parks, the secluded beaches, the dirt roads that went who knows where. And thus began my lifelong wanderlust.
Not even a year out of college, I found myself working for a large local travel agency in Atlanta in their leisure department and I’ve never looked back. In 1988, it was time for a change so, with a business partner, I opened Explorations, a Travel Agency Ltd. By that time, I had honed my wanderlust to a love of third world destinations, exotic and off-the-beaten path places which became the focus of our agency. We were at the very beginning of “adventure travel” when there was nothing at all luxurious about it. But it was awesome! I ventured to the most faraway places I could find – Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Kamchatka, Yemen, Bhutan, Malawi, Namibia, Madagascar, Malaysia – places to where, at the time, very few tourists had traveled. Since then, like my clients, I am looking for more creature comforts but I am true to my first love and continue to find those destinations that are as far away from the rest of the world as possible.
By 2014, my husband and I were spending 5 months of the summer in Vancouver and it was time to let go. It was really hard – after 25 years – to say goodbye but it was the right thing to do at the right time and we sold Explorations to SmartFlyer based in New York. I am proud to be affiliated with SmartFlyer as an independent contractor.
Staying up way too late at Freddy’s Bar at the Hotel De L’Europe in Amsterdam. Everyone In Amsterdam who is “someone” ends up there at some point in the evening so the people watching is as every bit as good as the cocktails!
Favorite Memory
Staying up way too late at Freddy’s Bar at the Hotel De L’Europe in Amsterdam. Everyone In Amsterdam who is “someone” ends up there at some point in the evening so the people watching is as every bit as good as the cocktails!
Insider Tip
Every Querido Hotel has some hidden corners- go exploring and find them. Find a quiet spot and soak in the warmth of the destination and the people.
Next Dream Trip?
Hmmm…is “all of them” an okay answer? But if I have to pick just one, I would say Sublime Comporta because I find is fascinating that there is such a little gem tucked away “right around the corner from where everyone goes.”
Cannot travel without...
Crazy as it may sound – my little stuffed alpaca – Alberto. I found him in a little craft shop in Lima 3 years ago and he has been around the world with me. He has his own Facebook page (Alberto d’Alpaca) and has already been to 6 continents – just missing Australia!