I'm back! Updates & what does a travel agent do anyway?

Oh how I've missed you!  I'm so happy to back and excited about what's to come!  Listen in for updates, answers to "what does a travel agent do anyway?"  and your daily dose of inspiration. 

Black Dog Luxury Travel Website: https://blackdogluxurytravel.com/

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LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/blackdogluxurytravel/

Black Dog Luxury Travel Website: https://blackdogluxurytravel.com/

Want to connect? I'd love to hear from you!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackdogluxurytravel/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackdogluxurytravel

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blackdogluxurytravel/

Transcript

Paula: 0:00

Welcome to the Vacation Inspiration Podcast. I'm Paula, your host and owner of Black Dog Luxury Travel, where we design custom vacations for the discerning traveler. If your vacation plans are in need of some serious inspiration, you are in the right place and I am so glad you are here. Hello everyone. It has been a hot minute since I have done a podcast and I have missed you guys so much. I also been just busy, busy, good, busy, but I didn't want to, um, be working on any podcasts that were just subpar or not worthy of your listening. So there is that. If you do hear some. Kind of chitter chatter. Right now, I am actually on my back patio in beautiful Texas. It's currently not too crazy hot. So I like to take advantage of the beautiful weather when I can, um, and sometimes do some work outside. Unless I need multiple screens, then I'm back inside. But if I can take advantage of a beautiful day like this, I'm all about it. So, um, let's see. Yeah. What have we been up to here? Uh, the Black dog, luxury Travel, the black dogs. Took a road trip up to beautiful Tulsa, Oklahoma, and, uh, Dormie competed in the, AKC. National Agility Championship. And that was super fun. Uh, Chip did not compete, but he did come along to, to cheer us on and we got to spend some time with some really great friends and in really great company. And I always enjoy those national events because I get to see people that I haven't seen in quite some time. So it's always a treat and always treasure. Um, and also too, I did go down to Chile. To Patagonia, and that was an amazing experience. So I hope to, to bring on some, some people from Chile onto the podcast and talk about that. But it was absolutely phenomenal. I really can't say enough good things about it. Um, what else has been going on? My clients, my beautiful, beautiful clients. I love you guys so much. They have been planning some really cool trips. Um, So that's really great. They're just, they're choosing to celebrate life. They're celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, honeymoons, um, they're, you know, spending quality time with their families and they're just creating those memories that they're gonna take with them forever. And we're designing some, just some fun things that I think they're really gonna love, and that's part of. What I love about my job, and some people have asked me, you're like, what? You know, what does a travel agent even do? Um, it's very rarely do I ever book just a, just a plane ticket and a hotel room. Um, I really enjoy creating experiences for people. So I like to say, if you can get to the plane, everything else is taken care of. So, um, really, you know, designing a trip around the personal desires. Of of you, what, what lights you up? What things you know bring you joy? What things can we add in? What experiences can you have that maybe no one else can have? Or which ones are gonna be just special, special for you? It's your life. It's you. Your vacation should be as unique as you are. Um, and I'm very fortunate in that I work with. Teams in the locations where, where you guys are traveling to, where my clients are traveling to and they're, these teams are amazing. They're, they're absolutely mind-blowingly, is that a word? Um, amazing. And like just one example, um, is, and this happens all the time and it's stuff that I hear about, but not so much the general public actually hears about, but. It. Like, I will have, I will have a team come to me. I'll be like, you know, we have this couple, this one in particular, they really enjoyed hiking. Um, and like the extreme hiking, not just the, uh, walks or the neighborhood that I take my dogs on every day, but the extreme type of hiking and we had it lined up for them to do in Switzerland and the days that they were going to be doing their hikes, the weather was. Just crummy, like sideways, rain, not pleasant. Um, and the teams, the team looked at this and they looked at their, what their itinerary was and what they were supposed to be doing on certain days. And they said, you know what? We're gonna, we're gonna rearrange all of this. We're gonna just on the fly, we're gonna rearrange all of this so that way they can, can do their hikes on the days when the weather is just beautiful versus having to, you know, suck it up and, and. Go in the rain, that's really not fun. Anyway, so all the, all the client really had to do every day was, you know, get up. They knew about the changes that were being made. Everything was taken care of. They didn't miss any part of their trip and they were able to experience, you know, the highlight of for them was the hiking and they were able to experience that on the, the days that had the good weather. So that's, that's kind of something, it's just. So special, and you almost can't put a price tag on that. But that is a little bit of, of what I do and, and the people that I work with and the types of experiences that we create for our clients, just to make it seamless and, and smooth and as enjoyable as possible. Um, oh, I was gonna, I've actually had a few questions lately about some travel insurance, and I figured if someone else is having those type of questions, You know, more people probably are having the same questions and it, it's usually, you know, should I get, should I get travel insurance on this or not? And my personal stance is yes. Um, if you have, if you have an investment like this going on for your vacation, it just seems wise to throw some insurance on that. Um, even if the policy doesn't. Cover a hundred percent. If something does happen and life is full of things that randomly happen, um, you know, at least then you, you have some coverage. And if you aren't able to go on your trip and experience it, at least you haven't lost everything. Um, it is a personal choice, so if you are fine with losing that investment, or there are things that can be canceled without penalty at the last minute, you know, maybe. Don't, don't do the insurance. It's really, it's honestly, it's a, it's a personal choice and there's no wrong choice as long as you're happy with it. So that's kind of one thing I wanted to clarify about travel insurance. Um, yeah. And then, you know, just one other thing that's just kind of been on my heart lately is really to find something that you do every day that lights you up. I, and this sounds so, Probably random for a travel podcast, but I was getting, um, Chip's, dog food, and, and he gets a, a special type of food and we get it at a special place. And, and, um, I was purchasing it this weekend and it comes frozen. Um, And they, they said, you know, do you want, do you want another box for this? And it honestly didn't matter to me either way, if there was, if it was in a box or not. Cuz it's just going home into the freezer. And, uh, so I, I said to them, I'm like, well, if it brings you joy, to put it in a box, go ahead. And without missing a beat, they stopped. And they said, there's so little in life that brings me joy. I don't even know what that would be anymore. And like my heart just. Broke right there. So please don't live that way. Please. Let's find something every day that brings us some joy. Like me right now, currently on my back patio. Um, listening to the birds shutter away brings me joy. Doing this podcast and talking to you guys brings me joy. So I hope it brings you some joy as well, and that you also find something today that will be joyful. And I can't wait to bring up some future episodes. We've got some really fun properties and experiences that, um, we'll be introducing to you, coming up and I hope you enjoy those as well. So I hope everyone's doing well. It's so great to be back and, I just can't wait for the future. Thank you so much for joining me this week. If you've enjoyed this episode of Vacation Inspiration, it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review and subscribe. It only takes a few seconds and it makes a very big difference. That's all for this episode. I can't wait to see you again soon.