Joyce Striar
To me, travel is all about personal experiences. I tell my clients that we are a team and every trip is about them. I need to understand who you are as a traveler and what you are looking in your trip and then make that happen for you.
Last summer, I planned more than twenty trips to Italy. Someone asked why I couldn’t just send everyone on the same wonderful itinerary. My answer is that no two people are the same. Each has a unique personality and what they hope to discover is different.
Here’s an example: a family with boys aged 16 and 18 that usually goes to a Caribbean resort wanted to go to Europe for the first time. I found them a football (soccer) concierge in England and France, and they spent ten days sightseeing half the day and watching British soccer and going on the field and do warm-ups with different teams the other half. Needless to say, they loved it.
I planned a very different trip for a family with five kids ages 10 to 13. Among the highlights was a visit to Hamley’s, London’s renowned toy store, with a private shopper. I also arranged a family photography session in Hyde Park with props such as bubbles, hula hoops, and soft footballs. They felt like movie stars!
Priorities change with each trip. I sent a couple on a Disney Cruise Line trip with their kids and grandkids, and that same couple is going to cruise to Cuba on a SeaDream Yacht Club cruise.
In many ways, I am as much about teaching people how to travel as arranging it. I try to paint a picture of what you will do and see so you can be open and comfortable with the people and cultures you’ll encounter and help find ways to open doors to special experiences.
One fun idea that I often suggest to clients is to bring a bottle of those bubbles kids like to chase to a park. Start making bubbles and see who comes over. Once you see little kids’ faces light up as they try to poke their fingers in the bubbles and their parents’ smiles, you’ll do it from now on! Sometimes I bring little bubble bottles to hand out. In Cuba, a family sat down with me and showed me photos of their other children. It’s a way to engage. I’ve tried it in many places!
My favorite moments are when my clients say “I could have never done this without you.” Many of them are millennials, and I tease them that they should be able to plan their own, but we all know that technology can’t do what I can!