Donna Carlson

In 1970, I opened my 4th grade geography book and thought "I want to go EVERYWHERE!” For me, the world had been small, and suddenly, when I saw these pictures and maps and stories, my world became huge. I wanted to see every place in that book.

I studied and worked in graphic design, but my heart was always in travel. In 1986 I saw an ad for Liberty Travel, “willing to train.” I had a good job at the time but said, “no, this is what I want to do.” After a stint at Liberty Travel, I moved to Travel In Style, where I went on to become a manager. I took a break when I had my children, and then returned to work at the job I have loved the most—being a travel agent at Protravel International, the top luxury travel agency in the world.

I have traveled the world and explored every continent except Antarctica. But I don’t have to be living out of a suitcase to be traveling. Every day brings another adventure for me because every trip I plan, I am going on myself--in spirit—as I step through every detail to ensure that you’ll have the best experience possible. I’ll find you a private guide to take you to the best tapas bars in Spain, or a crewed boat to go cove-hopping along Italy’s Amalfi Coast.

Plus, every minute you are traveling, I am on call. I had a couple text me from their honeymoon in Amalfi saying everything was great, but they wished it would stop raining. I texted back that I was doing my rain dance for them and was sending sunny thoughts. Two hours later, they texted back that the sun was shining. I take no credit but my heart definitely with my travelers!