Some of you have asked about our travel plans, and what it’s like to travel when you’re a travel advisor, so I thought I’d peel back the curtain today with some of the most frequent questions: 

Is this REALLY a job, or a hobby?

• It’s a career.  It’s a very fun job, but we treat it seriously.  
• The hobbyists in the business are called “Kitchen-table Mabels”.  There’s nothing wrong with doing travel as a side-hustle, but that’s not how we operate. 
• Bob and I met at business school decades ago which means TWO things:  We’re typically people you’d rather avoid at cocktail parties, and we run the biz professionally.

HOW MUCH do you travel?

• We normally do three international trips per year: One in the fall, one in winter, and one in spring.  We prefer to stay put in the summer months.
• We have 7 people on our team now, and all of them travel too (because that’s what differentiates us from the hobbyists, and the big call centers), so at any given time someone is usually out experiencing the world (and taking notes for our clients!).

Do you ever get tired of being on the road that much?

• YES… but it’s not a complaint.  We KNOW we’re really lucky to do this as a job, but it does get tiring if we’ve been away for a long time. 

Do you go to places you don’t like?

• NO… we’ll always make the best of it.  It’s NEVER a disaster.  However, we DO end up in places that might not be our first choice if we were planning our own vacation. 

What do YOU do that your clients DON’T do when travelling?

• TRIP NOTES.  We document costs and logistics (like airport transfers, or public transit fares for our clients).
• PHOTOS & VIDEO CLIP:  I’m the one taking photos of the train ticket kiosk at the airport!
• REPEAT PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES:  I didn’t need to go to the Sydney Opera House again… but we did.
• SHIP TOURS: Or hotel site visits or meetings with local suppliers, or tourism boards
• BATTLE MISINFORMATION:  Between on-line reviews and AI, there’s a lot of misinformation.  We want first-hand information to share with our clients.  

Where are you travelling next?

• KIM will be on the DANUBE in April checking out cruise & golf packages.
• BOB and I will be in COSTA RICA in May.
• SUMMER:  At home — except for a quick trip to Vegas in August for our trade show.
• BOB and I will be in COLOMBIA and PANAMA with AMA Waterways in September.

This is undoubtedly the best job ever for the right person, but it’s still a job, and not without its frustrations.  We still love it, and wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.

In Case You Missed It:

MEKONG River in VIETNAM & CAMBODIA:  Many describe this a life-changing experience.  Here’s a bit more information about this fascinating corner of the globe: 

https://pamperedcruiser.com/vietnam-cambodia-destination-focus/

GLOBAL ENTRY & Frequent Traveler programs:  If you travel abroad more than once a year, there is immense value in registering for one of the many frequent traveller programs available through Homeland Security… but which one?

https://pamperedcruiser.com/trusted-traveller-programs-which-one/

SILVERSEA:  If you like the idea of lots of space, and a butler to cater to your every whim, with tons of dining choices, Silversea operates on all seven continents.

https://pamperedcruiser.com/silversea-classic-luxury/

Featured YOUTUBE Video:

SHORE EXCURSIONS with AMA WATERWAYS:  Each of the river cruise lines in Europe has their own differentiators.  With AMA, it’s an elevated culinary experience, and a choice of several included shore excursions at each port of call.  Bob chats with Kristin Karst – Brand Ambassador for AMA Waterways about how AMA’s Shore Excursions are different.

https://youtu.be/YK30TUkkueY

Remember to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel while you’re there.  It really helps us, and we can produce more content for you!

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Today’s Travel Opportunities –  pending Price checks.

SILVERSEA Classic Luxury

As our featured vendor in February, we can get you additional amenities not available on direct bookings: 

CANADA & NEW ENGLAND:  New Jersey to Montreal departing October 13 for 11-days

• Start in Bayonne (NJ), and visit Newport, Cape Cod, Boston, Portland, Halifax, Charlottetown, Saguenay, Quebec City, and end in Montreal. 
• Fares from $8320

PANAMA CANAL:  Miami to Los Angeles departing December 21 for 18-days

• Start in Miami, and visit Cartagena, transit the Panama Canal, Puntarenas, Puerto Quetzal, Puerto Vallarta, San Diego, and end in Los Angeles. 
• Fares from $7875

NEW ZEALAND & AUSTRALIA:  Sydney to Auckland departing December 4 for 14-days

• Start in Sydney and visit Hobart, Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Stewart Island, Dunedin, Akaroa, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, Tauranga, and finish in Auckland. 
• Fares from $9720

CARIBBEAN:  Miami round-trip departing November 18 for 12-days

• Start in Miami and visit San Juan, St John (Virgin Islands), Gustavia, St. John’s (Antigua and Barbuda), Little Bay, St. Kitts (Basseterre), Jost Van Dyke (British Virgin Islands), and end in Miami. 
• Fares from $4960

RIVER CRUISES – AMA

AMA is on all the rivers in Europe, and those that value an elevated culinary experience and more choices for included shore excursions gravitate to AMA.  Your final payment is only 90 days in advance, too.  Here’s two suggestions OUTSIDE EUROPE:

COLOMBIA: Barranquilla to Cartagena for 7-nights

• Take in a Carnaval celebration, take a stilt-house village tour, enjoy a jazz street performance, and San Felipe Castle and Walled city tour.  Enjoy the Latin music, sample the famous coffee, and take in the tropical rainforest.
• Only a 4 HOUR FLIGHT from many US Gateways.
• Pre/post available to Medellin and/or Panama.
• Departures year round.  Pricing starts at $2999

Here’s a short video of a MOTHER-SON trip with AMA in Colombia that perfectly captures this fascinating destination:

https://youtu.be/tGbLg6R7mfI?si=YLDqAyklNozmvlM2

MEKONG River: Vietnam & Cambodia from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap for 7-nights

• Visit local markets and temples, do a local school visit, get a tuk-tuk tour of Phnom Penh, and experience the amazing people, culture and food of the unique part of the world on a fully escorted trip. 
• Departures January through April AND August through December from $2299

AMA on the MEKONG.  Kim travelled with Alex Pinelo from AMA Waterways on the Mekong, and put together this video: https://youtu.be/tvA_WHOYuLo 

OCEANIA Presidents’ Day SALE

If you’re contemplating a trip to ALASKA, and want an elevated CULINARY experience, take a look at Oceania’s Presidents’ Day Sale.  

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/special-offers/upgrade-sale?insider=mmjy-sue-bob-bradley-the-pampered-cruiser

Here’s one example

ALASKA:  Seattle round-trip departing July 2 for 12-days

• Start in Seattle and visit Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Wrangell, Klawock, Victoria, and end in Seattle. 
• Fares from $4,649
• This cruise will be hosted by Claudine Pepin:  President of Jacques Pepin Foundation, James Beard Award Winner, and Godmother of Oceania Sirena

TAUCK LAND CRUISES

You can’t get everywhere on a ship, so TAUCK has land tours that are structured like cruises, and are inclusive like cruise vacations:

CLASSIC ITALY from Naples to Venice for 14-days.

• Fly into Naples, and go to Sorrento for 2-nights to experience the Amalfi Coast.  Next visit the city of Pompeii on your way to Rome for 3-nights, where you’ll visit the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel, and all the major sites in Rome.  Next head to Orvieto’s Duomo, Perugia in the wine region of Umbria.  Collect another UNESCO site at Assisi.  On to Tuscany to visit San Gimignano and Cinque Terre, 3-nights in Florence, high speed rail to Venice for 2-nights
• Tauck Exclusive: Learn about the masters of the Renaissance in Florence when an art historian shares insights about what you’ll see inside the Galleria dell’Accademia and the Uffizi Galleries
• Departures from April through October from $11,890

SWITZERLAND from Geneva to Zurich for one-week

• Spectacular scenery at every turn.  Start in Geneva, and then visit Lausanne for chocolate making, and a winery visit.  Next take in the Olympic Museum, and take the Golden Pass train across the Swiss Alps to Interlaken.  Spend a day in Brienz to experience rural crafts and cheese making.  Visit the “Top of the World” at Jungfraujoch, and then on to the charming old town at Lucerne.  
• Departures April through October from $7990

ATLAS Remote YACHTING EXPERIENCES

All of ATLAS’ yachts carry less than 200 guests, so they can get you into some of the smaller places, and you’ll see the larger places differently.  

ENGLAND, SCOTLAND & IRELAND:  London to Glasgow departing May 11, 2027 for 9-nights

• Start in London and visit St. Malo, St. Mary’s, Cork, Dublin, Liverpool, Belfast, and end in Glasgow.
• Fares from $5,988

SPAIN & MOROCCO:  Seville to Casablanca departing April 16, 2027 for 9-nights

• Start in Seville and visit the Guadalquivir River, Puerto Banús, Motril, Ibiza, Cartagena, Málaga, Tangier, and end in Casablanca.
• Fares From $6,293

If you’d like to visit the ARCTIC, you can also travel with ATLAS:

GREENLAND, CANADIAN ARCTIC & NEWFOUNDLAND: Departing September 21 for 17-nights

• Visit Kangerlussuaq, Sisimiut, and Disko Bay in Greenland, Qikiqtarjuaq, Lady Franklin Island, Monumental Island, and the Button Islands in Nunavut Territory, Saglek Fjord, Hebron, Tikkoatokak Bay, L’Anse aux Meadows, Red Bay, Norris Point and Woody Point in Newfoundland, as well as St. Pierre & Miquelon (France)  and finish in St. John’s. 
• Fares from $16,022

NORWAY – North of Arctic Circle: Longyearbyen to Oslo departing June 18 for 12-nights

• Start in Longyearbyen and visit Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Bear Island, North Cape, Tromsø, Lofoten Islands, Maloy, Skagen and finish in Oslo. 
• Fares from $8,063

Do You Have an Upcoming Viking Cruise?

Viking’s BON VOYAGE incentive allows you to book your next Viking cruise in the 35 days BEFORE you board, and get some extra goodies for doing so:

• $100 per person on board credit
• 6-month final payment date
• $100 per person OFF one-week cruises, and bigger discounts for longer itineraries.

We made a short video about the Bon Voyage Program if you’d like more details:  

https://youtu.be/gBM8IvjIb3U?si=Vy9UDiSqZQYHWR32 
Contact us to book your NEXT VIKING CRUISE

If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley