When I was growing up, I thought vacation meant going to visit family.
Some of my earliest trips were to my great grandparents' house in Brownsville, Texas. They would take me across the border into Mexico, back before I even needed a passport.
One year, I took a road trip to California with my other grandparents for my uncle's wedding. Along the way, I saw mountains for the first time, stood at the Grand Canyon, and eventually made it to the beach.
I was instantly in love with the salty air.
Back then, I didn't think of any of this as travel. We were just going places and visiting family. But looking back, I think those experiences gave me my first glimpse of how much more there was in the world to see.
Fast forward, and now I had three kids and worked all the time.
As a single parent, it always seemed like there was never enough time or enough money. We took small vacations, visited family, spent time at the lake, just normal family stuff. But whenever I could, I found a way for us to go somewhere. We made trips to Oregon, California, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida.
They weren't extravagant vacations. They were just us getting away, seeing somewhere different, and spending time together.
Those little adventures became some of our best memories.
It was our time.
My kids grew up so fast. They graduated and started their own lives, and suddenly I had the chance to figure out who I was.
The truth is, I had no idea who I was outside of being their mom.
By this time, my boyfriend Gary and I had started going on car rallies all over the United States. We traveled to Panama and St. Lucia, and we've spent years exploring Mexico.
The more I traveled, the more I loved experiencing new places, trying new things, and seeing what else was out there.
I also found myself helping other people plan their trips. I loved researching new places, finding unique experiences they might not have found on their own, and then hearing all about their trips when they came home.
Somewhere along the way, I discovered that helping someone else have an incredible trip was almost as exciting as taking one myself.
That's when it really clicked for me.
I don't just love to travel. I love creating unforgettable experiences.
I love sending someone on a trip and knowing it's not just about where they're going. It's about what they experience while they're there, the memories they make, and the stories they'll come home and tell.
That's the part of travel I love.
Then I took a solo trip to Peru.
Peru had been my dream trip for years. I sandboarded down mountains of sand, saw places I had only dreamed about seeing, and pushed myself to do things I had never done before.
When I came home, I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Not just where I had been, but how it made me feel.
I kept thinking, I want other people to experience this.
That was when I knew this was more than something I loved doing. This was what I wanted to do.
And that's where Traveling the Atlas really began.
A week in the Bahamas is more than a flight and a hotel. It's a week of your life, and I want to make that week unforgettable.
Because what I'm really selling is time.
Time with the people you love. Time to experience something you've always dreamed about. Moments of joy. And stories you'll tell for years.
When my kids were young, those little trips were our time.
It took me years to understand just how valuable that was.
And now, that's what I want to give other people.
Because every trip eventually ends.
But the memories don't.
If that's the kind of trip you're after, let's plan it together.
Start planning