Chances are I’ve been where you want to go.
Let me send you there too.
My passion is travel. That is what lights up my eyes. I use it to help color in my future. Experiential travel lets me feel. Themed travel lets me learn. Let me help you color in your future dreams and fill your senses with the world around you.
All four of my children were on a plane before 6 weeks old. I have been traveling all my life and sought to share those experiences with my family. When I became critically ill at age 36 for a couple of years, I decided that the most important thing in my life, besides my family, was my passion for travel. I gave up climbing the corporate ladder and decided to spend full-time creating travel experiences for myself and others.
Over 25 years later, I have been to 157 countries, all 50 states, and 7 continents, and taken 48 cruises on rivers and oceans. More importantly, my valued clients have benefited from that insider’s knowledge and experience as they choose to explore our world.
Let me help you design your journeys of a lifetime. Oh, and I can book your hotel in Chicago as well. With free breakfast.
With my passion for, deep knowledge of, and extensive experience with travel, I would like to help you develop your whole travel bucket list and then help you fulfill it.
Country specialties
With that wide range of experiences, I could be called a generalist. However, I don’t just visit somewhere to tick a box. I visit many times and study the culture and history – trying to learn the story of the place.
Europe – I’ve been to every country, been to most 3-8 times
UK – I go every year at least once
Ireland
France
Italy
Germany
Spain and Portugal
Greece and Turkey
Benelux
Switzerland and Austria
Poland
Russia and Ukraine
Czech Republic and Slovakia
Romania and Bulgaria
Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Albania, Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia, Kosovo
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Moldova
Australia / New Zealand
Aussie specialist
New Zealand Gold Specialist
North America
US – every state, including Hawaii 7 times
Nearly all Canadian provinces
Throughout Mexico, beaches and colonial towns
Every Caribbean island except Cuba
South and Latin America
Multiple visits to Peru, Argentina, and Costa Rica
Have visited most of the other countries
Asia
Nearly every country in Southeast Asia
China, India, Japan
Middle East
Most Middle Eastern countries except where hostilities are
Africa
Eleven visits and 4 safaris
Antarctica
Expedition cruise and successfully crossed the Drake Passage twice!
Interest specialties
Custom luxury trips worldwide
Cruises – 48 cruises on rivers and oceans on most lines
History, Ancestry, and Architecture
Active and experiential travel – Virtuoso Vast top tier agent
Ski (been to all major North American ski resorts)
Family travel and Disney (graduate of the Disney College of Knowledge)
Honeymoon and destination weddings
Family travel
Solo travel
History and architecture
European Rail Systems
My favorites
City – London History is everywhere. You can return again and again (as I do) and see new things every time.
Country – Australia Incredible natural beauty, especially Ayers Rock, unique wildlife, fascinating aboriginal culture that got there 50,000 years ago! Wonderfully friendly people
Continent – Africa. So many cultures and so much wildlife. Plus my daughter and granddaughter live there!
Trip – Russian river cruise with an orphanage overlay
Beyond travel (though I am not sure there is anything beyond travel!)
I am a nerd. I get excited about things like a new tour focusing on the plague in London that I found. I love to collect random facts about odd things. It helped me accumulate nearly $22,000 on Jeopardy many years ago, though I lost by $400 sadly. I have done in-depth research and speak at academic symposia and to groups about the Holocaust, the Reformation, architecture, the Regency time period of England, and any number of other odd topics. I read 3-5 books a week just because. I decorated my house in the Victorian style just because.
MY MAPS OF PLACES I HAVE VISITED
