Ep. 46 | Tom Karnes on Exploring Panama and Merida Mexico

This week the friends welcome travel business giant and owner of LaMacchia Travel, Tom Karnes. Tom discusses traveling and eating through Panama and Merida, Mexico. Make sure to visit us at Friendsthatcarryon.com for more content!

Transcript

Intro

Welcome everyone to the Friends That Carry On Podcast, where we dive deeper into our trips, unpack tips, and everything in between. Now, sit back, relax, and get ready to go on a trip with your favorite group of friends.

Jim Scott 

Hello and welcome to Friends That Carry On Podcast. We, as you know, are a group of friends who like to travel the world and share our adventures with our listeners. We try to create FOMO amongst ourselves and hopefully do the same with our listeners, inspiring you to travel. Today, we are fortunate enough to have Matt Kondrup, from Matty K Travel Group, join us. Matt, welcome to the Friends That Carry On Podcast. Today, it’ll be me, Jim Scott, and Tony Price are the friends leading everyone on this journey. So, welcome aboard, Matt.

Matt Kondrup 

Thank you so much, guys. Thank you, Tom. Thank you, Jim, for having me. It is an absolute honor to be here today and join you guys here on this Friday afternoon as we talk a little bit of travel, especially with times how it’s been so incredibly difficult, especially in the travel and tourism industry to have this opportunity to talk travel now as things start to open up and we can kind of really think about what we’re going to be hitting in the next few months and what’s open, what’s not open, and where to get on a plane and head to right now.

Jim Scott 

Right. Absolutely. You’re in Long Island, New York, is that right?

Matt Kondrup 

Yes, everybody makes fun of me saying it, but we are based in Long Island, New York. I have to accentuate that Long Island accent there. We have 40 independent contractors spread out throughout the union of the 50 states. I do not have anybody in Hawaii or Alaska, but pretty much just about every state, we have at least one independent contractor advisor. But home based storefront, the headquarters is here in Long Island, New York.

Jim Scott 

Great. That sounds like a pretty extensive network. Do you want to tell us a little bit about how you got started in the history of Matty K Travel?

Matt Kondrup 

We kind of got started by accident. It kind of just happened. My background actually has nothing to do with travel, tourism, or business. I am actually a paramedic for the police department here in New York for the last almost 18 years and came a point where I was looking for something on the side to do to kind of occupy my time that was a little bit different than talking with my wife about work everyday and my wife being an emergency room nurse. The opportunity presented itself to start working and selling Disney travel. And with that network, I went from selling just Disney vacations to selling cruises and all inclusives to just realizing that, “Hey, maybe I should, instead of working for somebody else, go out on my own.” And that kind of happened pretty quickly. During that time, I suffered a paramedic career ending injury that left me laid up literally in a bed for a period of time to have that evil mind of how to grow a business, how to grow and expand pretty quickly, and the Maliki travel group was formed. Within that came Castle Vacations, which is our Disney-inspired travel agency and then you also have MK Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, which is self-explanatory, focusing on honeymoons and destination weddings. And here we are a couple years later, we are taking travel industry by storm. We’re no nonsense. We love our clients. We treat all of our clients like family and we love every second of the travel industry. We really do.

Jim Scott 

Well, that’s awesome. That’s also quite a segue from paramedic to travel advisor. That’s a pretty wild transition there.

Matt Kondrup 

Yeah, it’s definitely not something you hear every day. I have met a couple of retired nurses, retired police officers in the industry, but even today I’m technically still employed as a paramedic, I am awaiting retirement to kick in from here and have that happen. So, a long arduous process to have that happen. After breaking your back and breaking your femur, it kind of makes it next to impossible to do that job anymore. So, we’re moving on and here we are. Like I said, thankfully, I have this. Thankfully this business, this industry has opened themselves with open arms to me and accepted me and my craziness, and my lack of a filter, as people would tell you.

Jim Scott 

That’s probably a charm.

Tony Price 

It’s the Long Island charm, right?

Matt Kondrup 

Exactly. Absolutely, the Long Island charm, but this is fantastic. Because of my background is why I’ve learned very quickly. Life is short. It’s sweet. We need to cherish it. In a split second, it can be taken from you. I put that same feeling into every vacation. Every trip that we plan is about that love for travel, that love for life, and it’s so important to cherish our experiences with our family, our friends, our loved ones. And that’s what we try to instill and bring to what we do with our clients.

Jim Scott 

That’s fantastic. I know with us, especially at some special place on a vacation or trip, or whatever, we’re just either overlooking an incredible monument or building or looking out just at a great seascape or landscape. One of our slogans that we came up just as friends and now as kind of a motto for our podcast is that ‘life don’t suck’. When you’re sitting there just enjoying that moment and you’re just like, “You know, life don’t suck.” So, we agree with your sentiment very much there.

Matt Kondrup 

Awesome. Yeah, that’s exactly it. We have to cherish life and live every day like there is no tomorrow.

Tony Price 

Absolutely.

Jim Scott 

Absolutely. Now, speaking of breaking your back, COVID did here a couple months ago and I know that just thrown everybody’s world upside down, including being able to go and travel and everything else. So, not so much to go in detail on what’s going on with COVID, but how are you advising customers coming out of COVID and what do you see that now that it looks like at least a little bit on the horizon is the opportunity to start getting out and getting away from our isolation and our lockdowns, and all that type of stuff?

Matt Kondrup 

It’s different because every state, every county, has different rules, has different opinions. No matter who you talk to, everybody’s got a different opinion on the topic. When COVID shut down, I vividly remember the phone call coming at my daughter’s school was going to be shut down on March 16th. Obviously, I threw things into a whirlwind. We thought it was going to be a quick two-week thing, but here we are a couple months later, the world is opening back up slowly. So, what we know of travel is changed. I actually just looked the other day for a direct flight home from Cancun back to JFK. I used to have 30 different options and I had no direct options that particular day. But things are starting to change. Cancun is open. I have some travel friends that are actually there right now. Jamaica, I believe is opening their doors on June 15th to clients. And there’s different rules you read online about if you’re from the New York tri state area, you would have to quarantine if you go to Florida. The Floridians don’t want us. There’s things online saying that the numbers are spiking. But in the grand scheme of things, the world is starting to reopen slowly. Like I said, travelers have changed and will change, and things might go back to pre-COVID but here we are. It’s been a rough couple of months but the world is opening up and I think that in time, we will adjust to whether it’s the masks, the sanitizer, and all of that stuff, but we’ll get there.

Jim Scott 

Yeah, right. We’re a travel podcast. We’re travel junkies. So,  one of the things we were talking about, you know, there’s always the fine line, is it too soon or not? But for those who do want to travel, you would think that there’s probably some opportunities to travel now whether it’s immediately or in the near future. What are some of the things that you’re seeing that you recommend or think some good deals out there?

Matt Kondrup 

There’s some great hotel deals. Airfare, not so much. Everybody thinks now’s the time to book air, Eric, you’re going to get some great air deals. I haven’t seen that many great air deals. But as things start to open up, there are some great deals in the Caribbean, especially in what I call your three main parts that are your mainstream, your Cancun, your Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, and Jamaica Montego Bay, which you’d be flying into. There are some amazing deals as things start to slowly open. Your AIC Hard Rock has some great, incredible deals going on right now. They even launched a voucher program. So, if you’re not sure of your dates, if you know you want to travel in 2020, you pay a set price and you can pretty much lock in that price for any time during the year with the exceptions of a couple of blackout dates, and same thing for 2021. Palace Resorts is doing that buy one get one room, and it doesn’t have to be used at the same time.

Jim Scott 

The Palace Resorts, where is that?

Matt Kondrup 

Palace Resorts has resorts in Mexico and Jamaica. The Moon Palace in Jamaica and then they have LeBlanc and the Palace Resorts in Cancun and also in Cabo. AMResorts has a couple places starting to slowly open. They’re opening up a little slowly. Same thing with Sandals, as a unique vacation, Sandals Beach is there opening up a little slower. Definitely, I know right now, there’s a couple of friends that are down at The Fives in Playa Del Carmen, it’s open. El Dorado Maroma, some friends are at this week and have been live streaming. It’s obviously at a low capacity, but it’s there and the safety measures are there because, obviously, if the safety measures aren’t there, people are going to go away. They’re not going to feel safe. It’s not going to go over well when people go write reviews online or come back and tell their friends about it. They’re investing a ton of money to make you feel safe. These companies are partnering with some top companies. I believe it was Hard Rock partnered with Ecolab to ensure that the guests feel safe, the rooms are clean. Universal down in Orlando is open. Don’t even get me started on Disney. They’re not open yet. And I’m a junkie. If you’ve ever heard of Disney junkies, I am a true and true Disney World pass holder. We obviously have a Disney agency. We’re in Disney all the time. They have really dropped the ball big time.

Jim Scott 

I thought Disney was supposed to be open by now. I mean, I knew they were shooting for it, I guess that hadn’t happened.

Matt Kondrup 

Disney opened their Disney Springs, which is nothing more than a shopping mall. That’s really what Disney Springs is. There’s nothing more to it. You can go there, you can go shopping, but you’re not seeing the characters, you’re not going on any rides, you’re not seeing the princesses. It is glorified. It’s a dining outlet and it’s a shopping mall where you can spend money and give it to the mouse. That’s what Disney Springs does.

Jim Scott 

Well, you got any updates on when they’re supposed to start opening up?

Matt Kondrup 

They’re supposed to start opening up in stages. I believe it was July 11 for resorts, but that doesn’t guarantee you access to the parks. They got rid of the dining plans, they rip that out from us. They got rid of the park hoppers. You have to make reservations to get into the parks. And if you’re staying on property, there’s still no guarantee that you’re getting into a park. And even with that, the parks that do open in stages are opening in phases of Magic Kingdom Epcot, then you’ll have Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. But you have to make a reservation. Only outdoor attractions are available. The dining, as much you know, has changed vastly. Anybody thinks of Chef Mickey’s, one of the most popular places to go when you went to Disney at the contemporary resort. It was a buffet style. Everybody got to see all the main characters, hugs, kisses, spend time with the characters. That’s all gone. That’s over with. Let alone being able to take pictures or get close to these characters. A lot of change is coming. I don’t know if it’s all going to be good or bad, if it’s temporary or permanent. It’s something to watch and see. It’s definitely not your typical. My kids, we take them every year for their birthday. Each one of my three daughters would go to Disney. I have a five-year-old turning six in July, and to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to go to Disney World, there’s nothing open, right? We’re supposed to live in the Caribbean. Give me a credit card and we’ll go to Hard Rock or we’ll go to Moon Palace, or we’ll go to Margaritaville.

Tony Price 

Yeah, we were just having that same conversation. Our youngest turned six in April when we originally thought about going and of course, that got shot. So, hopefully, it’s still going to be back to some kind of normalcy by the time he turned seven next April.

Matt Kondrup 

Yeah, I think by next year you’ll see. I think we need to feel it out. People need to feel comfortable because you don’t want to discount people’s feelings and what their comfort levels are. And you also don’t want to discount the people that are ready to travel. It’s kind of someone said as I walked across the street before while getting a cup of coffee. It was, “If you want to travel, you should be free to travel. And if you want to stay home, you should be free to stay at home and not feel pressured in either way.” I think that’s important. It was funny somebody said during this whole thing here in New York, “It was okay to go to Target and go shop there because that was an essential store. But if you went down the street to Kohl’s, Kohl’s you couldn’t go shop at.” The supermarket was safe, but the hair salon wasn’t.

Jim Scott 

I know around here going to Lowe’s was a madhouse.

Matt Kondrup 

Lowe’s was open. Home Depot was closed. It was crazy here.

Tony Price 

Cool. Well, the other thing I was going to ask you, too, you’re talking about some friends down in the Caribbean and Mexico, have you talked to them to see how the experience has been as far as eating and hanging out, and checking out some of the local scenes? Is that still open or is it very reduced?

Matt Kondrup 

Things are reduced. I mean, things literally just opened. Cancun opened to visitors on June 8, and here we are on the 12th. This was just four days ago. If you think of all of these all inclusive resorts, part of what they talk about is they have so many different restaurant options and food options. If you’re at 20-30% capacity, there’s no sense in having 15 restaurants open and all that food. That’s wasted food. What they did do and I do know that what The Fives in Playa Del Carmen is doing is two of their restaurants are open, they’re changing their menu each night. So, instead of opening up all the restaurants, they have changed it where two of the restaurants are open, so you’re not eating the same thing every night if you’re going for a week. So, things are opening. I do know our travel partner in Cancun, if you’ve ever booked a trip with Maddie Kay travel, you’re going to be met with Lomas Travel. They’re going to have a nice sign, they’re going to have a nice welcome bag. You cannot miss their white pants and their blue shirt. They spray your luggage down, they are there with a mask, they’re there with a welcome bag, they put you in a nice sanitized vehicle, bring you to your resort. The Fives had this sanitizer machine that you actually walk in. It checks your temperature. It sprays this disinfectant on you and you’re on your way.

Jim Scott 

Well, that’s the way to do it.

Matt Kondrup 

Exactly it. They’re not making you wear a mask. Even across the street here on Long Island, you know, talking about wearing masks, you have to wear a mask on a plane. What do you want to do when you want to take a sip of water? What is my two-year-old going to do on a plane? It’s impossible. You don’t have to wear a mask if you choose not to. All the staff are wearing masks. They’re separating themselves. But you can’t figure to wear a mask sitting in the pool. Slowly, the pool bars are opening and as the capacity and occupancy goes up, we’ll see the more and more restaurants open and the more and more options open up.

Jim Scott 

Maybe it’s too soon with your friends just getting down there at these resorts now just opened a few days ago, but are there any restrictions flying back into the states? Does anybody have to quarantine or do anything special other than maybe their temperature being taken to get back into the states properly?

Matt Kondrup 

I haven’t seen anything in particular. I do know that you do have that questionnaire that you fill out. Now, when you come back into the states that Customs and Border Patrol are asking you to fill out a little bit more in depth than your typical form when you entered. I don’t know whether they’re checking temperatures. Each state has a different rule and regulation of where you visited, do you have to quarantine, and who’s enforcing that. Right now, if you’re from the New York tri state area and you go to Florida, you’re supposed to, quote unquote, quarantine. I’ve had clients who have just recently traveled to Florida. They were from the New York area. They weren’t asked to quarantine. Obviously, they were not sick. They followed all the same guidelines of staying six feet apart, wearing a mask. When they came back here to New York, there was no question about where you traveled, what you did. We have not had anybody yet come back from a Caribbean island or from a European island to ask that. I do know that some of the travel nurses that I’ve spoken to who were back and forth from Florida, who came here to New York, that were lifesavers. You want to talk about saving lives, literally, figuratively, these travel nurses flew back and forth from Florida here to New York to help us out. They were on the plane on a regular basis. They were not required to quarantine or anything like that. Obviously, they were healthcare workers, but there was no line setup, “Here, let’s check your temperature.” type thing. It’s kind of a little bit of responsibility as an adult. If you’re sick, stay home. If you’re not sick, feel free to travel, kind of thing.

Tony Price 

There’s something else I want to ask you about. I heard that you put together some packages for some graduates.

Matt Kondrup 

Yes. So, what we did is, all of these high school graduates, college graduates, they missed out on graduation, they missed out on cap gown, family, friends, being able to celebrate that milestone, whether it’s graduating high school or graduating college. So, we partnered with TIMA and we put together this amazing idea. Hard Rock Riviera Maya, the first week of August, not going to lie, it might be a little hot down there, but we promise an amazing, amazing experience. What we’re going to do is we’re going to recreate your graduation. Whether it’s high school or college, you come down, you visit with us, we have an amazing block of room set up with a great price, and we are going to recreate your graduation. We’re going to do one for college graduates and we’re going to do one for high school graduates. College graduates, if you’re over 21, you can have a cocktail. High school graduates, you can have a Shirley Temple or something. But, we are going to recreate that. It’s funny, here in New York, they just passed the rule that if there’s 150 or less people, you can hold the graduation. But if there’s 151, it’s not okay. Come on down to the Caribbean, come down to Hard Rock Riviera Maya, August 1st through the 7th. Matty K Travel Group, we have an amazing deal set up with the Hard Rock Group at Hard Rock Riviera Maya. We are going to celebrate your graduation whether it’s from high school or college. Even my middle daughter, she graduated from preschool, we’ll be there, we’re going to celebrate that, celebrate our preschool graduation going off to kindergarten. You can come down. We will have caps and gowns. You can bring your diploma or bring a copy of it and we’re going to hand it to you pomp and circumstance. The whole nine yards, big celebration is going to go on down there for that.

Jim Scott 

Nice. And I assume, obviously, family can come and that type of stuff. How does that work?

Tony Price 

The more the merrier. We are actually working out a package and a plan that if you have a family large enough, we’re going to try to make it where the graduate can go for free. We’re still working out those details. But yes, family, friends, everybody, we’ve got a big block of rooms. We’ve already spoken to the Hard Rock. If we need more rooms, and you have a big family, and you want to put it all together, we’re going to do this similar to how we would do a wedding group. We blocked off rooms. Some great deals, go down there. By that point, the pool bars will be open, the restaurants will be open. There’ll be direct flights from just about all your major cities. So, if you don’t have summer plans and if you’re up in the air about what to do for graduation, how to celebrate that graduation, graduation gift even, go spend it with your family and your friends at Hard Rock Riviera Maya, August 1st to the 7th. I need a three-night minimum. Obviously, nobody wants to go away for just three nights. Go away for four or five nights. Spend it with your family and friends. You might see a cameo appearance from Matty K if the wife allows me out of the house for those days because a week later, well, actually, August 8, I got to be in Hard Rock Punta Cana and then I’m right back at Hard Rock Riviera Maya on August 16th for the romance travel forum. So, I might as well just take a residency at Hard Rock.

Tony Price 

It sounds terrible.

Jim Scott 

That sounds like [inaudible 24:43]

Matt Kondrup 

I don’t think my wife’s going to go for it.

Tony Price 

Well, it’s a family thing, can she come with it?

Matt Kondrup 

I offered. I asked. She is possibly going to come with us. We were actually just talking about this right before the podcast. We are actually going to celebrate my daughter’s pre-K graduation at this event at Hard Rock Riviera Maya. So, whether it’s kindergarten, fifth grade, eighth grade, whatever it might be, we will accommodate. We will make it age appropriate, we will accommodate whatever age group is needed, but let’s celebrate this milestone for children. It’s so important to honor their hard work especially in 2020. It’s not easy being a kid. And with everything that’s gone on, I watch my three little kids and they’re struggling. It’s tough to be separated from your friends and your family. We really made it. So, by the time that August comes, it will be safe to travel, all of those safety measures will be in place to stay safe and travel at the same time.

Jim Scott 

That sounds fantastic. So, can people go to mattyktravelgroup.com to get more details or can you, maybe after the podcast, email us a link to the package if you got a specific landing page on your site that we can put up on our page?

Matt Kondrup 

Yeah, mattyktravelgroup.com. We’re going to have a landing page. It was supposed to go up today. I shut off my email so you didn’t hear the ding every five seconds while we were doing this podcast. There is a landing page. After this, we will post that on the podcast on how to access us but if you go to Matty K Travel Group, give us a call, send us an email, we have all the information. We have staff working. Literally, we’ve gone from being absolutely dead here in the office to being insane. People are ready to travel. We are booking travel like it’s nobody’s business. It’s incredible. The phones have been ringing. Like I said, I put my phone on Do Not Disturb here, but otherwise, it’s ringing off the hook. People want to travel.

Jim Scott 

That’s great news.

Matt Kondrup 

It’s good, safe to travel. But, you don’t want to discount those who are afraid. If you’re scared, if you’re nervous, that’s okay. The time will come when you’re more comfortable and we’ll be there for you. If you have a question about it, ask us. I always say, when somebody asks me about traveling, when they say, “What resort do you recommend?” or “What do you suggest?”, we will only sell, we will only recommend the place that I would take my wife and my three daughters. So, if I’m suggesting a place, I’ve either been there with my wife and my three daughters or I would take my wife and three daughters. There’s places that I’m not sending you and there’s a reason why. We don’t talk about them, we don’t have to. We represent certain brands because we stand behind those brands and those brands stand behind us. And I can tell you without a doubt, I’ve been to Hard Rock Riviera Maya, my family’s been there, we are going to be there this summer a couple of times. You have to know when you send a client somewhere, it’s not just about a sale, it’s about a relationship. It’s about trust. That’s why we are travel advisors. It’s not just about that quick travel agent, boom, see you later, here’s your trip, here’s your travel documents. It is truly, “Let’s book a trip. Let’s do this together.”

Tony Price 

That’s awesome.

Jim Scott 

Absolutely.

Tony Price

Well, we’ll definitely have a link to Matty K’s website in our show notes up on the website, friendswhocarryon.com. And of course, hit mattyktravelgroup.com and hit Matty up, try to book some trips.

Jim Scott 

Yep, absolutely. Well, Matt, let’s talk about a couple places. Obviously, you’ve probably been to a lot of places but let’s talk to a couple places you’ve been to recently. First, let’s start with Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. I believe you’ve gone there recently. Give us some thoughts on that.

Matt Kondrup 

Well, it’d be no surprise that I was at Hard Rock Punta Cana. It was literally right before this whole Coronavirus hit. There was talk about it. It was going to happen and we were there for two reasons. We were there obviously to spend some time with the family, we were there to do some work in Hard Rock Punta Cana, we were there dealing with a new DMC that we had partnered with. Hard Rock Punta Cana has one of the most beautiful beaches you will ever see. It is literally right on the border of what would be considered Punta Cana to the Macao Beach, and it is gorgeous. It is incredible. A little windy. Think of, if you’ve ever been to Aruba, where it’s constantly windy and constant wind. That time of year, it was a little windy, but the beach in Punta Cana at Hard Rock has something for everybody. And obviously, as Hard Rock Punta Cana reopens, and it’s a very, very large property that has 714 buildings. It has seven sections and there’s two sections to each building, so 14 sections. It’s a large property. It’s not all going to be open all at one shot. It would not be financially feasible to open up the whole property all at one shot. It was one of the best vacations of my father-in-law still to this moment. He was away with us. All he can talk about is the sand in the beach. “Oh my god, Matt. It was so incredible. When are we going back to Hard Rock Punta Cana?” The flight from JFK to Punta Cana, good four-hour flight. We did the VIP. If you don’t know, there are VIP options to that. Some of the different airports whether it’s Club Mobay down in Montego Bay. Cancun doesn’t have one. Punta Cana does have a VIP service. We had checked that out. It’s a fast track through customs, immigration. We used our DMC to get us right to our transfer, private transfer, with a car seat. Very important that we find safety to be number one and paramount of the Hard Rock Punta Cana. And yes, they have a casino. Yes, they have three card poker. Yes, they have blackjack. Yes, they have craps. And yes, they have drinks.

Jim Scott 

Did you partake in any of those?

Matt Kondrup 

I will not confirm nor deny if i partook in all the above.

Tony Price 

I’m assuming they have some food, too, right?

Matt Kondrup 

Well, there might be some … especially when you’re walking right out of the casino. There is an amazing to-go place that has these great chicken wraps. But they closed at 4:00 am. So, if you get there at 3:55am …

Jim Scott 

You’re out of luck.

Tony Price 

Quick clarification, you mentioned DMC for our listeners.

Matt Kondrup 

Destination Management Company. We call them DMC. So, Matty K Travel Group, when you land in a foreign country, if you’re not an avid regular travel junkie like us, as we’re sitting here talking, you want to know when you’re coming into that foreign country and there’s all these people, “Oh, you want a taxi? Oh, do you need help with your bags? Do you need this?” “No.” What you’re going to see when you book with us or any of our partners for that matter, and we are part of such an incredible consortium of travel agencies, that you’re going to see a sign. If you book with us, it says Matty K travel and there’s going to be your name there, and there’s going to be a sign up on the wall that says Matty K travel. You’re going to walk up, get a cold bottle of water, and they’re going to put you in a private vehicle. They’re going to whisk you away, take your bags, not a worry in the world, and bring you to your destination whatever that might be, whether it’s Punta Cana, Cancun, Los Cabos, Jamaica, or any of the other islands in the Caribbean. They’re going to take you and they’re going to bring you to your destination. Well, you’re not going to be doing the stops, the 15 stops. If you’ve ever booked one of those online travel agencies, “Oh, yeah, looks like a great deal online.” Six hours after you landed, you might be pulling up to your destination.

Tony Price 

You fit 14 people in an 8-passenger van.

Matt Kondrup 

Exactly, while you’re sitting on top of your luggage and you’re going down a dirt road. No, you’re getting into an air conditioned vehicle. That destination management company knows me, knows our family, knows our company, same thing. Car seats are ready. They’re waiting for you. They’re going to have room for your strollers, room for everything. They might have a cocktail waiting for you. You just got off a flight, might have been delayed. You’re wearing a mask, whatever it might be. They’re going to take you, get you there, get you checked in, make sure you’re all set, and that’s all part of the package. That’s all part of what we arranged. So, yeah, you can go online and sure, you can book something and it might sound great online and it might look right online, but nobody’s got an invested interest when you book online. When you book with a travel advisor, whether it’s me it’s one of my partners, any travel advisor in this industry, we treat you like family. We are going to make sure you get to your destination. We are going to make sure that that transfer company, we call them DMCs, your hotel, your resort is going to treat you like gold. And that’s something that you will never find when you book through an online company or even one of those places that might offer you a gift card to a wholesale place if you come back and book something like that.

Tony Price 

Yeah.

Jim Scott 

Nice.

Tony Price 

That’s awesome. Just from a lodging and location perspective when it comes to Punta Cana, Hard Rock is obviously your go to place.

Matt Kondrup 

It’s one of my go to places. It depends. If you want no kids, definitely not a place. I mean, there’s an adults only section to that. But, that’s a family friendly resort. There are adults only resorts, whether it’s a secret, excellence, there’s definitely some great adult only places there. I’m a big gambler. Not going to lie. We like to go to the casino at night. We like to go to nightclubs. We like entertainment. We like to have a pool vibe during the day. Nothing beats going on Hard Rock. I mean, you’ve got the music, you’ve got the casino. It’s one of the biggest casinos in the Caribbean but that doesn’t take away that there are so many other beautiful places within Punta Cana. While I was there last time, I spent a day at Iberostar Grand. The Iberostar Grand is within the complex of a Iberostar. There’s actually five resorts there within Iberostar. I spent a day at a Iberostar Grand. If you want to talk about amazing adults only that you then have access to, the Party Central by Iberostar and some of the different places within that complex. If you stay at the Grand, you can go to any of the different resorts within it. It was absolutely beautiful. There were no screaming kids. There was no “Daddy, daddy. I’m hungry. Daddy.” None of that, especially if you’re looking for somewhere to go. The Iberostar Grand, it’s a place to go. We just did a wedding at Paradisus Punta Cana that was absolutely, absolutely gorgeous. The pictures are to die for. It’s another great place. Within that, there’s different levels of service, something to keep in mind when you’re looking online. Yes, you might see Paradisus, part of the Malia properties. There’s the level, the royal services, different services there that allow you access to different restaurants, different types of booze. Keep that in mind. Those are the things your travel advisors know. Not everywhere has all of those things.

Jim Scott 

And these are all-inclusive resorts?

Matt Kondrup 

Yes, they’re all-inclusive resorts.

Jim Scott 

So, picking the proper package for your needs is important upfront so that you’re getting what you expected. Is that what you’re insinuating there?

Matt Kondrup 

Oh, absolutely. Because you’re going to get there and they’re going to be like, “Oh, well, let’s upgrade you to level service. So, let’s upgrade to royal service.” and it’s only $1,000 more. And then by the time you’re done, that price that I quoted you was still cheaper than what you would have spent but then you went to the online travel agency, booked, because you thought you were getting a deal. That’s why it’s so important to know. But then, there are those properties that are out there that don’t differentiate. Everybody’s paying the same thing. There’s no different levels, different types. You have this color wristband, so we’re only going to give you this type of vodka or this type of tequila. That stuff goes on out there. That’s why your travel advisor is going to guide you accordingly. There’s places out there where you’re a budget-minded traveler. And for those travelers, got our budget-minded, that’s okay, but know that there’s a reason why we say the things we do as a travel advisor. We’ve been there, we’ve seen the places, we’ve tasted the food. It’s just like anything else. We are your experts in travel. Somebody said the other day, “Matt, you’re $46 more expensive. Can you match that price?” And I was like, “Yeah, let me reach in my pocket, I’ll give you $46. When you get there, you’ll understand why it’s $46 more expensive.” But that’s what goes on. It’s really why. Everybody has thought, when you have an iPad and you’re an expert on travel, then you can be a travel advisor. Nobody’s running home after a trip and running to a travel advisor to write a good review. People who write reviews, majority of the time, are pissed off, they’re annoyed, they’re angry, they’re not happy about something. Nobody’s coming back to say,  “You know what, I had a great time at this resort.” They might, but that’s not the first thing in their mind. When you’re pissed off, you’re writing a review. You’re going online, how are you going to express your anger and your frustration.

Jim Scott 

That’s for sure. That’s what gets more than your pleasure.

Tony Price 

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, when you’re there what other things, as far as day-to-day things that you liked to do? I mean, obviously, you’re at a beach and it’s a Caribbean, but is there any place that’s really cool or must see things, to do, when you’re in Punta Cana?

Matt Kondrup 

Well, if you’re in Punta Cana, you have to go to Coco Bongos. Well, if you are there without the kids. You can’t bring kids Coco Bongos. A couple of great things about Punta Cana, fishing, diving. Coco Bongos is a great thing. You have Coco Bongos, they’re there and they’re also in Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. One of the amazing things, if you’ve never been to Coco Bongos, you pay one price, you get in this all you can drink, cheap vodka, cheap alcohol. But the shows, the atmosphere, the environment that you’re there with, and whether it’s the Michael Jackson impersonator and every other band that are coming out, and the vibe is incredible. So, definitely, if you’re going and you’re going without kids or you’re going with a babysitter or you have a nanny with you and you can sneak out for an evening, definitely check out Coco bongos. Fishing, definitely some great options to go fishing in Dominican Republic. As well as, it is one of the greatest spots to go scuba diving. I haven’t gone scuba diving in a long time. I can’t equalize my ears. The pressure, it’s just not there. These days, after breaking my back, no way I’m putting a scuba tank on my back. But if you are looking to go do some good scuba diving, it is plentiful in Punta Cana. You can do ATV tours, you can do some tequila tasting, rum tasting, any possible excursion that you want to do while you’re in Punta Cana can be done. It’s safe. I would not just get up, leave the resort, walk out of the resort. Most of these resorts are so set off the main road. It’s not like you’re walking out of the resort and kind of just walking down the street like you would in Playa de Carmen type of environment, but there are some great great excursions there.

Jim Scott 

So, the fishing, scuba diving, tequila tastings, etc., those are on the resort or they’re outside of the resort?

Matt Kondrup 

A little bit of both. Some of the excursions you can do, you can do tequila tasting and rum tasting on any resort and you don’t even need an excursion for that.

Tony Price 

You mean, you’d leave the pool.

Matt Kondrup 

Exactly. It’s the pool bar excursion from the non-sun side to the sun-side. The fishing, you have to leave. A lot of times you have to leave the resort because they don’t have the docks on the beach side for that. You would have to get in with one of our travel partners, your DMC, if you will, to bring you to the docks. Same thing with scuba diving because some of the boats will beach themselves and you can jump on the boat. Same thing, you can go parasailing and go on a catamaran. But a lot of those day trips are getting in a cab or getting in a car service that are going to bring you to the docks to get you there. As far as in the evenings, for tequila tasting or rum tasting, it depends on what your interest is. I remember being at the Iberostar Grand. In the evenings, they do have a wine tasting party. They have a cigar lounge there. So, if you’re a big cigar smoker, you can partner a good scotch or whiskey with a cigar and that’s all included especially at the Grand that Iberostar. So, take advantage of that. I know one of you guys is drinking scotch or whiskey or something. Bourbon, there you go. I’m sure that they can make accommodations for bourbon.

Tony Price 

And we can make accommodations for tequila and rum.

Matt Kondrup 

Exactly. Absolutely. Yes. We just did that wedding at Paradisus Punta Cana and they had a cigar roller that evening for the reception. It was great.

Tony Price 

That’s pretty cool. I’m sure the mojitos there are pretty good, too.

Matt Kondrup 

Yeah, they are. I just speak from what I’ve been told.

Tony Price 

Asking for a friend.

Jim Scott 

Absolutely. Yeah. Well, it sounds like if you go to Punta Cana, whether it’s the Hard Rock or the Grand Iberostar, or any of them, there’s just a ton of stuff to do, great food, great drink, good day trips, whether it’s fishing, scuba dive and whatever, it’s just a good place to go. Is that how you would sum it up?

Matt Kondrup 

I would sum it up like that. And you know, it’s ironic that my brother-in-law said to me when we were going to Punta Cana the first time, he goes, “Oh, you know, I can’t believe you’re going to Punta Cana. I got sick when I went to Punta Cana.” And I’ll tell you this. Whatever destination you go to, and I’m going to take my travel agent hat off, and I’m going to put my half medical hat on, people go away all the time, and they’re like, “Oh, I went away and I got sick.” If you think about something, when you’re in the pool all day, you’re drinking an adult beverage, and you’re in the sun, you’d become dehydrated. It probably is not properly hydrating yourself, you’re hydrating yourself with an adult beverage and you’re eating the food, you’re in the sun that you’re normally not in, you could become dehydrated. The number one sign and symptom of dehydration is vomiting and diarrhea. So, don’t think when you go away, now, everybody’s like, “Oh my god, enough talking about this.” don’t think that you went away to Punta Cana,  you went away to Cancun, wherever you went away, “Oh my god, I got sick because I went to that location.” No, you didn’t get sick because you went to that location. You got sick because you went there and you got hydrated and you didn’t take care of yourself. That’s why people make fun of me. I’m drinking bottles of water as I’m chugging my adult beverage in the pool and getting up every five minutes to go use the bathroom. But remember to hydrate. That’s important. You’re in the Caribbean sun or the Mexican sun, it beats you up. Sunscreen. My wife puts the SPF 4 oil on and she’s trying to bronze herself and burn herself and I’m putting the SPF 79 on.

Tony Price 

It’s like you go ahead and go back to the remit to last, we’ll be out here having my cocktail.

Jim Scott 

That’s right.

Matt Kondrup 

Exactly. So, don’t think that when somebody says, “Oh, I went to this location and I got sick.” You didn’t get sick, you didn’t get food poisoning, you probably got dehydrated, and that’s probably what it is. So, don’t ever discriminate against a particular destination. And I hear it all the time, “Oh, I went to Mexico 25 years ago and we were in Cancun.” Granted it was 25 years ago. Everything’s changed in 25 years. Like in New York City, what’s 25 years ago now is?

Jim Scott 

Yeah, even the person who left there, he’s changed a lot in the last 25 years.

Matt Kondrup 

Absolutely. Exactly.

Jim Scott 

Hydration is probably the biggest thing. We tend to partake in the various alcohol availability at the different places we go to, but we know to have a bottle of water with us at all times.

Tony Price 

Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Kondrup 

We got to stay hydrated. It’s super important. Don’t drink from the tap. That’s why there’s bottled water everywhere. We’ll do a vodka soda, bottle of water. Vodka soda, bottle of water. Tequila, tequila, bottle of water, tequila, tequila, tequila, bottle of water. You got to keep a little bit of hydration going and you’ll see a lot of difference. Also remember, the way the food is made and prepared in a Caribbean island is not the same as the US or in North America, where we’re used to things a certain way, whether it’s even the dairy. So, things affect our gastrointestinal system a little differently. People get, “Oh my God, I went away and I got sick. I’ll never go back to that island again.” It’s probably not the island, it might have been you. It might have been the island. It might have been something bad. Don’t write it off. If you’ve been to a resort on a particular island and you did not enjoy it, that doesn’t mean the entire island was horrible. That’s like saying you went to Italy and you didn’t enjoy Milan, got a great time in Venice, Florence and Rome. You’re not going to never go back to Italy.

Jim Scott 

Absolutely.

Matt Kondrup 

Don’t write off a particular island because you went to a resort and didn’t like it. Especially, when you pick the groupon for the lowest, cheapest thing that you possibly have paid. When you pay $199 for five nights, all-inclusive, think about what you’re getting.

Jim Scott 

That’s sage advice there.

Matt Kondrup 

There you go. Because when you break down five nights over $200 …

Tony Price 

Leave the line.

Matt Kondrup 

Exactly. Yeah, we won’t say the name.

Tony Price 

Right.

Matt Kondrup 

That’s the best advice I can ever give to somebody. Even those that are out there looking for a deal, there’s deals to be had, but you have to look at the value.

Tony Price 

We do it all the time. I mean, nobody wants to overpay for anything, so you’re always like a good deal, but there’s a fine line between being cheap and getting a good deal.

Matt Kondrup 

Absolutely. That’s the deal right now, like I said, that Hard Rock and the all-inclusive collection is your Hard Hock, Eaton Rock, Nobu, Unico, and if anybody is looking for an adults only, all-inclusive, if you’ve never been to Unico 2087. It’s right on the border of Riviera Maya and Tulum.

Tony Price 

Oh, yeah.

Jim Scott 

Nice.

Matt Kondrup 

If you’re looking for an all-inclusive adults only, five star, that’s it.

Tony Price 

Yep. Well, you got us convinced I think Jim and I are looking at each other like, “Okay, we’re ready to go.” We might be doing that.

Jim Scott 

We might be booking that thing.

Tony Price 

Well, we’re excited, too. We were talking before the podcast or another place that neither one of us have been.

Matt Kondrup 

Definitely, the one to go to. Absolutely. Yeah.

Tony Price 

Yeah. We were just saying we were excited because there’s another place that you mentioned you just recently went to that neither one of us have been to which is Poland.

Matt Kondrup 

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. We were just there in November of 2019. We were there for the travel agent forum that was put together by TMSG, Travel Marketing Show Group. We were in Poland and it was breathtaking.

Tony Price 

Was that in Krakow?

Matt Kondrup 

Well, we stayed in Poznan for the travel agent forum and then the post fam of the trip was in Krakow. We went there after the fact. But I actually did a pre fam, the actual forum, and then the post fam, which had a couple of different places. One of them was Krakow, which is just incredible.

Tony Price 

Really?

Jim Scott 

That’s really cool. Most people don’t think of Poland as a travel place. Tony and I’ve both been wanting to get there. But it’s still not on your radar when you’re thinking of trips you want to do especially in Europe, you’re thinking Paris, Prague, Budapest, but they never think of Poland at all. So, I think it’s really interesting to get your take on your experience here. Was this your first time there?

Matt Kondrup 

It was not my first time in Poland. I’d actually been to Poland once before. I actually have a Polish heritage. It was not my first time there. My first time there was a big group of people and I absolutely fell in love with every last little bit of it. And to go to Krakow after for the post fam part of it with a group of travel advisors, we had a blast. The old town of Krakow was just breathtaking, incredible, the views, the beauty, and the price point. If you’re looking for something, I do know that a lot Polish Airlines were looking to do direct flights actually starting in May from JFK to Krakow direct. I don’t know if that’s still going to happen with everything that’s gone on, but to fly from the US to Poland and even take the train down there and stay in Krakow, it was absolutely, absolutely incredible.

Tony Price 

We tend to stay in the old quarters of [inaudible 54:04], especially Europe. We have the European [inaudible 54:07] So, when you guys were in Krakow, is there a particular part of the old city that you stayed in or a particular location or hotel that you say that you prefer?

Matt Kondrup 

Yeah, we actually stay at the Sheraton. It’s right outside the old town. For anybody who’s ever been to Europe, you know when you go to Europe, the rooms are small, they’re tight. So, we ran at Sheraton and it was incredible. The rooms were large, the beds were comfortable. We had just come off between a pre fam, the conference, which was actually at the Novotel in Poznan, which was actually also awesome, to a couple other places and then here we are, we hit the Sheraton right outside the old town. You’re right on the river. The views, they have a rooftop bar restaurant. It was breathtaking.

Tony Price 

Nice. Are you walking distance to the old town at that point?

Matt Kondrup 

Yeah. Five minute walk to the old town. We did that a couple of times. We did the walk. You could try calling an Uber and then you realize your Uber drives you like 50 feet. “We’re here!”

Tony Price 

Yeah. That’s when you feel embarrassed.

Matt Kondrup 

Yeah, and there’s no driving through the old town. So, it’s all there. You just walk through. It’s there. Nobody’s going to bother you. There’s some great halal places on the way back, grab a slice of pizza. When you’re leaving shine at 4:00 in Poland time in the morning and you can just use the excuse and say that it’s a six-hour time difference. So that’s why …

Jim Scott 

I heard Krakow in Poland has a lot of great old style bars, and big on their vodka and their local beer.

Matt Kondrup 

Some of the most incredible, incredible beers and vodka.

Tony Price 

Really?

Matt Kondrup 

I’m going to butcher how I say [inaudible 56:17] vodka. One of the stories I actually told in a podcast last week about my trip to Poland, I go up to the bar to order drinks for the 12 of us that are at this restaurant, here I am thinking, “Oh my god, I’ll order this round and then it’ll cost me $200 for my round and I’m done for the night and each one of the 12 of us will take turns.” And they go to me and they’re like, [inaudible 56:46] I’m trying to calculate that in my head and it comes up like $36, US, for 12 drinks. And I’m like, “Wait a second. How much is a bottle?” She tells me the number in zloty and I’m trying to calculate this, and I’m speaking into Google Translate/Google Voice and it comes up like 30 bucks. So, I’m like, “All right, I’ll take two bottles.” Now, you want two bottles and you’re not looking for the pomp and circumstance. Now, they come out with the sparklers and they’re trying to move out the VIP section for us.

Tony Price 

Now you’re a rock star.

Matt Kondrup 

Pushing everybody out of the way. I’m like, “No, no, just give me two bottles.” So, from that point forward, we drank vodka by the bottle.

Tony Price 

Bottle for him. Bottle for me. Bottle for you.

Matt Kondrup 

Exactly. Until they draw us away. That’s exactly how it is. But the US dollar is so strong to the zloty that it was so inexpensive to drink and go out and eat and have a good time in Krakow, the old town. Whether you’re going for a horse drawn carriage ride, you’re going to a place like Hard Rock Cafe. On one of our last nights there, there were 15 or 14 of us plus our tour guides that went out for drinks, I went to Hard Rock Cafe and we piled in. All of us to eat and drink was nothing. Here in New York or even in the States, $1,000 for say 15 people to eat and drink. If it was 300 bucks, there was a lot.

Jim Scott 

Oh my god. Wow.

Jim Scott 

So, now we need Poland on our list.

Tony Price 

Okay. When is Poland opening up?

Matt Kondrup 

Poland is open. They’re ready to go. We have a great DMC, destination management company, with Sky Travel Network. We have some of the best, best tour guides ready to go, ready to take you there. You tell me when and we’re off. Let’s get on a flight. Let’s head to Poland.

Tony Price 

It’s been high on our list. When did we go to Prague, Jim? Was that three years?

Jim Scott 

2015. 5 years.

Matt Kondrup 

It takes Prague to a whole different level.

Tony Price 

Yeah. But it was one of those things. I always wanted to go to Krakow and we were going to think about throwing in, jumping over to Krakow. There’s just too much going on.

Jim Scott 

We’re going to Oktoberfest, from Prague to Oktoberfest to the Krakow.

Tony Price 

That sounds awesome.

Jim Scott 

That sounds great. It looks there’s a lot of other great things. It looks like the downtown market, the main market square there is incredible and St. Mary’s Basilica. The town on Hall Tower just looks like a great old town with lots of aesthetics and architecture, and just that old European feel.

Matt Kondrup 

There are some great, great things to do while you’re there. One of them, obviously, is the Salt Mines. There’s a picture that I have, I’ll share with you guys, that’s with our group in the salt mines. When you go down into the Salt Mines, the Polish people are very religious, especially after the war, that very Roman Catholic. The Jews obviously fled during World War II. I am a Polish Jew, my grandmother being Polish fled here to America, very Roman Catholic. You go into the Salt Mines and they are filled with chapels everywhere, carvings of Jesus, and the cross all throughout. There is this main ballroom down in, I will say the basement of the Salt Mines, but there’s one picture that is just breathtaking. When we were there, we ate dinner in the Salt Mine and there happened to be a boxing match or a wrestling match or MMA type thing going on that night. It’s something along those lines. But Krakow is a destination that you can then spend your day doing a trip like that. That’s a half day to go to the Salt Mines. There’s a lot of steps involved in that. It’s also a place that without completely ruining the moment and making it somber is not too far from Krakow was Auschwitz and Birkenau. It’s something I spoke about on a podcast a week ago. With my heritage, I think it’s very important and it was a topic with my travel agent group of whether or not they were going to go to Auschwitz and Birkenau. It is something that is super important when we talk about especially things that are going on in our times today. We talk about understanding and learning about our history and our past. It’s important. It’s an important day trip that you can take from Krakow, whether it’s a private tour or an organized tour. You go there and you can see, you can smell, you can feel from the second you enter the town of Auschwitz, and you see the railroad tracks to the moment you step in and you go under the metal sign of Auschwitz, they then take you through that part of what was called the labor camp of Auschwitz. Then you do what’s called the march of the living where you march from Auschwitz and Birkenau which was the death camp, and then you walk through that tunnel, it’s still there. And it’s awestruck to see not just what’s still there here in 2019-2020, but if you look off into the distance and you look past the fence line, there’s houses. There’s people just living there. People with their laundry are hung over the fence line. Just imagine living and you look over and you see that a place that during World War Two and during the Holocaust, 1.5 million people died in that particular place.

Jim Scott 

It’s powerful.

Tony Price 

It is powerful. We’ve been to a few places. I mean, the most recent was when we went on that same trip to Munich. We went to Dachau. Anytime you go to those, it is really a moving moment. That’s part of the reasons. One of the reasons we love Europe is there’s just so much history there. It’s definitely a powerful thing to visit.

Matt Kondrup 

Absolutely. It’s incredible.

Tony Price 

It’s always been on the list. I don’t want to sound like I’m a crazy person, but it’s just one of those things I’d like to see because of experience. This is one of the big things we love about travel. You know, we’ve talked about this before. It’s why we encourage people to travel because until you can go and somewhat walk in another person’s shoes and see what you can see and be around and just feel it, it’s amazing the presence that exists. It just makes the world shrank a little bit. You realize that the people, even if they’re 6,000 miles, 10,000 miles away from you, you have a lot in common. You’re not that different. We all want the same things, fun, happiness, family, good things. So, it’s kind of wild.

Matt Kondrup 

It is. It makes us realize that no matter what our background is, or where we come from, we’re all humans. And as somebody posted recently on my Facebook, obviously, we know my background coming from the police department and with the current times, there’s a lot of controversy going on, at the end of the day, whether the color of your skin is light, dark, your background, whatever it is, our blood is all red. We are all humans no matter what. We have to remember that something like that is something we have to make sure never happens again. That’s something. I said in my previous talks, or talks about this is my first experience there was not the greatest. I was not impressed in the sense that I went there and I didn’t feel that reverence. I felt that it was too touristy. I felt it was too commercialized but I still felt it was very important. As we move forward in life and with what’s going on in current times, we have to remember that no matter what, we’re all humans. We all have to love each other no matter what. Travel is part of that and that’s part of who we are. It’s so, so important.

Jim Scott 

Absolutely. Kinda starting to wrap up on Krakow, a bit along the same lines as Auschwitz, Oscar Schindler’s factory was in Krakow and I knew you were very near there.

Matt Kondrup 

It was very close to it, yes. Those who remember the movie, a lot of it was filmed right in that area right over there.

Jim Scott 

Yeah. So I mean, you don’t think of Krakow. You think of Berlin and London and Paris and all that for history. I guess Poland, partially because it went behind the Iron Curtain for a while and on the wrong side of geography.

Tony Price 

It’s a little too far east.

Jim Scott 

It’s a beautiful thing but it’s amazing, the amount of stuff that went on there. So, really incredible. Any final thoughts on Krakow or anything else there? Obviously, we talked a little bit about the whining part, the drinking part, but were there any good food experiences there?

Matt Kondrup 

Oh my god, the food was just incredible. European food, if your palate is open to something unique. When we went in November, it was the season of goose. All I’m saying is if I’m remembering this correctly, it was bird season, if you will. It was not something that I had ever really explored. I’m used to polish cuisine, some Portuguese and some bigos and stuff and sauerkraut. Kumasi if you will. It really was their time of year. That was their delicacy at the time. Wherever we went, if you think so much of where I’m from, here on Long Island is Irish Italian culture. Everybody thinks back to Ireland or Italy and that food culture. The same thing in Poland. Everything circulates around food. Even here in America, everything is around the dinner table, the kitchen table, the kitchen. That is so important to keep in mind whatever culture you’re in. You were talking about Germany and going to Oktoberfest. It’s so important. We, as humans, draw ourselves towards food, drink, and family. That’s something that is ingrained in the Polish people. Food was just as incredible as going out and having that Polish vodka and Polish wine. They opened up their homes to us. They opened up their restaurants to us. They treated us like family. The food was incredible. They put their heart, their soul into it. Just like any other ethnicity or any other country that’s there, they put every second and every ounce of love into what they are offering to you in their restaurants.

Tony Price 

That’s awesome.

Jim Scott 

That’s great.

Tony Price 

I mean, there’s something magical when you get together and you have a bite together, have a drink together. The communication happens with people, it’s just awesome. That’s why I love to travel and love the cafe scenes and just the restaurant scenes and just hanging out with people. It’s hanging out with locals, how we love to travel.

Matt Kondrup 

It’s really magical. And when you think about that square and the old town and the food outside, eating under an umbrella and that’s new here. Here in New York, we just opened up two days ago and I look outside right now and I look across to my office and people are reading in a parking lot and eating  outside. That’s new to us out here. Yes, you might eat by the water and there might be some restaurants. We never had restaurants outside. That’s normal in Europe. That’s the norm. That’s new for us here. So, I hope that it’s something that we embrace. And for those who are looking to go to Europe, please embrace that and embrace the heritage, embrace their culture and learn something from travel. That’s so important.

Tony Price 

Absolutely. They’ve been doing it a few more years than we have.

Matt Kondrup 

A couple of weeks more.

Jim Scott 

Good stuff. Well, Matt, we really appreciate today. We’ve come quickly, very quickly. We’ve come to our hour and actually exceeded it a little bit. But man, that was a lot of great information, and we really appreciate it. If you can get us information on the graduate trips, that’d be great. We’ll share that as well. But once again, thank you very much. Any parting thoughts?

Matt Kondrup 

Thank you guys so much for having me. I will obviously definitely get that information out to you guys. For those listening, whether it’s the Matty K Travel Group, it’s a travel agent you know, locally or anybody, when you’re going to book your trip, think of a local travel agent. It’s not just about using a travel agent for the sake of it. One, you’re supporting a local business, you’re using an expert in travel, somebody who has that experience and will guide you properly. They will find you the best possible deal. Use and support us in the travel industry, whatever that might be. Find somebody who you’re close to. Find somebody you can trust and support the trip. And when you’re ready to travel and when you’re comfortable and you feel safe, we will be here to help book your trip.

Tony Price 

Great, Matt. How can they get a hold of you again?

Matt Kondrup 

The easiest way is mattyktravelgroup.com. I’m on all forms of Social media, Matty K Travel. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. I think I even got a Snapchat account that somebody set up for me. LinkedIn. Matty K Travel. Matty K. Do a type in Matty K, you can find me.

Tony Price 

Cool. And of course we’ll put it in our show notes too on the website for this episode as well.

Matt Kondrup 

Thank you so much guys. It’s been absolutely amazing to take the time today and spend some time talking, traveling, and talking about some previous trips. Good things to come. It’s going to be challenging getting the world back open. But I see us. We really are going to come out on top of this no matter what.

Tony Price 

Absolutely, that’s what we do. Right?

Jim Scott 

Absolutely. Great.

Matt Kondrup 

That’s it.

Jim Scott 

Well, thank you, Matt. We really appreciate it. Everyone, this is Friends That Carry On. You can find us at friendsthatcarryon.com. Please go there and subscribe so you can get our podcast every week as they come out and look for some upcoming surprises or benefits that we’re going to be unleashing here in the near future.

Tony Price 

Yep, the new fan page.

Jim Scott 

The new fan page and on all the social media at friendsthatcarryon.com. So, thank you very much. Thanks for listening, and we’ll talk to you next time.

Matt Kondrup 

Thanks, guys.

Tony Price 

Thank you.

Outro

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