Take the Trip: Travel Coach Laura Rahn on Designing Memorable Travel

If you’ve been waiting for a sign to finally take the trip, this episode is it.

Travel Coach Laura Rahn spent 33 years in education before following a lifelong pull toward adventure. Raised as a military kid who moved constantly — including three formative years in Italy — Laura grew up understanding the power of connection, adaptability, and seeing the world through curious eyes.

Today, she helps families, couples, and solo travelers design meaningful, intentional trips that reflect who they are and how they want to feel. And trust me… after hearing her stories, you’ll want to start planning your next adventure before the episode ends.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why experiences matter more than “stuff”
• How her military upbringing shaped her love for travel
• The surprising bridge between instructional coaching and travel coaching
• Why every traveler — including kids and teens — deserves a voice
• What families should really discuss before they pack a single bag

Key Topics:

• Laura’s transition from teacher to travel coach
• The “Dream, Design, Depart” framework
• Navigating different travel styles within a family
• Building excitement and reducing stress before a trip
• Creating ownership and connection through shared planning

This episode is a beautiful reminder that adventure doesn’t have to be complicated — it just has to be intentional. And you’re more ready than you think.

Connect with Laura:

Blog: https://seldomadullmoment.blogspot.com/

Website: https://www.seldomadullmoment.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552757152218

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurarahn_travelcoach/

Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Laura-West-Rahn/author/B0DBK9ZN3F

Want support growing your business? Book a free Discovery Call with Penny: https://tidycal.com/pennyforyourshots/discovery-call

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Or on Facebook: Penny (Kuhlers) Fitzgerald

Transcript

Take the Trip: Travel Coach Laura Rahn on Designing Memorable Travel

[00:00:33] Penny Fitzgerald: This week's conversation is your reminder to take the trip. I met today's guest, Laura Rahn through one of my friends from the old wine business days, Judy Bour-Taylor, who also happened to work with Laura back in her teaching career. I love when life and wine brings people together like that. Good women connecting good women.

It's kind of my favorite thing. Laura is a former teacher turned travel coach, and after [00:01:00] hearing her stories, the cross country moves. The road trip playlists, the family adventures, You're going to feel that little tug on your heart that whispers. It's time to make a memory.

Laura believes something. I feel so deeply. Experiences matter more than stuff. It's the laughter in the car, the bookstore you stumble in to, the cocktail you share at sunset. Those moments become the ones we carry with us. And that includes the trips you take with your girlfriends too. you know, like wine camp.

If you've been waiting for a sign, consider this it. So pour a glass, settle in and enjoy this beautiful conversation with Laura. A reminder that connection, adventure, and shared experiences are some of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and the people we love. Here is Laura Rahn.

Okay.

[00:01:51] Laura Rahn: So nice to meet you. You too. I was so happy that Judy could connect us. 

[00:01:56] Penny Fitzgerald: I know. Okay. So you guys lived together or [00:02:00] lived nearby each other in Virginia, correct? 

[00:02:02] Laura Rahn: Yes, we worked, she was, I worked, we both worked for Loudoun County Public Schools. 

[00:02:09] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:02:10] Laura Rahn: Yes. And so I got to know her through that.

And we weren't extremely close, but we worked, you know, side by side ish for about seven years. 

[00:02:20] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh wow. 

[00:02:21] Laura Rahn: And I was on a call with some of my good friends who are also her good friends, and we were all there. And then she's like, I have someone you should talk to. 

[00:02:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Wonderful. Yeah. I love it. I love it. So are you still in Loudoun County?

[00:02:41] Laura Rahn: Yes. 

[00:02:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. But no longer working for the school system, is that correct? 

[00:02:45] Laura Rahn: Correct. Okay. I am, I was with the school system for 33 years. Wow. I was a classroom teacher for 26 years, 

[00:02:55] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh, 

[00:02:56] Laura Rahn: and then I was a, I became an instructional [00:03:00] coach and worked with administrators and teachers for seven years. Oh wow. And then I felt like it was time to, um, chase one of my other passions, tired from teaching.

Oh, good for you. And instead of just traveling during the summer 

[00:03:16] Penny Fitzgerald: mm-hmm. 

[00:03:17] Laura Rahn: I can now travel whenever I want to. And my husband just retired, so now we can do that. And I went from being an instructional coach for seven years to becoming a travel coach. 

[00:03:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Wonderful. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Okay, so backing up just a second, the instructional coach, I have recently talked to two other women who do that.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's very important work that's really cool to bring, to collaborate and to bring teachers together and provide more resources for the kids. Yep. Love that. So how did that translate into, into the, uh, travel realm then? 

[00:03:57] Laura Rahn: So, I've always loved to [00:04:00] travel Uhhuh and I was born a mil, I was born a military brat and 

[00:04:03] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay.

[00:04:04] Laura Rahn: So, you know, my dad was in the Air Force for 21 years, so up until high school I lived in probably 10 different places. 

[00:04:11] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my. 

[00:04:12] Laura Rahn: And so we were always including three years in Naples, Italy, during my high school years, 

[00:04:17] Penny Fitzgerald: which was, oh my gosh, 

[00:04:18] Laura Rahn: amazing. I think that's where my passion for travel sort of got ignited.

I was a teenager living in Italy, going to an American high school, but still. Wow. Exploring and having independence and stuff and seeing the different cultures and the different ways people live. And so, graduated from high school, went to Virginia Tech, became a teacher, settled in Low County, met my husband also a teacher, had two daughters and so we had our summers free and we, wow.

I continued to travel. 

[00:04:51] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. You know, we 

[00:04:52] Laura Rahn: went to Disneyland or, or Disney World a whole lot and mm-hmm. But then once the girls got a little bit older, we expanded, we went to [00:05:00] Belize and Hawaii and Alaska and explored countless national parks. And I just love to travel. Mm-hmm. And so, being an instructional coach, I got all of the very intensive coaching training through the school system.

How to work with adults, how to ask questions, how to mediate, thinking how to support people 

[00:05:25] Penny Fitzgerald: mm-hmm. And 

[00:05:25] Laura Rahn: help them rather than give them answers. And so I, um, was getting ready to retire and my husband was just sort of scrolling the internet and found a CNN article about travel coaches. And it's like, is this you?

And I read it and it was, it introduced me to the Travel Coach Network, which I had never heard of before. And you become certified as a travel coach through their program. [00:06:00] And so much of the training was similar to what I had done as far as working with adults and how to be an active listener and how to support people in getting to their why and their hopes and their dreams and everything.

And so I, um. Applied to the program and I completed it. And I am a certified travel coach with the Travel Coach Network. I am also a member of the Family Travel Association, and I have started my business. My husband and I had a mantra through our years. We've been married for 27 years almost. 

[00:06:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. And 

[00:06:39] Laura Rahn: had a mantra where seldom AAL moment, you need to relax a little bit uhhuh.

But we are just very busy people. We're always looking for the next adventure, the next fun thing to keep us connected and to do together. Uhhuh. So when I retired, became a travel coach, I started our business seldom, 

[00:06:58] Penny Fitzgerald: that's your name. Oh, that's how [00:07:00] you came to the name? 

[00:07:01] Laura Rahn: Yep. That's how I came to the name.

Exactly. Well 

[00:07:03] Penny Fitzgerald: that fits. That's that's so true. And so many people were it. We feel like we're too busy. We keep ourselves busy, and that keeps us safe. But small, we don't see the world. We don't do those things that are on our, you know, nagging at our soul to do. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, we, 

[00:07:23] Laura Rahn: yeah, we, um, when I went to college for four years, that was the longest I had ever lived or stayed anywhere.

[00:07:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my goodness. 

[00:07:32] Laura Rahn: Because our, my dad's Air Force tours were anywhere from nine months to three years 

[00:07:37] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh wow. At 

[00:07:38] Laura Rahn: most. So we were always moving at least every three years. 

[00:07:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:07:42] Laura Rahn: And we landed in Virginia. He retired, and then I went to school and ended up in Loudoun County. And as a mom and a teacher, Uhhuh very, very busy.

Yes. And being pulled in a hundred different directions with the girls growing up and their activities [00:08:00] and everything. And my daughters are now 23 and 25. 

[00:08:03] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:08:04] Laura Rahn: And, um. I knew though, if I was going to, if they were gonna be live in this place and go to kindergarten with the people they were gonna graduate from high school with, I wanted to make sure they still saw the world.

[00:08:19] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:08:20] Laura Rahn: And they still knew what else was out there, because that's what I had experienced. And I wanted them to have that experience. I also wanted them to have a hometown. 

[00:08:28] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Some st. A different type of stability. 

[00:08:31] Laura Rahn: Yes, yes. 

[00:08:32] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:08:33] Laura Rahn: And so we just traveled and we used the summers. We didn't travel all summer by any means, because we were two teachers.

And you know, that's not possible financially, but we figured out a way to take these really big trips every summer. 

[00:08:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. So to prioritize, right. I mean it's what's important. 

[00:08:53] Laura Rahn: Mm-hmm. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what I love talking to other families. And I work with [00:09:00] couples and solo travelers also. Mm-hmm.

But I love talking to people about. What do you want? Mm-hmm. How do, how can we help you? How can I help you make that happen? 

[00:09:12] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. I'm not pushing 

[00:09:12] Laura Rahn: the buttons, I'm not making the bookings. I'm not a travel agent. Mm-hmm. I'm more of their partner, their coach. Okay. Helping them figure out how to get to that dream vacation.

Okay. 

[00:09:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I imagine some people don't even know, they just may have a bug that I wanna go somewhere, but I have no idea where to go. 

[00:09:31] Laura Rahn: Those are the best clients to work with, and that's one of the things the Travel Coach Network emphasizes is, you know, transformative travel. 

[00:09:40] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. But 

[00:09:41] Laura Rahn: you don't have to have your destination picked to work with a travel coach.

Because we start my, my mo, my method is dream design depart. So when I meet with my clients, first we just talk about their dreams. You know, [00:10:00] why do you wanna, why do you wanna travel? Or maybe they don't even know they wanna travel, but they want something transformative. And so we really dig deep into those dreams.

If, you know, if you could wave your magic wand and 

[00:10:12] Penny Fitzgerald: have this great 

[00:10:13] Laura Rahn: vacation, what would it look like? Why would it look that way? 

[00:10:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. And then, 

[00:10:17] Laura Rahn: so then we move into that design piece where then if they want to move forward with traveling 

[00:10:26] Penny Fitzgerald: mm-hmm. 

[00:10:26] Laura Rahn: Then we move into designing and again talking about, well, what would it look like?

What do you wanna do? How do you wanna feel when you come back? What do you wanna tell your friends about after you return? Mm-hmm. And then als all the way up to helping them depart. 

[00:10:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. Yeah. But you don't, you don't actually book the trip for them. 

[00:10:44] Laura Rahn: Correct. Okay. My, my role and what we talk about in the Travel Coach Network is to empower, 

[00:10:51] Penny Fitzgerald: oh 

[00:10:51] Laura Rahn: yeah.

Uhhuh, to empower and to give the travelers ownership. 

[00:10:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:10:57] Laura Rahn: So they aren't calling me at [00:11:00] midnight saying they lost their luggage. I, and they feel like I did this, I can do this. 

[00:11:10] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:11:10] Laura Rahn: I, um, yeah, I worked with a family. A lot of my clients are busy moms and dads mm-hmm. Who don't have the time but want to do the trip.

[00:11:19] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:11:20] Laura Rahn: And so I'm sort of, I'm their coach and I'm their partner. I can do the behind the scenes research. I can do some resource gathering. I create the documents with links and things. We have our coaching sessions. I send them the information. I work virtually with people all over the country, and I send them the information.

Then they have time to look through the links. We can talk about what might meet their needs. I gather again, I get all the voices, all the travelers' voices. If they have a 10-year-old that's going on the vacation with them, that 10-year-old is in our first call. 

[00:11:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh wow. 

[00:11:57] Laura Rahn: Because I, that's, if they have a [00:12:00] 21-year-old who's a, who's in college, that 21-year-old jumps on the call, the first call.

Mm-hmm. So that I can hear from them so that mom and dad can hear from the kids, what do you want to do on this vacation? 

[00:12:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Why 

[00:12:13] Laura Rahn: do you want to travel? Because I had, I had a turning point where I planned this great vacation as a mom, we do a lot of the planning and the organizing and things. 

[00:12:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Sure. 

[00:12:23] Laura Rahn: And I planned this great vacation.

My girls were 15 and 13. 

[00:12:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:12:28] Laura Rahn: And middle of the vacation, major teen angst fits 

[00:12:33] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh yeah. As one does. Yes. And 

[00:12:36] Laura Rahn: it, and I was upset, my husband was upset, and we just sort of, this just exploded for a day. Only a day. I mean, we had great vacation. Yeah. But it was a moment. Yeah. And we, um, I came home and I was, I was still a teacher.

I came home, we came home from the vacation and just sort of pondering what happened. [00:13:00] And it was interesting because I came to a realization that it was really my fault. 

[00:13:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm. 

[00:13:05] Laura Rahn: And uh, and it was interesting because that realization helped me realize I didn't ask my teenage daughters what they wanted to do on vacation.

[00:13:17] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. They had no ownership in it. 

[00:13:19] Laura Rahn: I made assumptions because we'd always had great family vacations and I always planned these amazing things. 

[00:13:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Of course you did. Yes. 

[00:13:27] Laura Rahn: And then they became older and they have voices and opinions and it's only fair to listen to those. 

[00:13:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:13:35] Laura Rahn: So I bring, I bring all the travelers in on the first call and some of the families I work with are like, you wanna do what?

Yeah. Let's hear from your kids. Let's hear from your kids, what do they want? And then don't interrupt them. Let them talk. Mm-hmm. And don't judge what they say. It's important that their voice is valued. 

[00:13:52] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Oh my gosh. That's such a great metaphor for life in general, just to teach that lesson that, you know, you have a voice, [00:14:00] it's okay to use it.

Yeah. Yeah. And it's the same, I, I feel like it's very similar to getting kids involved in cooking. Mm-hmm. You know, when they start making their own pizza, then they're, I'm gonna eat that thing, you know? 

[00:14:12] Laura Rahn: Yeah. Yeah. They pick a, they pick a, an activity they wanna do on the vacation. 

[00:14:18] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:14:18] Laura Rahn: They're gonna wanna go on that vacation.

[00:14:20] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh yeah. 

[00:14:21] Laura Rahn: They might not wanna go to the museum mom and dad picked, but if they know that they get to Zipline tomorrow Yeah. They'll accept the museum. 

[00:14:29] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:14:30] Laura Rahn: So we talk about, I, well, I talk to the kids about flexibility and compromise on the calls. 

[00:14:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, it's wonderful. 

[00:14:36] Laura Rahn: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:14:37] Penny Fitzgerald: And so wise, because, you know, you've got to get everybody's buy-in on it.

Mm-hmm. And if they're. Not giving their voice to it. It, you spend all this money, you do all this planning. You do. Mm-hmm. You take this big trip that you have these high expectations for, it's gonna be this family adventure, and then you have a moment like that. Mm-hmm. That can really derail the whole trip if [00:15:00] you let it.

[00:15:00] Laura Rahn: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:15:02] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wonderful. A 

[00:15:04] Laura Rahn: lot of my clients will talk about, well talk to me, the first call is everybody, and then mm-hmm. There's that opportunity to bring them back in, depending on how many coaching sessions you want and everything. But then I work with mom and dad. We've heard the voices, we've got ideas.

Now let's bring 'em back in. What do they wanna do? But, um, a lot of times I'll have the parents talk to me about cell phones, you know, well, all they wanna do is sit on their phone. We're gonna go on this amazing road trip through the mountains of Wyoming and the national parks, and they won't even see it.

And it's like, well, let's talk about expectations. You know? Mm-hmm. 

Yeah. We'll have a call again, getting the whole family in and say, well, we're getting really, you're getting really close to departure.

You leave in two weeks. Let's talk about expectations and ask the kids how much do you want to talk to your friends while you're away? 

[00:15:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:15:54] Laura Rahn: And let the parents listen. Mm-hmm. And then the compromise, the flexibility 

[00:15:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. I, [00:16:00] I can just picture how much, how valuable mm-hmm.

Your teaching experience. Mm-hmm. Your in classroom experience Yeah. Was beneficial for you. Wow. 

[00:16:10] Laura Rahn: Yeah. And the bulk of my classroom teaching was fourth grade, fifth grade, and seventh grade. 

[00:16:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh. Mm-hmm. So 

[00:16:17] Laura Rahn: I do have that middle school. Mm-hmm. You know, understanding as well as upper elementary from like 10 years old to 14 years old.

I taught them. And then my own daughters and the experience of traveling with them and figuring that out with them as they grew up. Yeah. 

[00:16:32] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Oh, that's so cool. 

[00:16:35] Laura Rahn: Yeah, it's really, 

[00:16:35] Penny Fitzgerald: can I, can I go back way a little bit too, I'm curious about your upbringing going from place to place as a kid. Were you, were you, oh gosh.

Was it mostly domestic or, I know you went to Italy, but were there other countries that you were living in as well? It was, 

[00:16:54] Laura Rahn: yeah. No, it was mostly domestic. 

[00:16:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. We 

[00:16:56] Laura Rahn: were in Italy from my eighth grade to the middle of [00:17:00] 11th grade. Our move was always in January too, so I was always switching schools in the middle of the year.

[00:17:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, what was that like? 

[00:17:09] Laura Rahn: Interesting. It was, yeah, it was something I got used to. Okay. 

[00:17:12] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh 

[00:17:13] Laura Rahn: and the whole moving around helped our family stay connected. 

[00:17:20] Penny Fitzgerald: I have 

[00:17:20] Laura Rahn: a sister three years younger than me and mom and dad. And the four of us became such a tight unit because we were all each other. Had 

[00:17:31] Penny Fitzgerald: you had to be Yeah.

As 

[00:17:32] Laura Rahn: we were moving around. 

[00:17:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:17:35] Laura Rahn: And then, um, and I just, you know, my father has passed away, but I credit him and thank him for giving me that because that ability to adapt to a new environment, 

[00:17:48] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh, 

[00:17:48] Laura Rahn: you had no choice. Right. The, the, the ability to talk to people and make new friends 

[00:17:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh, 

[00:17:57] Laura Rahn: you 

[00:17:57] Penny Fitzgerald: know, 

[00:17:58] Laura Rahn: quickly, [00:18:00] because who knows, that friend may have already been there for two years and they're leaving in a year.

[00:18:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:18:06] Laura Rahn: Or they might be leaving in three months. And so it's like you, you, I had to learn how to put myself into a situation. Mm-hmm. Always being the new girl. And then also on the flip side, welcoming people in who were the new people. 

[00:18:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:18:24] Laura Rahn: Because everywhere we went, many times in the United States, we lived not on the military base, so we went to public high schools or public elementary schools.

[00:18:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:18:35] Laura Rahn: But they usually had a high military family 

[00:18:38] Penny Fitzgerald: community 

[00:18:39] Laura Rahn: because it was close to the base where my dad was stationed. 

[00:18:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:18:43] Laura Rahn: And um, there were a few times where we went to the, uh, elementary school or a school that was on base, so it was all military people. And that was a lot easier to adapt because every child in there and all the teachers understood.

[00:18:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:18:59] Laura Rahn: Um, I think it [00:19:00] helped me as a teacher also, because I would have military families every now and then. You would, I would also get new students. I knew how they felt. I could help them. Mm-hmm. And then, and work with the families. Or if a family wanted to take their child out of school for a week to do an incredible vacation, you know, so many people are like, oh, you can't do that.

Let go. You know, when we lived in Italy, it was encouraged in my high school when your father went on a, you know, went on a business trip to Germany, go with them. 

[00:19:32] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm. 

[00:19:32] Laura Rahn: We were told great 

[00:19:33] Penny Fitzgerald: experience 

[00:19:34] Laura Rahn: as students, you know, go. And so, and that was another piece, the three years in Italy, we never came back to the United States during that time.

[00:19:43] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh wow. My 

[00:19:43] Laura Rahn: parents embraced being in Europe and our relatives came to visit us and we just traveled and we hit all the European countries because, you know, who knows if we would, you could back again. Yeah. And were they, yeah. Yeah. 

[00:19:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, amazing. How, how did [00:20:00] your parents pro, like prepare you for. Of that, the moving and going to Italy and all of that.

How was that, um, brought to you? 

[00:20:12] Laura Rahn: So the moving, reflecting back and thinking. I mean, I was born in New York and was living in Denver, Colorado by the time I was one and living in California by the time I was three and four and five, where my sister was born back to Ohio and that, 

[00:20:30] Penny Fitzgerald: so, so there's no preparing really.

It's just the way you live. 

[00:20:33] Laura Rahn: I don't think it was my parents preparing me as much as, oh, we're getting ready to move again.

Do you wanna know where we're going? 

[00:20:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, 

[00:20:42] Laura Rahn: and when we were, I was in middle school in Virginia when dad's, I knew the three years was coming up 

[00:20:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh. And 

[00:20:49] Laura Rahn: he did involve me in the conversation, now that I think about it, you know, came home and said, well, I've been offered a, B and C, uh, one being Italy 

[00:20:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh, I 

[00:20:59] Laura Rahn: think there [00:21:00] was another European country that didn't sound as fun.

And then something stateside. Okay. And he's like, you know, I have a month to decide, but I ha I will be sent, or we will be sent Uhhuh, one of those three places. So let's talk, where do we wanna go? We chose Italy. I finished eighth grade in Italy, 11th grade was where I moved.

And those are formative years.

[00:21:23] Penny Fitzgerald: I wondered about that because just thinking back to my own experience, you know, I was, I wasn't going anywhere. My parents were farmer, you know, in, in the farming community and we had kids come in and I would just think it would be so difficult to leave your friends at a certain age, especially, you know, like Okay.

Especially after three years in Italy. You've started to form some bonds now. 

[00:21:47] Laura Rahn: Oh yeah. Our, um, well it was interesting when I left in eighth grade, January of eighth grade to move to Italy. Mm-hmm. It was exciting because, oh my gosh, we're going to Europe, we'd never been. Yeah. And so I wasn't as [00:22:00] sad to leave.

I was leaving very good friends. 

[00:22:03] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. And, 

[00:22:04] Laura Rahn: but I wasn't as sad because this incredible adventure. 

[00:22:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And 

[00:22:07] Laura Rahn: I knew that I was going to an American high school on the military base, so I knew I would be going into an environment where everybody was like me. 

[00:22:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. So that felt more safe. That helps. Mm-hmm.

In eighth 

[00:22:18] Laura Rahn: grade it felt safe. Yeah. Um, but it was back then with cassette tapes. So my, one of my just, she made 

[00:22:26] Penny Fitzgerald: each other mixed tapes. 

[00:22:28] Laura Rahn: Well, we, we sent each other talking tapes. Oh, my, my best friend and I from eighth grade. 

[00:22:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:22:36] Laura Rahn: I would, we went, I went to Italy and she would, we would send back and forth.

She would send me. Two hours of just her talking about everything that's going on. I love it. And I would sit with my Walkman on, with my headphones on the front porch of my house in Italy. 

[00:22:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Listen, you were podcasters before it was cool. I know. 

[00:22:58] Laura Rahn: Yeah. And I [00:23:00] would send her back and, yeah.

[00:23:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. 

[00:23:03] Laura Rahn: Yeah. And coming back from Italy in 11th grade was a lot more difficult, like you said. 

our high school class had like 75 people. 

[00:23:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, very close. You knew everybody. Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. 

[00:23:15] Laura Rahn: And very active. 

 back then, there were no telephones in our houses and we had no cell phones. So we had to make plans and our parents had to drive us everywhere, but we had to make the plans before we left school. 

[00:23:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh. 

[00:23:28] Laura Rahn: And, none of us were driving.

Oh, 

[00:23:29] Penny Fitzgerald: no. Independence. 

[00:23:31] Laura Rahn: Oh, yeah. It was crazy. But, um, I left that environment to come back to Fairfax County, Virginia, which is incredibly large. I went from populated 75 people in my class, Uhhuh in Italy to, I think I graduated with like 400. Wow. And I was only there for a year and a half. And so it was a different situation.

Ironically, two people I knew in Italy during [00:24:00] that year and a half ended up at my high school in Virginia because again, close enough to military areas. Yeah. That, you know, you move in and you're there, but it, it was, that was probably the hardest transition. That 11th grade. Yeah, 

[00:24:17] Penny Fitzgerald: I 

[00:24:18] Laura Rahn: bet, bet. And I, I did it.

Mm-hmm. I didn't love the high school I graduated from and that's okay. 

[00:24:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:24:25] Laura Rahn: Some of my best friends are still my friends from Italy and we, we've seen each other in person and we keep up with each other in social media. I don't have a lot of friends that I keep up with tightly from that last year and a half in school.

[00:24:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:24:42] Laura Rahn: And then I went to college and it was amazing and then started teaching and knew I wanted my girls to have a hometown. 

[00:24:50] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So why did, why were you excited to have them have a hometown knowing how much you loved what you did? You know, [00:25:00] moving around 

[00:25:02] Laura Rahn: It's, it's sort of a funny answer because mm-hmm.

I wanted, I wanted them to be able to answer the question, where are you from? 

[00:25:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh wow. 

[00:25:16] Laura Rahn: I, people say, oh, where are you from? Where'd you grow up? Hmm. 

[00:25:20] Penny Fitzgerald: Everywhere. 

[00:25:22] Laura Rahn: How do I answer that? I grew up, you know? Yeah. And when I met my, when I met my husband, I'd already been teaching for about 10 years, 

[00:25:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh. 

[00:25:32] Laura Rahn: And I met my husband and also a teacher in the same building I was in.

And, um, he had grown up in Pennsylvania. Okay. And wanted to travel and wanted to see the world, and wanted to do these things. And I'm like, okay, we're a good fit. Because you've had that hometown experience. Uhhuh, I've had that travel experience we can provide both to this family that we wanna create. [00:26:00] 

[00:26:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh yeah.

[00:26:02] Laura Rahn: Yeah. 

[00:26:03] Penny Fitzgerald: Fabulous. 

[00:26:04] Laura Rahn: And it's really, really neat. My, well, both of my daughters, my 25-year-old now. They've both flown nist. They are fully independent, living on their own, doing amazing things. And my 25-year-old travels on her own now with her girlfriend. Uh, they go out and they've been out to Wyoming and they've been to Maine and they've been to Italy and just the two of them.

And I've asked her, you know, are you okay? What are you thinking? She's like, no, you taught me everything. I'm fine. Like my job is done. 

[00:26:38] Penny Fitzgerald: That's a really good feeling. 

[00:26:40] Laura Rahn: My, my 23-year-old navigated five weeks in New York City all by herself on a work trip. 

[00:26:46] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. Five 

[00:26:47] Laura Rahn: weeks. Five weeks. Solo. New York City going to work every day, but still.

Yeah. And I'm like, are you okay? And she's like, yeah, why wouldn't I be, I know how to ride subways. I know [00:27:00] how to do trains. I know how to navigate. I know how to watch my surroundings. Like, okay, 

[00:27:05] Penny Fitzgerald: okay. Good job, mom. 

[00:27:07] Laura Rahn: Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's really, it's fun. And that's why when I retired I really wanted to help other families, help other busy moms and dads.

And I worked, I had a client who was a solo traveler. I helped her do a road trip up and down the East coast. I've helped couples and just find that passion for travel. 

[00:27:29] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:27:30] Laura Rahn: Play on that trip. 

[00:27:32] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm, yeah. Mm-hmm. 

[00:27:33] Laura Rahn: Yeah. 

[00:27:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. So when you're guiding someone who's come to you for help mm-hmm. How do you navigate, how do you help them figure out where they wanna go and what they wanna do?

Like, what are, what are some of the things that you ask them? 

[00:27:49] Laura Rahn: Well, it's interesting, I, um, have published two books, but, 

[00:27:55] Penny Fitzgerald: nice. 

[00:27:55] Laura Rahn: The, um, the, the i, we start with that dream phase [00:28:00] 

[00:28:00] Penny Fitzgerald: in case somebody's just listening and not watching this on YouTube. What's the name of your book? 

[00:28:05] Laura Rahn: So the book is called Dream Design Depart.

And it's available on Amazon. And I have a second one. The Dream Design Depart is an interactive workbook, so it's where you can actually write in it and you can sew that again, those multiple travelers getting everyone's voices. 

[00:28:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I break 

[00:28:25] Laura Rahn: it down into, so why do you wanna go on vacation? And then there's almost like a worksheet where mom wants to go on vacation because she wants to reconnect with her kids that are always so busy.

Mm-hmm. Dad wants to go on vacation to get away from his job for a week, or you know, to have fun with the family and laugh. Mm-hmm. And then why does child, one child or a brother-in-law, or sister-in-law, or grandma, and there's space for everybody to sort of put their answers in so that you can then have those conversations.

[00:28:58] Penny Fitzgerald: That's amazing. 

[00:28:59] Laura Rahn: Yeah. And [00:29:00] there's a digital component, so if you have someone. That's in college, or you're gonna travel with your sister and brother-in-law and their kids, and they live out in California. There's the digital website where they can fill out the pages from their side and, and you can talk about it.

So yeah. 

[00:29:18] Penny Fitzgerald: Fabulous. 

[00:29:18] Laura Rahn: Yeah. 

[00:29:19] Penny Fitzgerald: Cool. I will put those links in my show notes too so people can find them easily and 

[00:29:23] Laura Rahn: Oh, great. Yeah. Look 

[00:29:24] Penny Fitzgerald: up those resources. Yeah, 

[00:29:25] Laura Rahn: because, and the second one is much shorter, but it's designed that dream vacation and it's the, it's sort of a step by step in 12 months how to, like in months 12, 11, and 10, try to do these things 

[00:29:42] Penny Fitzgerald: in 

[00:29:43] Laura Rahn: months, 9, 8, 7, before your vacation.

Try to do these 

[00:29:46] Penny Fitzgerald: things, 

[00:29:46] Laura Rahn: uhhuh and it avoids that stress of, oh my God, we're leaving in a month and we have an A, B, C, D, and e uhhuh. It sort gives the tips and the tricks to plan a year out. And avoid [00:30:00] that stress. 

[00:30:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh gosh. That's another really great resource. And I can imagine too that it would also build this excitement for the trips.

[00:30:09] Laura Rahn: Yes, yes. That is exactly what my, one of my goals and working with clients is to get everyone excited about the trip. 

[00:30:21] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:30:22] Laura Rahn: And Dream Design Depart. The depart section is full of just ideas of different things you can do to get everyone excited all the way up to that family meeting a week before you leave.

Talking about expectations and, mm-hmm. Needs and wants, but doing countdown chains, even how to make packing for a vacation, something fun rather than something mom's pulling her hair out with, trying to make sure everyone has what they need. 

[00:30:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh gosh. 

[00:30:50] Laura Rahn: Yeah. 

[00:30:51] Penny Fitzgerald: What do you mean your favorite shirt's not clean?

[00:30:53] Laura Rahn: I know exactly. And but back to your question of what if they really don't know anything at the beginning about [00:31:00] where they wanna go? Yeah. That's the most fun because it's like, well, what do you like to do when you can? Or how do you wanna vacation? Well, we just wanna relax. Well, what, what kinds of things do you like to do when you relax?

And then someone else will say, I don't like to relax. I wanna, you know, go do fun things. Okay. What kinds of fun things do you wanna do? Well, I wanna go hiking. Well, I wanna lay on a beach. I wanna find the best coffee shop. I want to find the, uh, I'm a foodie. I wanna find a great meal. So hearing again, all the travelers on the call.

Mm-hmm. Hearing all of those different things, I can then with mom and dad's blessing, do some research. 

[00:31:44] Penny Fitzgerald: Sounds 

[00:31:44] Laura Rahn: like you want something that might have some water and maybe a beach. You also might want some mountains. You also might want a cute little town close by with great restaurants and indie coffee shops and, and then it's, do you wanna leave the country?

Do [00:32:00] you wanna stay here? Do you want to drive, do you wanna fly? And it's really fun when they just, I don't know. And then we narrow it down. 

[00:32:11] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, yeah. Light bulbs start going off. 

[00:32:13] Laura Rahn: Yeah. And I've had clients say, I want to go to Wyoming. It's like, why? What do you wanna do there? And then they're like, I don't know.

I've just heard. It's amazing. And so then we start talking, you know? And so you get, I work with all people who come with at all different stages of their vacation thinking. 

[00:32:33] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:32:34] Laura Rahn: Yeah. 

[00:32:36] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Have you ever had a group come to you where they just are on opposite ends of the spectrum?

[00:32:43] Laura Rahn: Yes. I'm thinking about, um, a family who I met, I met a mom at, at an event that I was speaking at. Mm-hmm. And she was talking about how she likes luxury hotels [00:33:00] and foodie experiences, and her family, they're dreaming about Hawaiian, Alaska and they just can't decide on everything. She's like, I really, the beach is fine, whatever, but I just want, I want the room service and I want the beautiful hotel.

Yeah. 

[00:33:14] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:33:14] Laura Rahn: And she's like, my husband could stay in a yurt. He, he's fine. How are we, how can we even travel together? I love him. How can we do this? And they became a cli. They became clients. So the first call was the husband, the wife, and the teenage daughter, young teenage daughter. And three of us were on the call.

'cause the three of them are. Planning the vacation. And so all we did that first call was just talk about what do you want? And you know, Hawaii, Alaska, you're, they're two very different places. 

[00:33:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[00:33:49] Laura Rahn: Do you want, what do you wanna do? How do you wanna feel when you come back? What's at the top of your dream list as far as this family vacation?

And [00:34:00] dad wanted history and experiences. Daughter wanted activities and fun things. Mm-hmm. Mom wanted luxury. We landed on Hawaii and then figuring out, and then I went and did research and then we came back and talked about all the opportunities. And then it was, well these are things you could do on this island and this island, and this island and this island.

And by the end of our second call, we had like a seven day. No exact dates, but just a seven day, day one day two day three, island hopping, different activities as tentative possibilities. They were ecstatic. 

[00:34:44] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:34:44] Laura Rahn: Because every, all three of them had something in there. Oh my gosh. And when we go to this island, I can do this, and then we're gonna go here and I can visit the Pearl Harbor stuff and we can go here and Oh my gosh, look at that hotel we could possibly stay in.

[00:34:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:34:58] Laura Rahn: And so that, that, like you said, that [00:35:00] excitement was starting. They're, they're looking at next summer, maybe even beyond. Mm-hmm. But they wanted to start now in that dreaming piece to be able to budget, to be able to look at what would this really cost us Right. To go for seven to 10 days and start having the conversations to get everyone on the same page or the same, the same book, different pages within the same book.

[00:35:28] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Right. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, I can, I can picture all of the different things that you'd be able to do. 

[00:35:35] Laura Rahn: Yeah, yeah. Mm. 

[00:35:37] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:35:38] Laura Rahn: And that's what's fun is helping families find those things, find something for everyone. Mm-hmm. So you don't have the meltdowns. You have the family meeting before you leave.

Remember, this day we're going here and this day we're going here, so we're all gonna do this and we're gonna have fun doing this because [00:36:00] tomorrow we're all gonna have fun doing this. 

[00:36:02] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, yeah, exactly. We're gonna step out of our comfort zone and do something that's not necessarily on my list. But 

[00:36:09] Laura Rahn: yeah, 

[00:36:10] Penny Fitzgerald: it'll be fun no matter what.

[00:36:11] Laura Rahn: And it was interesting, I just, two years ago I took my two girls, we just did a three girls trip to um, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. My youngest is a big city girl, and my oldest is more nature. Okay. And she wanted to come along for the fun because it was my youngest graduation trip and from college and Uhhuh.

So, um, we had our family meeting, the three of us girls. Okay. And it's like, what do you want? And my oldest is like, I want, I love independent bookstores. I want to find books. A bookstore in Las Vegas that's really fun. Off the beaten path. I wanna find a bookstore in Los Angeles that's really fun, off the beaten path.

Uhhuh, my 21-year-old at the time was like, I wanna have a cocktail at once, [00:37:00] the fancy hotels on the strip and get all dressed up. Uhhuh, I wanna go to, um, I, I'm gonna walk the main boulevard in Los Angeles and just be a tourist. My mother daughter's like, ugh. And, but it was great because we had those conversations beforehand.

Mm-hmm. We planned things. They both my youngest had the best time in the bookstores. That she didn't expect to. Oh, wow. Well, sometimes 

[00:37:30] Penny Fitzgerald: it's about that. 

[00:37:31] Laura Rahn: Yeah. My oldest had so much fun dressing up all fancy. Yeah. And going out, even though that's not something she does regularly. And it's because we, they listened to each other.

We talked about the Yeah. Again, flexibility, the compromise. This is a trip for all of us. It is not just her trip. 

[00:37:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Or my trip. Well, and getting out of our comfort zone is difficult to do. Yeah. We don't do it on our own, but when we're pushed to do it and you do [00:38:00] it for some kind of, okay, I'll do it. You know?

Yeah. Then you surprise yourself because you're having all this fun and you're really doing something new that you would never choose to do on your own. Yeah. And here you're always the people that you love doing this thing, having an experience that you'll talk about forever. 

[00:38:17] Laura Rahn: Yes. Yes. And that's, that's 

[00:38:19] Penny Fitzgerald: fantastic.

[00:38:20] Laura Rahn: And that's the idea. A lot of the families that I work with, why do you wanna go on vacation? To create memories? Yeah. Because we are so busy. Mm-hmm. We're so pulled in so many different directions as moms and dads with big kids even, and kids away at college. I, I encourage families, keep traveling with your big kids, with your grandkids.

Do those family trips because those connections and those memories are what people hold onto. 

[00:38:51] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. The experiences are Yeah. In my opinion, so much more Yes. Worthy than stuff and 

[00:38:57] Laura Rahn: Money. Yeah. Exactly. [00:39:00] Exactly. 

[00:39:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:39:02] Laura Rahn: And that was, that was why, I mean, I would, I started budgeting for these giant vacations and figured out how can we make it happen on two teacher salaries.

[00:39:12] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 'cause 

[00:39:12] Laura Rahn: I wanna make sure we can travel. 

[00:39:14] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:39:15] Laura Rahn: And it worked. 

[00:39:17] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Okay. Yeah. So what's another fun memory from a vacation that you remember? 

[00:39:24] Laura Rahn: There are so many. Um, it's, we have, in fact, on Saturday, my husband and I are going back to our favorite place that we, our 10 year anniversary trip was out to Wyoming for the first time visiting Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

And we've been back probably five or six times since. 

[00:39:44] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:39:45] Laura Rahn: The best part, and the girls will agree, Some of the best memories have been the road trip parts where, um, there's no wifi or cell service. 

[00:39:55] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, just random things. Yeah. Convers 

[00:39:58] Laura Rahn: make, we would make, when cars [00:40:00] still had CD players, we would make CD playlists.

Ah. And we would, and everyone before my husband left, that was his thing. On all of these trips, it's, we would make a. Station cd, each of us would put on three or four of our favorite songs. And then he would also find fun songs, representative of the destination. 

[00:40:22] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:40:23] Laura Rahn: And listening to those CDs, we still have 'em all.

And the last few trips we've done, of course, the Spotify playlists or the Pandora playlists or something. Yeah. But creating a playlist. 

[00:40:36] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:40:37] Laura Rahn: For the road trip part of it, singing along in the car and laughing at the songs and having all those inside jokes. 

[00:40:45] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:40:45] Laura Rahn: Because when you're traveling around national parks, your kids a lot of the time can't be on their phones 

[00:40:51] Penny Fitzgerald: uhhuh 

[00:40:52] Laura Rahn: because there's no cell service.

[00:40:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. 

[00:40:55] Laura Rahn: Yeah. 

[00:40:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, and songs are memories. Right. So when [00:41:00] you mm-hmm. I, when you hear any of those songs anywhere, anytime, I'm sure it takes you right back to that trip. 

[00:41:06] Laura Rahn: It does. And it's really funny because we will hear songs and some of them were very trendy in the time. 

[00:41:14] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:41:14] Laura Rahn: Some of them, again, were representative of the destination.

So some like Willie Nelson song or something that my husband found about traveling the mountains, you know? And, but we would listen to those songs and, and when we hear 'em, even my husband or my daughter, oh my God. She'll text. I just heard that song of course, that we sang at the top of our lungs. Yeah.

Driving through Montana. Yeah. 

[00:41:37] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Aw. 

[00:41:38] Laura Rahn: Mm-hmm. 

[00:41:39] Penny Fitzgerald: Love. Well, you know, it, it's true of anything. When we engage our senses together in an experience, it just implants more deeply in us. 

[00:41:48] Laura Rahn: Yeah. Yep. Yeah. It's really, I mean, I could talk forever about value of the family vacation. Yeah. Or just [00:42:00] traveling in general.

[00:42:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. We travel with a group of friends fairly regularly that, um, we used to work together in the old traveling vineyard days with Judy. Yeah. So that group, that friend group we travel with, um, a lot of 'em like every year or every other year at least. And it's, it's just so important as the older we've gotten, I think our friendships have grown so much deeper Yeah.

And supportive of each other and just, you know, accepting of all of our, because everybody's got something, right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So exactly. Accepting of all of us and being together is just more important and, and having those experiences together. 

[00:42:43] Laura Rahn: Yeah. Yeah. It's been about, it's been about two years, maybe not, maybe a year and a half since we've had a solid family vacation.

Mm-hmm. The four of us, and with my daughter's girlfriend, the five of us. And, um. Because as my husband and I have [00:43:00] started doing things on our own, my girls have been traveling on their own. And so my husband and I are going to Wyoming. We are then going on an African safari in November with my mother, one of her friends and his aunt from Pennsylvania.

After that, we have a few other short things planned and then I told my girls, I'm like, I want to do something with all of us again. Mm-hmm. It's been a while. My daughter's a classroom teacher, so we would have to do summer or spring break for her. Mm-hmm. So we planned and my other daughter is like, well, it has to be something with like a city or a big town with lots of things.

I don't wanna go to a national park again. I get a voice, I have an opinion. There you go. And so we actually settled on Key West. I've been there before. It's a very busy place. Yes. It's also got some nature, some beaches, snorkeling. Yes. And so we're flying into Miami, we're renting a car. We're all piling in doing the hundred [00:44:00] mile overseas highway down to Key West and just spending four days together in an Airbnb connecting.

[00:44:08] Penny Fitzgerald: So much to look forward to. That's 

[00:44:10] Laura Rahn: It is, and that was something my husband and I, you know, are very grateful for what we have and our health and our wellness.

[00:44:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. And that 

[00:44:17] Laura Rahn: now we're both retired and we can do that. Yeah. 

[00:44:20] Penny Fitzgerald: And 

[00:44:20] Laura Rahn: we can take these trips and enjoy 'em. And our daughters are independent and doing amazing things and still want to travel with us also. 

[00:44:29] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:44:30] Laura Rahn: Yeah. 

[00:44:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. That's super. So super fun. Our, our. Sons are adults and out of the house we have three grand babies, um, too, so mm-hmm.

And they're, you know, all over, but hanging out with them and just talking mm-hmm. Enjoying each other's company. Having this conversation is just so, yeah. Warms my heart. 

[00:44:54] Laura Rahn: It, it really is. And, and that's why I encourage don't give up on the family [00:45:00] vacations, just because your kids are now doing travel sports or going to college.

Right. Or have moved out of the house. Mm-hmm. Sometimes those are even better vacations with the Oh yeah. 

[00:45:09] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:45:10] Laura Rahn: Yeah. Yeah. Oh 

[00:45:11] Penny Fitzgerald: gosh. 

[00:45:12] Laura Rahn: Mm-hmm. 

[00:45:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. So 

 one of the things I like to ask, to wrap things up kind of is, do you have a favorite cocktail or glass of wine? What do you like to drink? 

[00:45:21] Laura Rahn: Yes, I, and I thought about that because I knew that that was part of the conversations you have. 

one of my favorite cocktails is a, is a good whiskey sour, just a really solid, good whiskey sour.

Okay. And the memories of that are crazy because it goes back to probably before I was even 21. Yeah. And we would visit my grandparents and my uncle would make me a whiskey sour. I was like 20 years old. Maybe I was 21. 

[00:45:52] Penny Fitzgerald: There's one in every family. 

[00:45:54] Laura Rahn: And it just became that drink that, oh, I like this, this is good.

and now my 25-year-old [00:46:00] also, well when she comes home she's like, I'm gonna make you a really good whiskey sour. And so that's like we cheers at Christmas time. Yeah. With everyone has their own favorite cocktail and she makes them all for everybody. Yeah. 

[00:46:14] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, nice.

She's a mix master a a drink master. Yeah. 

[00:46:17] Laura Rahn: Yeah. She enjoys doing that for her friends. Yeah. 

[00:46:20] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. Now is that the younger daughter that just graduated? The older one. The older one. Okay. The 

[00:46:24] Laura Rahn: 25-year-old. Yep. Okay. Yeah. She enjoys experimenting with food, experimenting with different fancy drinks. My 23-year-old just loves to go find the fancy drinks.

[00:46:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh yes. Okay. Be served the fancy drinks. She likes 

[00:46:36] Laura Rahn: to, she likes to pick the, I get that. The most interesting one that's fruity and sweet on the menu. And try. 

[00:46:43] Penny Fitzgerald: That, you know, I think we go through that phase. Yep, yep. Your palate kind of dries out as you get older and try some new things. Yeah. 

[00:46:52] Laura Rahn: But yeah, I, I was thinking, and I'm like, you know, what are my cocktail memories?

And it's like that drink [00:47:00] has a series of different memories. 

[00:47:02] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:47:04] Laura Rahn: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Very 

[00:47:05] Penny Fitzgerald: cool. And f from even your, your uncle. Okay. "Druncle" 

[00:47:09] Laura Rahn: and my grandparents. Yep. And your grandparents. Cocktail hour was a big thing at my grandparents' house. Okay. When we would go visit them in Northern New York cocktail hour.

You dressed, You did not speak unless spoken to as a child. And it was just a, it was a very fancy, that was their culture. 

[00:47:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Tell me more about that. That's really, yeah 

[00:47:31] Laura Rahn: Fancy, 

it was very interesting. I mean, they, they were both born in 1910. So they, of course they've passed, but they so that generation.

[00:47:40] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:47:41] Laura Rahn: And they were a very, um, I guess I could say sort of upper class. 

[00:47:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. Where they 

[00:47:49] Laura Rahn: lived in their, their community and everything, and the house they lived in. And so that was sort of our home. Okay. Our home away from home. That was my landing spot. [00:48:00] I always, my grandparents. Oh, 

[00:48:01] Penny Fitzgerald: sure. 

[00:48:02] Laura Rahn: You know, I was always moving around, but my grandparents always had the big house.

Okay. And we would get to wear fancy party clothes and go have fun in their big house. Hmm. And as I grew up, cocktail hour was always something that you, you dressed. We might be out swimming or on the St. Lawrence River. But you came back, you showered and you dressed for cocktail hour and dinner.

Oh. And even as a 10-year-old. You, you dressed 

[00:48:27] Penny Fitzgerald: okay. And then the 

[00:48:27] Laura Rahn: big dining room and everything. It was just Wow. Wow. It's a little Downton 

[00:48:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Abbey. 

[00:48:32] Laura Rahn: Yeah. I loved it. I did, I loved it because it was so different from the way I was growing up with my family traveling around the country or the world with mom and dad.

Mm-hmm. they had this bar that was amazing. And it's now in my mother's house and my 25-year-old has already claimed it when the time comes. Ah, 

[00:48:50] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah. 

[00:48:51] Laura Rahn: Um, but they, they had this bar that opened up and it had all the decanters and everything.

Yes, yes. And it was very, very [00:49:00] classy. 

[00:49:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. And 

[00:49:01] Laura Rahn: finally I was old enough to have cocktail hour, and I'm like, I don't know what drinks I'm supposed to drink. And that's why my uncle's like, I'll make you a Whisky 

[00:49:09] Penny Fitzgerald: Sour yeah. Oh yeah. Wow. Okay. So they, they would make their, their drinks too, or did they have the, what are we talking about?

They 

[00:49:20] Laura Rahn: did have people to help them, but no, that's what they, the cocktail hour was all them. 

[00:49:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. So they didn't have a bartender coming in or they had a cook 

[00:49:27] Laura Rahn: who helped with dinner. They had a maid who was there and did all the cleaning and housekeeping, uhhuh. But now cocktail hour was truly open up the bar.

Okay. And make the drinks and enjoy and catch up. And I mean that very, uh, historical that, you know, that you hear about the families of previous generations having cocktails. 

[00:49:51] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Cocktail. Mm-hmm. We did. Yeah. So interesting. Whenever 

[00:49:55] Laura Rahn: we visited, you did that. 

[00:49:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. We kind, we do [00:50:00] that, but it's much more, much less formal.

Yes. 

[00:50:04] Laura Rahn: Yeah. Have. A drink before dinner. Yeah, 

[00:50:09] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah, 

[00:50:10] Laura Rahn: exactly. 

[00:50:11] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:50:11] Laura Rahn: So fun, 

[00:50:12] Penny Fitzgerald: happy hour. You know, we have a, a home in Florida, um, as well where, you know, we're very close to where Judy lives. Mm-hmm. And happy hour is kind of a thing there. Yeah. Um, but there's, I don't know of anyone who, you know, does it formally, like dresses for it and does the 

[00:50:29] Laura Rahn: Yeah.

[00:50:30] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Interesting. That was fun to do with some neighbors. 

[00:50:33] Laura Rahn: It was the expectation and if friends came over, they, the people they associated with, the dear, dear family, friends that my mother grew up with, my mother grew up in the big house and the dear friends that they grew up with up, they came over for dinner or something.

They were dressed. It was expected. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:50:51] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. So when you say you dressed for the occasion mm-hmm. What kind of dress are we talking about? What kind of attire would you wear? 

[00:50:59] Laura Rahn: Um, [00:51:00] honestly, and this sounds absolutely crazy, but my father was in a coat and tie. 

[00:51:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Really? 

[00:51:06] Laura Rahn: Yeah. And we were in, I mean, growing up it was so fun to pick out our fun dresses that we were gonna wear at my grandparents' house when we visited.

[00:51:16] Penny Fitzgerald: So it wasn't just like, okay, you've been playing outside and all sweaty and stuff. You'd go get cleaned up. It's more like, okay, you're going to be, it's more normal. 

[00:51:24] Laura Rahn: Yeah. Put on your dress. Oh yeah. We're not talking black tie. Yeah. But definitely, I mean, my grandfather was in a coat and tie every night for dinner.

Wow. He might've been in a polo shirt and a pair of khakis during the day, or a pair of shorts out on the river. They had a boat on the St. Lawrence Uhhuh. But we would come back and clean up and dress for dinner. 

[00:51:46] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:51:47] Laura Rahn: Christmas Eve dinner was a huge event. 

[00:51:50] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, I bet. 

[00:51:51] Laura Rahn: Uhhuh Christmas day dinner. Mm-hmm. After opening presents in your pajamas all day and having fun.

You went and changed for dinner? 

[00:51:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Mm-hmm. [00:52:00] Wow. 

[00:52:00] Laura Rahn: they had a,a housekeeper who came in who was family. Yeah. Irene. I grew up with her. As family. I mean, I was so excited. I would wake up at 10 years old or seven years old and sit in the window waiting for her to drive up at seven o'clock in the morning to give her big hugs and hang out with her.

Oh. Until everyone else woke up. And then they had a cook Mary, who for years would show up around five o'clock every evening. 

[00:52:28] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And cook dinner. Wow. Mm-hmm. It's fascinating to me. Yeah. That's just an amazing story. 

[00:52:35] Laura Rahn: Yeah. I was very excited that my husband got to meet them, and by the time my first daughter was born, my grandfather passed when I was pregnant with her, but my grandmother was still alive and unfortunately she had dementia.

But we do have pictures of my, my oldest pushing her in a wheelchair up and down the driveway of the big house and everything. So, yeah. Very cool. 

[00:52:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. So, oh, that [00:53:00] big house was that. In or near the Finger Lakes region then It must have been, it was about if it's 

[00:53:05] Laura Rahn: near Syracuse. Yeah. Watertown, New York, 

[00:53:08] Penny Fitzgerald: We're, um, having wine camp. I don't know if Judy told you anything about that, but I do a retreat every year for ladies who Wine.

Oh, fun. 

[00:53:16] Laura Rahn: Uhhuh. 

[00:53:18] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And we're going to the Finger Lakes region in 2026. 

[00:53:22] Laura Rahn: Okay. 

[00:53:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:53:24] Laura Rahn: It's, it's close. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. They're more in the snow belt area up 

[00:53:29] Penny Fitzgerald: north farther. We're kind of at the southern tip of Lake, of the Seneca Lake, I think is where we're our 

[00:53:34] Laura Rahn: Yeah. They are way Northern New York. 

[00:53:37] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay.

[00:53:38] Laura Rahn: Yeah. Wow. 

[00:53:40] Penny Fitzgerald: Wonderful though, what memories you have. 

[00:53:42] Laura Rahn: Yeah. And and it's been neat because that was my home base and I, I, I've had fun sharing it with you because, you know, where did you grow up? All over the world. Yeah. What are your best memories growing up? Always knowing I [00:54:00] had my grandparents house in New York.

[00:54:02] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, nice. 

[00:54:03] Laura Rahn: That was, that was comfort also. That was, yeah. And we would, aside from the three years in Italy, we would see them, we would go up there like twice a year at least. Okay. And they would see us wherever we lived. But always knowing, even as a college student, I didn't mind leaving all my friends and going up to New York to spend Christmas with my grandparents.

[00:54:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm. Mm-hmm. Aw. The best of both worlds. 

[00:54:28] Laura Rahn: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So fun. 

[00:54:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Laura, this conversation has been amazing. Thank you so much. 

[00:54:35] Laura Rahn: You're welcome. So fun. 

[00:54:37] Penny Fitzgerald: Thank you for having me.