Please Go Away Travel Podcast
Please Go Away Travel Podcast
Love is in the Air
Unlock the secret to a deeper connection with your significant other through the magical blend of romance and travel. This episode, featuring Amanda Kleimach of Largay Travel and Please Go Away, promises to guide you through forging unforgettable moments with your partner. Go beyond the usual vacation routine and learn how anticipation of a trip can be as invigorating for your relationship as the journey itself. Through thoughtful preparation and the embrace of new experiences, Amanda and I reveal how travel can reignite the spark of love and keep it burning long after you've returned home.
Planning a trip isn't just about picking a destination; it's about charting a course for relationship bliss. Together with Amanda and Scott, we delve into the collaborative spirit of travel, sharing tips on how to create a shared vision for your adventures that enriches your bond. From establishing a dedicated travel budget to discovering passions that drive your itineraries, this conversation covers the financial strategies and emotional investments that make each getaway a masterpiece of shared memories. If you're looking to craft a love story that spans the globe, this is your must-listen playbook.
Imagine sleeping under the stars in Antarctica or soaking in a hot tub while whale-watching in the wee hours—this episode takes you there. We'll journey through planning epic adventures and selecting unique accommodations that push the boundaries of the ordinary. Whether it's a local weekend escape or an off-season exploration to avoid the crowds, we provide insights into making the most of every trip. Join us as we discuss how to transform your travel dreams into reality, ensuring that each adventure is a seamless continuation of your love story.
Hello everybody and happy Monday. Thank you for joining us here for a very fun session out of our Please Go Away Studios. We're back in action here and today we're talking about how love is in the air. So I'm joined here by Amanda Kleimach. She is the president and CEO here at Largay Travel, but also co-founder Please Go Away, which was really our sister brand that we launched, geared around entrepreneurs. The entire brand was to kind of encompass what the travel experience and what the life is like as an entrepreneur, but today we're going to focus a little bit on romance.
Speaker 2:Yes, most appropriate for February, and one that I truly enjoy talking about, because we deal with a lot of entrepreneurs who are busy, have crazy lives, but yet they want to keep the romance in their life. So this is going to be really fun because we've taken what we've learned over the past 30 years and learned from the best, as well as our travel specialists who work with our entrepreneurs, and we're going to share the secrets of what they do to keep romance alive in their relationships.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think the beauty of it is we're entrepreneurs, right, amanda Is not only did both of us kind of grow up in the travel world and we've been traveling our entire lives, but at the end of the day, we're both entrepreneurs. You're one of the most successful entrepreneurs, but is your life busy?
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, yes, and you know what? What's really amazing to me is that I do meet a lot of people who are trying to juggle the crazy life of work and families and just being how do you even say it Just being present to a relationship when life is just so chaotic. So I'm really excited to talk about this and share what we know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's really an important key is staying present. You know, I think, especially for me myself is I'm always thinking about what's going to happen in the next work day, this project, that project, all of these things that need to get done, and a lot of times you're kind of living in fast forward and not in the present. You're not there for the moment. So can you talk a little bit about how you've been able to kind of put that into your own life and how that's kind of affected you and the relationships around you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, you know, it's funny because sometimes we plan our travel trip by trip, right, we're going on a trip and then we come back, we wait a little while. Then we get inspired again and our most successful or happiest entrepreneurs live in a constant state of anticipation, and so it's that feeling of what's next for us as a couple which gives them memories to talk about, also gives them something to look forward to and to collectively research, and it really is a fun way for entrepreneurs to live.
Speaker 1:Anticipation. That's the big step that a lot of people skip, and maybe the most important step. When you're thinking about just putting a date on the calendar right, it's something that you, like you said you're looking forward to. Maybe you're buying something for the trip and it's just something that you're just looking forward to together. And I think that's one of the things that kind of gets missed when you're planning a trip is, once you've planned it, you have that entire phase of looking forward to that trip right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Well, and you know it's interesting. I was looking up some studies to just see like, how does this all pan out when we put the science to it, and I read a study that was really interesting and it said that 86% of couples who travel believe that their romance is still alive because of travel, compared to 73% of those same respondents who don't travel say that's their success with their relationship. So it is statistically proven that people who do have experiences, who do travel together, really do have a more enhanced love life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, it makes sense, right. It's about sharing memories together. It's about the anticipation, but also, afterwards, how you get to share that moment, wherever it is in the world, together. That will forever be a cherished memory together and deepen the connection between you. I think one of the things that I have found through us working together with you know we're a network of entrepreneurs, right.
Speaker 1:All of our travel advisors are their own entrepreneurs who are busy and they're trying to navigate how to turn off the work and focus even when they're traveling, and I think that's one of the biggest hurdles. That, I think, is also something you need to focus on when you're planning a trip, where you can make sure that, while you put that date on the calendar, you also have to make sure that you put everything in order so you can truly, like you said, live present and live in the moment.
Speaker 2:And being prepared not only at home.
Speaker 2:So making sure your household is in order weeks before you go, as well as making sure your office and the people you work with are also prepared for you to be away, allows you to truly disconnect, and I think that that's what's really important in the way those successful people operate when it comes to travel.
Speaker 2:They almost have a triage list of things you have to do before you leave, whether it be scheduling the kennel, childcare, making arrangements for who's going to watch the house or getting my team ready so that they know, when I'm away, that I really need to disconnect, because when we return from those trips, we know that people have less stress, happier job satisfaction and they're able to think a little clearer and be able to move forward in just a better way. The other thing is they've discovered that the actual dopamine that's released in your brain when you share a new experience is this same trans neurometer whatever it's called that you have when you fall in love, so that feeling of like renewed love actually returns when you have a shared experience with your loved one, and I think we often forget that. That's what it's all about, right Getting away, enjoying and disconnecting so important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the feeling of awe right. Yes, yes, it is so true, it's such a magical moment that you can't really encompass until you feel it, and I think that that's a huge point of while you're there and setting yourself up for that success and then being there, what would you say? You know, for everybody that's here and everybody that's listening, I think, when you talk about getting away right, it was all different ways to get away.
Speaker 1:It can be a big bucket list trip to Africa on Safari, or it could be something close to home, or it's a little night getaway or weekend getaway, so it doesn't have to be a big trip either, right it?
Speaker 2:doesn't, and that's what they found is that people that get away for one night or two nights still have that renewed sense of energy and feel the love that they once knew when they're actually disconnecting from the rest of the world.
Speaker 2:So it doesn't have to be a huge getaway, a big epic journey. It could be something that you're driving a few hours, maybe going to a show or doing something, staying over, but doing it with intention and the intention of reconnecting with that person in your life. Now love. It's funny because when I was younger I actually went to this thing they called the burn ball and it was for all of the people who were single on Valentine's Day, and I think sometimes we forget that the love of travel does not necessarily have to be the couple. It can be with yourself. The love of yourself can also be an important journey. So I don't wanna exclude anybody who's watching this and thinking I may not have a Valentine this week. I want you to remember that it really can be a love of yourself as well.
Speaker 1:Self love is so important and it's where everything has to start. You can't get to any other level of love until you have some self love going on right.
Speaker 2:And you're probably wondering about the burn ball and I only bring it up because it's one of my favorite memories of Valentine's Day when I was single and it was so funny because they had the person with the most pathetic story love story that happened would win dinner for one. They also had a paper shredder on hand that if you wanted to shred the oh wow, just an instant shred. It was just an instant shred when you needed to move on.
Speaker 2:I just thought it was so funny. But I also have some stories that my advisor shared with me and some of my own stories about what you can do with that romance if you plan ahead and how you can make those trips truly epic for you and your partner.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you touched on something that I don't wanna skip over before we get anywhere else is solo travel. And solo travel is so hot now and it's so great for any entrepreneur, right, you talked about the burnout and trying to recharge and what that can do to you mentally, that moment that you kinda take a sit back and you can assess things. It can be big scale, long scale, whatever it is, but the importance of being able to do that for yourself. A solo trip is a great time, you know, and it could be whether you're just solo, you're not in a relationship, but really solo travel. I've seen entrepreneurs it doesn't matter if they're in a relationship or not, they're taking trips by themselves to kind of reconnect with themselves.
Speaker 2:They are, and I think it's really important to keep that in mind that the love of travel does not have to be necessarily as a couple. It can be as a family, it can be a group of friends, because it does make those deep relationships and connections, and it can be a connection with yourself. So we just wanted to throw that out for anybody who's out there watching tonight who doesn't have a loved one right now that they want to travel with. But we wanted to let you know. So what I'd love to do, scott, is share some of the things that our advisors had shared with us about what their most successful and happiest couples are doing.
Speaker 1:I would love that as well. I mean, we could go on forever, right. We really could, but we do have some good highlights, that kind of we think, well, you know, encompass everybody, no matter where they are kind of in their own relationships and lives. So, you know, let's get into it. So how about you start kind of giving us a little bit of an insight, even on how they're navigating it for themselves and their clients?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So what we find is our most successful couples are taking time to actually put a budget aside for their travel. They have a budget that every year, this is what we're gonna spend, where there's a percentage of their income or it's a fixed amount and that's put aside just to specifically travel with. You know we often take time to plan for, you know, for retirement. We take time to plan for college funds and all sorts of things. We even plan for what happens when we're gone estate planning but we don't plan our most valuable non-renewable asset or free time, and it is something where you know, when you do have that money set aside, it almost allows you and gives you permission to maybe do something outside of the box, and so I love when people say I have a budget. This year, I wanna get the most value for my travel budget and let's see what we could come up with that's creative and fun and incorporates everyone's interests.
Speaker 1:The happiness fund.
Speaker 2:The happiness fund. The other thing is that our couples primarily plan together. It's not just one person making the journey and the reservations and saying this is where we're going. They participate together. So when they're actually picking activities and doing things, they're actually picking things that are of interest to them both, and maybe it'll be one trip is specifically on one thing. Maybe this trip we're gonna golf or we're gonna go on a shopping trip or we're gonna go, you know, scuba diving or something. But then they kind of flip flop back and forth with a different interest and sometimes they just take turns planning those weekend getaways and trips just so that everyone's interests are met.
Speaker 1:What I've heard is you learn a lot about the person that you're with through the planning process. I mean some of the things that I personally learned myself about my significant other I'm sure with you, is in that planning phase you could hear about something that they're interested in, you're just like really Wow, that's amazing, I had no idea about that.
Speaker 1:So we're talking about deepening connection, but even in that planning phase you really are, whether you're navigating that shared experience and those touch points that are good for one person and then making sure that the other person is involved but that whole planning phase. You can learn so much just in that.
Speaker 2:You can, and that's what most of our travel specialists are doing when they get to know their clients, because each time that you're getting to have that conversation we're learning, and then, as things come across our desks, we're able to say, oh, I know who that would be perfect for. So it makes the planning process really fun on our end too, because we do have then that behind the scenes knowledge. The other thing is when you actually do some long-term travel planning and you review here's the destinations. We wanna get to the infamous bucket list that everyone talks about.
Speaker 2:Well, when you have that kind of planned out, you may have a trip that's a decade down the road. But what's cool is, let's say, you wanna go to Egypt someday and see the pyramids. Well, this year we're gonna take a trip to Mexico and maybe we're just gonna get away for a few days, but we could go to Tulum and visit the pyramids there. You can do something that may be a museum tour in New York City that has an actual exhibit. For me personally, it was great because I saw the King Tut exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a child and then was able to go back with my husband and see it in person, which was fantastic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's a really great point too is you can actually get tastes of the experience, whether it's your interest. One of the things that I've seen be very popular is people looking into their ancestry, their history and those types of traveling. You talk about reconnecting with your roots. I think that that's one of the ways that for anybody to reconnect with themselves, to learn more about themselves and their family, but also their loved ones. It's such a great way to kind of go out there and explore.
Speaker 2:It is, and what's cool about it is, when you do that research together into ancestry or into a specific topic, you have something that you're sharing, that you're talking about. It's almost like having that quest that you're gonna go out on together, and it's funny because it can be all sorts of different things. We have couples who wanna go to all the Michelin star restaurants, or they wanna go see specific exhibits or gardens, but having that common goal can be a really fun thing to do. So another tip that we find for entrepreneurs and for people who are looking to connect using travel is having some sort of a goal set, and it can be something that you like to go out and find pickleball courts together, or you like to go around the world and find wine bars or vineyards. Whatever it may be, it's a really fun way to kind of connect the dots and reconnect. Yeah, I think shared passion points right.
Speaker 1:It can be something. For me, it's music. I try to find live music everywhere I am. That's something that I encompass and make sure is part of my travel plans, but everybody has their thing. They do, they do need to remember, and that's where our travel advisors really kind of jump in and that relationship building with the advisor is so key because those little touch points are what makes the trip as memorable as possible and it can be the destination. Of course, we're talking about bucket lists, we like to call it wanderlists around here.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, we do.
Speaker 1:But we talk about these big destinations, but really, even the close to home, where it's something that you know, it's that they are just so passionate about. It could be, like you said, that theater or behind the scenes or whatever it is, those little tiny touch points. It could be having a personalized amenity in the room when you show up. It could be your anniversary photo that's on the side. It's those little things that everybody remembers, right. So why don't you talk a little bit about? It's not always about the big picture, but the little things that kind of make the difference.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Well, and it's funny because once we, as advisors, know what the goal of the trip is whether it be romance or adventure or having experience together once we know that, we can then put the magic into play. So, whether it's rose petals in a heart on the bed when you come back from an evening game drive, or my favorite was when we flooded the bathroom at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai because there was rose petals clogged into the drains, and we? I mean, it was a fun experience, but they will never forget us.
Speaker 1:Hey, a memory nonetheless, you will never forget.
Speaker 2:Yes. So I mean, that's where the fun really comes in and I often tell people you know you can't VIP yourself and certainly it can be really challenging to get those special things kind of organized, but that's where we really get involved and love to shine when we're doing planning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think everybody likes to feel special and if you're making your significant other feel special. But when you go to a place it's nice to be recognized and, like you said, you can't VIP yourself. You can't call them up and say I'm a big deal or I'm important.
Speaker 2:Although I try, you have to try, it has to work. Very well, not very well. I think I got a worse room when I tried that one.
Speaker 1:But I think that's such a key element to you. A lot of people still are like oh you know, what does a travel advisor do? Why would I go with a travel advisor over booking things on my own? And I think that's where it really comes into place. And for entrepreneurs, what I've found is entrepreneurs are so successful in business and so they're so successful in business, but they still either they're working through their secretary themselves, booking their own, and they don't know what's possible. You can't Google what. You don't know what to Google. And I think that's where we have obviously found our skill set to be the most valuable to our clients. But I think that's where that aha moment goes off with a lot of the clients that we work with, like, oh okay, that makes sense, that's right.
Speaker 2:Yes, and what's really cool about it is the more we work with people, the more we get to know them, the more we're able to customize. So you know, regardless of who you're working with as a travel company or specialist finding somebody who takes a true interest in your family is really important, and it can last for decades and decades and generations. I mean, we have families that we've worked with for 10, 20, 30 years and work now with their kids and their grandkids because we take an interest in them personally about their travel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean you. Just, it's like you always are reading my mind at this point, because I was gonna say it's kind of scary.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. I do not want that to happen. Exactly.
Speaker 1:But I think you just hit on. The next point that I was gonna make is you know, love is in the air. But love in the air could be love of your family, and no matter what if it's a multi-generational trip. It's a nice special connection between a grandparent and a granddaughter that are going somewhere special. Talk a little bit about that experience and how those moments are what everybody is kind of like looking for when it comes to their family.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, it's really about knowing and understanding the goals of the trip, right? So a lot of time I always tell people when I'm coaching them is that, you know, think about if I came back from this trip, what is the feeling I would want to feel after the trip. Is it excitement, is it relaxation, is it contentment? Like what do I wanna feel and say after the trip? And you know it's start with the end in mind. So you wanna kind of go into the journey and that can then help us kind of unfold what it is.
Speaker 2:You do, what you see, what we schedule, how we do it, what's the pace or the cadence of the trip? Cause a lot of that feeds into how you feel. So the last thing you wanna do if you wanna get a you know, health and wellness break, relaxation, is schedule something every single day. You know the last thing you wanna do if you wanna have excitement is schedule yourself to sit on a beach, you know. So you really have to go in with a clear understanding of what is it I wanna feel when this is all done and when you can do that, when you can take the time to actually think through what it is you wanna feel at the end you could come up with some really great stuff and that allows you to really base the trip itself and what you're doing on that. So I would love to Skye.
Speaker 2:I mean, we've been talking a lot about these key things that we've been learning, but I would love to share a little bit about what the people that are here tonight came to hear about, and that might be what are some things you would recommend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's a great segue into that and thank you so much for, you know, taking everybody kind of on that journey. It's been exactly that. It's been a journey of coming to this point where we recognize that people also like to travel together with like-minded people.
Speaker 1:They do so you just hit on a great point.
Speaker 1:So you might think it's a nightmare to travel with me, because I love adrenaline. I wanna be on the top of a mountain or a scoop diving at the deepest part of the sea, where some people are like I wanna sit on the beach and drink my margarita, where they don't wanna go travel with me. So what we've also found is you know, in addition to you know, figuring out where you want to go as a couple or as a solo traveler, as a family, traveling with like-minded people with a type of experience in mind, I have found to be like the biggest aha moment for a lot of people, and entrepreneurs like to be around other entrepreneurs. I know it because I am one and I like to be around them. So I think that's one of the experiences that's also available that maybe not a lot of people know is like there is ways that you know, through whatever organization, or even you know the types of things that you are passionate about. You can find groups or we can put a group together for something like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, and you know, because I'm an EO member and our company is a strategic alliance partner with EO, I travel with a lot of EO members and it's really fun because we all have a different cadence that we travel in. And so, you know, last year when we went with a few other couples down to Cabo, it was funny because we had a couple of people who just are crazy athletes, so every morning we'd send them out, they could go running and, you know, go through the wilderness and get their 10 miles in. Yeah, I'm sleeping in my bed.
Speaker 2:I will tell you and then I'm going to wake up, and then I'm going to have a nice breakfast and maybe go on a mountain bike, enjoy some fitness, but at a completely different pace, and it's so important to actually take into consideration that different people have a different cadence when they're on vacation, and understanding that is super important, and I just think it's one of those things that you really have to think about before you travel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's the setting expectations, even from that perspective, of what is your day to day look like on vacation. The other thing that came to mind while you were talking through all of that is and what you were saying before is, as entrepreneurs, as busy work professionals, we travel a lot for work, right?
Speaker 1:Yes, it's where at conferences we're in these beautiful destinations and a lot of what I found, even with myself, is you try to tag on on the front end or the back end, how to navigate that part of it. Can you talk a little bit about that kind of combination of work and leisure travel?
Speaker 2:That is my life, like we're just going to say it.
Speaker 2:That is my life because literally by the time I do all of my business trips during the year kind of at a time by the end of the year so often I will either bring my husband along with me, bring my daughter, my son, or I'm going to actually have them come and meet me somewhere else.
Speaker 2:And then of course we have our local getaways and those are really fantastic because you can go just a short distance from home, maybe find the locations that are just a single flight away, even from some smaller local airports. So I know we have a lot of people on tonight from EO Connecticut and you know, for us we have the New Haven Airport with the Velo, they have Nashville, they have most of the Florida destinations. They're bringing on destinations on a regular basis. Then of course you have out of Hartford you have flights that go to Dublin now nonstop, which is not that far. When you think about it. People don't think about going to Europe for the weekend, but you really can go to Iceland out of Boston or you can go to Paris and you can get away for a weekend and it's fun and exciting.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I think that's one of the things that a lot of people are like oh, I can't travel overseas in a long weekend kind of a format, but depending on if you're on the West Coast or the East Coast or where you're located geographically, there's so many like local really kind of big trips that you can have in a shorter period of time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and for us here in the Northeast, of course you know, New England has tons of fabulous, fabulous resorts, bed and breakfast and all sorts of little gems that are either on the coastline or are just really special places that people can go. We have some of the best destination spas in the region very close, and certainly there's lots of places like Nashville and other locations that you can fly to for a long weekend and have an absolutely spectacular long weekend that allows you to just reconnect and then return to work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's such a great way to look at it. And one of the other things that I was thinking of while you're talking through that is, when you plan ahead, a lot of people can actually combine some of those destinations, those bigger destinations. I think about the Maldives, where it had always been on my list but it was forever to get there, right, right. But I also always wanted to go to Dubai. So when I worked with one of our travel specialists, they're like why don't you do them both in one trip? And that's one of the other things. While people are trying to look at their conferences, whether it's international or local, I think there's a great way, when you kind of plan ahead, that you can kind of combine a lot of those bucket list trips that you have and kind of do a double check or a triple check sometimes, right.
Speaker 2:Well, and that's where long-term travel planning really comes into play. And that's figuring out what are the destinations that I want to get to in my lifetime, what are the milestone events that I want to look forward to whether it be an anniversary, a birthday, a graduation, a wedding and really start to map out how am I going to get to these destinations, how am I going to financially figure this out and make it work within my busy schedule, and that's a really fun thing to do together.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, definitely I think. So We've covered kind of, you know, the birds-eye view of all the different ways that love can be in the air. Yes, but one of the things that I think that everybody here is waiting for is what are some like recommendations from a couple of different ways that you maybe you're in a relationship I'm going to start with you've got a new relationship, you're trying to maybe take it to the next level. You don't want to go internationally, technically, maybe off the beginning. You want to find something, maybe a little closer, and safer to home.
Speaker 1:Talk about a little bit from like a fresh relationship perspective, what your recommendation would be for someone in that situation.
Speaker 2:Well, one of the things that we often do is find a concert or a venue, an art exhibit, something that would be really enjoyable for the two of you to go to, and then build a one night around that. Maybe not plan the three night, the five night, because, who knows, right, I don't. I mean, I'm not in the dating ground these days, but I have to say you kind of want to test the water, have coffee before dinner, and you know, figure that out. So I always say look for sporting events or maybe a special hike that you want to do something that you could build that first overnight or long weekends, in order to kind of see how things go and see how you travel together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for me, you know comedy, right, find a comedy show. We're here, we're close to New York, going to Broadway show something like that, like you said, a concert, something where you can have this kind of immersive, special experience. But, like you said, maybe not get into the danger zone of getting a little bit too long in the tooth for how long you're away.
Speaker 2:Well, if nothing else, if you're not the chemistry that you're looking for, well, you'll be the funny guy at a comedy show, exactly so, there's all different ways to find humor out there.
Speaker 1:So okay, so that's kind of, you know, fresh to the game, fresh into a relationship, trying to figure out something that's maybe a little bit smaller scale. How about for relationships where they've been together for a long time? They've kind of gotten set in their ways and they're like you know, we need to re spark some of the fire from when we were first in love. Talk about a little bit of that.
Speaker 2:Well, and I think that that goes back to what were the things that we enjoyed together early on and really looking at what is it that really brought you together Right, and then maybe look back at that. The other thing is a lot of the health and wellness spas, whether it be Mirafal or Canyon Ranch, do offer a couple retreats, and I think that's a great way to reconnect and I know through EO there's lots of programs that they offer on my EO and different areas. So being able to dive in as a couple is always fun. But then don't be afraid to try something new. You know, I think that often we get so set in our ways and getting yourself outside of your comfort zone can sometimes be just what you need.
Speaker 2:So a couple years ago we decided to do a back road trip on bikes. We did the Kentucky Bourbon Trail on bikes and that was something that was a little uncomfortable for me because guess why? I wasn't in the best of shapes. So we rented e-bikes and you know for me, an e-bike let me ride the same distance as everyone else and Gary and I were able to really connect through that excitement every day getting on the bikes, having an activity that we could do together. So I think you have to remember that sometimes having those activities and getting outside of your comfort zone are really key to kind of bringing you back to what is it that we truly enjoyed together early on.
Speaker 1:And for others that also love the movie couples retreat, not all couple retreats are quite like that movie, although I love the movie they're much better versions of that that you know you don't have to, you know, have the kind of experiences that they had on that trip, yes, so so talk a little bit about you know we've talked about new to love, kind of rekindling love, but you actually just touched on a really important part where you might not actually know that you can be a part of something like a back roads trip or a different type of experience and, like what you just mentioned is, you probably didn't have that on your, on your wish list because you didn't want to be biking every day, but you talked about the e-bike experience, all of these kind of ways that you can be a part of it but not have to, like maybe do the intensity that some of the other group members might want.
Speaker 2:Well, and I love a good adventure, but I'm kind of a cushy adventurous in that I'm not going to sleep in a tent, I'm not going to sleep on the ground, but guess what? I'll take a trip to Antarctica any day. I'll go polar bear trekking and, you know, be out on the ice, not with the polar bears but in the polar rover. But you know what those kind of things I think are really important to to look at as a possibility and find kind of that fun, exciting, adventurous way to travel together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, glamping. Right, I think you know there's still those of us out there that still can put up a traditional tent and go fishing and all of that. But you're so young but I will say I have also fallen into loving myself some glamping and the term glamping has come so far along. You mentioned you know you can go to the northern lights and you get one of those egg lures right, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, talk about an amazing experience for myself. I was just in South Africa and the tentative camps that were in, where you know the elephants are coming up in at sunrise and watering themselves right outside your door. I think that part of like an immersive experience when you come to like talking about glamping is there's some really unique accommodations out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, there are, and you know, we just went, I have my partner.
Speaker 2:Well, my partner your dad and I, you know we had both been had on our bucket list.
Speaker 2:Antarctica and I just went last year and he was there. Actually, he's just flying home now from Antarctica and one of the cool things that they had on the ship I was at is a glass dome so you can sleep and I would say, under the stars but it doesn't get dark when you're there. But they do have experiences that you can still feel the romance. Sitting in the hot tub at 2 am and looking up at the sky and seeing the whales out in the water. I mean these are just amazing romantic things having a fire pit on the back of the deck so that you can sit out around a gas fire pit and tell stories, and you know, these are the type of things that for years and years you will regal upon and just really enjoy, and I think that's what's so important those special unplanned moments, yeah, yeah so we had a bunch of questions written in and we wanted to get to those, and if you have any questions, you're welcome to put them into the chat.
Speaker 2:We actually have a group of advisors who are online and able to answer as we go, and if we don't get to your questions, don't worry, we will email you out so we did have some questions that were emailed in beforehand and we wanted to just talk about some of these quick things.
Speaker 2:So if somebody was looking to go on a weekend, get away from New York City, where would they recommend going? And this is fun because we have a couple places here in New England that I absolutely love Winvian, which is up in Morris, connecticut. This place is so much fun. They have a tree house you could sleep in. There's a helicopter you could sleep in in your room. They have the beaver lodge, which literally, when you go inside of this room, you can see as if you were in a beaver lodge, and it is just a phenomenal location.
Speaker 1:Talk about unique accommodations.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh yes, one of my other favorites is a place called Twin Farms up in Vermont, southern Vermont, and this place is just spectacular. Gary and I went up to see it and spent a few days there and everything from the Japanese bath house to their own private ski I would say ski area, but that would be actually. They have their own ski route and you could go sledding and have a really good time and it's just unbelievable, fabulous location.
Speaker 1:Berkshires right.
Speaker 2:Berkshires always. Miraval Canyon Ranch, close by some great, and then we also right down in Rhode Island. I mean, we've got some. The Ocean House is a great location and what's really cool is if you work with a virtuoso advisor somebody from our team they have all sorts of amenities and extras that you get, so be sure to find a good advisor if you're working.
Speaker 1:It's funny. People are probably like but down by the beach on the East Coast right now, but sometimes the off season is some of the best time to visit these places. I was just in Newport. It was beautiful because it wasn't crowded. You talked about Rhode Island, cape Cod, right, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And then you know we try to remind people that if you're hoping to go to Italy, paris, some of these destinations, it's become really popular to go in the off season when people aren't there. So you know these are things that, from the East Coast, certainly you can get to very quickly. Now I know we also have people here nationwide. So what I want to tell you is be sure to look for those resorts that are close to you Within two hours. Make a laundry list, ask your friends. You know they're going to let you know the places they've been. And then look at a Kanday Nass Traveler or we're actually a Forbes Travel Guide. We have tons of great ideas for travelers to find.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's a really good point is like where do people go to even look right? And you just mentioned a couple of our partners in some of our affiliations, where you know if it's not a Travel Advisor, there's the top whatever list right? There's a top 10 by Kanday Nass. It could be Forbes Travel Guide. It could be Travel and Leisure.
Speaker 1:Those are really a great way, especially right now, while 2024 is really getting into gear. They do a lot of those broken down by types of experience and destination lists. That is a great place to kind of start.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is, and keep in mind that some of the more popular destinations. You know we're always conscientious about sustainability and, you know, over tourism, so think outside of the box. You know there are places you can go. Iceland is now so popular, but you know Columbia has come onto the screen and Japan is going gangbusters this year, so there's some new destinations out there that people really need to look at as options for them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I think the possibilities are endless, but you got to kind of be able to gear it down to what you're interested in and what's actually doable, right, and I think that's you know. Like you said, the more you can kind of look ahead and start to look at your calendar. I know for us in our company, our entire leadership team just looked at conferences and put all of the dates on a group calendar so we could at least have that knowledge to start with. And I know that there's a lot of people that are in that same situation where that sounds simple. But that's a big step, because how are you supposed to plan anything else If, all of a sudden, you find out Amanda's going to be in Antarctica when you're trying to plan out something for the company or something like that, right?
Speaker 2:right. So scheduling is always a biggie. Anyone with families. You want to make sure you get everything for your families on your calendar as early as possible so that as a couple, you could look and find those little gaps and don't be afraid to look at midweek Certainly there's lots of specials that happen Sunday through Thursday at a lot of the hotels and resorts throughout the country. And then look at the possibility of quick getaways overseas and where can I get to nonstop?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you mentioned shoulder season off season. The benefits of not having over tourism is one of the things, but it's much more price friendly A lot of times when you kind of go in that shoulder of that high season where you're going to have a big crowd and not as much availability, right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. So. One more question and then we're going to wrap it up. We will keep answering your questions online as we go. But we had a question of if I'm going to plan one of those epic adventures, how long in advance should I plan? Well, I would say plan as far in advance as possible. Now, certainly, airfares don't come out till nine months to a year before the trip is ready to go. But if it's an epic destination, a lot of times we find, like safaris and some of those destinations, people really, really want to get to the best lodges, the best camps, the best hotels, the best rooms that those hotels fill up quickly. So it is not unheard of for us to do bookings right now into 2025, 26, even 27.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I mean, especially for those big trips that you're talking about and you have a particular type of accommodation and if it's a place that really has very limited capacity to start with you. Really it's not just like a phrase that we say plan ahead. It's really it's never been more important, as the world is really reopened and people are traveling from not only the United States but everywhere all over the world. It's inbound, outbound. So the importance of planning ahead, even for the weekend getaways, because when things get booked up, whether it's an airline or if it's an accommodation, prices go up. That is true.
Speaker 2:That is true. Well, it has been so fun just hanging out talking travel, because it's my favorite, favorite topic, as you can tell.
Speaker 1:Yes, and you can tell we could go on forever but we got to let you guys keep the love in the air and get back to your your day to day lives and your nights. So I want to say personally thank you for joining us. As Amanda mentioned, we're going to be answering all the questions here live in the chat, but also afterwards, and we're going to be having lots of other sessions coming up, so I'm excited for those.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have a session in a couple weeks on ancestry travel. We also are going to be talking about different destinations, whether it and like river cruising. What's that all about? So we have lots of fun stuff scheduled for 2024. So be sure to register so that we can update you on what we're doing and we're happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you so much for joining us this evening and we look forward to seeing you on future events.
Speaker 1:And it'll be the first time that you told your significant other please go away, and it was for a good reason.
Speaker 2:There you go.
Speaker 1:Thanks guys.
Speaker 2:Have a great night everybody.