I am often asked how long I have been in the travel business. I usually only give a vague answer, as I started it when I was working as an engineer in Silicon Valley. My first child was a toddler at the time, so I’d guestimate it from his current age. I was dabbling in it part time, mainly as a hobby, not sure what would eventually come of it. So I didn’t think of it as a real business.
A few years later, another baby came along, and then a downturn in the tech industry, and suddenly I was out of a job. But my little hobby had been growing, and with two young children, a home-based business with flexible hours was looking very attractive. And it was a lot more fun than a tech job! So there was no clear cut start time, no “grand opening” date. It just evolved.
My inspiration: Planning our 6 week trip to Alaska in 1994, which included 2 weeks hiking and kayaking above the Arctic Circle, camping in Glacier Bay and Denali Park, and riding the ferry through the Inside Passage.
While cleaning up my office at the end of last year, I was tossing old files, and came across my very first DBA application, for “Family Treks Travel.” The date on it: 1998.
Twenty years!! How time flies when you are having fun!
My own graphic design work. The silhouette is a composite of my husband, and a good friend and her two children, from a backpacking trip in Yosemite.
I have had multiple careers over the course of my life, but this one has endured the longest, and is the one that I can see myself in until retirement. Although from what I can tell, there is no such thing as retiring from the travel industry. I mean, when people retire, they often start traveling, so why in the world would I not want be on the inside of this industry??
Since I am very lucky to have found a career I love, I feel compelled share to my good fortune with others. So I would like to announce, in celebration of my 20th anniversary, that I am donating 1% of my 2018 revenue to Tourism Cares.
Tourism Cares’ mission is to unite the travel industry in providing aid, in the form of volunteering and charitable giving, to tourism destinations. This ranges from assisting after natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes, to planting trees in Bangkok, to providing volunteer labor in our National Parks.
Travel industry volunteers donated 5,000 hours to the National Park Service in celebration of their centennial year.
And I’d also like to do something special for my clients: If I plan an anniversary trip for you this year, a bottle of champagne is on me!
I would also like to thank every client who has trusted me with their precious vacation dollars and time over the past 20 years. The best compensation I ever receive is the email, letter, or call from a client telling me what a fantastic trip they had. That, to me, is priceless.
#20years #travelwithsuzette #champagneisonme
