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Welcome to Nostalgic Travel Talks! I’m a former Spanish teacher turned travel advisor, passionate about curating unforgettable experiences. My expertise lies in European adventures (with a special love for Spain), cruising, and all-inclusive Caribbean getaways. I specialize in creating tailored trips for families, multi-generational groups, and teachers—whether they’re traveling solo, with colleagues, or leading student groups.
In this podcast, we celebrate the joy of travel, uncover hidden gems, share practical tips and tricks, and embrace the spirit of adventure. Each episode features inspiring conversations with fascinating guests from all walks of life as they share their unique travel stories, lessons, and favorite destinations. Whether you're planning your next getaway or simply love to dream about the possibilities, this is your place to explore the world from wherever you are.
Let’s embark on this journey together! 🌍✈️
Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please? Have you ever taken a trip that completely changed your life, even if you never expected it to? I certainly didn't think a high school graduation trip to Europe would ignite a passion that led me to become a travel advisor, but that's exactly what happened. Today I'm sharing how Wanderlust started as hesitation and grew into a career filled with adventure and discovery. It all started when I was a high school senior and one of my teachers asked me if I would be interested in going on a 30 -day trip to Europe. at the end of the school year. And because of the fact that it was my senior year, I was getting ready to go off to college. I was planning on having a lot of fun that summer, going to a concert that I was looking forward to. But when I mentioned it to my parents, they decided for me. They said, you know, you're going on this trip. So I resigned myself and I went along. And the trip went to six countries. We went to England, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Monaco. And it was just the most fun. I couldn't have ever imagined that it would have been so much fun. I met a lot of people, saw so many things that I never would have seen otherwise, things that I've read about in books and that kind of thing. And I do remember that the last day of the trip, we were in England, and that It was the day before the royal wedding between Lady Di and Prince Charles. And I remember they were having a dress rehearsal for the cars. And so we got to stand along the sidewalk and it was just crowded. There were so many people there. And we got to see the processional before the actual wedding. And then we flew home and we were able to, we watched it on TV when we got home because it was, that was the last day of our trip. We got, you know, it was like 24 hours later. So we were already home by the time of the wedding. So it was a really, it was memorable. I wouldn't, I don't think I'll ever forget that. Some of the other things that stood out in my mind were just, you know, seeing some of the things that you read about in history books in person. And I remember that, you know, because of the fact that I was a, Spanish was one of my favorite subjects in high school and we got a chance to go to um we got a chance to go to Barcelona and Madrid and I think Toledo as well and um being in those places and actually using the language because it's very abstract when you're in school and you learn a language but when you when you actually get a chance to see it um when you get a chance to be immersed in it and actually practice it and realize that people can understand you when you're speaking Spanish. It was just um it was just a great experience so so I was thankful for that and that really did help me know that I wanted to continue with Spanish and that I was good at it. So that was definitely well worth the trip. Well after After that experience, I went off to college, and I remember thinking, I'm not sure what I want to do. So I decided to become a marketing major. It seemed a little interesting to me. I knew somebody that was in marketing, and I tried that, and that didn't really excite me. And I changed my major probably three or four times, but all along, because Spanish was my favorite subject, I was taking Spanish classes. I decided, you know, probably by the time I got to my junior year, I realized if I want to get, if I want to graduate from college, I'm going to have to, I'm going to have to choose a major. And since Spanish was the one constant and I had enough credits that I decided to, I decided to make that my major finally. And as a result, one of my professors had a trip going to Mexico. And so I got a chance to be a part of that trip. And I did that. at graduation. We went to Mexico for, I think it was a couple months, and stayed with host families. And it was just, it was a great experience. And again, a chance to immerse myself in the language and learn things that I couldn't have learned in a textbook. Had such a good time, again, always meeting new people. And the thing that stands out about The time in Mexico, I went to Cuernavaca and we went to, there was a school there and it was geared towards non -native speakers that were learning Spanish. So, and their technique, their approach was, you know, you just kind of got out in nature and did things. And it was just kind of a laid back experience and with a lot of field trips to all kinds of different places. And I remember the first host family that we stayed with, wasn't really the best fit for us. I had a roommate and the two of us were, I remember spending Christmas Day watching David Letterman because they went with their family to celebrate Christmas without us. And apparently they didn't think that, they didn't think that being, I guess they didn't think that we were worth spending time with or something. So they gave us cornflakes and that's what we had for dinner on Christmas Day. When my professor found out about it, he, and we were just so jealous because all of the other students were talking about all these great experiences they were having with their host families. And when my professor happened to overhear us talking and decided, you know, you guys are moving, somebody else had gotten homesick and went and left the program, so there was a space open in another home, which was so lucky for us, because he decided to send us there, and from there we had just the best experience. And I've gone back three times. family several times since then. And just like the beginning of my college experience, I wasn't sure what to do. Now I have a degree in Spanish and I'm still not sure what to do with it. But I knew that that was that was something that I enjoyed. So I had to figure out what I was going to do and decided to become a substitute teacher while I figured things out. And I eventually came to the conclusion that, you know, since I'm substitute teaching, I kind of like this, you know. And I went and got my teaching certification, became a teacher, which led me to wanting to take students on trips. And we started by taking kids on just regular trips where you find a trip in a catalog and you take the students And to me, it felt like a death march because the students all they they had fun because they were just shopping. I didn't I don't think that they saw the the fun in educational travel the way I had hoped they would. The type of food that they were given to eat by the companies that led these tours was just bad food. It didn't reflect the culture or anything of the country that we were visiting. So we decided, my colleague and I, Ale, and we did an episode, I did an episode with Ale about our trips a little bit more in depth into that. We decided that since this wasn't quite what we wanted, we wanted to do an exchange. I went to Spain to get my master's when I don't even know what year it was. I went to Spain and I decided that I wanted to get my master's there because I wanted to have an immersion experience and I just wanted it to be something that I could take back and share things with my students. So in the process of doing that, I met a teacher from Spain who taught English and she kind of had the same ideas as me. She wanted to bring her students to the United States so that they could get an authentic experience so they could be immersed as well. And so we decided that we would do an exchange and every other year we took our students to Spain and they, in our off years, they brought their students to the United States and it was a great, it was the best thing in my career, I think. When we did that, we, the students stayed with host families, we matched them with their peers, and we as teachers stayed with our colleagues. So we got a chance to compare and contrast all kinds of things as far as You know, types of transportation, for example, in the United States, everybody drives to work. Not everybody, but the majority of us drive to work. And when we were in Spain, we got to take the metro. I don't know that everybody thinks that's a luxury, but I enjoyed it because I didn't have to drive. It's just really nice to just be able to sit down and let somebody drive you. So. So that was that was a great experience for us as teachers. But on the other hand, the students, they they I mean, they got the same amount of enjoyment out of it. And they made lifelong friends just like we did. And I just saw that the difference in in those types of tours and felt that that was really what was needed. The students got a chance to taste authentic food instead of just the food that the hotels offer, because they know that the you know, if if you don't have any connection, how are you going to see the importance of this. So I think that was the reason that it was necessary to do the cultural exchange. A lot of the kids that were part of the program have lifelong friends now with people from from Spain and probably from other countries as well, because they've gone on to go back and visit them over and over again. So they're meeting other generations. They're they're traveling with them, doing all kinds of things. And it was a result of of this program that wouldn't have happened if we just took them on a tour where they stayed in a hotel. They didn't have any interactions with people their own age. So this was just it was just the best. It was the best time ever. The only sad thing about that program was that, like all good things, it had to come to an end. I decided to retire. The teachers from Spain went on to do different roles, as well as my colleague Ale. and so we had to we had to stop our exchange program. But we still maintain a friendship and we go back and forth to visit each other all the time. I talked to some of the students that we've traveled with from time to time and they're still you know they're still I think this impacted their lives as well. But as a result of that I didn't want to stop traveling and I didn't want to stop these exchange programs. And so I decided I would become a travel advisor and make it possible for teachers that want to lead trips with their students and want to have something meaningful. I wanted them to have a way to do this without having to reinvent the wheel, because when we did this program, it was we had to do everything from the ground up. And it was just such a pleasure to do that. I wanted to do that for other people. So in addition to planning, you know, to being a full service travel agency, I do spend lots of time trying to let teachers know what they're doing. it is that I do so that I can help them do the same thing. Well, I just feel that I just have been so lucky in order to just looking at the journey that brought me here and I'm so glad for all the twists and turns that my career path has taken and I'm glad I'm here where I am now and I just embrace all of those things. I feel I believe in being flexible and going where the path leads you. So I think that's the key to happiness, just figuring it out as you go along sometimes. Or, you know, some people are some people I think are born knowing what it is that they want to do. And some people just don't. I'm one of those people that didn't know. And I think maybe I got nudged in the right direction just by I don't know if it was happenstance, but I got there somehow. And I'm just glad that I'm that I am where I am. So I invite you to connect with my podcast and subscribe so you can hear more about the journey and the amazing people that I'm going to be interviewing. My next episode is an interview with an American who is has moved off the mainland. She lives in St. Croix now, so you'll get to hear about her adventures in the next episode after this. So I hope that you will, I hope you will have a listen. Until next time, thank you and see you soon.