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Welcome to Cheryl's Travel Blueprint! Iâm 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 teachersâwhether theyâre 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.
Letâs embark on this journey together! đâď¸
Cheryl K Johnson (00:01.122)
I remember standing in this tiny street in Spain, not something from a guidebook or one that everyone tells you to go to, just a random street. And I could hear dishes clinking from an open window. There was someone laughing upstairs and a man was sweeping the sidewalk like he'd done it a thousand times before. And nothing about it was impressive. There was no landmark. There was no line of tourists and no sign telling me I was supposed to be there. And I remember thinking, this is what I came for. Not the monument, not the checklist.
not even the must see, just this moment. And what's interesting is I didn't plan that moment. I didn't research it. I didn't bookmark it. I didn't even know it existed. And yet it's one of the things I remember most. And if you've ever had a moment like that while traveling or you want to have a moment like that, go ahead and hit subscribe because that's exactly what we talk about here. Not just where to go, but how to experience a place in a way that actually stays with you. And if you've already started thinking about
Your next trip, I've linked some of my favorite curated excursions in the description. The kind that help you slow down, connect, and actually feel where you are. Because sometimes one experience can completely change how a place feels to you. Because here's the thing, most people think traveling is about planning. Thinking flights, hotels, reservations, schedules, and yes, those things do matter.
You need a place to stay and you need a way to get there. But those things aren't the trip. They're just the structure around it. And somewhere along the way, we started confusing the structure with the experience. Let me explain it like this. Planning a trip on your own is like having the blueprint to a house. It shows you where everything is supposed to go. It's logical and efficient. You can look at it and say, okay, this makes sense, but it's not the home. It doesn't tell you how it feels when you walk in. It doesn't tell you where the light is.
or hits in the morning, or which room you'll end up spending the most time in, or how the space changes when people are actually living inside it. And it definitely doesn't tell you what doesn't work once real life starts happening inside those walls.
Cheryl K Johnson (02:12.716)
I've had travelers who book their own and come back and say, we saw everything we were supposed to see, but I don't know, something felt missing. And when I asked them about their trip, they'll list everything, every landmark, every reservation, every city. And on paper, it's perfect. But when they talk about it, there's no pause or moment where they slow down and say, wait, let me tell you about this one thing. And that's when I know they followed the blueprint, but they never got to live inside the experience.
And this is where a travel advisor comes in, not as someone who just books things, but as someone who helps turn the blueprint into something you can actually live in, something that breathes and has space and reflects you. It's actually a lot like what you see in Spain. You'll walk through a building and realize it was built on top of something older. Roman foundations, Moorish arches, or Gothic additions. And the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about that is the mosque in CĂłrdoba with a cathedral built on top of it.
And sometimes you can literally see the layers, one era sitting right on top of another. And what's beautiful about that is that nothing was erased. It was added to, adapted, re-imagined, lived in over time. And what you end up with isn't just a structure, it's a story. That's what meaningful travel looks like. It's layered. It's not just where you go, but how it unfolds, how it breathes and adapts to you, how it gives you space to notice something unexpected.
And here's the truth most people don't realize. You can't Google your way into that.
Because when you're planning on your own, you're making decisions based on popularity, pricing, availability, what's easy to find and what everyone else is doing. But when I'm working with a client, I'm thinking about what does this day feel like? Where do we need space? Where do we slow this down? Where do we not overfill? Because the goal isn't to do more. It's to experience more of what actually matters. And there's another layer to this that most people don't even realize exists.
Cheryl K Johnson (04:12.322)
Because if you've only ever planned your own travel, you don't know what you're missing. I've had clients arrive at a hotel expecting exactly what they booked, a standard room and a standard experience. And then they check in and suddenly they're being walked to a better room or there's a note waiting for them or a small detail that makes them stop and think, wait, this feels different. And it's not always something big. It's not always champagne and upgrades. Although sometimes it is, but more often it's the feeling of being expected.
Going back to that home idea, this is the difference between walking into a house that's been built and walking into a home that's been prepared for you. Where someone thought about how you'll move through the space, what you'll need before you ask for it. What would make this feel just a little more special? Because part of what I do behind the scenes isn't just booking the experience. It's connecting you to it differently. Sometimes that means preferred partners, added amenities, priority access, small upgrades when available.
But more than anything, it means you're not just another reservation. I had a client once who came back and told me, I don't know what you did, but everywhere we went, it just felt easier. And that's one of those moments where it's hard to explain, but it's not one thing. It's a series of small things that add up to another thing, something bigger. And that's really what elevated travel looks like. It's not louder or busier. It's not more packed. It's just better.
more thoughtful and more aligned. It's more you. Because anyone can book a hotel, anyone can reserve a tour, but not everyone knows how to shape the experience around the person taking the trip. And this is exactly why I'm so intentional about the excursions I recommend. The ones I've linked in the description, because they're not just things to do. They're experiences that shift how a place feels to you. And honestly, none of this works without personalization, because here's something I see all the time.
People aren't struggling because they don't have options. They're overwhelmed because they have too many. You open your browser and suddenly you have 47 tabs open, 12 saved hotels, and six different itineraries. No real clarity. Everything looks good and everything could work. But none of it feels like this is exactly right for me.
Cheryl K Johnson (06:29.59)
Going back to that home analogy, this is like trying to live in a house that was designed for someone else. It might look beautiful and it might function well, but something about it just feels slightly off because it wasn't built with you in mind.
And that's really where a travel advisor makes the biggest difference. Not in, not just in what gets booked, but in how the entire trip is shaped. Because I'm not starting with what's popular or what's trending. I'm starting with what do you want this trip to feel like? What pace feels good to you? And what kind of traveler are you really? I've had clients who thought they wanted to see everything, multiple cities, packed days and full itineraries. And when we talked a little deeper, what they actually wanted was to slow down, to sit.
to wander and to not feel rushed. But they didn't realize that at first because they were planning based on what they thought they should do. And that shift changes everything because when a trip is designed around you, it feels different from the moment you arrive. Some travelers want deep cultural immersion, local food experiences, meaningful connection, and others want ease, comfort, a sense of being taken care of. Some want adventure, some want rest, and some want a little bit of both.
And this applies to budget too, because personalization isn't about spending more, it's about spending better. Putting your investment into the parts of the trip that actually matter to you, not wasting it on things that don't. And when you get this part right, everything else starts to fall into place. The pacing feels natural, the experiences feel aligned, the upgrades feel meaningful, and even the unexpected moments feel like they belong. And that's why, that's also why when something does go wrong,
It's not just about fixing logistics. It's about protecting something that was intentionally designed just for you. And real quick, this is something I'm doing just for this month. If you're still watching, this is your little insider moment. I'm doing an April giveaway and here's a hidden entry code in the video. The code is blueprint. You'll use that inside the entry form to unlock a prize entry. I'll drop the link below, but only people who make it this far will catch that. Now, everything we've talked about so far assumes one thing.
Cheryl K Johnson (08:40.3)
that everything goes according to plan. But travel doesn't work like that. I had a client recently, they were in the middle of their trip and everything was going beautiful. They had found their rhythm, they were settled in and they were enjoying it. And then their flight changed. It was just enough to throw everything off. And that's the kind of change that is actually harder because now everything downstream shifts. The transportation, the timing, your connections, the energy. And if they had booked that on their own,
they would have spent hours figuring it out on hold, talking to different departments, trying to piece together a solution while sitting in the middle of their trip. And this is the part that always gets me because vacation time is so limited. You save for it, you plan for it, you look forward to it, sometimes for months or even years. And then suddenly you're spending it solving problems. So going back to that idea of a home, anyone can build a house, but what happens when something breaks, when the pipe leaks, when the power goes out, you don't want to suddenly become a contractor.
You don't want to start Googling how to fix it. You want someone else handling it so you can keep living your life inside the space. And this is where I think there's a misunderstanding sometimes about why some travel advisors charge planning fees. It's not just about putting the trip together. It's about protecting the experience. It's not about, it's also about being there when things shift because before you want it to shift before it becomes your problem.
behind the scenes, quietly fixing things so that your role on the trip stays exactly what it should be to experience it. I've had moments where I've stepped in, rerouted things, adjusted timing, fixed issues before they escalated, and my clients didn't even realize how close things were to unraveling because they were too busy enjoying where they were. And honestly, that's exactly how it should be. Because at the end of the day, travel isn't just about getting somewhere. It's about becoming someone slightly different while you're there.
And the difference between a good trip and a trip that actually stays with you is rarely the destination. It's the difference between rushing through Barcelona trying to see everything versus sitting in a quiet plaza in Granada and realizing you don't need to be anywhere else. It's the difference between checking boxes and collecting moments. So when people ask, what's the value of using a travel advisor?
Cheryl K Johnson (11:00.086)
It's not just convenience. It's not just saving time. It's creating something that actually feels like yours, something layered, something intentional, something you don't have to recover from when you get home because anyone can build a blueprint, but not everyone knows how to bring it to life. If you're starting to think about your next trip or maybe you're realizing your last one felt a little off, I'd love to help you design something different. And if you're not quite there yet, I've included some incredible excursions in the description that you can add to your trip right now.
experiences that go beyond the checklist and actually help you connect with the destination because sometimes it's not about changing the whole trip it's about changing how you experience it and if this shifted your perspective even a little go ahead and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next because we're not just planning trips here we're building experiences you actually want to live inside