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Brittany, France: Market Day, Dinan

traveljuliasway

Every year I come up with a "word" for the next ye

Every year I come up with a "word" for the next year, and for 2024 it was: Kick A**. Not the most elegant turns of phrase, but it turned out to be ever so true!!

Here's my incredible year wrapped:
🧭 Trips planned for clients: 60+
💲 Sales Volume traveled: a little over $1 million
🗺️ Countries visited by clients: 30
🌟 Most trips planned to: Italy (then the British Isles combined, then France, then safaris in Africa!)
✈️ Flights taken personally: 34
🌎 Countries visited by me: 8 (Germany x2!)
🥇 NEW countries visited by me: 2 (Iceland and Anguilla - up to 57 total)
🎤 Eras Tours: 4 - two for clients, two for me, across four different locations!
🥰 Memories and laughter: endless!!!!

Huge thanks to my clients for their trust, my family for tolerating my absences & their puppy-sitting services, @dukeuniversity for hosting an excellent 25th class reunion and continuing to be a university with whom I'm proud to be associated, @giftedtravelnetwork for being the best host agency a travel advisor could hope for, and excellent travel buddies like @journeysthatfit @danonfamilytravels @blisstravelexperiences @edenluxe_travel @chris_chil__ @micaelakcuda and so many more!!!

Here's to another kick a** year in 2025!!! 😊🥳🥂

#yearinreview #traveladvisor #luxurytraveladvisor #virtuosotraveladvisor #gtnadvisor #gtnonlocation

A bike ride in three parts: Step one, rent bikes f

A bike ride in three parts:
Step one, rent bikes from the hotel and go on a lovely, flat ride along the coast of Lake Konstanz and up the Rhine. It's fine, it's cool, until:
Step 2: agree to go across the peninsula to a cute little island. Problem: my app says it's ~20 minutes with minimal incline. Reality was that it was 45 minutes largely uphill.
Confession: I had a mini breakdown about 1/2 way which fully freaked out @danonfamilytravels and @chris_chil__ (I don't cry, like ever) - but I calmed down and persevered, right around the cute 1/2 timber house we rode past. The route finally leveled, leading to...
Step 3: arrive at the adorable Mainau Island for lots of pretty flowers, gorgeous views, swans, and a well-deserved biergarten lunch.
The ride home was uneventful & easy (minus one steep incline that I walked up), and I'm proud of myself for making it through. Next time I won't turn down an e-bike!!!! Another travel adventure for the books!! 😆
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#traveladvisorontheroad #lakekonstanz #mainauisland #visitgermany #traveladvisor #travelwithfriends #germanroadtrip

Y'all - our stay at the incredible Deplar Farms fr

Y'all - our stay at the incredible Deplar Farms from @elevenexperience was simply amazing, from start to finish. If I tried to explain it all to you, it would be a true Icelandic Saga, so instead I'll hit the high points.

1) The location is stunning and worth the long drive from Akuryeri. We were WOWed by the North, from the dramatic mountains, coastlines, and lakes - plus the Auroras came out to play every night we were there!!

2) The staff are so wonderful and attentive. Our adorable guide, @celi.tejerina took such good care of us on our activities and made sure we had the itinerary that worked best for our time & the conditions. She even helped set up photoshoots for us. 😆 The bartenders were incredible - and they even brought in one of their cute pooches for me to cuddle while celebrating my birthday! (I think everyone wished me a HBD the second they saw me that day - it was super sweet.)

3) The facilities and food are top notch. Honestly, there were so many cool & cosy spots to curl up & relax in that we didn't even hit them all. Excellent yoga, gym, sauna, hot tubs, cold plunge (! I abstained!), treatment rooms, and even isopods (I also abstained). Books everywhere and the best playlist ever to keep you in a great vibe. Snacks & drinks were basically everywhere, and no request was too outlandish. My daily yogurt/granola/blueberries bowl was so good I had to take a pic. We also got to experience a few of their "outposts" that allow for additional cool experiences (like a full-on recording studio!).

So, Yeah- I'll stop before this gets to be any longer, but hopefully these shots give a glimpse of how awesome our stay was (especially in our little cubby room!!). Big thanks to my travel buddies for this adventure - @journeysthatfit and @edenluxe_travel - y'all are the best!!
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#findthatjenesaisquoi #traveladvisorontheroad #traveladvisor #luxurytraveladvisor #gtnonlocation #gtnadvisor #virtuosotraveladvisor #elevenexperience #deplarfarm #icelandtravel #visiticeland @giftedtravelnetwork

Today was too good of a day not to live on my feed

Today was too good of a day not to live on my feed forever.
1: Working backwards with the "raisin at the end of our hot dog" - the clouds shifted just enough for our first taste of the Auroras!!! @ranga_hotel ✅ 🌌
2: We had a delicious & fascinating dinner in a cave!! @cavesofhella ✅ 🍲
3: We hiked a glacier (and even had a champagne toast ON the glacier for a milestone birthday & retirement in our group)! Massive thanks to @glacierencounter for keeping us safe! ✅🥂
4: We saw the last of the big 3 waterfalls down south, Scogafoss, which was swollen & brown from all the rain. ✅🌈
5: We got to see actual lava & felt it nearly burn our faces off!!! (@lavashowiceland - so cool!) ✅🌋
6: We got to see the black sand beach & basalt columns in Vik, and didn't get washed away by a rogue wave! ✅🌊

Honestly, it's a day I won't soon forget. Much more to come, but thanks to @journeysthatfit for inviting me along on your meticulously planned trip with @icelandencounter - it has been beyond incredible (and we're on like day 4!), and of course, #sovirtuoso . Thanks @edenluxe_travel for being a great roomie (again)!!
Time for 😴😴😴😴!!!!

Before I head out on another adventure, I just hav

Before I head out on another adventure, I just have to share about the fabulous, inspiring, and revitalizing conference I just attended with my host agency, @giftedtravelnetwork .

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I enjoyed basically every minute of the past three days, from powerful speakers (like @neenjames pictured here and @tonylogan_travels who I missed snapping a pic of b/c I was too busy writing down all of his brilliance), to connecting with so many of my amazing partners who make things happen (like @arnotravel1969 , @moloneykellydmc , @titaniumtours_dmc and one of my first partner-friends, @aimerswrld from @kensingtontours ), to laughing and collaborating and yes, dancing with colleagues and coaches (too many to name & tag and too few pictured!). I got to advise the general session on a panel about my successes, and then masterminded with my fellow million dollar producing advisors on how to get even better the next day.

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It was exhausting but oh so fulfilling. I can't wait to implement so many of the nuggets I've brought home with me to improve my business so that my clients have even better experiences working with me and discovering that "je ne sais quoi" while out on their trips.

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#giftedtravelnetwork #gtnconference2024 #sovirtuoso #traveladvisor #gtnadvisor #virtuosotraveladvisor #luxurytraveladvisor

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Julia Matheson