My Amazing Travel Adventures

I love to travel! This post is to show all of my adventures. I have been very fortunate to have been to quite a few places. I hope I continue to travel and to explore the world because I am not anywhere close to being done!



Here are some of my adventures over the years.


Mission Trips:

• Austin, Texas
• Dayton, Ohio
• New Jersey/New York

Times Square

Statue of Liberty

Band Trip:

• Seattle, Washington 

View from Space Needle

Space Needle

•  Vancouver, Canada

We visited the Capilano suspension bridge

Black Hills 

We got to go on a helicopter ride!

Mt. Rushmore

 Cancun, Mexico
 -Definitely a favorite trip of mine! Cancun was so beautiful and we got to do so many fun things: snorkeling, swim with the dolphins, and swim in the ocean for the first time!

Such a beautiful place!

Swimming with the dolphins, a dream come true!

  Chicago, Illinois 

The Windy City

Las Vegas/Grand Canyon 
 - I definitely need to go back to Vegas to get the real experience :)

What a site!

Washington D.C.
 -Unfortunately I do not have any pictures on my computer at the moment of this trip, but it was an amazing one! There was so much to do and see in such little time. We got to see the White House, which was definitely the highlight! This was on my FFA trip my senior year with a lot of my friends, it is an unforgettable trip. I would like to go back someday.

Florida--Disney World
-I have been to Disney twice. I got to go for my 13th birthday and I had the time of my life! It was an awesome trip with my family. I went again my senior year with my FFA chapter. Let's just say it was just as fun as I remembered when I was 13!!

Wisconsin Dells 
-The Dells is always a good time! My family has vacationed here a couple times. We love the awesome water parks they have there!

Colorado 
-This is also one of my favorites, Colorado is such a beautiful place. The mountains are such a sight! I have been to many different places here, but I never mind taking a trip to Colorado. Check out my adventure to WHATEVER USA with Budlight! So much fun.

Duluth, Minnesota
- Check out my blog post for this one! This was a really fun trip :)

St. Maarten
-Absolutely loved this trip with my mom. Sailing in the Caribbean! Check out the post I wrote about this one as well.



I am so lucky that I have been to all these amazing places, and I have my parents to thank for that! Thanks mom and dad :)  I also have to thank them for my desire to travel, they planted that seed and it has never stopped growing. And thanks to my companions (my awesome family and friends!) This is not the end, I have a very long list of places that I need to visit! For starters, I would like to make my first trip overseas soon. Where? Who knows.. I'll figure that out as it happens.

As always, thanks for reading!

Family Vacation to Duluth

We took a family vacation last summer to Duluth, Minnesota. We knew that it would be close enough for us to drive there and we would get to see lots of lighthouses and sailboats.

We were so excited to finally arrive in Duluth! We stayed at the The Edge Water Hotel and it was a lot of fun. Let's just say, you are never too old to play in the arcade. Mom & Dad even competed in a game of skee ball. (Mom says she won, Dad says she cheated) And we also had a small water park in our hotel that we had a lot of fun at. 

We got the opportunity to see the legendary "Tall Ships" while we were in Duluth. What a sight!! A Tall Ship is a large, traditionally-rigged sailing vessel. There are many different types of ships, all ranging in different sizes and styles.


I think this is was a huge promotional boost for Duluth at this time. It attracts a ton of people for the few days they are there. We actually did not know about this, but that soon changed. Everyone we talked to said we had to go check them out, and I am glad we did! They were massive ships, all with their own character.

We also traveled to see an amazing sight, the Split Rock Lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in response to the great loss of ships in one of the storms. On our visit we got to explore the inside of the lighthouse. This was a really cool thing to see. We looked out at the top to see the endless lake in front of us. Afterwards, we went down below on the rocks and took some awesome pictures. This is one of the coolest looking lighthouses because of the way it is placed, on a rock.









Duluth is also where me and my mom got matching tattoos! We got anchors, meaning strength and stability, but also as a promise to go sailing together. (Check out my Sailing Post)



We loved seeing all the different lighthouses while exploring Duluth. It is such a beautiful town to visit and explore. I would recommend it to anyone that wants a quick getaway!

Welcome to Whatever, USA

I am beyond excited to share this amazing experience with you today. A few months ago I got the call that I was going to be going to Whatever, USA!

Okay, let's back up, maybe you are not aware of what this is. This was a huge promotional effort for Bud light to fly 1,000 fans that were "Up for Whatever" to an undisclosed location for a weekend get away.

In order to do this you had to tryout. Meaning either you sent in a video or with a local Bud Light representative. You were asked a random question and you had ten seconds to answer. I was out for a friend's birthday that night so the Bud Light rep told us all that we should do it, and good thing we listened! My question was, "How would your friends describe you in 3 words?" I laughed, got my constellation prize and walked away thinking how cool it would be for the people that got to go.

I got the call on a Wednesday and had three hours to respond if I wanted to go. Really you guys, I do not win anything, but I WON! I was allowed one guest and everything included was to be paid for. Keep in mind that this trip that same weekend, as in it's Wednesday and we would leave Friday. Woah. Called my parents, and they thought I was absolutely crazy. So here me and my best friend Katie sit in our living room, we finally looked at each other and said, "Yup, let's do it!"

Over the next couple days the excitement was unbearable. The day finally came, waking up at 3:00 in the morning so we could get to the airport in time. We got on the plan and we were off! By this time we had realized where we were going, Crested Butte Colorado, a cute, little ski town. The plane ride there was a lot of fun, the whole plane was filled with Bud Light Whatever USA people and you could feel the excitement.

When we got there we got bused on Bud Light buses to our hotel ski lodges that we would be staying. They were so nice, and equipped with ice cold Bud Light when we got there :)

We got to see a bunch of amazing concerts: Vanilla Ice, Lil John, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, DJ Alesso, Nico & Vinz, and Charlie XCX. These were all so awesome, and we had a great time watching them all perform!

Everything started with a parade, funny this was.. We were the parade! The locals lined the sides of the road to see us walk in and welcome us. There were so many activities that we could do, bacon appreciation, cupcake tasting, oxygen bar, we had our own beach for sand volleyball, drag races, Beer Academy, anything you could want, they had it. We also could go into any of the local restaurant and order food and a Bud Light. Oh ya, and everything was free!

Not only did we get a free trip, but we got a bunch of free merchandise. We didn't leave Whatever USA empty handed we left with a Bud Light sweatshirt, bag, blanket, a hat, coozie, anything we could smash in our suitcase.

I can't imagine how long it took them to plan this, they literally had everything planned out. Anywhere you looked it either had a Bud Light logo on it or it was blue, representing Bud Light. The main street was even painted blue!!

I think this is a really good subject for me to talk about because brand loyalty, I know that it worked on me! Whenever I look at my choices of beer, I see the Bud Light and instantly think of that awesome weekend I had in Whatever with my best friend and many other friends we made there. And I don't think I am alone here.


 
It also had to have given Bud Light a huge social media boost, because it got everyone talking about it. And you know all the people that were there went home to tell countless stories to their friends and family. Also, Bud Light will be using some of the footage to make commercial, for even the super bowl, because Bud Light is the perfect beer for "Whatever" happens.




I had a fantastic weekend in Whatever USA and would go back in a heartbeat. It was a weekend full of great friends, and some great beer. Thanks Bud Light for an unforgettable weekend!

So make sure when you see a Bud light commercial to look for me! I am pretty much famous.

Until next time my friends..

Sail Away to Paradise

I was very fortunate to get to go on this trip last December with my best friend, my mom.

My mom has always had a dream to go sailing. Ever since I can remember she has been obsessed with anything related: sailboats, lighthouses, anchors, etc. Anything you name it, she was all over that. Growing up being a mini Stacey I started to share that same dream with her. As our promise to each other to go sailing someday, we got matching tattoos on our ankle.





Our dream happened sooner than we expected! Right after Christmas me and my mom took off to head to the Caribbean. We got into St. Maarten  at night and got to have supper on the boat.





We were on a catamaran boat that housed 8 people. Pictured below is the room that me and my mom shared for the week, very small! We didn't mind, we only spent time there to sleep.

The next day we took off to sea! Sailing was an experience that is indescribable. The wind in your hair and only being surrounded by water is a phenomenal feeling. I was taking it all in and loving every minute of it! My mom kept cautiously staring at me and asking if I was okay (Yes mom I am not going to get sea sick). Little did she know that I was watching her the whole time, smiling from ear to ear, we were "Sailing Away."

Our plan for the whole vacation was to sail around the island of St. Maarten. Our captain showed us the map of where we would be going each day. We would travel every morning or afternoon and then anchor so we could swim, kayak, paddle board, snorkel, anything you name it!

We also got to get off the boat and get in a little boat called a dingy. Our captain would take us in shifts to land. We got to explore the different places we traveled to. The various things we did were shopping, exploring, and eating. This was amazing because this is when we got to interact with the locals and see the culture of the city. Of course, we were always excited to return back home, our boat.

I even got to steer the boat! It is a lot harder than you think it would be, but it was so much fun and quite the experience. 

While we were on the boat we had all of our food cooked for us. All our food was very delicious and we always had more than enough to eat.

We also got to celebrate New Year's Eve there, which was so awesome! We traveled to St. Barthelemy, which was a very popular place to be that night. Rumor had that there were many famous people there that night. Luckily we got there at a decent time so we got a pretty good anchoring place.





When we sailed in it was unbelievable what we saw, there were huge boats everywhere. We are talking multimillion dollar boats with their own service crew. Everywhere you looked there was a different kind of boat. We got to do some exploring while we were here too. We climbed to the top of a hill and looked down over the city and the water. The view was breathtaking and absolutely amazing!

A fun fact we learned before we left was the the airport we were flying out of is best known for very low-altitude flyover landing approaches due to one end of its runway being extremely close to the shore. We got to sit and watch the planes fly in on the beach. Let's just say I can't believe I was in one of those planes that landed there. It flies right in so close to beach, but is a very cool site to see.


As for advertising my mom found the company online and starting looking into it. Then she got talking to a gal that she knew and they used this company and said they were good. The company we went through was Festiva Sailing Vacations, and would recommend them to anyone!


I can't even tell you what my favorite part of this trip was because it was all so amazing! We did so many different things and saw so many beautiful views. We got to go to some remote places that can only be reached by boat. I would love to go on something like this again, it was a trip of a lifetime, and I am so glad to have spent it with my mom :)

Come Sail Away... Check! 

Favorite Places to Visit

I decided to take a poll to see what my friends and family thought to be their favorite places to visit and why.  And what better day to post it than #TravelTuesday?!



Let's start with my favorite and also my mom's favorite....

St. Marteen
"I got to go to some very remote places via sailboat which has been a dream of mine for a very long time."

 Cancun, Mexico (Another popular favorite)
"Swimming with the dolphins"
"Everything you would want was within walking distance: the beach, drinks, and food. And lots of sun!"
"It is so beautiful and the food was great!"
"The weather was awesome and the bright blue water was beautiful!"

Ireland
"Best place I have ever been. The people are the nicest folks you will ever meet and always treat you with respect. The farm country is so green and beautiful. The narrow country roads are scary but fun to tour."
"So many amazing and beautiful places."

Anaheim, California
"Gorgeous scenery and my first time seeing/touching the Pacific Ocean. Walked the beautiful docks at night."

Puerto Vallarta
"Surrounded by mountains while on the beach!"

Grand Canyon
"Couldn't believe how vast and huge it was! And it started snowing while I was there!"

Australia
"I got to go with some of my college friends and it was my first time out of the USA!"

Alaska
"There is beauties of all kind. From glaciers to mountains to bear to fish."

Cayman Islands or Mexico
"Anywhere it's warm in February is good for me."

Rome
"Amazing history from the Vatican to ancient ruins and always only a few steps to the next historic site. Food was also amazing!"

Red Wing, Minnesota
"Living in a beautiful historic place is like being on vacation everyday. So much to do and things to see."

"My favorite traveling memory is no place in particular, but more so the journey along the way with my family of sitting three people in the front seat and three people in the back seat!"
      -I think we all can agree with that!



 Aaaand we even had a jokester on our hands...
Lonneman's House
"Always plenty of beer"
        -You can always count on a good laugh from him :)


Hope you guys enjoyed this post! It's always fun to see where everyone else has been and what their favorites were. If you didn't get a chance to participate feel free to comment below! Or you can tweet at me @flying_design!




 

Advertising in Travel

I am going to talk about my two favorite topics in this post, advertising and travel! You may ask, "How much does advertising correspond with travel?" -- A lot actually!

I have put together a list of people/places that you will find travel advertising.


1. Travel Agents 



I have recently interviewed a former travel agent and we talked about advertising, she made a great point by saying it has all changed from paper to the web. They will have some brochures from companies, but it will mostly be on the computer.


2. Travel Sites

Of course you can go to any travel site and there is going to be ads galore on the site. Most people are looking for the best bang for their buck.


3. Google

If you search anything related to travel, you are going to see a lot of different travel ads being advertised.


4. Facebook

It could be anything from an actual ad on the site or simply just one of your friends talking about a destination they have previously been to.


5. Word of Mouth

We rely a lot on our friends and family, they are the ones that we trust the most. Just think when you are going to go on a trip the first thing you are going to do is to ask around to see if anyone has traveled there before.


Thanks for reading! I have been working on creating a bunch of post with my favorite destinations. Look out for those this next week!

8 Steps to Planning a Dream Vacation

In my last blog post I interviewed a travel agent and discussed the options you would have if you decided to hire one. On the other hand, if you want to plan the vacation yourself, here are a few steps into planning a successful vacation. It can be a stressful process, but just breathe and remember what
the end result will be!

1. Brainstorm vacation ideas

• Choose the top places you'd like to go
• Are you going to fly or drive (that may rule out a few options)
• Include your dream destinations
• Make sure to include everyone that is going in this step

2. Set a Budget

• If a destination is out of your budget, cross it off of your list
• Make sure you include every detail in your budget: transportation, food, clothes, activity costs, and souvenirs

3. Research and look for deals 

• There are many sites out there that will help you with this step (TripAdvisor, Expedia, Kayak)
• Look at reviews of different places to make sure others like it
• Make sure to check different times and dates to find the best deals  

4. Create your options 

• Figure out the dates and times
• Narrow is down to 3 dates and times 
• If you are going with a big group, vote on it 

5. Book your trip! 

• Decide on hotel accommodations
• Flights
• Transportation

6. Plan activities to do while you are there

• Let's be honest, we all want to just relax the whole time we are on vacation, so plan and book your activities you want to do NOW!

7. Plan a potential itinerary

•  You need a possible plan, something to go by
• This is not a strict plan at all, just something to give your time away a little structure
• I would recommend the website Trip it 
• It is fast, easy, and you always have it on the go

8. Pack and enjoy your vacation!

• Make sure you pack a couple days in advance so you don't forget anything
• Pack for all types of weather

•  Print this checklist from Smarter Travel so you know you have everything! 

This is your vacation! Have a great time, it will be one that you will never forget.       

Why Use a Travel Agent?

The first step when you decide to travel is the actual planning of the the vacation. This is something in the travel industry that has drastically changed over the years. I had the chance to interview Stacey, a former travel agent that worked back in my small hometown from 1988 to 1993. The first step to a successful vacation is the planning, check out the interview we had!

How did you decide that you wanted to be a travel agent?

I wanted to get out of Iowa and see the world. I had also thought about being a flight attendant. 

Where did you attend travel school?

McConnell Travel School, downtown Minneapolis for one year

What were all the elements that you planned for the travelers?

I booked the flights, room accommodations, and tours. I also gave them the times to be at the airport and some packing recommendations. 

How did you go about planning the vacations?

I would find our what their interests were and what they wanted to see. Then I could start researching and looking at different packages, hotels, and flight times. We would then look at different brochures to see where they wanted to go, otherwise we had to trust what places said over the phone on what the views, hotels, and surroundings looked like. 

Describe the different types of people that you had to accommodate.

You had your party people (night life), people that wanted to just relax, sightseers, adventurous people, and people that were interested in the history of the area. I had to tailor to each of their different needs, everyone was looking for a different aspect or even a combination of a few. I gave them different ideas of where to go that would be in their interest. 

What advice would you give the travelers after planning their vacations?

I would advise them to look for specific gates in the airports. Also, I told them to be alert of their surroundings and to look where they were going, but to have fun! Some locations I would recommend to stay within their resort to be safe.

Did customers ever come back and tell you about their experience?

I got a lot of postcards while they were on vacation. A lot of times the honeymooners would come back and thank me for such a great trip. 

Did you get to go anywhere fun because of this job?

Yes and at discounted prices! I traveled to Europe, Mexico, Las Vegas, The Bahamas, and many other places. This helped me to recommend travelers to different places I had visited. 

Do you think it's easier now to plan trips because of the Internet and new travel apps?

Yes, there is so much more out there to gather information and to get things booked faster and more efficiently. There are many great websites like TripAdvisor, Expedia, and many more that make the planning so much easier. I wish I would have had that when I was an agent. 

Do you think the traveling industry has changed the way it advertises?

Yes. When I was working as a travel agent, the places that put out the best brochures got the travelers, unless I knew firsthand. The ads and pictures sold the trip. It has changed more from paper to the Web. Now how they advertise is on the web, the itinerary is on your smartphone, everything is at your fingertips. 

What advice would you give travelers these days?

People still ask me advice because I was in the travel business, but now anyone can look anything up these days. I encourage them to do their research and make sure other travelers liked it, use TripAdvisor. 

What do you look for in a successful trip?

A successful trip would be on time flights, lots of sunshine, pretty water and beaches, and happy traveling companions. 

Have you had trouble with on time flights?

Recently, I was on a plane with engine trouble and we could only leave the next day. We knew about traveling so we asked about different airports that could give us the same flight. We ended up driving from Sioux Falls to Omaha in a blizzard, what an adventure!

Do you think there is still a need for travel agents?

If you have the time -- No. You can research it and book it yourself, but if you are busy and you want someone to help you with the prices and places to go then it is nice to have those options, and yes sometimes we (my family) uses a travel agent. 

Would you ever consider working in the travel industry again?

Yes, but maybe as something other than a travel agent. 

What skills do you think you would need now as a travel agent?

I don't think you need any certification, but you would want to know your geography and have some hands on experience. I would say to know some destinations first hand so you know what you are selling. And for sure have computer and people skills. 

Thanks for all your great input Stacey! Happy traveling planning everyone! Any questions you have can be commented below and I will ask her them. 

How My Adventures All Began..

Hi friends, and welcome to my blog!! I am excited to get started and share my adventures and knowledge with you! In this first blog I just want to begin by telling you how I got to be so interested in traveling and advertising.

Ever since I can remember, my family has always gone on some sort of family vacation. And let me tell you, I have been to some pretty awesome places! They all may have not been the most glorious places, or even started out as vacations (like my dad’s work trips) but we were always happy to call them a “vacation” to us. I have two younger sisters that always made the vacations… let’s say interesting! Just kidding, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  But what I do know is that we caused my mom a lot of grief with all the bickering over who got to sit where, and who got to pick the next movie to watch. Keep in mind this is all the while she is trying to read a map, which she is awful at, and telling my dad directions who is pissed off and lost. We definitely needed the technology we have now and just ask Siri where we were going. Thank goodness for a mother like mine! All in all, I am so grateful for the memories I have collected on my countless vacations and it has made me love traveling so much. I have been so fortunate to have such great opportunities to see the world and I want to keep the same tradition with my family someday. 

Me and my sisters in Duluth, Minnesota

Besides family vacations I have been involved with a lot of other organizations that have given me the opportunity to travel. I have been on three different mission trips and got to see three very diverse cities and meet so many astonishing people. Honestly that is the best part, meeting new people. Everywhere you travel to you can always find someone that has something in common with and can talk with them for hours even though you have never met them before. On the other hand, you find such diverse people in every situation and get to hear such great stories. Other opportunities I’ve had were a band trip and FFA trip. This was an unforgettable trip that I got to take at the end of my senior year with a lot of my friends.

Another reason why I love to travel is to take all the amazing pictures. I love to take pictures of literally everything I see so I don’t forget anything, and also to show to family and friends when I get back home. When returning home I always like to either scrapbook these memories or now these days I just make a photo book on Snapfish or Shutterfly. I have always had an eye and passion for design and I like to keep up with it in my free time.

Having a passion for design has transitioned into me being very interested in advertising as I make my way through college. I am a senior marketing major this year, and my emphasis is in advertising. I love exploring new ways to position the ads and learning new techniques to catch the consumer’s eye.  With each blog post I am going to talk about my travel experiences, but also relating it back to advertising.

I have been very fortunate to have been to quite a few places so far. I hope I continue to travel and to explore the world. Bon Voyage bloggers!