Ali Raymer on Transforming Travel Advisory: Client-Centered Strategy Over Commodity Booking

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I think a lot of people think about the old school travel agent sitting at a desk, punching in the bookings or whatever. That's so different. Like what we do is we truly advise. I sit and I listen to clients. What are you saying you want? What's your vision? What's the price point you want to spend? You know, all those kind of factors and I'm really just listening and saying, hey, have you thought about this? Well, what about this?

Step into the world of success with your brand Amplified. The ultimate podcast designed to unravel the intricacies of thriving businesses. I'm your host, Anika Jackson and I'm on a mission to uncover the stories, strategies and secrets that have propelled entrepreneurs and business leaders to success. Picture this. Travel. What an amazing name. Ali Ramer. For a travel company. I'm always going on trips. I realized I. I traveled over a hundred days last year.

Wow.

Yeah, some of them were for conferences, some of it was like a little bit of fun, a little bit of like getting my daughter to college visits or summer programs in different countries. And I wish I had a U at that time because I think things could have gone even more smoothly than me just trying to plan a trip with multiple people coming to visit at different times with clothes Claude or ChatGPT, right?

Oh yes, yes, for sure. It's nice to have a human being to text and be like, hi, I need help.

What you do now and what your background is are two of my big passion areas. Travel and education. You were an English teacher and a career education teacher and then you pivoted and you have built this multimillion dollar travel advisory business while leading a team raising a family. We were just talking about our kids so I'm really interest. What was it about the travel industry that got you excited and made you realize this could actually be the business for you?

Yeah, I love that question. So I was a high school English teacher and I actually had the privilege of taking students, high school students, juniors and seniors mostly, abroad. And I would sell travel trips to them. I would, you know, go with them as the chaperone. We would fundraise the heck out of those trips. And it was a blast. Like, we just had so much fun. We went to Central America, we went all across Europe, several trips. And in doing that, I realized how much I loved educating people through travel. Like, it was just so eye opening to me. And I realized, I remember there was one day I went to my principal and I was like, I think I'm done teaching, because I really do feel like I'm more passionate in this travel realm. And I love opening up people's eyes to this. And I was fortunate enough that my husband's aunt owned Picture this Travel. She was one of the co owners. And she kind of also encouraged me and tapped me on the shoulder and was like, hey, you're selling a lot of travel to kids with no money. Teenagers, you know, you could sell travel to people with like actual money, you know, And I'm like, wow, like, that is kind of crazy that this is a job. Like, I think sometimes that we forget, you know, in a world of Expedia and booking it yourself and things like that, you kind of forget that people did this for a living. And so she opened my eyes to that. And it was just like combining these passions that I had and being able to step into that season was just totally a cool timing thing. I mean, it just was amazing that all these lessons I'd learned as an educator and a teacher kind of came to fruition as a travel agent. So. So cool. Yeah.

And.

And you started, because you started as a travel agent pre pandemic, you kind of made this transition around that time, which is also, I can imagine, would be hard because we all know what education looked like at that time in our lives. And also people were maybe not traveling as much. So you made that shift. What was it like at first? Were you still. Did you maintain that excitement? Were you able to figure out how to pivot and how to continue having a great book of business and growing that as an agent?

It was wild, let me tell you, because, yeah, obviously it was wild for everyone. Like, it wasn't just the travel industry impacted. It was everyone. But I had quit my teaching Job full time for travel in 2019. I had replaced my teacher's salary. I had a good enough book of business. I was like, okay, we're rolling. This is great. And you're, like, not expecting a pandemic to take out literally your whole business. And so, yeah, when 2020 hit it, I mean, it just all burned to the ground, to be totally honest. And now I can look back on it and say it like this, but in the moment, I mean, it was like tears and a lot of waiting on hold and cancellations and. And it was so sad, too, because so many people, especially like those boomer clients who'd finally retired and saved up to travel, they weren't able to take these amazing trips that they had planned for. And that's who I was mostly heartbroken for. Yeah, I lost all my business, but I was heartbroken for them, you know, so it was definitely a trying season for sure. And it. It did. It burned to the ground. We made no money that year, but I survived it. I went back and taught one more year. I came back, and then it just went gangbusters because obviously everybody couldn't travel. And then everybody's ready to go again. So sometimes that happens in this kind of journey, you know, you. You take a leap of faith, and even things outside of your realm of control take you down a notch, and you just gotta keep fighting, keep going back at it. So that was a lesson I learned really early on in this business.

Well, it's so nice that you were able to learn it early and that you had to go through one of probably the worst times in travel, probably the worst time in our lifetimes that we'll see for travel, really.

Right, Absolutely. And I remember my boss, you know, I would. I would cry and be like, oh, I've lost my whole business. Like, I just started, you know, and she said, if you will just stick it out. You know, we saw a little bit of this with 9 11. You know, there was definitely, like, pulling back on travel and things like that. She said, if you will just stick it out, you will see so much reward on the other side of this. There is going to be so many advisors that quit here and just don't quit. And I was like, okay, I'm trusting you, you know, and that's when you have to have those voices of, like, mentorship that have been in seasons like this before of, okay, we're gonna make it through something like this.

So, yeah, and this episode is a little bit different because, yes, we're talking about you, your Brand your business. You, as an entrepreneur and a mompreneur, certainly wanna hit on that. But I also really wanna dive into the business that you do because I, I believe that most of my listeners, like myself, we do love traveling, we do like new experiences and we know how enriching it is to open ourselves up to those experiences. And you talk about, you know, big memories not being something that happens by accident. Can you share a little bit about what that means to you?

Oh, I love that. Yes. I am so intentional about families, especially planning travel, because I think when you, I, I've learned this as I've had kids and I, I remember my parents saying this and older people saying this when I was younger. But once you have kids, it's like your life goes in this fast forward and you look up and you're like, wait, how is my, like my oldest is almost six. I'm like, wait, how's my oldest almost six? Like, I feel like I just gave birth to him, you know, and so something happens when you are a parent and you're busy. You know, you're working, you're running a business. You're just so busy in the day today that you tend to miss out on, oh my gosh, we didn't plan the vacation. We get to the end of the year and we're filled with a little bit of regret. We didn't do that big trip that we said we were going to do. So that is so important to me. I am so passionate about that. I actually have a little freebie on my Instagram and my website where it's like, hey, print this out. Go through these questions with your spouse, with your family. Figure out what everybody's interests are, what our goals are, what finances look like. Have these conversations. Think about five years down the road. What's your family going to look like 10 years down the road? What kind of trips could you guys go on? And I'm, I'm a big believer in dreaming, but actually planning for the dream as well. And yeah, I think especially with families, obviously as couples, you could do it too, but it's a little easier. You know those dink couples, double income, no kids to take off on a European adventure. But the families, it takes a little bit more planning. So I'm so passionate about that, sitting down and, and having those discussions with the people you care about most.

And I just am thinking back, of course, to different trips I've taken. And some. I remember one that was very poorly planned. It was probably fairly like there the Internet existed, but not we didn't have LLMs or anything like that. This is pre my daughter and she is almost 18 now. So you can see where I'm going.

Exactly.

So my ex husband, well then husband and I were traveling through Scotland and I was just thinking about like places that people told me to go, not realizing how far apart they were and trying to plan like different things and how much easier it would have been to have somebody to say you really don't want to do that route. Even though they said this is a great place, you probably want to forget that. So you can really enjoy this, this and this more because you don't know what you don't know. And speaking of that, yes, we have many solutions. There's Expedia, like you said, all the different websites you can try to plan travel with. ChatGPT or Claude or Gemini or whatever and then you have all these discount websites as well. So make this case for us using a real life human to help us maximize the experience we're going to have. Maximum, you know that like warm fuzzy that we might not get from trying to plan something ourselves via chat GPT.

Yeah, absolutely. Those things are all great. I mean these are all great resources that we now have access to, right? I mean and being able to see things on social media and get inspired like all that is fantastic. But at the end of the day having a human being be in your corner is everything when it comes to travel. Like the stories I could tell of navigating people through like what you just said, hey sis, that's maybe not a good idea. Let's rethink that, you know, or you know, just the lived experience. I know I spent a month on a Greek island when I was in my, I think I was late teens, twenties. I don't know why my parents let me do that, but I did and like, but it taught me so much of like lived experience of like Greece is pretty outrageous. Like it's pretty wild, you know. And getting from place to place is logistically not just as easy as you think it is in other European countries. And having those eye opening conversations with people and real authentic conversations is a huge part of a travel advisor's job. I think a lot of people think about the old school travel agent sitting at a desk, punching in the bookings or whatever. That's so different. Like what we do is we truly advise. I sit and I listen to clients. What are you saying you want? What's your vision? What's the price point? You want to spend, you know, all those kind of factors. And I'm really just listening and saying, hey, have you thought about this? Well, what about this? You know, and sometimes I'm bringing up destinations and experiences that they were like, oh, I never even thought about Portugal for my honeymoon, you know, And I'm like, well, that would be a perfect ideal place based on what you're describing, you know? So, yeah, I think having just a person in your corner and then going through everything that I went through with COVID I mean, crazy things happen in travel. So just knowing that you have someone that you can. It's like a friend, like, you can text me and be like, I'm kind of stressed about this. Like, this is giving me anxiety. And I can talk you off the ledge a little bit. Like, I'm a mom. I've traveled to Europe with my kids. I will talk you off that ledge, you know, and encourage you. I. I say I'm like my client's ultimate hype girl. And I feel like sometimes you just need that encouragement and that reinforcement of just like, this is good. Like, what you're doing is good. You're making memories. Don't want that anxiety because it. Travel comes with anxiety. It comes with new experiences and new places. And two, just the personal connections that we have. I mean, we spent a lot of time in Italy and. And just the people that I've been able to meet and connect my clients with. You know, I have Marco the driver and. And I have Roberto, and it's like these real human beings. Elias, the chef in Barcelona, who's one of my favorite people, I love him. Shout out Elias. But like, I've met these people and I've had experiences with them, and, like, I know they're going to take care of my people. I can shoot them a text and say, hey, Ralph, like, these people love this, this, and this. Take care of them in Amsterdam, you know, so it's just really nice to, like, have those personal connections. And that's good. Travel advisors have those because they travel themselves.

And that's a good point. You travel yourself. You're not just sitting at the desk like the old days. You've had these experience, whether it was as a single person, as a couple, with your family, with your young children. So you're able to see all these different life stages and figure out maybe you don't want to do that. Maybe you want to do this instead. Like you mentioned, I'm going to Portugal, for instance, and it's really great to have those people. I've met some of those people going to Greece with my daughter, right? Taking a tour via via tour and then going, ooh, you're really good. Let me just get your number so that we can plan other tours with you. But that's not always the experience that we have when traveling. Talk about being a mompreneur. One of the things I really love these days is it's not just moms talking about that. Fathers are also so invested in their families and finding that quality of life. So how hard has it been or how easy has it been to have small children at home, work full time, luckily or maybe unluckily, I don't know which. Is it easier to work from home with small children or was it easier when you were a teacher thinking about starting a family still Introducing the five.

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Yeah. Gosh, you know, it is kind of interesting too, because my husband and I are both more entrepreneur minded. We both have work term home, off and on. You know, even before the pandemic, he works for a publishing company. And it's just really interesting to have that dynamic. And we experienced it a little bit differently too, because with COVID happening, that's when my first was born. And so I kind of, you know, didn't have any work. It was like, oh, I'm a stay at home mom now. Like, I wasn't planning for that, but this is what we're doing. And then when my second was born, she was our happy accident and it was kind of like, oh, crap, we didn't plan for this. What are we gonna do with her? Like, I am like, crazy swamped, busy, and my husband is the most gracious, humble human on the planet. He was like, I'll just stay at home with her and leave my career for a year. I mean, it was literally the most humbling experience for him. But I'm so grateful for that because it allowed me to grow my business in a time when, like, it was just taking off and we weren't stopping it. I mean, it was just gonna keep growing. And so I. I have a very good life partner that was willing to make some sacrifices. I think that was a big part of it. But, yeah, it's a challenge. I mean, grateful for truly a village that helps us. And now that my oldest is in school, it's kind of frustrating because now we have to contend with the school schedule. And I'm like, oh, my God. Like, but we need to go to Disney or, like, we need to go, you know, to Europe or whatever. Like, we're gonna be off school. So that's kind of an interesting dynamic because we're just so used to that kind of. I don't want to say, you know, it's that lifestyle where you're just like, yeah, we just go. We just work from wherever. So we're trying to get used to that with my oldest fitting into a school calendar. But yeah, it truly has taken a village. And my husband is. He's a rock star for staying home with my daughter for a year. That was killer. So, yeah, it's me.

And it's so funny that we talk about it this way. I mean, I think obviously it's really amazing that he had that opportunity, but when you think about other countries, the world, yeah, they get Those experiences. And it's not like a, oh my gosh, somebody had a sacrifice. It is. This is what's expected in society. That's a whole other tandem we can go on.

That's a whole nother thing. But preach. Yes. Yeah.

So what are some of the biggest mistakes that you see people make that you have to sometimes unravel, like in this industry?

Gosh. So I mentor a team. Um, I have like six girls that are on my team that I've recruited and, and I mentor them. They were actually all over at my house yesterday. We're doing a little co working session and you know, kind of one of the things that I feel like I have to train them a lot of times when they first start out, you know, you don't have a book of business. You're literally just speaking into the void of I don't know who my people are. I don't even know what I like planning. You know, I don't even know what trips I enjoy putting together because I haven't done this before. And really having to train them to think about their niche, what types of trips they want to plan. Who are those people that are going on those trips? What are their pain points instead of, I'm just going to be an order taker. Because that's kind of like the simple way to be a travel agent is to just be an order taker and to take those orders. You know, I had a random call today. A guy calls in, he's saying he wants to do an anniversary trip. I could have just been an order taker and instead I'm like, no, like you're going to fit into my box and my systems. I'm going to send you this little questionnaire. We're going to get to know you as a human, you know, and what your desires are. And then, then we'll have this conversation. I'm not just going to take a Hawaii order. So I think that's the biggest thing in this industry is really changing your mindset from order taker and truly servicing your people that you want to service because otherwise you're just going to get super burnt out in this job.

Yeah, and that's a good point. And also, I mean, you're based in Kentucky. I imagine though, that you work with people from everywhere. You know, obviously we've all gone.

I've.

Well, maybe not all. Maybe this is too general, but I've been, for instance, when I was in Greece with my daughter and I opened TikTok and obviously Geolocation knew where I was. So it's showing me all these things of other people traveling to Greece. So we have a lot of information on social media. How do you find your clients? What tactics and techniques are you using? And what are those recommendations that you make to your team members, depending on what their niche is?

Gosh, that's a great question. So I think really, social media is so fantastic one, because it's free. I mean, yeah, you can do paid ads, but, you know, the organic reach and all that kind of stuff is so much better, in my opinion. And what I found. And I feel like that choose a lane, like, choose a social media lane that you can stick to. Because for so many people, it's just about consistency and they just get so hung up that they just can't post and they can't talk about what they do, you know, And I'm like, just post something. You know, it's fine. Especially for us, it's travel, it's fun. So I think, like, picking a social media avenue and just like dialing in on it. So for me, I really thought about who do I love planning for. A lot of times I kind of have two buckets. It's like the boomers who have never been and are so ready to go. They're retired, they have the money, but they don't have a clue where to start. I love them. That's like one of my favorite clients. And then I love, like, the millennial Gen Xers who do they have these families, they're ready to roll. Like, they're not waiting for retirement. They're taking their kids to Europe. They're taking their kids all over, and let's plan it, but they just don't have time to do it. So I feel like Instagram was really the first place where I felt like, comfortable just sharing, talking about my business, sharing, giving practical tips, giving the behind the scenes of it. And that's really where I started to see growth. And then from there I was like, okay, I feel comfortable in this lane. This, you know, train is moving down the tracks with consistency. Let me start to add in these other avenues. And I was finding a lot of my boomers were saying things like, well, I went and looked on YouTube and I went and watched this video on YouTube, and I'm like, okay, I gotta go to YouTube. So that has kind of been an expansion for me in the last year is YouTube. And it's really to reach my boomers, funny enough, because they love it and they love to look at travel stuff on there. I'm like, who would have thought? But here we are. And then I would say the other one. I do a lot of, like, corporate incentive groups, so I've really tried to. And this has stretched me so much, but be on LinkedIn and be a consistent present on LinkedIn. That has been so much more challenging. But I think sticking with a social media platform because it's free, like, throw it out to the world and see what sticks, see who comes back to you and then, then you can kind of start to play and see where else it leads you. So that's kind of the journey that I've been on. And gosh, I mean, my Instagram has evolved quite a bit over the years too, so to adapt to what, you know, responds well with my clients. Yeah.

Well, first of all, thank you for not leaving Gen X out because I am a Gen Xer.

Yes, the Gen Xers are great. I have a lot of Gen X clients. Yeah.

And then secondly, let's talk about what you just said, because I've had the same experience of transitioning my Instagram and I will say not as successfully as I would like to have from a previous life when I was more, you know, went from being a stay at home mom to going through divorce, posting a lot about the work I was doing, the nonprofits I was serving, the fashion stuff I was doing, the art because they were all intermingled. And then moving from Houston back to Los Angeles and then starting my PR firm and like other stuff that I was doing and trying to transition it to more of that focus and it didn't really resonate with the audience that I already had. So what did you do to continue holding onto your audience but also growing it effectively and keeping engagement and things like that up? What are some of the lessons that you learned?

Yeah, I think what really helped me was in. It was in 2024, I wanted to kind of do a revamp of my website. I had just thrown together a Website Back in 21 on a weekend, like literally just frantically like putting it together. And 2024, I was like, I need like a real website with like work with someone who knows what they're doing. And I actually had a consultant. He was so fantastic. It was like going to therapy. Honestly. I told him like, I loved our sessions because it was like going to business therapy. And he would talk me through like what we. But he really helped me shift my mindset of like, I'm not talking about me and what I'm doing, I'm talking about the pain points of who I'M trying to reach. And that was just huge for me. And it really got me outside of my head because I'm like, oh, well, this isn't interesting or this isn't cool enough because a lot of my job is standing right here and doing things on the computer and it looks boring in the day today. You know, I'm not a travel influencer, so I'm not like, you know, posting pictures all the time at resorts and things like that. But once I thought about it that way, I was like, people love to see behind the curtain and people love to feel like they're heard. So I think once I shifted to that and just being unafraid of what to post because some things are going to hit and some things aren't and it doesn't matter. It's gone tomorrow, literally. I mean, this 24 hour cycle, it's gone. So just being unafraid and that's kind of, I think what people keep coming back to is like the authenticity.

So, yeah, amazing. Fantastic. And I love the distinctions you're making between, you know, you're not trying to be a travel influencer, although you are influencing our travel.

That's right. Yes, that is true. I know. I don't think I would be a very good travel influencer. That's a totally different gig in the industry. Props. I work with some of them, actually. Props to y'. All. You do a whole different beast that I do. Not my jam, but they do a great job at it. So we need, we need all kinds in the industry.

Absolutely. And I will say your website is beautiful. It's really clean and clear, inviting. I love the pops of color. That orange really stands out and it probably isn't a color most people would use.

No, that was the whole reason I went with it. I was like, I want sunset vibes because everybody goes blue and tan in the industry or like black and gold. Like it's one of the two. And I'm like, no, I want sunset vibes. You can see a sunset anywhere in the world. And I do travel everywhere in the world, you know, as far as planning goes. And so I thought that would speak to anybody's trip and it kind of disrupts the norm. Like nobody else is using that color. Yeah. So, yeah.

Nice. Well, and you mentioned your team. Talk about building your team. What was the decision point when you said, I need to hire some people and I need to have, you know, what were the things that you decided in terms of when you made that decision, how you were going to structure it? Because it's one thing when you have systems processes for yourself, but then when you onboard other people, it's a whole other ball game.

Yeah, yeah, it was a learning experience. I definitely fired my first assistant and it was more about me, honestly, than anything else because you just learn so much about yourself and how you do things as well. I would say the tipping point for me was finding out I was pregnant with my second because it was like, whoa, like the mom side of me is about to be times two and my business is just booming, you know, And I don't know how I'm gonna handle this. I want to have a life. Like, that's the whole reason why I did this job, so I could spend time with my kids. So that was probably the tipping point. That year I had a former or a client come to me and say, I think I want to do this, like, as a. As a living. And I'm like, actually, you would be great because you travel all the time. Like, I'm gonna lose you as a client, but this could be really fun, you know. And so I brought her on, I brough a former student as an assistant. She's still my assistant, actually, which has been really fun. We, she had traveled with me as a student and then, yeah, I. I recruited some ex teachers, actually, so that was really fun. Some ex English teachers, I knew they would like, pay attention to detail kind of thing, and they had been really well traveled. One of my teammates, she'd lived in Spain for six years, so I knew she had a lot of. A lot of just lived knowledge in Europe. And then another teammate just had traveled a ton domestically, internationally as well. And she was kind of doing this. She just wasn't doing it as a travel agen. She was just kind of planning on the side for people. And I was like, dude, you could make some money doing this as a living. Like, come on, you know, join me. So, yeah, I would say that year it was kind of a forced evolution with having my daughter of like, oh, I actually want to take a maternity leave. Like, I don't want to be tied to my phone into my email and relinquishing control a little bit of all my processes. And yeah, letting my assistant come in and go, hey, Allie, let's do this differently. And I'm like, like, yes, let's do that. You're a young brain. I'm going to trust you. So it's just relinquishing that trust for sure.

Amazing. And you talked a little bit and I teased at the beginning that you're a multimillion dollar business and you are telling team members or potential team members how much money they could make. What does that look like? Because I think there's probably also a lot of confusion among laypeople. How do you make money as a travel agent?

Yeah, for sure. And I'm always very transparent about this with my clients even, because I just want them to understand how the process works. So the best comp probably for us is like a realtor. So we are connecting people to their desires, right? Like it's not a home, but it's a vacation that they want. And we're going and we're connecting with the correct suppliers. The suppliers love us because we're like the boots on the ground. We're listening to the customer. We're making sure, okay, this customer is appropriate for this product. They understand the expectation. They understand the financials. We're kind of running through everything with them. Suppliers love travel agents because we are saving them tons of time and money from people calling in direct and answering the wildest questions. Because the questions we field are wild on a daily basis. We're saving them from that. So suppliers love us. So suppliers pay us a commission because we're doing the boots on the ground work for them. We're connecting with the people. We are having these real conversations and we're bringing them to the product. So let's just take something that a lot of people know, Disney, okay? I don't personally sell Disney, but I know a lot of people go on Disney trips. And there's a lot of Disney consultants. That is one of the best investments, because the Disney consultant literally is making 10%. Okay? They're making that if it's the same exact price for you if you use the consultant or you use Disney, okay? If you use the consultant, Disney is paying them 10% to literally do everything for you. Okay? If you go direct to Disney, it's the same exact price. Disney's just getting that extra 10% and doing no work. They're bringing you no added value. They're just Disney. That's it. You do it yourself, diy. So you have to keep that in mind that, like, suppliers love us, they're paying us. And let us take on that burden for you. Let us take on the work. Because it is work to plan a vacation and manage it and do all the parts and pieces. So a lot of times, yeah, cruise lines, things like Disney hotels, all of those things, they are grateful for us and they want us, you know, to be out there with the people. So that's kind of how it works. Like, that's a peek behind the curtain. Some of us do charge planning fees, especially for custom things. Like, I charge it for all my Europe custom. I'm gonna charge you a fee up front. Okay. It's a lot of work on my part. I custom design all of this. I put a little app together. I've got dining reservations, shopping recommendations. It's a lot. Okay? So I'm gonna charge a fee for that, but it's honestly nominal because the time you would spend on doing everything I just did. Oh, my gosh. Like, I've saved you so much energy and time and. And honestly, money, because now you know you could have been doing your own job and making money with that time. So, yeah, that's kind of how it works.

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Delivery fees may apply. Nice. No, that's good to hear. And I think it's a good point in that as advisors, you know, ins and outs, you know, things that we don't know behind the scenes. So if somebody is going on a Disney trip, hiring somebody who specializes in Disney adventures, they're going to know all those little tips and tricks, and maybe you want to go at this time and, oh, this day you want to do this thing that's. That not a lot of people know about. And I can imagine that's the same whether it's cruises or other types of vacations as well.

Yeah, absolutely. And just kind of cutting through all the bs, honestly, because you could go on Expedia and say, okay, I want to go to the Dominican Republic, but there's literally hundreds, hundreds of choices. But, like, I've site inspected all these places. Like, I've been there. I've seen the ins and outs. When you start telling me what you want and the vision what you have for your vacation. I'm literally mentally just crossing off, like, well, she ain't gonna go there. Like, we don't want to send her here. You know, and it's a totally like. Like, we are taking this, and we're just listening and just eliminating. And then we can spit out the formula of here's your best vacation.

Nice. What are some of the trends that you're seeing in travel right now?

Gosh, there's a few. I think a lot of people have been to, like, the top. I. I saw a lot of Europe, so that's kind of where I tend to lean. But the top, like, European destinations, okay, everybody's done their Italy's. Everybody's done their France, their Greece, their Spain. Okay, now they're ready for the next thing. Like, what's next? So I've kind of found those, like, peripheral destinations are becoming super popular, like Iceland, Croatia, Portugal, kind of those destinations are, like, popping off for sure. And then I think people are just realizing that the world is super small. They can get places fast, you know, faster than we realize. And places like Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, you know, that side of the world is fantastic. Like, people Are loving going there. So that's kind of the trends that we've seen. And also, if they've been to places, maybe going back and slowing down a little bit and kind of taking it maybe. You know, I'm going back to Italy. Last time I did Venice, Florence, Rome, just kind of the trifecta. Right. This time, like, I want to go further south. I want to go to Puglia. I want to really see the little towns and those experiences. So I feel like people are going back to. To places maybe they've been before, but experiencing it in a totally different way.

Nice. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I am excited to hear you mention all the Asian countries, because I am Thai. I have dual citizenship, so.

Oh, that's amazing.

Oh, love the shout out for Tyler.

Oh, my gosh.

Vietnam in October. And my partner is he. Once he finishes a project, we're going to Japan.

So. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Japan is so hot. And honestly, it's so great for families. There's so much that Japan offers, so I feel like it has been gangbusters. I was talking to one of my suppliers, and they were like, literally, we're on a sales stop right now for Japan because it's. It's just been popping off so much. They don't even have enough tour guides.

Oh, my God.

To. Yeah, I'm like, wow, that's. Good job, Japan. You've been killing it. So, yeah, that's. That's been fun to see these different destinations. It's not just in. Italy's great. It's my favorite. But not just Italy all the time. So.

Okay, so a few practical advice questions. How far in advance should people start planning a trip? If it's an international adventure versus a river cruise?

Yeah, I would say as far in advance as possible. Things like cruises, river cruises, those things get posted very far in advance. So you can put down a very nominal deposit, hold your place, and then you're like, hey, if I change my mind, honestly, it's no big deal. Like, I'm not saying $250 is not a big deal, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not bad. So, like, I've had a Christmas markets cruise planned. Yeah, I know. I'm going with my whole family and a whole group. I'm taking a whole group. It's gonna be so fun. So I've had this planned for, no joke, like, two years. We go at the end of 26. It's been sold out for two months.

Oh, my gosh.

The whole cruise so things like that, where you're like, I can plan in advance. So cruises and river cruise, they post their schedules very early. Okay. Like two years out. I would say it depends on when you're traveling and where you're going. So if it's a destination that you're traveling in, their peak season, Japan and cherry blossom season, plan that a year out. Okay. If you're wanting to go to a US national park, honestly, some of those, you have to plan 11 months out because there's such limited hotel accommodations in these kind of more remote areas. If you're going to Costa Rica in their non rainy season, which is kind of hard to hit because it's always raining in Costa Rica, like, plan that pretty far in advance. I would say anywhere from like that 6 to 11 months in advance is crucial. You don't. To pay for everything. Okay, we're going to put down a deposit, we're going to look at the air. We're going to be flexible with that. We're just going to hold hotels. Like, I can just hold hotels. Right. Like, I'm not going to put down a credit card. I can just hold them for you. So there's a lot of things like that where let's start planning and talking and we can even hold some things and then we can really get into the nitty gritty. When you feel like, okay, I feel good about this, this is what we're gonna do. But yeah, I would say 6 to 11 months out. Air releases 11 months out for most airlines. Yeah. So if you can plan 11 months out, that's really good for availability.

I'm just laughing because, like, I just booked some travel for next month.

Yeah. Oh, people do.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I love the idea of planning that far in advance and it's something that I need to get better.

At.

Last question on this vein. What is something people forget to put in the budget?

Honestly, it's so interesting. This is another reason to work with a travel advisor. Because a lot of people, when they're planning their own trips, all they're thinking about is like, oh, okay, air and accommodations when they're thinking about budget. But when I'm asking them, what's your price point? I'm like, here's what I'm thinking about. I'm thinking about the air, the transfers. When you get there, they're going to come pick you up and take you to the hotel. All your experiences. Are you going to do a cooking class or tickets to this or the opera or you know what, all those experiences that you want to have. I'm considering that all from the very beginning, the train rides, all of those things. Okay. So where I feel like a lot of people when they come to me, they're like, well, my budget is this for air and hotel. And I'm like, but there's so much more to your trip. The experiences, honestly, are probably going to cost more, especially if you're going to some of these European destinations and you really do want to have real experience. You want a local taking you to all the wineries and Chianti and doing tastings. Like, that's going to be more of an investment than your hotel. So definitely think about the experiences that you want to have. And I think that's where we can really come into play because we know, like, we are looking at the entire picture. And I don't want to go over someone's budget. Like, at the end of the day, I want to sell this trip that they want to go on. You know, like, we. It's a win, win. So I really do try to think about everything. And travel insurance is another part too. Oh, so many people don't think about that. Yeah, yeah. See, this is kind of like an interesting thing. I never thought about travel insurance till.

I never buy it.

I know. So give us it.

Give us the tea.

I'll give you the pitch on it. Okay. So, I mean, insurance is kind of crazy in general. I get it. You need to be informed when you make any sort of purchase like that. But I would say if you were going international, for sure, add travel protection, even if it's just for during travel. And medical, it is so cheap for that. Like, even if you don't cover cancellation and interruption. Okay, that's fine. At least give you your medical emergency and during travel, like delays and baggage, that costs maybe 20 to 50 per person for that insurance. So, like, at least do that, because you never know. I've had so many clients. I had a client when, call me, she tripped on cobblestone. It happens more than you think. Like, broke her collarbone, you know, and she's calling me and I'm like, you, travel insurance, it's okay. We upgraded her flight. Coming home, she got to fly first class. It covered it, like, all of that. Okay, so just think about at least medical, enduring travel. It's a very cheap investment. There's lots of products out there, but there's a lot of amazing products that can cover. I could go into a lot of boring stuff with insurance, but that can literally cover anything. So at least ask about it. And they even have annual policies if you travel a lot, so. Oh, okay.

Well, we have a lot to talk about when we get off this. For my personal travel, like, I need all the tips, so I. I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna. I need to hire you for this and this and this. I wanted to ask, where do you see your business going in the next five years? You built your team. You have your children. I'd love to hear how your goals are continuing to evolve and what you see for the future.

Gosh, that's so, so good. I really. Without tipping my hand too much, because I do have some ideas. Okay. But I really want to be an encur. Like, I'm my client's biggest cheerleader, but I really want to be a cheerleader for people in the industry, because I feel like I went from, honestly, a nobody. Like, I sold nothing and was just doing nothing. I mean, and that so many people in this industry, they're just. It's just small drops, you know? But this industry, you can grow so quickly. Everybody goes on vacations. Everybody loves to travel. Everybody goes on multiple vacations a year usually. So it's like, the opportunities are endless. And I just want to really advocate other people to get into this industry from this side of things, because, like, trust me, we're all in busy season, and we're all drowning. Like, drowning. So there's so much opportunity for people who want to do this type of work. So I just want to be a cheerleader to those agents who don't just want to sell 150,000, but they actually want to make 150,000 in a year. Like, that's what I see. You know, if you're gonna invest the time, like, let's ball out, and, like, you do a great job and be able to provide for your family.

Amazing. So for everybody who's listening, what's one takeaway that you would like to leave the audience with? Whether it's about travel, entrepreneurship, building a life that you truly love and that you're passionate about and that you can, as you said, make money at.

Right. I think it kind of goes back to this story, but when I what kind of kicked me in the butt, Honestly, in this industry, it was nearing the end of COVID I went to Cabo with my agency. We were doing fams. We go around doing site inspection, seeing a bunch of properties. And while I was there, there was this really big fish that was from my town, and she was looking for an agent to help her with Cabo. And I Was like, oh, my God, I'm here. Like, this is destined is meant to be. And I'm like, dming her. And, like, I know a couple of her friends and contacts. I'm like, you should put in a good word for me. They're like, oh, yeah, I definitely will. I was feeling confident. Like, I was feeling so good about this, and she wants someone that she went with someone else. And I was, like, heartbroken by that. And I took that no and it just fueled me. Like, I was like, why did she say no to me? And I took a really hard look at myself, and I wasn't marketing myself to someone like her. I wasn't on brand with someone like her. And I thought, well, no wonder she didn't pick me. Like, I'm speaking to the void. I'm not speaking to people like her. And that really forced me to make a lot of hard decisions about myself and how I presented myself. But, I mean, here's the cool part of that story. And this never, never happened. So I always like to share it. But it's like, a few years later, she. Her assistant called me and was like, hey, so and so wants to go on this Europe trip with their family, and she wants to use you. And I was like, holy crap. It worked. Like, I. Like, I did it, you know, I caught the big fish. So I think, yeah, you have to take a hard look at yourself and really say, who am I actually speaking to? And am I willing to put in the work to speak to the people that I want as clients?

Absolutely. Amazing. Allie. This has been super fun. I really appreciate the honesty that you're bringing and the transparency you're bringing to the conversation about what it really looks like and what we need to be considering, but also the passion, and it's so evident that you really love what you're doing and you love what you bring to people and how you can bring joy into their lives as well. And that's what we all should be here for. Finding that thing that fuels us, that provides us with the money that we want to make. The goal, you know, helps us get to our goals, but also helps us see that look on other people's faces.

Yep. That is truly what it's all about. It's the best.

Yeah. Last question. Do you have a favorite quote, motto, verse, poem? Family motto.

Oh, my gosh. Okay. Well, our family values. We have family values. So it's kindness, integrity, tradition, and adventure. So that's what our family kind of revolves all of the decisions that we make around. So I feel like those are like our. Our four core principles for our family. So that's. That would be mine.

Amazing. I love it. And thank you so much, Ali Ramer, for coming on. Of course. I will link to your website in the show notes for everybody to learn more about you and your services. And if you are not a boomer or a older millennial Gen Xer looking for those family vacations, I'm sure Ali has an agent for you as well.

Absolutely. I have a whole team. I have a whole team, y'. All. We got the whole world covered.

And I just want to encourage everybody who's listening, think about where you're going to travel next. Travel opens our eyes. It creates so much empathy and kindness and understanding for all of us around the world, how we are more alike than we are different. And it, as I said, I traveled over 100 days last year. I don't see that changing this year. It's something that I hold very. It's a very important value to me, not just to be able to go back and see my mom and visit my family in Thailand, but also to have those great experiences for myself, for my loved ones, with my daughter. And, you know, designing the life that I love and being able to travel has been really exciting to get to this point. So I encourage everybody to think about how you can do the same and where you're going to go next. That can have a big impact on you and your family. And I will be back again in a couple days with another amazing guest to share their story and their journey. Some tips, tricks for you. Thanks for listening or watching to this episode of youf Brand Amplified. Don't forget to leave us a rating or review on your favorite podcast listening to platform. And if you want to learn more, check us out@yourbrandamplified.com.

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