Magical Vacations Made Easy with Julie Shaffer

Rich & Wendy 0:00
Hey, everyone is Rich Bennett. Can you believe it? The show is turning ten this year. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who've tuned in, shared an episode, or even joined the conversation over the years. You're the reason that this podcast has grown into what it is today. Together, we shared laughs, tears and moments that truly matter. So I want to thank you for being part of this journey. Let's make the next ten years even better. Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios. Harford County Living presents conversations with Rich Bennett. 

Today, I'm going to get kind. 

No, no, no. The truth is. 

Rich Bennett 1:00
Welcome to Conversations with Rich Bennett. Today, I had the pleasure of speaking with an incredible guest who has turned her passion for travel into a thriving career. Julie Schaefer is a trusted travel advisor specializing in family vacations, stress free planning and helping parents create magical memories with their kids. As a mom of three young children, Julie knows firsthand the challenges and joys of traveling with little ones, and she's here to share her expert insights on top family destinations, the best vacations to take at different milestones, how to stretch your travel budget and every parent's question how their survive. Traveling with rug rats, I mean with toddlers. So whether you're planning your next big trip or just dreaming about future adventures, this episode is packed with tips and inspiration, provided that Julie can keep it together because she's just shaking her head laughing. You never heard the term Rugrats. Come on. It was a show. 

Julie Shaffer 2:03
It was a show, and I do remember it fondly. No. 

Rich Bennett 2:06
Chuck, The only one I remember is Chuck. 

Julie Shaffer 2:08
Right. I couldn't 

Rich Bennett 2:09
She's 

Julie Shaffer 2:09
tell. 

Rich Bennett 2:09
a redhead. He was a redhead, right? 

Julie Shaffer 2:12
He was. He was. 

Rich Bennett 2:14
Why did the Rugrats name one of the characters after an evil doll? 

Julie Shaffer 2:20
Who knows? Ask the producers. I don't know. I don't know. 

Rich Bennett 2:22
I just realized that Chucky was the redhead on Rugrats and Chucky. The doll was a redhead. 

Julie Shaffer 2:28
You're right. Maybe somebody was a big fan. 

Rich Bennett 2:32
That's pretty scary. Okay. All right. So, Julie, before we start getting into the travel bit, I want to hear a little about yourself, because, of course, as you know, you are your brand. 

Julie Shaffer 2:43
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 2:44
People like to know who you're dealing with. So how long have you actually been doing this now? 

Julie Shaffer 2:50
Well, first, I want to say that was such a perfect introduction. It was. 

Rich Bennett 2:54
Oh, well, thank you. 

Julie Shaffer 2:55
Great to hear all those great things. And that's how I like to describe myself to my clients, my my prospective clients and anyone who's looking to travel with me. I think that's just such a great description. And I. 

Rich Bennett 3:07
You just don't tell them that you're a mother of three rug rats. 

Julie Shaffer 3:11
I don't use the term rug. I say I have young kids that I travel with all the time. So 

Rich Bennett 3:17
Oh, 

Julie Shaffer 3:17
I've 

Rich Bennett 3:17
wow. 

Julie Shaffer 3:17
been doing this since 20 or 28 in my the agency I work with launched June 1st, 2018, and I was one of the initial agents that launched with them, along with about 20 other agents. We. 

Rich Bennett 3:32
Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 3:33
Yeah, we've grown to, I don't know, 150 or so. You know, people come and go throughout the years, but. 

Rich Bennett 3:39
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 3:39
It's been pretty substantial. That was 2018. So we went through the pandemic and came out on the other side of it with travel, which everyone knows was not a good year or two for travel. 

Rich Bennett 3:52
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 3:53
So business struggled a little then, but it's picked back up tremendously since then. I. 

Rich Bennett 3:59
Good. 

Julie Shaffer 4:00
Always loved going to Disney World. It's such a special place for for me, for, you know, my family growing up. And I wanted to kind of bring that to my kids. I found that I was always spending trips for all of my friends and not getting paid for it. So kind of figured, why don't I do this and get paid at the time? I'm also a physical therapist. I have a doctorate in physical therapy. That was my first job. 

Rich Bennett 4:25
I was going to ask you about that. 

Julie Shaffer 4:26
Yeah, that was my first career and I knew that. I knew that when I started having my kids, I wanted to go part time with my physical therapy job, and I figured. 

Rich Bennett 4:36
So you're still doing that? 

Julie Shaffer 4:38
I'm not anymore. Not since I had my second. My hours were just crazy, and I wanted to be home with the kids. One day 

Rich Bennett 4:44
Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 4:45
I'll go back. But not right now. 

Rich Bennett 4:46
Okay. 

Julie Shaffer 4:48
But an opportunity came up to join this agency when they were launching back in 2018. I had just found out I was pregnant and I kind of thought, what a perfect time to kind of add this in part time, because I knew it was a passion of mine. And I've just been so fortunate to have this as I had to step back from my physical therapy career to have my travel agency career to grow. And it has blossomed and grown so much more than I could have imagined. 

Rich Bennett 5:14
Will you work from home too? Don't. 

Julie Shaffer 5:16
I do work from home and my husband also works from home full time. So we kind of shift parent all day, every day. 

Rich Bennett 5:23
Oh, wow. 

Julie Shaffer 5:25
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 5:26
Yeah. Now you don't have to go to the Center for Physical Therapy all the time. 

Julie Shaffer 5:29
I don't. I don't. Not re Monday. 

Rich Bennett 5:31
Yeah. Now. But your husband doesn't work with you. 

Julie Shaffer 5:34
No, he does not work with me. He's. He's kind of like my production assistant on my podcast. He knows how. Peters But yeah, that's that's the extent of how he works for me. Sometimes I'll rope him in to help me with stuff. But no, he has his own job. Completely busy. 

Rich Bennett 5:52
Okay. 

Julie Shaffer 5:52
Regular working hours and we just shift throughout the day. 

Rich Bennett 5:58
So the agency you that you're with, you started in 2018. How how was that during the pandemic? Because people couldn't go on cruises or anything. 

Julie Shaffer 6:07
It was brutal. So basically, as a travel advisor, you don't get paid until your clients travel. So you 

Rich Bennett 6:15
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 6:15
do all that work upfront of researching, booking, planning out their trip, you know, setting all the details, and then the pandemic hit and everything gets cancelled, which means you don't get paid for any of that work that you did. Some cruise lines and travel partners still gave you your commission knowing that this wasn't really your fault. 

Rich Bennett 6:37
That's good. 

Julie Shaffer 6:38
Not many. So that was brutal because, you know, you had great sales and then it tanked and you didn't get paid for any of those sales. And then it took some time to kind of like build that back up. But I will say, you know, as the years came on since the pandemic, having a travel advisor has been so instrumental to any of my clients because things are booking quickly now, like very quickly. And travel has changed a lot since the pandemic. There's a lot that you need to know that you didn't need to know then or, you know, different companies have changed their policies on things. So having us on 

Rich Bennett 7:15
What 

Julie Shaffer 7:15
there. 

Rich Bennett 7:15
are. 

Julie Shaffer 7:16
It's helpful. 

Rich Bennett 7:17
What are some of the big changes with that? 

Julie Shaffer 7:19
A lot of them go with like a specific destination. So like a place like Disneyworld, for example, which is one of my specialties at least. It started out as one of my specialties. They had so many new rules when they reopened. When they reopened, you had to make Park pass reservations, which meant you had to plan in advance, like way in advance which park you were going to go to, which day, you know, they 

Rich Bennett 7:45
Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 7:45
changed their system on how you make dining reservations. They changed their fastpass system. They just were kind of rolling out changes all the time or what's open, what's not reopened yet. So like very destination specific about what you needed to know. And 

Rich Bennett 8:00
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 8:00
also people were just very weary with what is my travel protection going to cover? How is that going to work if I have COVID and kind of navigating all those kind of things as well as just what are the cancellation policies? Everyone's so much more aware of cancellation policies. And the biggest thing that a travel advisor can do is not only do we know all these properties and have you know, I have direct relationships with my representatives for Viking Cruise Line or Royal Caribbean Cruise Line for all these different partners that I work with. So something that I can do is if you need to make a change, you don't have to sit on hold. That's that's me. That's it's on hold. And I typically have a a back office line. I call that's not a long week like, like you might have when you had to call in. That's kind of one of our biggest perks is that we do all that background work for you. If you have to cancel, you're not the one waiting on hold for 8 hours during COVID. 

Rich Bennett 8:54
You say Viking cruise lines? 

Julie Shaffer 8:56
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 8:57
Aren't those? That's the one over there in Europe and. All right. 

Julie Shaffer 9:00
They do do a lot of Europe river cruises, yet they're also in the U.S. too. 

Rich Bennett 9:05
They are. 

Julie Shaffer 9:06
They do a really great Great Lakes cruise now. 

Rich Bennett 9:10
Really? 

Julie Shaffer 9:10
Yup. I'm actually in the process of planning a river cruise night with my Viking rep. I've had her on. I've done some virtual cruise nights with her. I've had her on my other podcast. Yeah, she's. I just met with her last week. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 9:23
Wait a minute. What do you mean? Other podcasts? How many different podcasts? 

Julie Shaffer 9:27
I only have the one, but. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 9:28
Oh, okay. 

Is, are there any other river cruise lines that you work with? 

Julie Shaffer 9:34
Oh, yes, there are so many. I just actually came back from my agency conference, which. 

Rich Bennett 9:40
Okay. 

Julie Shaffer 9:41
January and part as part of the conference, different travel partners come up and talk and give their spiel about their product and then we can actually go and talk to whoever we want to work with and we want to build relationships with. And I would say 75% of the event, the travel partners were river cruise lines. 

Rich Bennett 10:00
Wow. I'm. 

Julie Shaffer 10:01
Of them by everyone knows Viking because Viking markets direct 

Rich Bennett 10:05
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 10:05
to. You get it in your mailbox, you call Viking. Now, if you do that, I can still take over your cruise fits within 30 days of your booking. But all those other ones, they don't market direct to consumer. there's. 

Rich Bennett 10:19
I, I do know of one that markets two veterans a lot. 

Julie Shaffer 10:23
Oh, which one? 

Rich Bennett 10:25
Because they're always in the American Legion magazine. And that's American. 

Julie Shaffer 10:29
American Cruise 

Rich Bennett 10:30
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 10:30
Lines. 

Rich Bennett 10:31
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 10:31
Yeah. Yeah, They're. 

Rich Bennett 10:32
I didn't know there was such a thing as cruises on like the, the rivers and all. 

Julie Shaffer 10:36
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 10:37
Meffert I think there's they do one here by the bay or 

Julie Shaffer 10:39
Actually, 

Rich Bennett 10:39
in the bay. 

Julie Shaffer 10:40
all their ships are manufactured in Salisbury, Maryland. 

Rich Bennett 10:43
Really? 

Julie Shaffer 10:45
And they do some Chesapeake Bay cruises for sure. Yup. Yup. They were just at my conference, so I was just meeting with them last week to. 

Rich Bennett 10:51
All right. One of the places I really want to go and a lot of people haven't heard of. Is there a I don't know if there's a cruise up there, the Thousand Islands. 

Julie Shaffer 11:02
I. 

Rich Bennett 11:02
You're looking at me to look. You do know what a thousand islands are? Canada. 

Julie Shaffer 11:07
I know it's Canada. I haven't said anyone there. I don't know of any cruises off the top of my head that go there, but that doesn't mean that they they won't or that you can't custom make a different type of trip. 

Rich Bennett 11:18
Right. Okay. Because I actually I don't even know if I've ever seen any. I just. I see them a lot when I'm watching some of these different shows. 

Julie Shaffer 11:27
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 11:28
They look so beautiful as I. 

Julie Shaffer 11:30
It would. 

Rich Bennett 11:30
Is there. 

Julie Shaffer 11:31
It would be better as like a custom trip than like a big cruise. 

Rich Bennett 11:34
Yeah. Well, I do know there's a cruise that does something up in like towards the Arctic in all we're. 

Julie Shaffer 11:40
Oh, like Antarctica. Arctic. that what you mean? 

Rich Bennett 11:44
I don't know, up north. 

Julie Shaffer 11:45
Yes. Okay. So a couple of 

Rich Bennett 11:47
By 

Julie Shaffer 11:47
the. 

Rich Bennett 11:47
the glaciers? No, not the Titanic. 

Julie Shaffer 11:50
A couple of different ones. Cruises go like so many places now, right, because they're. 

Rich Bennett 11:54
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 11:54
For so many different things. The big thing now with cruising is river cruising, but also expedition cruises, which most popular expedition cruises go to Antarctica or the Galapagos Island. 

Rich Bennett 12:08
Oh. 

Julie Shaffer 12:10
Those. That's like the. 

Rich Bennett 12:11
Islands. 

Julie Shaffer 12:11
The Galapagos. 

Rich Bennett 12:13
What does that? 

Julie Shaffer 12:14
That's like where like the turtles are. That's like where like, Darwin went and studied his finches. It's just this beautiful idea. 

Rich Bennett 12:22
Really? 

Julie Shaffer 12:23
So that's like the tropical side of it. And then there's Antarctica, which is obviously not tropical. But these expedition cruises that go there are like, you know, you're stepping foot on that continent, which is very cool. 

Rich Bennett 12:33
Abby. Fine. 

Julie Shaffer 12:34
It's a very cool. 

Rich Bennett 12:36
So are the Alaskan cruises still a big thing, too? 

Julie Shaffer 12:39
Oh, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 12:39
I. 

Julie Shaffer 12:39
Alaska's huge still. Alaska's always huge. They fill up so fast. I'm in the process of planning a couple for 20, 26 and the availability is already tight. 

Rich Bennett 12:52
So I guess with you doing the work that you do, you get to go on a lot of these things. 

Julie Shaffer 12:59
I wish I could go on more mice. The primarily primary stay at home parent limits that. So it just depends on it. And for me I don't have a ton of river cruise clients because my niche focuses more on families now. 

Rich Bennett 13:17
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 13:17
Does it mean? I won't in the future. I always have different people reaching out. My parents love to River Cruise, so then their parents want a river cruise or their friends want a river cruise. Things like that. But my primary marketing target is families, especially families with young kids. And then those families kind of grow with me as they expand their destinations. They want to travel, too, so. 

Rich Bennett 13:41
Okay. 

Julie Shaffer 13:42
Wait. Now I forget the original. Oh, do I get to go on a lot of places? So something like a river cruise. I always have the opportunity to go on a river cruise. 

Rich Bennett 13:49
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 13:49
At a very great price, but it's not necessarily where I'm going to spend my time because I'm not going to get the best return on my business for that. So for example, but going to Walt Disney World, everyone wants to see me go to Walt Disney World and. 

Rich Bennett 14:04
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 14:05
Then I come back with, you know, knowledge that I can dole out right away about new attractions or how they did this or things like that. So going to all inclusives this past year, my family or in 2024 was like the crazy year of travel for my family. My kids were five, three and one. In 2024. We went to Disney World twice. We did Beaches, Turks and Caicos for a week. We did Disneyland in California. We went to 

Rich Bennett 14:33
Oh, 

Julie Shaffer 14:33
L.A. 

Rich Bennett 14:33
wow. 

Julie Shaffer 14:34
and Hawaii. Like we. 

Rich Bennett 14:35
To what? 

Julie Shaffer 14:37
Loni, it's a resort in Hawaii. It's Disney. 

Rich Bennett 14:39
Okay. 

Julie Shaffer 14:40
Hawaii like we 

Rich Bennett 14:41
Oh. 

Julie Shaffer 14:41
we did a Disney cruise. I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise like we were everywhere. But those are things that really speak to my niche of clients. So those. 

Rich Bennett 14:52
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 14:53
As I take more advantage of all inclusives things like that that are really geared towards like little kids. So I can come back and say, Oh, and I went to Universal last year and the whole reason to go to Universal because everyone thinks that's not for our kids, was to ride the rides and say, okay, which ones would I even take my kids on what's appropriate so I can come back and tell my clients, this isn't going to work for your age or, you know, something like. 

Rich Bennett 15:14
Right. So have you actually helped families choose the best destination that fits their travel style, then? 

Julie Shaffer 15:22
So we kind of talk about, you know, what are what are your ages of your kids? What have you done before? What kind of 

Rich Bennett 15:27
Uh 

Julie Shaffer 15:27
accommodations 

Rich Bennett 15:27
huh. 

Julie Shaffer 15:28
did you stay at before? And that gives me an idea of are they someone who really needs like that very nice accommodation and that's very important to them? Or is it more just a place to sleep? And I just need to get there? That helps me a lot. We talk a lot about their kids interests. That helps me determine a lot of things. I just kind of like the vibe they're looking for. It's very once I kind of have a conversation, I try to get everyone on the phone. In the process of booking, whether it's after I sent a quote before I sent a quote. To kind of figure out where where are we going? Are we thinking. You know, for Disney, are we thinking a deluxe resort or are we thinking a value level resort? When we look at all inclusives, do you need a nonstop flight? Do you not need a nonstop flight? These are all kind of like things that I know to qualify. If you 

Rich Bennett 16:13
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 16:13
tell me you want a nonstop flight that cuts out half the Caribbean. You can only go certain places nonstop from BWI or Philly. 

Rich Bennett 16:20
Oh, yes. 

Julie Shaffer 16:21
So, you know, I kind of know how to narrow that stuff down. If someone comes to me and says, We want to go to the Caribbean, but we have no idea where or the other big one, that's very much in my niche of clients is, you know, we want to go to Disney World, but and we want to go to the Harry Potter Park. And I'm like, that's that's two different destinations. One is universal all. 

Rich Bennett 16:42
That's what I thought. 

Julie Shaffer 16:43
World. So, like, that's like, that's something that's commonly confused. And people, you know, they don't know what they don't know. 

Rich Bennett 16:49
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 16:50
Cruising, you know, I know or I'm familiar with Royal Caribbean has so many different ships. So if you're telling me we want to go on the ship out of Baltimore, but my kids are, you know, five and seven, I'm like, you are not going to like that ship. It is small. There's not a lot to do. I've toured the ship. It's not great. Why don't we? If you want to stay local, let's go out of Jersey and let's pick this ship over this other ship because of what I know was on that ship for kids. 

Rich Bennett 17:16
Okay. So with the family destinations and that's your that's your niche. Is there besides all the ones you've mentioned. Are there any places where families want to go that really took you by surprise? 

Julie Shaffer 17:33
Hmm. I've had a couple, 

Rich Bennett 17:35
You 

Julie Shaffer 17:35
like. 

Rich Bennett 17:36
were like, Wait a minute, really? You want to take your family? I mean, the kids, 

Julie Shaffer 17:39
Yeah. So not like super young. And sometimes people were asked to go certain places and then as we quote it out, it just does it like they kind of like all kind of thing. I don't think this is a great fit, but 

Rich Bennett 17:52
right? 

Julie Shaffer 17:52
that's what they want to do. So we'll go through the proposal process and then they kind of are like, okay, never mind, let's do this part instead. 

I have had quite a few people that as they get into teen years, they they 

Rich Bennett 18:04
Oh, 

Julie Shaffer 18:04
want 

Rich Bennett 18:04
yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 18:05
to do those big Italy and Switzerland trips and or Italy and combining with, you know, France or something like that, another country over in Europe. Those have been kind of surprising because those are big trips 

Rich Bennett 18:17
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 18:17
and they're doing them for graduations, which I think is amazing that that's 

Rich Bennett 18:20
Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 18:21
what they're exposing their kids to for graduation or, you know, anything like that. 

Rich Bennett 18:26
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 18:28
Yeah, that's kind of like the big ones that have been somewhat somewhat surprising. On the kind of the opposite side. Sometimes I have to talk people into a little bit. They'll say, My kids are two and four. What are they? Where would a where would I take them? I'm going to take them to an all inclusive. And I'm like, hold on. I think we really should do Disneyworld. I know it sounds cliche, but when you go to the all inclusive, they're not really going to have much to do. You're going to really 

Rich Bennett 18:54
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 18:55
be parenting the whole time you go to Disney World, there's a ton for them to do. So it's also opening their eyes to maybe something that they hadn't considered before. 

Rich Bennett 19:05
All right. So with the way things keep popping up everywhere 

in the future. Whether it be this year or next year, five years down the road or whatever. Where do you see the next big place? Or better yet? A place that I think a lot of families are missing out on because they haven't heard of. Because everybody hears about Disney World, Universal Studios, everything you mention. 

Julie Shaffer 19:32
So. 

Rich Bennett 19:32
Think some places are two people are actually missing. 

Julie Shaffer 19:35
So it's either they haven't heard of it or they're they're too nervous and they don't think they can do it. 

Rich Bennett 19:41
Okay. 

Julie Shaffer 19:42
The biggest one, I would say, is an African safari. Everyone. 

Rich Bennett 19:46
With kids. 

Julie Shaffer 19:47
Yeah. Everyone. 

Rich Bennett 19:48
Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 19:49
That an African safari is that trip you do when you're like, Oh. 

Rich Bennett 19:54
Old. 

Julie Shaffer 19:54
Tired and have like three. 

Rich Bennett 19:56
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 19:56
To go, and it's just not true. 

Rich Bennett 20:00
It's the opposite. 

Julie Shaffer 20:01
Yeah, it is. Because kids can like the biggest thing to me with kids in trouble is they can learn so much. You don't realize how much they're learning when they're traveling, but even just going to the airport, they're exposed to so many. 

Rich Bennett 20:13
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 20:14
Not exposed to in their regular life. And that just like, enriches them and teaches them new problem solving skills and just opens their eyes to so much. And there's so much more forgiving of other people in the world and their, you know, a little more peaceful. That's it's just really great for them. So. 

Rich Bennett 20:31
A lot bigger than a regular zoo, too, 

Julie Shaffer 20:33
Yes. And going to Africa like there is so much you can do over there. And it scares people to think. Number one, taking your kids to an open safari. And 

Rich Bennett 20:42
right? 

Julie Shaffer 20:42
number two, traveling so far, like they just think that that's not something they can do with their kids. But the you know, like my preferred partner that I work with for African safaris, he has little kids and. 

Rich Bennett 20:55
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 20:55
He does it all the time so he knows all the ins and outs of how to do that with little kids and how to gear programs towards little kids and gear itineraries towards little kids. So I think that's something people really miss out on those bigger trips. The African Safaris going over to. 

Rich Bennett 21:13
I would have never thought of that. 

Julie Shaffer 21:15
Yeah, exactly. It's a it's an it is a very big up and coming destination because 

Rich Bennett 21:19
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 21:20
post-COVID, people want to do those big trips that they thought 

Rich Bennett 21:24
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 21:24
that they wouldn't be able to do or they couldn't do. They kind of saw those dreams slipping away a little bit and now they're like, Well, let's do it. Like, let's do the big trip. 

Rich Bennett 21:34
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 21:36
People also think it's a huge. People also think budget is a big barrier to African safaris, but it really isn't. It can be done. It's so many different budgets that it really could work. I mean, 

Rich Bennett 21:47
Well. 

Julie Shaffer 21:47
you need to perhaps to save a little bit, but it can be done. 

Rich Bennett 21:50
Well, I was going to say the ones that I would think the ones that are going to cause you an arm and a leg are the like the hunting expeditions. 

Julie Shaffer 21:56
Yeah. The hunting ones. Ones where you want to be really out like on the safaris for. 

Rich Bennett 22:01
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 22:02
The entire time. There is salt like you can, you know, go over to Cape Town and you have kind of like this coastal type village. As long as, 

Rich Bennett 22:09
hmm. 

Julie Shaffer 22:09
you know, if you build that in with the safari, it really drops the price so much. But, you know, people 

Rich Bennett 22:14
Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 22:15
don't know that that's the benefit of working with somebody like me who has those connections and can get you on a Zoom call with my partner, who runs his own company for building African safaris, who lived in Africa his whole life. Because we have those connections, you're not going to find that on the Internet 

Rich Bennett 22:32
I. 

Julie Shaffer 22:32
or at Costco. 

Rich Bennett 22:34
Give me another one that's going to floor everybody, because that one floored me. 

Julie Shaffer 22:39
Like a place like Fiji or the Maldives. A lot of people are scared to take their kids there because again, it's so far and they think of it as just like a honeymoon destination. 

Rich Bennett 22:48
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 22:49
And it's really not. There are a ton of family friendly resorts there. It's another one that people think budget is a really big barrier and it's not. The family friendly resorts there are incredibly affordable. The thing that gets you is the flights. But the flights are very doable if you have some good travel hacks to manage those. 

Rich Bennett 23:14
I doubt why. 

Julie Shaffer 23:17
It's fun talking travel, isn't it? 

Rich Bennett 23:20
Yeah. Now my grandkids. 

Julie Shaffer 23:21
Yeah. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 23:23
I wanted. Yeah, I wanted to. I would've never. The safari went. Still blows me away. I would have never thought about that. 

Julie Shaffer 23:29
As soon as you start. 

Rich Bennett 23:30
But it. 

Julie Shaffer 23:31
About so far. You're like, Man, I really want to go on one. 

Rich Bennett 23:34
When you think about it, when you. I knew I forget some of the places around here that have the so-called safaris, but the kids love them, or at least there used to be some around here. 

Julie Shaffer 23:45
And it's. 

Rich Bennett 23:46
Well, doesn't Disney World have one 

Julie Shaffer 23:48
Yeah. So they have Animal Kingdom, which is a 

Rich Bennett 23:50
animal? 

Julie Shaffer 23:50
theme park and there is like. They do have a huge savannah and it's a lot of conservation efforts but obviously seeing them in the wild is a completely. 

Rich Bennett 24:00
Oh, yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 24:01
Different experience. And I mean, just think of like. How much your kids would learn. Not only like actual facts. The thing I like to compare it to is, you know, if you grew up looking at National Geographic books or magazines and just seeing those things in real life. My kids love Nat Geo books. They want to read those things every day. It's such a great resource to expose them to things and then say, Hey, let's go see it. That would be an awesome family wish list trip. 

Rich Bennett 24:30
I got a heart was probably is not hard for you. 

Julie Shaffer 24:33
Oh, no. 

Rich Bennett 24:34
It is. 

Julie Shaffer 24:34
You make me nervous when you say. 

Rich Bennett 24:37
But if you could create the ultimate family travel bucket. 

Julie Shaffer 24:42
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 24:44
What? I knew it was going to be easy for you. What destinations or experiences would be on it? 

Julie Shaffer 24:49
Okay, so I already said the African safari that's going to be on it. I'm going to say some place in it in Europe. And I would start with Italy and Switzerland, 

Rich Bennett 24:58
Oh. 

Julie Shaffer 24:58
Italy, because there's so much history there. And everyone, every kid loves pizza and pasta. So it's easy for that. 

Rich Bennett 25:06
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 25:07
And then I also would couple it. 

Rich Bennett 25:09
Chicken tenders. 

Julie Shaffer 25:10
Yeah, I'm sure they have those over there. But, you know, and I would couple it with Switzerland because that's awesome for kids like teens because of all the adventure activities you can do. Whether you go in the summer or the winter, there's so many activities for like ten and up really to do that. That is an amazing trip to do, I would say. Let's Okay, so family wish list. I would say something with a very beautiful beach somewhere, something like Turks and Caicos, Aruba, something a little more chill not this crazy I'd. 

Rich Bennett 25:40
My. 

Julie Shaffer 25:40
Trip, but something where you really get a lot of great family time. 

Rich Bennett 25:45
You're listening in on the conversations with Rich Bennett. We'll be right back. 

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Julie Shaffer 26:56
Yeah, I think it's great for families. I think a little bit older kids, like, I wouldn't take my kids. I would take them when they were closer to. Like the teenage years just because of the excursions you'd want to do. You know, like, 

Rich Bennett 27:07
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 27:07
my little kids cannot go to a hot spring. That's just not going to happen. 

Rich Bennett 27:12
Oh, I didn't even think about that. 

Julie Shaffer 27:13
Or, you know, any of these like big outdoor adventure things. But it is that is something that is is up and coming. I haven't got a lot of requests for it for this year, but like people looking out for what they want to do in 2027 and 2028, that's coming up on their list. And the reason is because their kids are younger right now. They want to wait a couple more years to delve into Iceland. But it's nice because it's a little bit closer, a little bit closer 

Rich Bennett 27:38
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 27:38
than some destinations. 

Rich Bennett 27:41
Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 27:41
And there's so much to see there. It's not like really anywhere else. 

Rich Bennett 27:45
What are what are some of the places here in the United States that people are missing out on? 

Julie Shaffer 27:49
The national parks think a lot of people miss out on those. Yeah, unfortunately. But you know, like the Yosemite over, you know, Yellowstone, Yosemite over Bryce Canyon and Sedona, all those kind of places. I suggest stuff like that a lot when people want to go more domestic. But again, I think they get nervous that there's nothing for their kids to do. You know, little kids because you're hiking and stuff like that. So. 

Rich Bennett 28:15
But sometimes little kids love that. I know. 

Julie Shaffer 28:16
They do. 

Rich Bennett 28:17
My niece, my daughter, when she was they her and the other one's loved going camping. 

Julie Shaffer 28:22
Yes. And so my solution is, if you think your kids are not going to like it, we go with a company like Adventures by Disney, which is owned by Disney. But Mickey Mouse is not coming with you to Yellowstone. It's just the service level of Disney where you are not thinking about a darn thing while you're on the trip. 

Rich Bennett 28:43
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 28:43
And the great thing is, because Disney is still a very family focused company, they will have separate activities for kids to do. You know, the adults will go to a really nice dinner that evening. And on the other side, the kids are watching a Disney movie that has something to do with what they're doing and having a whole campfire thing going on. So, you know, your kids are being taken care of and everything is accessible on the trip to. 

Rich Bennett 29:06
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 29:07
So something like that is where you kind of meet in the middle of we want to go do this adventure. But I've got these kids with me, these little kids. 

Rich Bennett 29:14
All right. So with the little kids taking them on, on a trip with you and everything, what are some of the biggest misconceptions and myths that people hear? Turns him away from there, like, Oh, no, we can't do this because. 

Julie Shaffer 29:32
So I think two big things. I think one is people think I don't want to spend the money on my kids when they're this little. I think a lot of people say that and a lot of people yeah, a lot of people say they're not going to remember it. And my biggest response for that is you will remember it. I kind of you know, there's a there's a popular saying, like in travel for people that say, my kids won't remember it, so we're not going to take them. Dear kids, remember, if you read them a book, they don't write, they remember that book. But do they remember your voice and the sounds coming out? And that helps them develop their language. 

Rich Bennett 30:10
Huh? 

Julie Shaffer 30:10
So same idea. They're not going to remember you taking them to travel, but they will remember being in a new environment and how they had to cope with that. And, you know, those those kind of things being exposed to new experience as in finding out what they liked or didn't like about those new experiences. So I always kind of throw out the argument of they won't remember it because they're still going to learn from it. It's going to shape who they are as a person. And it's also going to shape you as a person and you're going to remember that, you know, I don't my daughter doesn't remember going to Disney World when she was one, but I do I remember seeing her face at the castle. I remember her when she was almost two and it was 2020 and we were in Disney World and no one was there and she could have run around on the forecourt of the castle because it was empty. She's not going to remember that. But I do. 

Rich Bennett 30:59
Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 30:59
And it's great because we have the pictures of it and they look back and then when we go back on those trips, they'll say, Hey, remember that picture of me here? 

Rich Bennett 31:08
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 31:09
So it's cool. It's such like a pet peeve of mine when people say they're like their kids won't remember it. And then the budget of, well, they don't want to they don't want to spend money on their kids, basically, because they're so little or they're they want to wait till the kids are older and can do more on the trip. And I just think, you know, this is the season of life you're in. You might as well enjoy it. Your parenting at home or away. 

Rich Bennett 31:33
Yeah. Live life to the fullest while you can. 

Julie Shaffer 31:36
Yeah. Yeah. And like, what's the fun in? Like, why are you always going to be waiting to go? And it's not easy. 

Rich Bennett 31:42
They. 

Julie Shaffer 31:43
It is not easy traveling with kids like that. It is not easy, but neither is staying home and parenting them either. So. 

Rich Bennett 31:51
And sometimes as the kids get older, they don't want to do that stuff. 

Julie Shaffer 31:54
They don't want to be with you. 

He. 

Rich Bennett 31:58
No, no. 

Julie Shaffer 31:59
Yeah. I mean, it's 

Rich Bennett 32:00
Really, 

Julie Shaffer 32:00
just. 

Rich Bennett 32:00
Dad? 

Julie Shaffer 32:01
I know, right? I'm not there yet. My kids are literally still clung to my side. Majority of the day. But I mean, I see how it changes them every time we go to a new destination. They love watching videos, getting ready for the trip and then coming back. That's all they talk about. And. 

Rich Bennett 32:19
Actually what are what are. There's got to be some top strategies. For save of money. 

Julie Shaffer 32:26
Okay. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 32:27
Without sacrificing the experiences. 

Julie Shaffer 32:29
Yes. Oh, for sure. The biggest one is being flexible. So being able to go in the off season, if you want to go to Italy and you pick July, that is the most expensive time to go. So if you 

Rich Bennett 32:42
Really? 

Julie Shaffer 32:42
can. If you can find some flexibility in your schedule, like go in May or go 

Rich Bennett 32:48
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 32:48
in September, that price is going to drop significantly. So being very flexible, even if that means finding time to take the kids out of school, I no one hates, no one hates or everyone hates hearing that taking. 

Rich Bennett 33:03
What? 

Julie Shaffer 33:04
Well. 

Rich Bennett 33:04
What better education than taking them to Italy? 

Julie Shaffer 33:08
All right. That's what I kind of say, like they're going to learn. I'm sorry, but they're going to learn so much more. 

Rich Bennett 33:12
Oh, yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 33:12
Traveling than what they're going to learn sitting in school. And my kids love love school, but they also learn so much traveling, so having flexibility, being able to go on an offseason or being able to even just adjust your dates and not doing that typical Saturday to Saturday, maybe flying out on a monday where flights are a little bit cheaper, something like that. 

Rich Bennett 33:35
Wait a minute. You mean like when people go to Italy? Usually it's just a week. 

Julie Shaffer 33:40
Oh, no. Like you could definitely be longer. But again, just having flexible day is not having to do. 

Rich Bennett 33:45
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 33:45
Flying on the weekends on the very popular days. 

Rich Bennett 33:49
Oh, okay. 

Julie Shaffer 33:49
Yeah, and being flexible with that. The other big one is credit cards. Finding a credit card that gets travel points in some fashion, whether it's you have, whether you have a preferred airline. So you just get that airline's credit card. That does kind of limit you like you know if you get a Southwest credit card, they don't fly to Europe and Africa. 

Rich Bennett 34:10
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 34:10
So that's not going to help. 

Rich Bennett 34:11
Yet. 

Julie Shaffer 34:11
Much if you get like Chase Sapphire, Chase reserved. Those ones have phenomenal travel points. If you're someone who uses credit cards, that is an amazing way to go. I have friends who went to the Maldives on their honeymoon and didn't pay anything for it because it was all on credit card points. The resorts, the flights, everything. So being savvy with those points can pay for your flights, which is at. 

Rich Bennett 34:38
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 34:39
Currently, flights are about half the price of your budget. So. 

Rich Bennett 34:42
Sure. Wow. 

Yeah, I didn't realize that. 

Julie Shaffer 34:47
Yeah and booking early the earlier you book the better availability is going to be the better pricing it's going to be that the idea of like let me book a last minute cruise because it's going to be cheap. It does not exist anymore because. 

Rich Bennett 34:59
So how far in advance should you book? 

Julie Shaffer 35:01
As soon as you can. As soon as you know you want to go. So like this week, This morning, I was booking a cruise for June of 2026. Tomorrow, booking July of 20, 26, 

the earliest you can. I've already booked a trip for 2027 for clients, and the earlier you can book, the better. That doesn't mean I don't, but that doesn't mean last minute is not an option. You're just not going to have as many options for where you want to go, which might dictate your price. 

Rich Bennett 35:30
Do you? I guess in a way, falls under family destination. 

But you have a lot of people that want to do this. What do you how would you call it? They want to married in another country or. 

Julie Shaffer 35:43
A destination wedding. 

Rich Bennett 35:44
Yes. Thank you. That. 

So do you do that, too? Because a lot of times it would be the kids that are going to. That is what. 

Julie Shaffer 35:54
Yep, yep, yep. And there are some resorts that are really great for destination weddings. There are some resorts that are not great for destination weddings. 

Rich Bennett 36:01
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 36:02
Our role is to find the one that we know does a great job with destination weddings and is welcoming. You know, some places you can bring kids, some places you can't bring kids. Some places have great wedding coordinators and some don't. So that's again, that's our role to help you navigate all that. And then also we are behind the scenes navigating your guest list to get there. 

Rich Bennett 36:27
Okay, so we're with the travel agent. 

Julie Shaffer 36:30
Mm hmm. 

Rich Bennett 36:30
I guess you can't do this, though. Because there aren't agents that are going on the trips. If 

Julie Shaffer 36:36
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 36:36
the people Right. There are. 

Julie Shaffer 36:37
That. You can. You can. 

Rich Bennett 36:40
Really? 

Julie Shaffer 36:40
You can. There's a lot of people that, especially if it's a really big wedding or a really big group, 

Rich Bennett 36:47
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 36:47
they will go with them to make sure everything goes seamlessly. That doesn't mean they're like going to the wedding or hanging out with them. They're just kind of like, there is a resource. 

Rich Bennett 36:56
Okay. Did. 

Julie Shaffer 36:57
I have not I have not done that yet, 

primarily because of my kids. You know, right now I don't have super flexibility to just up and go. 

Rich Bennett 37:07
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 37:08
They are also cared for. But 

Rich Bennett 37:10
That. 

Julie Shaffer 37:10
I have friends. I have colleagues who have done that. 

Rich Bennett 37:14
Now, is that the case for regular family destinations as well? Not just weddings. 

Julie Shaffer 37:19
Yes. So like, if you're doing a group and it's big enough, like a big family reunion. Yeah, you 

Rich Bennett 37:24
Okay. 

Julie Shaffer 37:24
could tag along, especially if it's a cruise. A lot of times, if they're doing a big cruise, the cruise will invite the travel advisor to come as well. 

Rich Bennett 37:32
Okay. 

Julie Shaffer 37:33
Because you're also coordinating things on board, right? You're coordinating 

Rich Bennett 37:36
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 37:36
any events they're having at the wedding, you're coordinating cocktail parties, things like that. You're kind of being that extra resource for those things. 

Rich Bennett 37:44
So being a travel agent, what's the toughest part of it? 

Julie Shaffer 37:51
Huh, man? So. 

Rich Bennett 37:55
Wow. Richie really floored me. I wasn't expecting. 

Julie Shaffer 37:57
There's a lot of tough parts, you know, in. 

Rich Bennett 38:00
Oh, yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 38:00
If you make a mistake, it's on you and you need to rectify that, which sometimes means it comes out of your own pocket. Now, obviously, we do our best to not make any mistakes, but it happens, right? Everyone is human. So that 

Rich Bennett 38:14
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 38:14
is. It's a struggle to make sure that you're doing everything to your systems and processes. The other piece is I'm an independent contractor for my agency, which means I do everything on my own. I make all 

Rich Bennett 38:26
I 

Julie Shaffer 38:26
my. 

Rich Bennett 38:26
was wondering about that. 

Julie Shaffer 38:27
I do all my own needs. I do all my own marketing. So that is a huge chunk of time to do that kind of. 

Rich Bennett 38:33
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 38:34
Because the only way that my business stays in business is if I create business. So just. Just trying to find my own leads is also a lot. It's gone well, and now I have enough client base that I get. Most of my new business is referrals from current clients. So just you just always have to be on top of it and providing the best level of service you can so that that client wants everyone else to experience that same level of service. And I think to getting clients to trust you and, and trust you enough when you say this is going to be the best fit for you. 

Rich Bennett 39:13
So with that, with the marketing part, especially if you being being an independent contractor through the agencies that you work with, you help with the marketing. All they do. 

Julie Shaffer 39:26
They can. 

Rich Bennett 39:27
Yeah, 

Julie Shaffer 39:27
So I mentioned that we talked about biking a little bit. If I want 

Rich Bennett 39:31
right. 

Julie Shaffer 39:31
to host a Viking cruise night like a travel social where anyone interested in biking cruiseline would come and then we talk about biking and then you would get a promotion if you booked something like that. You know, they come and they help me with the marketing and they do the presentation and I'm there as basically the booking travel advisor for anyone who comes. So I've done something like that with Viking Cruise Line. I've done it with sandals and beaches before, which are adult only resorts and family friendly resorts in the Caribbean, like the top of the line ones where they will come and they will do a presentation for my clients and their friends and anyone else who wants to come. And then when you book your trip, you get a booking bonus or a promotion or something like that. So they do help with stuff like that. I have a couple events coming up soon, in-person events coming up soon. So I've reached out to various travel partners that I have and said, Hey, can you send me some fresh collateral, some new books that people could browse? Because when people can browse and see those pictures, it's so much better 

Rich Bennett 40:33
Yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 40:33
than an online image. So yeah, they'll help me with all those kind of things. All, all my travel partners are, you know, they want you to sell their product. So they're going to work with you any way that they can. They will come and meet with you, come show up at events for you, send you everything you need. Be there as a resource. 

Rich Bennett 40:52
So how did these people find out about events that you always have coming up? 

Julie Shaffer 40:56
How do my clients or anyone that's coming. 

Rich Bennett 40:58
Anybody. Yeah, well, let's see. I don't. I don't. How would I find out if I don't know you? How would I find out? 

Julie Shaffer 41:05
Mostly it's social media. 

Rich Bennett 41:07
Okay. 

Julie Shaffer 41:08
Or my current clients and I encourage them to bring friends. 

Rich Bennett 41:13
On social media. It's not your personal page. You got you got a business page. 

Julie Shaffer 41:17
I have a business page. I have a podcast page. I have my personal page. I have my personal Instagram. My business. Instagram. My podcast. 

Rich Bennett 41:27
All right. 

Julie Shaffer 41:27
So I'm kind of sharing it a. 

Rich Bennett 41:29
Julie, let's let's do this the easy way. What's the easiest way for people to find you? 

Julie Shaffer 41:35
My business. Facebook or my business. Instagram. So my Facebook is Julie with creating Magic vacations or my Instagram is magical travel Mom, which is a little bit more fun. 

Rich Bennett 41:49
They'll give you your own website. 

Julie Shaffer 41:51
I do have a website magical travel mom dot com. 

Rich Bennett 41:55
Are your social media? 

Julie Shaffer 41:56
Everything is linked. 

Rich Bennett 41:57
links on that. 

Is the podcast on there. 

Julie Shaffer 42:00
It is on there, I 

Rich Bennett 42:02
All right. 

Julie Shaffer 42:02
think. 

Rich Bennett 42:02
Let's listen. 

Julie Shaffer 42:02
think. 

Rich Bennett 42:04
Joy. 

Julie Shaffer 42:05
The focus might just be on the podcast web. 

Rich Bennett 42:07
It is. No, it's not all thing. All things. Travel, parks. 

Julie Shaffer 42:10
Podcast dot com is my podcast website. 

Rich Bennett 42:12
All right. So tell us about that. We won't talk about the technical parts. 

Julie Shaffer 42:16
Yeah, because I don't know. 

I show 

Rich Bennett 42:19
It 

Julie Shaffer 42:19
up. 

Rich Bennett 42:19
tells you shit in the pocket. I show up. I take it along the pockets. You guys are talking about it. You want to go? Who's right? 

Julie Shaffer 42:28
Yes. Me and my friend Ryan, we co-hosted. I've been on the podcast for a year and a half. He's been doing it since 2020. I just am going to throw out there. There's probably drastically improved in the last year and a half since I joined, but it's called All Things Travel because the the point is to. Truly talk 

Rich Bennett 42:46
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 42:46
about all things 

Rich Bennett 42:46
Good 

Julie Shaffer 42:46
travel. We kind of rotate through highlighting different destinations. Recently we've highlighted, you know, just like itineraries that we think are fun that people may not think about. So something like a family friendly trip to Costa Rica. What could your trip look like? That was a really popular one. Usually our destination focus ones are the most popular. That kind of give people, you know, what do you do when you get to Dublin? What do you do in Hawaii? Things like that. We also do some tip episodes once in a while, you know, things that we kind of talked about maximizing your travel budget. Top family destinations right now, because we are both we both initially started our business with a Disney focus because the and the Disney parks changed so much. We're in the middle of a series of how to do each park. So I tell you how to walk through the park and do everything with the kids. And then Ryan pops on it tells you how to do the same thing with adults. So how to start your day at Magic Kingdom and how to enter a magic kingdom. That's something we're doing right now. So we'll also do Disney focused, cruise focused, kind of a little bit of everything. 

Rich Bennett 43:49
Hmm. How often do you guys drop an episode? 

Julie Shaffer 43:52
Every week. Every Wednesday. 

Rich Bennett 43:54
Once a week every Wednesday. 

Nadia, is it just you two or do you guys have guests on some? 

Julie Shaffer 44:01
It's just us most of the time. We do have guests on. So coming up. So we've had our Viking rep on fairly recently. Coming up, we have our partner at Royal Caribbean coming up and she's she's kind of like a big deal at Royal Caribbean. So we're really excited to talk to her. She's going to give us some insight into the new ships on Royal Caribbean, which there's a lot of them. I kind of the sea is utopia of the Sea is Star of the Sea is there. All those commercials are all over your TV right now. We have a travel partner that I mentioned earlier focusing on African safaris. We're trying to get him on soon. We will also kind of have some of our colleagues on once in a while. Maybe someone went to a resort that we haven't been to and we want them to tell us about it and kind of highlight that destination. So we'll do that sometimes too. Or maybe we have a colleague that has a specialization in honeymoons and they'll come on and talk to us about honeymoon trends. 

Rich Bennett 44:56
Actually. 

Julie Shaffer 44:57
Oh, no. 

Rich Bennett 44:59
Can you share a client's story about a trip that turned out to be even more meaningful than you expected? 

Julie Shaffer 45:07
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Like, tell it right now. You, me. 

Rich Bennett 45:10
Yeah, of course. 

Julie Shaffer 45:11
So. 

Rich Bennett 45:12
Yeah. You should. You should also have them on the podcast. 

Julie Shaffer 45:17
And we have done that a couple well. 

Rich Bennett 45:19
Okay. 

Julie Shaffer 45:20
So sometimes we don't always have the client on, but maybe like. 

Rich Bennett 45:23
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 45:23
To review them separately and then 

Rich Bennett 45:25
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 45:25
kind of relay that now, because not everyone is comfortable podcasting. So I have two that I can think of that really leave an impression. One of them is close to me because that's my in-laws and they had planned a trip in their mind for a very long time that they finally got to take two years ago. And it was celebrating their retirement. It was to the Pacific Coast. So they did a trip driving down the coastline of California and. 

Rich Bennett 45:51
Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 45:52
Starting in Seattle, going all the way down California and ending at the Hotel Del Coronado down in San Diego. And it was like a three week trip and the way so they did not come on the podcast. I interviewed them about 

Rich Bennett 46:07
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 46:07
different highlights of the trip, and we did two podcasts about it because there was so much to tell. 

Rich Bennett 46:12
Oh, I bet. 

Julie Shaffer 46:12
But they they just always raved about how amazing it was to finally see all the sites out there so much that they are going back this year or next year. And starting in Seattle and going up into Canada and driving through the Canadian national parks. 

Rich Bennett 46:28
Oh, 

Julie Shaffer 46:29
Even more of the sites out there. But that was such a great one because they were just, you know, it's such a cool thing when people get to celebrate an accomplishment like retirement 

Rich Bennett 46:37
yeah. 

Julie Shaffer 46:37
and you get to be a part of planning those things for them. Another big one that comes to mind is I had a big family trip a couple of years ago that did Walt Disney World over the Week of Christmas, which is an incredibly crowded time to go. 

Rich Bennett 46:53
Really? 

Julie Shaffer 46:53
But it was, yes, the most crowded week of the year, but it was grandparents 

Rich Bennett 46:57
Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 46:58
taking. 

All of their kids and all of their grandkids for a big family reunion. They all live in different states. They hadn't all been together for a while. And you know, so we planned this whole week out for them. They were they're a little bit over a week. Some people were coming and going. So it was a lot of coordinating on my end and coordinating because it was a bigger group, you know, closer to 20 ish people, 15 to 20 people. But the memories that I know that they got to make because of the accommodations they chose and because of the time that we spent planning, you know, they will never forget those memories 

Rich Bennett 47:39
Right. 

Julie Shaffer 47:39
of of those trips. And I just think that's a very amazing way to spend time together. 

Rich Bennett 47:44
Wow. Yeah, I do. See the me 

those on the podcast? Cause people hear these feel good stories. 

Julie Shaffer 47:55
They love it. 

Rich Bennett 47:56
They do. They really really do. I mean, I can't tell you how many times and not necessarily just a few good stories, but you're giving the advice to. You know, and when people contact you because they heard it on your podcast. Wow. 

Julie Shaffer 48:12
Mm hmm. 

Rich Bennett 48:13
It just feels. It feels so, so good. 

Julie Shaffer 48:17
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 48:18
All I So before I get to my last question, is there anything you would like to add? 

Julie Shaffer 48:25
I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't think so. We talked about so much and it's just so much fun for me to talk about travel because there's just so much that people don't know and I just want to share it with them and and tell them that, you know, whatever they think that they can't do, that they can do and we can make it we can make it work. It's not scary. 

Rich Bennett 48:43
All right, so you ready for this? 

Julie Shaffer 48:45
I hope so. 

Rich Bennett 48:48
When the kids are old enough to where they can travel on their own. 

Where's the one place that you would love to go that you haven't been to yet? 

Julie Shaffer 48:57
Oh, 

that's so hard. 

Rich Bennett 49:01
Even if it's even if it's another planet, I don't care. But by then, you might be able to. 

Julie Shaffer 49:06
No, thank you. I'd like to stay on Earth. My husband would out to a. 

Rich Bennett 49:12
All right, we two. Two parts. Two parts. 

Julie Shaffer 49:15
Gosh. 

Rich Bennett 49:15
Okay. So that you would love to go to and then a romantic give away for a romantic getaway night giveaway getaway for you and your husband. 

Julie Shaffer 49:24
Does it have to be when the kids are gone? I can't bring them with me. 

Rich Bennett 49:28
No. 

Julie Shaffer 49:31
So for. Oh, gosh. Oh, this is so hard because there's so many places. So I know that I said that this was a family friendly destination then, but because the island hopping, I would just prefer not to do it with my family. I would really love to be able to go over to like the French Polynesia and do those. 

Rich Bennett 49:51
Oh. 

Julie Shaffer 49:52
Over there. That sounds so amazing to me. And it's just so hard for me to think of another one because I just want to bring the kids as hard as it is, I just want. 

Rich Bennett 50:03
All right, 

Julie Shaffer 50:03
But I. 

Rich Bennett 50:04
fine. If you 

Julie Shaffer 50:05
I think like a river cruise without them, because that's not typically geared towards kids. It's 

Rich Bennett 50:13
write. 

Julie Shaffer 50:13
typically geared towards adults. There's not kid friendly activities really on a river cruise. So I think something like a river cruise through, you know. 

Something 

Rich Bennett 50:25
The Mississippi 

Julie Shaffer 50:25
very cool. 

Rich Bennett 50:25
River. 

Julie Shaffer 50:25
The Nile. The Mekong. 

Rich Bennett 50:27
Oh. 

Julie Shaffer 50:28
That. 

Rich Bennett 50:30
Ooh, that would be fun. 

Julie Shaffer 50:31
It would be really fun. 

Rich Bennett 50:32
All right, so 

where where's the place that you want to take the kids to that you haven't been able to yet? 

Julie Shaffer 50:40
The Galapagos. 

Rich Bennett 50:42
There had to. 

Julie Shaffer 50:43
The Galapagos, 

The Galactic. 

Rich Bennett 50:47
Yeah, you may. 

Julie Shaffer 50:48
All those cool. 

Rich Bennett 50:48
Oh, yeah, that's. 

Julie Shaffer 50:49
All. 

Rich Bennett 50:50
Oh, that's right. The turtles. 

Julie Shaffer 50:51
I would love to take them there. 

Rich Bennett 50:52
You 

Julie Shaffer 50:52
I. 

Rich Bennett 50:52
shouldn't that you said Turtle Island. 

Julie Shaffer 50:55
That's basically what it is. I don't know that we'll get there, but I would love to do that with them. I think that would be such an amazing experience. 

Rich Bennett 51:02
And where is it? 

Julie Shaffer 51:04
It's so it's south of Mexico. And then. 

Rich Bennett 51:07
Oh. 

Julie Shaffer 51:08
East. North, South. No, sorry. It's south of Mexico. And to the west of, like Brazil and Ecuador. It's right on the equator. 

Rich Bennett 51:19
Interesting. 

Julie Shaffer 51:19
So it's not super far. It's just remote. 

Rich Bennett 51:26
I could do that. 

Julie Shaffer 51:28
You could do that. 

Rich Bennett 51:29
Julie, I want to thank you so much. Tell everybody again where to go to book their. 

Julie Shaffer 51:34
So you. 

Rich Bennett 51:35
The nation with you. 

Julie Shaffer 51:35
Yep. So you can go to my website. That's going to be the easiest. And my website is magical travel mom dot com. 

Rich Bennett 51:43
Magical travel. Mom. Dot com. I love that part. 

Julie Shaffer 51:48
It is a fun part. 

Rich Bennett 51:50
The mom part. 

Julie Shaffer 51:51
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 51:52
Thanks, Julie. 

Julie Shaffer 51:53
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 51:54
Thank you for listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. I hope you enjoy today's episode and learn something from it as I did. If you'd like to hear more conversations like this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, I'd love if you could leave a review. It helps us reach more listeners and share more incredible stories. Don't forget to connect with us on social media or visit our website at conversations with Rich Bennett Dotcom. For updates, giveaways and more. Until next time, take care, Be kind and keep the conversations going.