Vacation Shopping with Kim Della Porta

A vacation is supposed to feel like relief, not like a second job with 37 browser tabs and a dozen deadlines. We sit down with repeat guest Kim Della Porta, who made a bold career pivot from mom health coach to travel planner, and she tells the honest story of what pushed her to change lanes, what she was afraid it would “mean,” and why this new path finally took off.

We get practical about what a travel agent actually does, especially for overwhelmed moms who are already managing everyone’s needs. Kim walks us through her process, from the client who says “take me somewhere warm” to the client who has a specific ship, cabin, and travel month picked out. We talk vacation planning priorities like budget, kid-friendly amenities, excursions, and whether you want to stay on-resort or explore. Then we nerd out on Disney vacation planning details like midnight bookings, 6 a.m. dining windows, and Lightning Lane style timing that can make or break your trip if you don’t know what’s coming.

The biggest takeaway is that “vacation shopping” can be part of the memory. When someone you trust curates the best options, answers questions fast, and keeps you on track, the whole experience gets lighter, and you actually arrive excited instead of depleted. We also break down how commissions work so many trips cost you the same as booking direct, plus when some planners charge a planning fee for complex custom itineraries.

If you’re dreaming about a cruise, an all-inclusive resort, Disney, Universal, or even a simple weekend away, hit play and start planning smarter. Subscribe, share this with your favorite trip planner, and leave a review telling us where you want to go next.

Music Track: Building Dreams by Aylex Source: https://freetouse.com/music Copyright Free Background Music

Transcript

Welcome And Catch-Up Series

Barb 0:15

Episode 136.

Lyssa 0:19

We're here. We're here. We did it. We did it. This is a fun one. I'm so excited that we have another repeat guest. This is a fun little series that maybe or something that we might start because I'm loving it.

Barb 0:34

It's something that we didn't know we wanted to do until we started doing it. And now we love having our friends on.

Lyssa 0:41

Yeah.

Barb 0:42

A year plus after they were on the first time to like catch up.

Lyssa 0:46

Yeah, and kind of just talk about the journey and and where things are kind of taking them. So our next guest is Kim De La Porta. And I'm really excited to have our girly back on and talk about the career pivot that she's experienced and how she just is flourishing now in this in this new path. Yeah. So let's go listen. All right, let's do it.

Speaker 1:12

All

Kim’s Pivot To Travel Planning

Kim 1:13

right.

Lyssa 1:13

We're here. We're back again. I love it. I know. I'm loving this repeat of having guests on because I feel like it's really diving into that storytelling. Like you get to truly share your journey. So I think you should introduce yourself.

Kim 1:30

I'm Kim Deloporta. I am a travel planner, travel agent, vacation planner, whatever you want. Many different names of what people have called me. And previously I was a mom health coach. Yeah. And I pivoted from that about a year and a half ago now. And I've been doing travel planning since then.

Lyssa 1:54

That's awesome. That is actually the first thing that I wanted to talk about. Um was the last time that you were on the podcast, you were. You were a mama health coach, and you were definitely someone that we needed in that moment. Things were pivoting in our motherhood journey and just having you as a friend and the things that you were posting and doing, like we were definitely being seen and supported, and I think that's how we really connected. Um but yeah, since then you have kind of like moved past that and you've pivoted into something else. And I was hoping that you would talk about that, talk about what that pivot is a little bit.

Kim 2:31

Yeah. So I have done health coaching for several years, and I kind of was doing general health coaching, and then I sort of focused on moms after that. And it had a lot of iterations, right? I did like in-person classes, I created an online course, and it just felt like I wasn't getting like a ton of traction. And everybody loves vacations. I love vacations, specifically Disney. It's kind of like how it started. And we've been going to Disney as a family for, you know, since the boys were little. And we have always worked with somebody to help us plan the vacations. And I had a friend who was a travel planner, and she kind of said, like, you'd be really good at this. We should like think about maybe like I don't mind doing it for you, but like you should consider doing it. And I was like, Well, I already plan our girls' trips, I already plan our family vacations. So why don't we just like take a chance and try it? Yeah. And so I signed up with an agency and just started. Yeah. And I started just working with people that I knew, um, doing events to meet new people. So my clientele has just like grown and grown over like the last year. Love it.

Lyssa 3:48

That's really awesome. I know it was as soon as you started doing it. I remember thinking, uh, like this is genius. Like this makes so much sense. And it sounds like you were just always been the planner in the group. So like this felt like a natural move for you.

Kim 4:02

So yeah, I think that the pivot, it didn't really, it felt like very aligned in the time. And people love going on vacation. They love talking about vacations as opposed to moms talking about like their level of stress and like admitting they have problems with stress. Like nobody really like was jumping to like come and talk to me about stuff like that. Um and a lot of my clientele was exactly the same because a lot of moms are the planners in their family, they're the ones who are the decision makers when it comes to vacations and stuff like that. At least they get the ball rolling in that. So a majority of the people who I work with are moms. Yeah.

When The Old Business Stops Working

Barb 4:42

Do you see that you can kind of bring in the mom coaching and that health into taking care of moms and families in the planning aspect?

Kim 4:55

Yeah, I think absolutely like the stress part of it, because like planning a vacation can be very stressful. Yeah. And I helped both of you plan vacations. So we know we know like there's so many choices for things, and kind of narrowing it down, like take some of like the leg workout because as moms, we don't have tons of time. Yeah. So why don't I just take one thing off your plate and it's free to work with me? So why wouldn't you want to like have less to do, have an awesome vacation and not have to pay for it?

Barb 5:27

I love that. Um, I kind of want to go back because I'm interested to hear more about the pivot and kind of what were you feeling to push you into? Like, was it an easy yes? Or was it was it kind of like, well, this isn't working and I'm feeling ugh, and you know, like what was that?

Kim 5:51

I feel like it was a little bit of both. I feel like I had been working so hard trying to get my coaching business like off the ground. And when I was doing general coaching, like health coaching, I had more clients than when I kind of narrowed it down to mom's. And towards the end, I was trying to work on my online course and that took a ton of time. And I was trying to do my like webinars, and I was putting so much time into that stuff, and I was not getting any return. Yeah. And so I felt like I was just working and working and not making any money and not making any progress. And so it was very frustrating to me. Yeah. And I also like, but I didn't want to feel like I was failing. I didn't want to feel like I, you know, worked in marketing and PR and then I transitioned to health coaching, and then I was gonna do something else after that. Yeah. Like I thought that like the health coaching, the mom coaching was gonna be like my thing that I did. And it just wasn't doing it, wasn't as successful as I wanted it to be. And so when this opportunity presented itself, I was like, well, let's just see. Like it can be anything you make of it, right? It can be just like doing a couple of vacations for your family, or it could be making a full-time business out of it. Yeah. And it was just like a very low barrier to entry. So like I was just like, I could try it.

Lyssa 7:14

Yeah.

Kim 7:15

And if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. But what I'm doing now is not working. So let's figure out something.

Lyssa 7:21

Yeah. I love that. And like you said, your clientele is the same. So it's almost like you had all the things. It was just maybe that you needed to shift that diamond a little bit. You were looking at it as helping this subset of people that you had, you know, in your community with this health coaching aspect, but really you just needed to shift and help this same group of people just somewhere else. And now it's flourished because you were able to kind of try something new and say, okay, it's not the people, right? Like you had, I feel like you had yourself where you wanted to be. It just wasn't quite working. And so you were able to kind of just make this one little tweak and help them from a different lens. And and like you said, the stress part is still there.

Taking Stress Off Moms’ Plates

Lyssa 8:09

Like you're still doing everything that you were trying to accomplish as a mom health coach. It's just that you kind of almost narrowed it down even more into, well, I help you plan this subset of your life, and therefore I'm helping you, you know, be healthier in a way. Like the decision fatigue that comes with having to look at all the flights, look at all the hotels, plan this, plan that. And then you just don't know, you know, I don't know what's going on over there. So, like, I don't know if this is gonna be a good place to go to. I don't know if this is gonna be fun or not, and not knowing what to do. And you can look at reviews online and stuff like that, but a lot of that is very emotionally swayed. You know, somebody looks at you the wrong way, all of a sudden there's 12 bad reviews because they just didn't like that their french fries had salt on them, you know? And I'm like, okay, cool. So it's like there's just to have that person, to have someone be like, no, I could tell you all about this place. I have all of this information that you can trust, and I can help with that decision fatigue. I can help you make these decisions, I can help you look all this stuff up. And then you're just like, yeah, take all my money. And then you're like, wait, no, I'm free. And then I'm like, oh yeah, bitch. That's what I'm talking about. Exactly. Exactly.

Barb 9:21

That is where it's at. I I'm so happy for you. I really am. It's it's hard feeling stuck, it's hard feeling frustrated, and it's hard having awareness of it, right? You said, and I didn't want to feel like a failure because that's the first thing that pops into my mind. If I have to stop this, if I quit this, if I, you know, it's it ends, then I failed because it ended. And so many women feel that, and then, you know, throw on the layer of you're not just catering to women, you're catering to moms, and the mom guilt that comes from pretty much existing as a mom is crazy, you know. And I'm I'm just so proud of you. You've you made a hard decision, a tricky one, and you've come out the other side and you're flourishing. You said that just last night you stayed up till 12. You woke up at 545 to like do the things, and it sounds crazy. I would never do it, but like that's why there are people like you.

Kim 10:28

Exactly. I mean, that's only just for Disney, right? So there are like different reservations that you need to make. So there's like the enchanting extras, which are like the bibbity bobbity boutique, or like doing like a lightsaber. So like that opens at midnight, 60 days prior to your trip. Then you have dining reservations, which open at 6 a.m., 60 days prior to your trip. And then lightning lane reservations, if you want to do that, you know, basically like the skip the line that opens seven days before your trip if you're staying on property at 7 a.m. So those are all things that you as a person or as a consumer would have to do if you don't work with a travel agent. And I don't charge any money to do that.

Lyssa 11:10

Yeah.

Kim 11:11

I just have to drink a lot of coffee on my third cup, just in. But like those are the things that they some people just don't think about. Yeah. You know, it's just like an extra layer of you just tell me what you want, yeah, and I'll do it for you. And then you get the email confirmations and then you're ready to go.

Barb 11:30

Yeah. Um, we're right, we're service providers. So like that ease, I'm you're taking something off of my plate. And it's not just something, it's something that's huge. Yeah. You're investing so much money into a vacation. You're investing your like your life memories. This is a vacations are supposed to be big memories and these big things. And like you said, it's there's so many choices.

Lyssa 11:57

Yeah. And how was I gonna know that? I thought that I would just book the park, book the tickets. You know what I mean? How is I supposed to know that this opens at this day and at this time? Like you didn't consume forever. That's insane.

Barb 12:08

Or you can go to a service provider that you trust, that you know is gonna just take care of you and let the memory, let the experience, let the money that you're investing into it go so much further than if you actually took it and took the control.

Kim 12:27

And I do have some clients who like to do that stuff and like to do their own reservations, and that is totally fine. And if that's your jam and you want to do that, like I'm totally fine with that. But like if you need that support or if you have questions or whatever it is, like I'm always available and I'll can set up calls with clients, or we can just do work over email or text message. You know, everybody has a different way that they like to work with me as a travel agent. So I'm fully hands-off. Yeah.

Disney Planning Deadlines Made Simple

Barb 12:58

Well, let's talk about that. Okay. Let's talk about like what is the process? Can someone come to you if they have no idea where they want to go? People do that all the time.

Kim 13:09

They do take me somewhere. So sometimes people come to me and they say, I want to go somewhere warm, like an island. That's it. And then I'm like, okay, so let's in that case, if they don't give me any more information, I like to set up a call with them to say, like, what are your priorities for this trip? Do you want to do excursions? Do you want to go off property? Do you want to stay on property? Are you like for the resort? Are you interested in like having a water park for the kids? Are you interested in like the food activities? Does there need to be a kids club? All these different things that you might not think about. It might be a priority, right? For you, but you just don't. You just say, like, I just want to go somewhere. You're like, I just want to go on a cruise. Yeah. I don't know anything about it. I don't know anything about the ship. You know, there are so many ships. So that's the other thing. Do you want a large cruise ship? Do you want a smaller one? Do you not care if it's going to the places that you want to go? So people come to me saying things like that, like, I just want to go somewhere warm. And some people say, I want to go on a Disney cruise this month. Yeah. This is the kind of cabin I want. This is, you know, exactly. I can do both. Yeah. I can help you with just the booking. I can make suggestions for things, or I can completely do research for you and set up a call and come up with a proposal that has several different resorts or even different island options, depending on what you're looking for.

Vacation Shopping And Custom Touches

Barb 14:48

So that's the package that I did. And I just want to give, like, as the person that was going through it, how fucking fun. Yeah. How fucking fun for someone to email you a whole doc of like, here are my top three choices. And then you get to go like do real research, right? Like we Jeff and I looked them up and we, okay, well, this one has this, and she said it has this. And it was it, it was like part of the memory. It's vacation shopping. How fun is that? Vacation shopping.

Kim 15:21

Yes. We sat there, but it's not like looking at 25 years old. No, you're looking when you're setting things, right? It's like I pre-screen it for you and then send you the best of the best.

Barb 15:29

The best of the best. So I knew, like, okay, these are the best of the best. Like, let's really take our time now and decide which one we're gonna move forward with. And so, number one, already fun, vacation shopping can ice. And then to know that whenever I had a question, I just had to ask you. Yep. And poof, the answer would come. How fucking cool.

Lyssa 15:55

I think that truly was like the best part. And my experience being the one that is terrible at the deadlines and the knowing when things have to get done and doing all of that, like that was so helpful to have you be like, okay, did you do this today? Oh, today's your day to check in. Did you check in? Oh, you gotta do it. And I'm just like, yes, stay on top of me. I am loving this. Give me the line by line and this like guide me through it because I did. It was the same thing. I was the one that said, I want to go on a cruise. I know nothing. Um, and you did. You gave all the the deets on the boats, you gave us all of our different cabin options, the things that we can do on the islands that you know each one was going to. And I'm like, damn, this shit is thorough. Like, and it makes the experience that much better. I think when we talk about vacations and when people think about vacations, they think about just the vacation itself. And and I guess maybe that's from the planner, right? You have to think about your experience getting the family there. Like that part matters just as much as the actual vacation itself. Because if it was not fun for me all the way through this vacation, how am I supposed to be happy that I'm on a plane next to you when you just made the last, you know, six months of me planning this miserable? Like that's just not fun. And now I have to go be on this vacation and have so much fun knowing that I actually did not enjoy the entire process of getting to this point. So being able to have someone to heed that and have someone to make that part of the experience so fun. So it's almost like our vacation starts with vacation shopping. It doesn't, it's not just the vacation, it starts with actually getting to pick out all of the cute little islands. What island am I gonna go to? Then I get to pick that out, then you tell me all the fun things I can do there, then I get to pick that out. Then I just have to sit around and wait. Then I get little notifications, your vacation's coming up, and I'm like, oh my God, this is so fun. And then I get to go on the fun vacation and I get to experience it. And then at the end, I'm just left with this amazing core memory that I didn't have to really work that hard for because I had such an amazing planner in my court, someone that was taking care of me. And like all the little little treat treats that you be given. Like we had, you know, we went on the cruise and like you gave us lanyards. Something so minimal and so impactful. I needed that. I need that for a cruise. It's like the number one thing that guess what? If you didn't give those to me, I wouldn't have brought them. Yeah, I would not have had them. And so it's just those little things, like you enhanced the experience of my vacation literally from inception all the way through getting home. Even getting home, you were like, Welcome home. And I'm like, Her calendar is on point. I have like so many texts in my calendar.

Kim 18:51

And I'm like, you gotta tell her when she's gotta check in. You gotta print her bag tags, you gotta send them to her, you gotta give her the pen quinlets, you gotta give her all the things, and you gotta like say, Oh, she got home yesterday. Don't send it today. That's like too eager, but like send it tomorrow, right? So now she's like home for day.

Lyssa 19:08

Loving it, loving it. And at the same time, I'm like, you don't have to do that. You don't have to do that. And then I'm like, God, thank God she did that because I needed it and I loved it. And it it did, it just made it that much sweeter.

Kim 19:19

And it's fun because every vacation is different. And so like I can give different things to different people. You know, I did lanyards for you, did the beach bags for you, and I use and like I love that beach bag. Yeah, I use it on both my trips I just went on. Like, you know, it's just different things for different people for different types of vacations, and it's just like fun to kind of like create the little packages.

Barb 19:42

Yes, you make it very custom. And you know me, you know us, like we love that shit. It's not cookie cutter, it's not just here's the thing, keep it moving. You care. Yeah, you care.

Lyssa 19:55

Every vacation is different. It you truly are tailoring the vacations to the families that are taking them.

Barb 20:01

Yeah. So much so that, right? You sent us away to a resort in Mexico in February, and then I came home, and then you sent her away to a cruise to the Bahamas, and then we came home again. Yeah. And then you sent us away to Vegas. I know. Three weeks, three, four weeks time span, there were three different vacations that you had us go on, and all three were so different. But everything that you said was taken care of for all three of them. And we got to unlock the biggest core memory ever because I'm never gonna forget the time that I went on three vacations in four weeks. I'm never gonna forget that. Ever, ever.

Lyssa 20:48

I can't. It's not possible. And then, like, even just again, being on the vacation, like that was our like first experience in Vegas. And like, again, if I just didn't have the guidance, if I didn't, if I didn't have someone that I could just text and be like, hey, do I check into this room? Do I do this, like that? Like, I just think that that's a next level experience to be able to have something like that. And it made it that much cooler for us to just be in it and be in the moment and be able to make that memory and not have to worry about the logistical side of vacations. It's it's the same thing that we do for parties, you know, like at the end of the day, we want you to create a core memory. And sometimes, if you have to create the logistical side of the event, it's not fun, it's not that pretty, and it can taint your core memory, and we don't want that, which is why we provide the service that we provide because we want to take care of all that boring stuff in the background that no one wants to do and research and look up and all the inventory that you have to buy and invest in, right? Like you don't want to do all that. You just want to show up and you wanna make a memory. And that's what we get to do. And the fact that we were able to fully immerse ourselves and make a memory for ourselves because we have. An us in you. Yeah. You know, like that, that just was like, oh yeah, no, this is this is next level. We got to be a client. And I think that's what it is. When when you are a service provider, sometimes it's really hard to like let other people take care of you because you're used to being the one that provides the service. So to have us be able to let our hair down and like enjoy the service that you provide us, it it really did enhance the vacation experience. And now, like, I'll never vacation another way. Ever. And so where are we going next? I know. We should talk about it.

Barb 22:36

So what's hilarious is that Jeff wants to talk about it. Yeah. He actually said it last weekend. He was like, we should start talking about like where we're going to. And now it's like, tell me more. So I'm going to tell Kim.

Lyssa 22:48

Right, exactly. Yeah, no, definitely like we gotta bring her in. We need to talk about this because I think that was another piece, like just the amount of them. We literally did back to back to back vacations that it was just like so epic. Where I'm like, all right, Kim, let's talk about it.

Kim 23:04

Because now it's gotta be, you're like, that was fun right now. It has to be like, let's run that back. Let's run that. Let's do that again.

Barb 23:10

Yes.

Destinations People Want Now

Barb 23:11

So are there are there like popular places? Are there places that you besides Disney, right? Disney cruising that makes sense. Um like that you just find that people are attracted to or wanting to go to. Because maybe I want to go there. Maybe you do want to go there.

Kim 23:29

So I would say that, right? So like Disney Universal for like people who want to go to like parks, do that type of vacation. Like that's a very different type of vacation than like going on a cruise or going to like an island or something like that. Um, I do find now that people when they're asking for like different like Caribbean destinations are like very um conscious of like how safe the island is and if they want to go off the resort. So that's always like a question that I ask people is like if you what's your comfortability like going off the resort? Do you want to? Do you just want to go and like plant on a chair and just like chill? Because like that's a big rate. That's a vacation too. And just depends like what you want to do. Um, you know, I just went to Antigua in February and Barbados in April. So I've had like more vacations this year than I've had like in a long time. Amazing.

Lyssa 24:26

So that's like a that's like a perk, right? Like, do they send you like to places that?

Kim 24:30

They don't send me places, but I would say I can count it as research. Yes, and like I take a lot of content when I'm there. You know, I did a trip with the agency that was part universal, part cruise in November. So that was like our agency conference. We did that. Okay. Um, and so we did that, and then I went on a 40th birthday girls trip in February, and then actually won a trip what? To Barbados. So nice. You know, I love my giveaways. Okay. And, you know, it wasn't just like one of the Instagram ones. A lot of times when we're on different trainings for travel agents, they'll give something away for like one person. Yeah. A lot of times it's like thousands and thousands of people on these trainings. And so you're like, but I'm probably not gonna get away. I was on a smaller training and I won a three night stay at a resort. And I was like in shock. And I sat there for a minute and I was like, Did they just say my name? And then like waited to email the woman who before I told Mike. Because I was like, I don't want to like say this if it's like nelligent. And then we had to like figure out like where we were gonna go because it was adults only and we couldn't bring the boys, and it was like a whole thing. Yeah, but it was amazing. Yeah, love that.

Lyssa 25:52

So cool. I didn't know you won that one.

Kim 25:55

That is fun.

Lyssa 25:56

But I guess those are like those are some of the perks too, though, right? Like a conference, my conference is going to Universal and then going on a cruise. Yeah, sure. Show show. Life's hard. Conference. Yeah. What a pivot.

Barb 26:08

I feel like that's definitely worth the pivot. And I think that too, right? Your pivot sometimes may not be grateful or graceful, but this pivot was so graceful for you. It it just makes complete sense, kind of going back to the beginning that you you get to use all your same skills, you get to use all the things that made you so good at all of the other things in this job to make you amazing at this job. And that's that's beautiful because it's sometimes not that graceful. And you get to you get to hold gratitude for all of those. It wasn't a waste. Yeah, you didn't waste your time. You didn't fail, but you were just learning all of these skills and now found the thing to use all the skills at.

Lyssa 26:58

I love that. That's so great. She's like, that's cool. I like it. I like it. That's cute. So, what is the next vacation on your list?

Big Family Travel And Food Allergies

Kim 27:10

We're doing a Mediterranean cruise in August as a family.

Lyssa 27:14

Oh, oh, you're a big family.

Barb 27:16

Oh, okay. So how big? Well, how many? Ten people. Ten people. Okay. There's a lot of people. Have you ever traveled with that many people?

Kim 27:22

Uh only to like US destinations. So like Myrtle Beach or like Disney, we've done like big trips like that. So similar type thing. Um planning for this one. I planned usually for like all the other trips as well. But it was just like a little bit different now because we're having to fly overseas. Yeah. And um especially with my older son, he's got food allergies. And so that is like a big consideration for me. And so, like, I have to do some extra planning when it comes to like notifying the airlines of his food allergies and packing all of his food because like I'm not gonna be feeding him airplane food when we're eight on an eight-hour flight over the Atlantic Ocean, you know, stuff like that. So just like small little things that have been a little bit more planning. Yeah, yeah, deeper planning. Staying a couple nights in Rome before our cruise at a hotel, so trying to figure out like the best place to stay, and then we need to do our transportation to the port, and then we have the cruise and figuring out all the excursions that we're going to do, and then staying. Um, it's a one-way cruise from Rome to Athens. So we end in Athens, stay overnight, and then go come back home.

Barb 28:37

Oh so in all of the research and planning that you've done this last year and a half, has your view of the world changed?

Kim 28:48

I mean, I've always wanted to travel and always love traveling. Like when I was in college, I did an intertrip in Australia over the summer. And like when I was a little bit younger, I did a trip to Europe. We did like London, Paris, and Amsterdam. So like we've always done it. I'm not like a stranger to travel, but like it was kind of more localized travel, like once we had kids, right? So it was like Disney or South Carolina or like local stuff because it was just easier with them. So this will be like the first time we're traveling. You know, we did bring the boys to Aruba um a couple years ago for like an all-inclusive vacation over spring break. Yeah. Um, but other than that, they haven't really been anywhere outside the US.

Lyssa 29:36

That's fun though. That's fun for them. I bet that this vacation is gonna like blow their minds.

Kim 29:42

They're super excited about the cruise ship and they'll like see like large ships, yeah, and they'll be like, is that what the cruise ship looks like? I'm like, honey. Bigger. It's like, yeah, bigger than that. Like it's a smaller of the Royal Caribbean ships, but still, like it will be bigger than they have ever seen anything, you know? They've never seen like what a cruise ship looks like.

Barb 30:02

I've shown them videos, but it's but no, like to stand in front of it is so different than to stand up.

Kim 30:08

I mean, I'm sure that like Alpha was the same way, right?

Lyssa 30:10

Yeah, I was just gonna say that's how all of them actually had never been on a cruise or seen that, right? They've all kind of just been up in uh New York and stuff. So we have cruised before, so I I had experienced it. Um, but yeah, they hadn't. So like that was their first experience to like be on something that large and see all the other ones. And it was really cool when we would see all the other boats in the water, like especially at night, because then you just saw like the lights kind of like popping up around. Um, but yeah, they they definitely were in awe of like how big the boat was and um just like all the things that were inside, yeah, of the boat. You just you would never expect.

Kim 30:47

I know you're like, Do you know that there's an ice skinny ring? No, they were like, is that like a thing? I'm like, yeah, like a movie theater. For this one, they're like, right. Yeah, yeah. And like we're not even going on like one of the bigger ones that has like all the stuff on it. So I was like, let's go on a small one first. That way we don't like bring them on one of the huge newer ones, and then they get on the smaller one, and then they're like, Where's all the stuff? So Disney.

Barb 31:14

So that was actually our first cruise ever was a Disney cruise. And then I've gone on other cruises after I'm like, mm-mm. Mm-hmm. Where's the Disney service? Where are the Disney things? So that makes sense. You know, start from the bottom and then work your way up.

Lyssa 31:29

This this past one, um we did Royal Caribbean, and I I loved it. I really did. Um, but like she said, there's nothing like Disney. Um on this.

Kim 31:39

It's just a different type of magic.

Lyssa 31:42

And that's the magic we like you know. Look at me. I know. Disney shoes. Um, but yeah, so it was. It was kind of funny. We ended up docking one of the days we docked next to a Disney cruise, and I was just like, don't worry. The next one we're gonna be on that side. Don't you worry.

Kim 31:58

I haven't been on a Disney cruise yet. No. And so I've been on Princess, I've been on Norwegian, I've been on Royal, liked them all. Yeah, and I definitely want to bring the boys on a Disney cruise before they're a little bit too old. Yeah. You know, I think that they would love it no matter what. But I think that, you know, in the next couple years, we'll definitely focus on the stuff. Well, there's still magic, yes.

Barb 32:19

Yes, and that's where we took her when she was like four.

Kim 32:23

Yeah. Yeah.

Barb 32:24

And so I was all the magic was there, and she loved it. And I loved it because I'm a Disney. And you know, Disney just they got something good. They do.

Kim 32:35

They know what they're doing, they know what they're doing. They know what they're doing, they know what they're good at, they know what they're doing.

Lyssa 32:40

Yeah, it was just the one little, it was the one little moment where I we were walking back from we were on one of the islands and we were coming back in. It was when we docked next to the Disney boat, and outside of the boat, Disney had a whole like refreshment station set up and all different types of what we call spa water when they like infuse a lot of that spa water. So I was just like, do you see that? Do you see there's four different canisters of spa water sitting outside the boat to where's my space? Welcome you back into the boat. That's Disney. That's Disney Magic. That's the Disney. The little things, it's the little, little touches. I was like, oh, next one day we'll have spa water. Just wait, I'm gonna upgrade you. But it

Vacations As Self-Care On Any Budget

Lyssa 33:24

is, it's it's so fun to to give these experiences to the kids, you know, as well. I think that the next vacation for us is gonna be like a universal. I think I wanna do all those things. Oliver keeps talking about the lightsaber thing that you were talking about, like making one or whatever. So yeah, make sure you're up at midnight when it's my turn because you will have to book that for us. But yeah, no, I think that I don't know, everybody thinks of vacations as just like these luxury items, which in a way, right, they definitely are, they are not a necessity of life. Um, but they also are, you know. Um, so to be able to to have these vacations and have someone that is kind of taking care of all of those little pieces for you, keeping everything within your budget, and you know, making sure that like your core memory is just gonna be A1. I just think that that's a service that everyone needs. Everyone should hop on that bandwagon.

Kim 34:29

Yeah, and I mean I work with people with all types of varying budgets, you know, from people who want to just go somewhere like locally for like a thousand dollars or somebody who wants to spend ten thousand dollars, you know, it's just you tell me what your budget is and we'll talk about it. Like we're gonna be honest about like what you might be able to do with the money, but like I'm never gonna say, like, no, your budget's too small to like work me, you know? Yeah. If somebody wants to just like, I've worked with people where I just help them book just a hotel room because they're going to Syracuse to go to Destiny USA to do Wonderworks and Laser Tag and stuff like that. And they're like, Can you just help me book the hotel? Sure.

Lyssa 35:07

Yeah.

Kim 35:07

Or do you want to do like a whole thing where I help you with the coordinate the flights and then the resort and the excursions and like all of that stuff? Like, also, yes.

Barb 35:17

Yeah. The a vacation can mean anything. Yes. Right. It doesn't mean a boat, it doesn't mean a resort. It it means not being in your house, doing the thing in in your everyday, in the fuddle. It's it's taking and removing that and just going somewhere fun and doing something that is going to unlock the core memory. And that's important. So, like, thank you. Because we we do it now, but we've not always done it. And we are learning how important it actually is to stop, to take the moment, to enjoy the family, to enjoy just your best friends, right? You I think you kind of inspired us. You definitely inspired us. When we first met you, right, you've been doing your girls' trips and all these things. And I'm like, wait a second, why are we not doing that? Why do I only fly with this guy? Right.

Kim 36:08

Like, like I like this guy, but like, but it's different when you do it that way, right? It's like a different kind of trip. You know, for our girls' trips that we've done that I do with my aunt and my friend Lauren who lives in North Carolina, like, we've gone to Nashville twice. We've been to Austin, we went to Salem, did the whole spooky thing. I know that's been a bucket list. You know, so we're looking at maybe doing a cruise next year, like a short one, maybe like three or four nights, um, just to do something different. But like it can be literally anything. And it's just definitely a different experience to travel with your girlfriends than with your family. Yeah. Like I do very different things on trips with them than I would if I had the kids with me, obviously.

Barb 36:53

So and you fill all of the pieces of who Kim is through vacationing. And that is something that we didn't know before. That's something that we found out this year that I I have all of these facets to me, and they all deserve a piece of a vacation. They my I need to go away with my best friend because that's important to me. I need to go away with just my husband because that's important to me. I need to go away with just my family and the kids and like all these things. You have taught us how to feed those buckets in a like stop and do something kind of way. Not just the everyday here thing.

Lyssa 37:34

It it really is like a form of self-care in a way to be able to give yourself these little pieces and moments and time away from your routine and give yourself a little spontaneity with, like you said, all the different relationships with my best friend, with my husband, with my kids, you know, just the girls and and the whole big fam, right? Then you get the whole, you know, the whole village in there. And like those are all important memories. And this is a form of self-care, which is, you know, not free because you pay for the vacation, but it is, you know what I mean? It is a free service to be able to be like, can you help me plan this moment in time, you know, with my loved ones? And it doesn't even cost me anything. You know, like I feel like that again is just a no, it's a no-brainer because now I get to go have this vacation in this moment in time, and I was able to do it stress-free and in a way that also benefits you, right? Like you

How A Free Travel Agent Gets Paid

Lyssa 38:33

we keep talking about how it's free, but like you get things from this, right? If you don't use the service, then you don't earn your commissions, then you don't get to get free trips to Barbados, you know? Like we have to keep you in these seminars. So essentially, right?

Kim 38:45

So essentially, exactly people are always like, Well, I don't understand how it's free. So what let's use the example of Disney. If you book a Disney vacation through the Disney website, you're gonna pay the same amount of money as if you book it using a Disney travel planner.

Lyssa 39:00

Yeah.

Kim 39:01

And if you book it directly through Disney, Disney keeps the money. And if you book it through me, then I get a percentage of the booking. You're still paying the same amount of money. You're just supporting me.

Lyssa 39:12

Yeah.

Kim 39:13

I feel like that is a win-win. Pretty much the same way with any vendor.

Barb 39:18

Yeah. So you got the hookup. Yeah. Kim got the hookup on the vacation. That's what it is.

Kim 39:25

When you work with me, not only is it free, but I give you little treats and I like help you along the way. Like, do all those things. Like it's easier. Yeah. And you're getting something for it too.

Barb 39:36

So, question Are there planners that charge? Like, where is the notion where that you cost something come from?

Kim 39:44

I think that people just don't know how like a service would be free. Yeah. I think that's just like kind of what I'm saying. People get hung up on this. That makes sense. You know, if you um work with a travel planner sometimes, if they've been doing it for a long time, they might charge like a planning fee. So, like if you're going to be working with someone and they might not be able to make commission on something, then they might charge you a planning fee to plan it for you. So, like if you were gonna be doing a road trip and you needed help figuring out where you were gonna stop with your RV at national parks or like whatever. Okay, I might not make commission on like an RV site at a national park. But if I was going to spend all my time helping. Curating that make this itinerary, then I might say, like, it's gonna be a $200 planning fee, but you're still saving like all that time. Yeah, yeah. So that makes sense. I haven't charged a planning fee or anything like that. In the future, it could be something, it's not gonna be for everybody, but it might be something that I do after I've been doing it for several years. Yeah. If I am doing more intense itineraries where it's like overseas for you're curating a big and like doing all the stuff that you might not like make commission on it type of thing.

Barb 41:00

Yeah. I like that. But you're free, I know, and you're awesome. Yes, and you care. I think at the end of the day, you care and it shows. And thank you. Thank you for caring about our vacations. Thank you for making it so easy. Thank you for making it so fun. And I can't wait for our next one.

Lyssa 41:18

I can't wait for the next one either. Um, so we got so excited to talk about all these vacations and finally have this conversation with you that we forgot to do what's in your cup. It's just been sitting there this whole time. We just really missed you. We really did. It's been too long. It's been too long.

Find Kim And Follow The Show

Barb 41:37

So, what's in your cup? What's in your iced coffee, I guess. You said this was the third one of coffee the morning.

unknown 41:43

Okay.

Barb 41:44

Oh, we have margaritas. For our 9 30 podcasting, yum. You gotta do you, you know.

Lyssa 41:52

I feel like this is a good place to love and leave our friends. Um, so would you like to tell our friends where they can find you?

Kim 41:59

Yes. So most of the time I hang out over on Instagram. My handle is travel with KimDP. So you can fill out my free quote forms there. You can send me a DM and start the conversation if you're interested in planning a vacation or if you just want to follow along on all of my trips and all the fun content that I have. It's so fun. It is fun. I'm trying to do my best to keep you entertained as well. So there's a little bit of mom life, there's a little bit of everything over there on my account. So I'd love to chat with you.

Lyssa 42:28

I love it. All right, this is the part where you do all the things you're gonna like and follow and subscribe. You can follow us on Instagram and YouTube at Marks and Mindset Podcast. And if you're local for the ROC and you want to party with us at Homemade Events ROC. Until next time. Bye. Yay! Now I really want to go on vacation, though. No, yeah, like here.