With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, we put together a few love letters to the travel & tourism industry…
For me, travel has always been about experiences and memories. I get excited when I start packing my bags – so much so that I’m the kind of guy who starts packing way earlier than I need to just so I can flip my mind into travel mode. Travel is an opportunity to explore with curiosity and wonder with the people, places, and cultures of the world around me. It is an opportunity to learn and grow. The beautiful thing about traveling is that there is no right way to do it. Sometimes I carefully build an itinerary so that no point of interest is missed. Other times, I just wander and explore with little to no agenda. Oh the fun places people will send you if you just take time to talk to the locals.
The more time I spend working in the travel industry, the more I notice travel from the other side. The hospitality side. I’ve seen the effort people put into showing the best of their home towns. I’ve seen the care that goes into welcoming visitors and making them feel like they belong. I’ve seen the excitement of directing people to the best little hidden attraction or restaurant. I’ve seen the pride of showing off their own little slice of heaven. Yes, for many this is a job, but this is also love. The love language of the hospitality industry is powerful. As much as I love to travel, I see how much people love to have visitors. A circle of love. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a bag to pack.
With Love and Excitement,
Kyle
From the earliest memories that I can remember, my life has been woven with experiences of travel. It all began with my parents hitching up their 1970’s Silver Streak Camper, taking me on trips that would shape the very core of who I am today. Those moments, those magical adventures, have become the very foundation of who I am today.
As we explored Florida from St. Augustine to the Florida Keys and every hidden gem in between, I discovered a connection with you, dear Florida. You’ve been more than a destination; you’ve been my confidant, my companion through the ebb and flow of life. Together, we’ve weathered trials, reveled in triumphs, tasted the sweetness of love, and shared countless stories.
To me, Florida is not just a place of work, it is a place where I have become myself by enriching my life through exploring this diverse state. It has become home far more than I could’ve have imagined. We’ve grown up side by side, creating a deep bond.
So, with an overflowing heart I extend my love to you, Florida and all the incredible unique places that people can find within your veins. You’ve been more than a backdrop to my life; you’ve been the co-author of the story of me.
Thank you for being one of the best places to grow up and experience the richness of life, love, and happiness!
–Adrianne
To: Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana
Your beauty activates all five senses.
I can see it in the rolling hills of North Louisiana and the Arkansas Delta’s fertile land, all the way to the resilient Mississippi Gulf Coast sand. I can see it in the way the crops grow and the rivers run, and I can see it in the Ozarks that stretch high as the sun.
I can feel it in the two finger waves as I’m driving down the road, and in the way neighbors come together to provide when you feel like your life will implode. Not even the most divisive college football rivalries can get in the way of your hospitality.
I hear it in the “yes ma’am’s” and “no sir’s,” our greatest signs of respect, and in the way we say “might could” or “fixin’ to.” There’s nothing more charming than that southern dialect. I hear it in the occasional Cajun French still perfectly woven through Louisiana, like colorful threads of a vibrant fabric and in the sounds of lively Jazz bands, heartfelt Blues artists, and Southern rock and roll.
There’s beauty in the way gravy spills over rice and in the laughter that erupts when somebody says the crawfish have “too much spice.” Your crispy catfish, golden fried okra, and rich gumbo are beautiful staples that adorn many dinner tables across the region, and there’s beauty in the bounty provided during deer, duck, and turkey season.
Finally, when I’m full as a tick and happy as can be, I can slow down to find beauty in your fragrant magnolia trees. The smell of the salty gulf coast air, beignets wafting through the French Quarter, and the sweet wine that flows through Northwest Arkansas like a river encapsulate the fond memories that are long gone and the ones yet to come.
Cheers to your unwavering, boundless beauty. Never change.
Love,
Anna Kaitlyn
I wanted to take a moment to express my deep appreciation for the joy and significance that travel holds in my life.
For me, travel is not just a journey from one place to another; it is a part of the fiber of who I am and my life experience. As a child raised in a family business within the travel industry, “tourism” became just a part of “what was” and my own personal history, but as is often true in life, I didn’t fully appreciate travel as a passion or recreational activity at the time. It meant something different. Sure, I enjoyed vacations and seeing new places, but it was only until I began to explore and travel more and more as an adult, that I realized how enriching, fun, challenging and broadening travel could be.
The allure of exploring destinations and places for me now, both familiar and new, is something that resonates deep within me as an enjoyable past time and I see it from a completely different lens being on “the other side” of the travel experience.
I chose to pursue a career in the travel and tourism industry (you do what you know!) and have been fortunate enough to experience many facets of this remarkable industry while also have been fortunate enough to see and enjoy many parts of our beautiful world. Travel is truly both work AND pleasure for me now and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Becca
Travel will always hold a special place in my heart. My best memories in life were made on trips with family, friends and loved ones. Heck, my best trip is the one to Montana where I arrived engaged and departed married (completely, and exhaustively, planned). Love and travel are forever intertwined in my life.
I once heard the advice that “Nobody ever looks back and says ‘I wish I hadn’t taken that trip’” and how true is that? Of all the gifts we give and exchange throughout our lives, travel is the one that truly gives something back to you each and every time. I love that on any vacation, you return home with a newfound sense of peace. Or you find perspective from experiencing a new culture. Or you may even have a new favorite food!
I grew up on the Alabama Gulf Coast and even trips to familiar destinations from Florida to Louisiana still surprise me with new flavors, sights and sounds each time.
Whatever it may be, travel enriches me beyond measure. I’m thankful for the trips I’ve taken and excited about those that are to come.
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