Welcome to Philip James Travel and my inaugural weekly e-newsletter!
In years gone by, travel agencies used to be brick and mortar storefronts on Main Street, in shopping malls and on mezzanine levels of downtown office buildings. And though some still exist in these settings, they are now mostly out of sight. My agency, Philip James Travel is one of those that from an architectural standpoint is invisible, but from a conceptual and inspirational point of view, my “storefront” is right here, in front of your eyes, right now.
Henceforth, on a weekly basis when my newsletter arrives in your inbox, I invite you to virtually step inside Philip James Travel and look around. Open your eyes, minds and hearts to the wonders that come about when you travel. Learn about the different types of travel, fascinating destinations and cultures, new hotel openings and ship christenings, emerging travel trends and technologies, and ways to tread lightly and travel sustainably. Have a look at maps, special offers, brochures and photo albums and be inspired.
My mission as a travel advisor (aka trip designer, curator, consultant, friend) is to help you uncover your travel dreams and to professionally research, book and manage your trip’s many details from the moment you know where you want to go until the day you arrive back home.
Many travel advisors’ stories begin with how they got bitten by the travel bug as children traveling with their parents, and how they eventually just had to become travel professionals. My story, however, is not quite like theirs. Outside of short trips to the Gulf Coast, or to my grandparents’ beloved summer home in western North Carolina, or summers away at camp in Tennessee, my family were just not big travelers. Yet from an early age, I knew of our family’s most prolific traveling forebearer, who quite literally wrote the book on adventure travel. Sir Thomas Herbert was in the service of King Charles I of England and in the early 17th century at the young age of 21 journeyed to Persia and Africa. He wrote exhaustively of his travels in a book that he published in 1629. He lived rather remarkably to the age of 76, which is of course a long time to reminisce about his journeys and to look through all the selfies he snapped in Baghdad!
Though I don’t have quite the sense of adventure that my ancestor had, I nevertheless innately love traveling to new places, experiencing new cultures, and making connections with the folks I travel with or meet in the many destinations I visit. I’ve had the great fortune to have travelled quite well over the last 3 decades, having been in the employment of one of the great luxury travel brands, Belmond for 16 of those years.
My journeys have led me to 20 different countries ranging from nearby Mexico to distant Myanmar. I have seen what true experiential travel is about, and learned how to work with intrepid folks who want to see the world in all its many forms and faces, and through every mode of transport. Along the way I have amassed a wealth of connections with the most respectable travel suppliers in the industry thus fortifying you with confidence that your travel is well-managed.
I hope you’ll be inspired by my newsletters each week, and I invite you to contact me for a complimentary consultation call, so that I can learn about your travel style, and you about mine, and quite literally see where we’ll go from there.
Philip -