New clients are always a little surprised by how many questions I ask before I ever start planning! Most people expect to tell me where they want to go, when, and roughly what they want to spend, and then let me take it from there. Instead, they find themselves telling me about their past vacations, how they like to spend a day, their favorite meal on their last trip, and even how they feel about long travel days and small planes. There’s a reason for every single one of those questions! As a Virtuoso travel advisor, I’m learning how you like to travel, and the more I understand about what makes a trip memorable for you, the better I can match you with the right hotels, experiences, and destinations.
I’m translating what you say into what you need
Before I joined my mom at Susan’s Travel Services, I was a retail manager, and honestly, it taught me one of the most important skills I use every day: translating what someone says into what they actually need, so everyone’s on the same page. A couple might tell me they want “somewhere relaxing,” but relaxing means something completely different to everyone! For one couple, it’s a pool and a book. For another, it’s a quiet morning, then a snorkel trip, then a nap. So on our call, I’m listening for the details underneath. Do you prefer boutique hotels or bigger luxury resorts? Do you want to explore every day, or leave plenty of room to just enjoy where you are? Do you love moving from place to place, or would you rather unpack once and settle in? Neither answer is wrong, but they lead to very different trips! That’s also why I love when both partners join the call, because I get to hear what each of you is excited about, and there’s no such thing as an email consultation.
Your last vacation tells me a lot
One of my favorite questions to ask is “What was your favorite part of your last vacation?” The answer is almost never what people expect! Sometimes it has nothing to do with the destination. It might be coffee on a private balcony every morning, a dinner at a little family-owned restaurant, wandering a local market, or just having someone else handle every detail so they could actually relax. Those little things tell me so much more than a list of destinations ever could, and they help me plan a next trip that’s even better than the last one!
Every traveler is different
One of the biggest misconceptions about planning a vacation is that there’s one “best” hotel or one “perfect” itinerary. Two couples can both want Italy, and one might dream of sipping wine in Tuscany, slow afternoons, and charming boutique hotels, while the other wants Rome, Florence, Venice, and the Amalfi Coast in one trip, with every day full of museums and tours. They’re both great trips, designed for different people! When a couple is torn between options, I actually start with what each of you does not want, find the overlap, and build toward what you do want from there. Then I ask what you like and don’t like about the options I’ve already shown you. It sounds simple, but it’s how I land on the trip that fits both of you.
Why the little questions matter so much
Some of my questions might seem small, but they make a huge difference once you’re there! Do you love slow mornings, or are you out the door at sunrise? Do you want to try local restaurants, or do you love having everything right at your resort? Are you OK with long travel days if it means seeing more? In places like Fiji, I’ll also ask whether you’d love a speedboat ride or would rather take a helicopter, whether you’re nervous about small planes, and whether you get carsick (some resort transfers include a long, winding drive to the dock, and I’m not putting someone who gets carsick in that car!). And when someone tells me they want to do everything, I’ll gently ask how much downtime they want. I had a client at Royal Davui who filled every day with activities even after I suggested scaling back, and when he got home, the first thing he said was “You were right. We did too much!” Sometimes these conversations even lead me to recommend a destination you hadn’t considered, because it’s a better fit for the trip you’re hoping for.
Every trip starts with a conversation
Anyone can reserve a hotel room or book a flight online. What I do starts much earlier, with getting to know you, because the best trips are the ones that are personally curated just for you, where you feel like I heard you and knew you inside and out. That’s why I ask so many questions before planning anything! Those answers are how I choose the right hotel (and the right room, so you don’t even have to bother digging), build an itinerary that fits how you travel, and take care of the little details you wouldn’t even know to think about.
If you want a trip that’s designed around the way you like to travel, that’s where I come in! Book a complimentary consultation with me! We’ll get to know each other, I’ll walk you through how Susan’s Travel Services works (including what being a Virtuoso agency means for you), and we’ll talk about next steps.