Stop Waiting For Someday And Book The Trip

We step away from pure budgeting and get honest about enjoying money through travel, with a focus on what “luxury” really means when time is your most limited resource. Angela Alesi of Heirloom Journeys shares how intentional planning turns a trip from a stressful expense into an investment in memories, health, and connection. 
• redefining luxury travel as intentional travel built around time, purpose, and how you want to feel 
• why “someday” delays dreams without requiring commitment 
• how health, energy, and mobility shape the best itinerary long before you book 
• common DIY travel planning mistakes, especially logistics and unrealistic pacing 
• what a discovery call looks like and the questions we should ask, including what you do not want 
• how destination relationships unlock unique experiences and help you pivot during disruptions 
• how far ahead to plan for big trips to get better options and less stress 
• why multi-generational travel has surged post-pandemic and how to plan for different ages 
Plan the life you want. Pick one dream trip you've been putting off, add it to your budget, and treat it like a priority. Remember, tomorrow's not promised. Start a dedicated travel savings fund, set a timeline, and break it into small monthly goals. Use the right resources to maximize your experience. Travel doesn't have to be expensive, but it certainly can be luxurious. That's a wrap on today's Blueprint Building Blocks. Stay on track with your financial journey, subscribe to the Money Matters Podcast, and visit neighborsfcu.org slash financial wellness for more tools to help you build a strong financial future.

Transcript

Welcome And Why Travel Matters

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need, and save the money you want. Now, here is your host, Miss Kim Chapman.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Welcome to another edition of Money Matters. You know, often I sit in this chair and talk about saving money. Budget, budget, budget. You know that's my favorite word. But guess what? There's more to life than budgets. I won't say it again. You won't get that quote again. But today we're going to talk about enjoying your money. We're going to talk about traveling, which is absolutely one of my favorite things. So, yes, sit back, relax. This is probably going to be a long episode because I can talk about travel for forever. But since I know you don't want to hear about my travels, I've invited an expert to come in and we're going to talk about luxury travel. So joining me today is Miss Angela Alesi with Heirloom Travels. Welcome.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Thank you, Kim. Nice to be here.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

So, of course, you know I'm excited from the moment you and I connected. It was like we were kindred spirits, and I felt like we could sit and talk for hours. So tell us a little bit about heirloom travels and how it even came about because

Two Fathers And One Regret

SPEAKER_02 1:10

I love the story.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Sure. So, you know, I was always the one planning our trips from young adulthood, you know, I was always planning me and the kids or whatever. Um, and then about 10 years ago, I met my current husband, and um it was something that was passionate for him, passionate for me. And um my dad had been sick with dementia, and he and I worked together for about 15 years. And um on one hospital stay, I was taking care of him, and he looked at me and he said, Look, he said, I had we I led a wonderful life. I don't really have any regrets. He said, The only thing I I regret is I should have retired sooner. Your mom asked me, asked me to retire. I kept putting it off, kept thinking I needed to work longer, save more money. And now I'm at a point where that someday is here and I I don't have the health to go the places we thought we wanted to go. So he said, Don't make the same mistake. So I promised him I wouldn't. And then a few months after that conversation, you know, I was telling my husband about the conversation. And his father passed away before we ever met. So he looked at me and he said, I had the same exact conversation with my dad in the hospital the night before he died. They were both entrepreneurs, both businessmen, spent all their lives working, providing for their families. And he said, you know, the night before my dad passed away, he said, I had all the money to do it. And I was supposed to take you to Sicily. My husband's Italian. And he said, we never got there. And I regret that. He's like, so don't make the same mistake. So, you know, worlds apart, we didn't even know each other at the time. But as we, you know, got to know each other and talked through life, it it was an interesting conversation to have that we had the same last comments with our fathers.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Yeah, what a unique story. And like I said, I'm always talking about budgeting. But yes, money is meant to be enjoyed. And I think travel is definitely one of the greatest ways that you can not just enjoy travel because it's an experience. So, but when I use that word luxury travel, I imagine some people said, ah, that sounds really expensive. So tell us a little bit about what luxury travel actually means.

Luxury Travel Means Intentional Time

SPEAKER_00 3:26

So, you know, the people think luxury and they think white glove and they think crystal chandeliers in the bathroom and five-star hotels. And look, the people that want that, that's great. I have no problem helping you with that. But I think luxury is kind of overused, and I prefer the word intentional. Intentional travel because the luxury is we talk about money, right? But money is the tool, the time you have is your asset. And I think people confuse that. People think money's the asset, and really it's your time because you you're not getting that back. Um, so I look at it more from intentional, and I say that because the the money well spent and the investment is whenever you plan something and you really are intentional about what do you want out of that? Where do you want to go? Who are the people you want to travel with? What are you looking to come back feeling? The money you spend on that is much better investment than money that, oh, last minute, let's just throw something together, or we didn't properly plan because we didn't have the time. To me, that's an expense. When you do it right, that's the investment. And so the luxury is giving you what little time you have to spend with your loved ones, your family, your friends, or even by yourself, because I have plenty of clients that are solo travelers. Nothing wrong with doing that on your own. Live travel quiet that's true. That's right. Um, it's really the investment in yourself. You know, it it's not it's not the five-star chandelier, it's the investment of time.

Why People Keep Saying Someday

SPEAKER_02 5:02

So why do you think people delay travel? Because of course you didn't and I don't. So why do you think everybody else delays travel?

SPEAKER_00 5:09

Someday is um a comfort word. It keeps the dream alive without having to commit to it. So a lot of people say, I'm gonna do that someday. And then we're all busy, right? We all have families or we have our careers or we have, you know, all these things that that we juggle day to day. And so it's oh, when time slows down, when the kids are grown, when I retire, you know, when I get to the next level in my career, those are all those little spots where we think, okay, I'm gonna have the time and stop, figure this out, and do the traveling that I want to do. And that never happens.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

There's always something. There's always something. And like you said, you don't have the time. And then even then, your health. One of the things I thought about when you were sharing your story about 35 years ago, my husband and I went on a, it was our first anniversary, went to High Springs, Arkansas, and we went to some amusement park. And the first thing I noticed that there were benches like every five feet, there were benches. I couldn't figure out why. Well, after we walked uphill several times, and then we realized, oh, because yeah, you're gonna wear your legs out. Now, mind you, I was young in my 20s at that time, and I thought to myself, yeah, would I be able to do this in my 50s and in my 60s and in my 70s? Which I still know people that want to go to amusement parks at that age, but that really got me thinking in terms of let me see the things that I want to see now and do them now while I can, because hey, even when I retire, maybe these legs won't work as well as they do in my 20s and 30s.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

That is true. So true. And a lot of times, you know, especially for a larger big trip, you know, when people say, Oh, I want to spend two weeks in Italy, I want to go on safari in Africa. If that's something that you start looking at in your 20s or 30s, and it's like, okay, I want to do this, and it takes you 10 or 15 years to finally do it, your body's in a whole different place at that point, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:02

So even your interest.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Yes,

Mobility And Accessible Travel Planning

SPEAKER_00 7:04

correct. And and accessible travel, mobility travel, that's a huge thing for us. Um, my husband's a um Marine Corvette, and he has disabilities. He's hearing impaired, he wears hearing aids. Um, he walks with a cane. He has an AFO, which he has drop foot on both uh legs. So he wears a brace on both legs. And 2023, for his 50th birthday, we took a road trip out west. And that was the last trip we took without a cane, without leg braces, and all of those things. Of course, we didn't know it at the time. We had no way of knowing that was the last healthy trip we were gonna take. And so for us, the accessible mobility part is a huge um thing for us, for any of our clients that we talk to is those are the questions that I ask, you know. And it doesn't mean you have to be in a wheelchair, it doesn't mean you have to walk with a cane. But even if you don't have any of those mobility um crutches, we all function differently. Our energy levels are different. You know, how we feel in the morning versus you have morning people, you have to afternoon people. And those are all things you have to take into account, especially if you're planning a trip with multiple multiple people. So if you have a multi-gen family, well, the five-year-old and the 70-year-old grandparent don't have the same energy level. Definitely not. And so it's it's finding those sweet spots where everybody has time to do something they want to do on the trip and at their energy level, but at the same time being able to bring everybody together to have experiences together as well. And it's possible, it just takes time and planning.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

And so, of course, a lot of people, especially if they're budget conscious, they want

DIY Planning Mistakes And Logistics

SPEAKER_02 8:50

to try and plan it on their own. So, what are some mistakes people make when trying to plan that luxury trip on their own that you would be able to help them with?

SPEAKER_00 8:58

So I think for me, the biggest thing is logistics. And and that's from personal learning. Um, I was a DIYer for years. Like, I why do I need somebody to help me with this? Well, first of all, it's it's the time investment, right? So I would spend hours and weeks and months, you know, 50 tabs open on my computer looking at the whole PowerPoint presentation. Correct. Um, and it got very time consuming. You know, I enjoyed it. Obviously, that's why I do it every day now. Um, but most people don't. They don't want to spend the time doing that. But logistically, and I'll give you an example, um, I was planning a trip for us personally to Costa Rica, and I had the whole itinerary planned out and Google mapped it, you know, how long is it gonna take from point A to point B? And I got it all done and uh reached out to a travel advisor that lived in Costa Rica, and I said, Would you just review this for me? And she did, and she said, Overall it's great. Your logistics are gonna kill you. The roads here are not great. We don't really have the interstates and highways like you do, you know.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

And it takes longer to travel. So one of the days where we were changing locations completely going from one area to a next, I think I had budgeted in about three hours for that. It took about six. Wow. So had I not had someone in that destination give me some insight, our trip would have not ruined, but you know, it would have not been as great as it was. And I think that's part of it too, is how many times have you DIY'd a trip? And the trip wasn't bad, but you don't know how much better it could have been.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

Absolutely. You know, I just came back from a trip and I was sharing with you, I said, I think one of my biggest mistakes is time. You know, you go to another country and you feel like you have to see everything in that one trip. And so when I was in my 20s and 30s, oh yeah, we would go to Paris, we go to London and do it in seven days. But I just came back from Italy and tried to do that in seven days, and I need 30 more days off. That wore me out because we were busy from when the sun came up until the sun came down. So definitely not allowing yourself enough time. That's correct. So kind of walk us through what it looks like planning a luxury travel

The Discovery Call And Better Questions

SPEAKER_02 11:22

trip.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Sure. So the first thing I do is we set up a complimentary, what I call a discovery call. And those typically I'll last an hour, sometimes more. And it's really for me to get to know the client, if it's somebody, especially if it's somebody I've never worked with before, and for them to get to know me. Because one of the things I tell people is no matter what, even if you kind of work something out yourself, reach out to an advisor, even if it's not me, find someone, someone to look over it and give you some feedback and maybe have some insight that you don't have. Um, so we do the discovery call and I want to make sure that that person is a good fit for how I plan and the trips that I plan. And I want to make sure that I'm a good fit for them as well. And so we do that and I ask the questions that most people don't think I'm gonna ask. You know, it's usually where do you want to go? What dates do you want to go? What's your budget? And I typically start with why why are you why did you pick this destination? What's the reasoning? Um who who's going with you? What's what are you wanting to feel while you're there? How much time are you wanting to spend, you know, independently maybe with the people you're traveling with? And then one of the big questions that I think throws people off is I'll say, What don't you want? And they're like, What do you mean? I'm like, what don't you want? And trips you've taken in the past, what are things that you didn't enjoy?

SPEAKER_02 12:51

Cobblestone roads.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Don't wear dress shoes in Italy. So it it's those types of things that really help me get to know the person because that's where the difference comes in. It's anybody can plan a trip to Italy. Anybody can. You can chat GPT it. A lot of people are starting to do that with their travel. Yes. And I it's not terrible. It's great for ideas, but AI doesn't know your mobility issues, your energy levels, you know, what you like and don't like. And they're definitely not going to answer the phone at two o'clock in the morning when there's a train strike you didn't know about that I knew was going to happen two weeks before.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Oh, absolutely. Because of course you looked over our itinerary and gave us some great tips, even when I was sharing with you that time shifter so that we wouldn't have jet lags. So once we definitely started getting into all those activities, we had the highest energy level possible. Yes. Right. So what are some of those other unique things or experiences that you help clients with?

Hidden Access And On The Ground Help

SPEAKER_00 13:52

So um through the suppliers and partnerships we have with um GTN, Virtuoso, and just the relationships with the people on the ground in the destination, you know, there's things that you're never going to find on Google, you know. So it could be a private entrance to a museum, you know, a reservation at a restaurant that's been booked out for six months that nobody else can get into. But the relationships that we have with people in the destinations allow us to, you know, have access to things that you're not going to find, just booking stuff online. And then the other thing is it like it goes back to the in-destination people is being able to pivot. So you book something on your own and you have it all planned out, and something goes wrong, there's a train strike, you know, your flight's been canceled, and you were trying to get to a certain destination to get on a cruise ship, and then you're juggling and you're trying to figure out how to make this work. When you have the support behind you with an advisor and then the in-destination people, well, things can be pivoted, things can be tweaked, and then they they learn you as well. You know, my husband and I went to um France, and because he was former military, we went to Normandy and we had a wonderful driver and guide to do our Normandy tour. And he lived there. He was a local, it wasn't just some tour guide. And over the couple of days that we spent with him, he got to know us better. And one day we had a certain activity planned and he asked, he said, I know y'all are from Louisiana, you love seafood. He said, I live in Paris. There's a seafood restaurant in Kincali, France. It's my wife and I's favorite restaurant. We drive four hours just to get there once a month to go eat. He said, Would y'all like to go eat there? And we were like, Absolutely. And so he took us there. Not a single person speaking English anywhere around. He translated everything for us. It was one of the best experiences we had. I tried escargot. I tried all kind of seafood that I had never eaten. And those are the type of relationships that make a difference because you're not just getting on via tour and booking a tour, and it could just be somebody that, you know, was hired by the company and they're not necessarily local or live there their whole life to give you those types of things you would not do on your own.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

Right. And this is definitely not something, you know, that you would wake up and say, Oh,

How Far Ahead To Plan

SPEAKER_02 16:24

let's do this next week. So when we're talking about this experience, this luxury travel, how far in advance should somebody start planning?

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Well, obviously it depends on the destination. Um, and not that you can't do, hey, we got some free time in three months, let's make it happen. I'm all about that too. But typically the bigger trips when you're wanting to, you know, Italy, Africa, those types of things, I would say six to twelve months is probably the best point. Uh 12 months is great because what you find out is you know, we're going to Antarctica in January and we're taking an expedition. Well, the best places on the boat, because you do have to cross the Drake Passage, is the middle of the ship to help alleviate some of the motion, you know, of the ship. So the further out and the more time you have to plan, you can get the better hotel room. You can get the better location on the ship. You can get into the restaurants that you want the reservations with. Um, and you're not left with what's left to choose from. So the longer you have is always better. And then I, you know, there's times people reach out 18 months in advance. Well, flights might not even be available yet, but that doesn't mean we can't start figuring out what that itinerary looks like and locking in what we can so that when those things do open up, guess what? You're first in line. Let's pick out what you want. You don't have to settle for what's left over.

SPEAKER_02 17:50

All right. So if somebody's listening and they're like, well, I don't even know where to where to start, what information will they need to have if they pick up the phone and give you a call?

SPEAKER_00 17:59

So obviously it's great if you kind of have an idea, but that you don't have to. If it's just, hey, we have a week next year, my husband and I want to go somewhere or the whole family wants to go somewhere, let's just have a conversation.

Multi Generational Trips After The Pandemic

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Because, you know, if you haven't traveled a lot, especially maybe you don't know what's out there. And if you start talking and we're digging into what kind of experiences you're looking for. Are you looking for high energy? Are you just wanting to go somewhere and chill? There may be islands, destinations that you hadn't thought of. You know, so it's always worth seeing what your options are before you kind of pigeonhole into something. You know, I've had clients call dead set on where they were going, and we get into that conversation. And I'm always very honest. And I'll tell you, I don't think that's the best fit. For what you're telling me you want, I don't think that's going to give you what you want. And I suggest looking at one or two of these as options. Or you nailed it, that's exactly, you know, the best pick for y'all, and let's make it the best it possibly can be.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

So can you tell us about maybe a trip that you've put together that has really stood out among all the ones that you've planned for other for some of your clients?

SPEAKER_00 19:12

So that's hard to answer in the way it was asked. But I'll I'll I I'll answer it this way I don't take lightly that what people are actually giving me is their time. Because again, that's something you don't get back. So honestly, every trip that we do, I look at it from the standpoint that I'm not planning trips, I'm helping people make memories. And so I think they're all important. I enjoy all of them. I get to learn more about my clients, their likes and dislikes. I get to learn more about the destinations the more I work with different, you know, trips and activities and suppliers on the ground. And they're all amazing. And I love hearing the stories when they come back. It could be a quick weekend getaway for a couple that just reconnects for a few days. It could be the multi-gen trips. Um, they all come back with some type of story that you know 10 years from now. They're sitting around the Christmas dinner table and it's going to come up over and over again. So those, you know, I don't, it's very humbling that people trust me with that kind of part of their life.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

And so multi-general tra g multi-generational travel has become very popular. So why do you think it's become so popular? And what does that look like when you're putting together that package?

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Honestly, I think post-pandemic, that is where that kicked in a lot. You had families sitting around realizing they weren't spending as much time together as they had before. And even, you know, when you have empty nesters like yourself and the kids start moving away and they're older and they have families and they have jobs, and you realize I can't just pick them up and we go somewhere for a week anymore. And it may be six months or, you know, before I see them again because they moved away. So people are starting to really take time to get back together. You may be spread all over the country. Even people that live right down the road from each other, you don't see each other as much as you think you are going to. And um, you know, aging grandparents, aging parents are realizing that they need to spend more time with the family.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

So for somebody's listening that's thinking, yeah, I want to travel, but they're still

Make The Move Now And How To Reach Angela

SPEAKER_02 21:29

sitting on the fence. What's your best piece of advice about why they should go ahead and make that move now?

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Well, the obvious is to our and it's our tagline, tomorrow's not promised. So you don't know. You don't know if the health's gonna maintain. And it's not just your health, but when you think about the people that you're wanting to spend time with, how long are they gonna be around? Because that's not guaranteed either. Um, so the best thing to do is just who do you want to spend time with? Don't worry about the destination, don't worry about the length of travel. Sit down and figure out who do I want to spend time with? Is it my family? Is it my friends? Is it myself? Do I need to just invest time with myself to get away? Because changing your location, even slightly, changes your perspective. And so a lot of times, people that haven't traveled a lot, they come back from their first trip and it's like addictive at that point, right? It's like, oh, I can't wait to go again. Because it just getting away as a family, especially, you realize that without the schedules, without the TV, without all the things that you're used to in your comfort zone, disconnecting from the world. It forces you to start noticing each other more and connecting deeper because you're outside of your normal routine. And the destination doesn't have to be dramatic. It's just it pulls you out of that everyday slump and you see each other differently and you talk to each other differently. And so it really does make a difference, just that little change in location.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

It really, really does. So, how can individuals reach out for you? And of course, like you said, your husband is your partner if they want to learn more about travel, more about the experiences that you can put together for us.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Sure. So we have a website, it's heirloomjourneys.com. Um, all of our contact information is on there. Um, it's easy to email, it's info at heirloomjourneys.com. We have our phone number on there, uh 225-4417515. And I'm happy to set up a call, meet you in person if you're local, and talk through, you know, whatever they're thinking, answer any questions they have. And um, like I said, even if if I'm not the best fit or they're not ready yet, I will do whatever I can to, you know, help them figure out what that direction is.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

Well, I know firsthand you're a wealth of information. Still recovering from my last trip. So I'll I'll take a uh a sabbatical before we connect again. But this has really, really been great, and I'll definitely have to have you come back.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

Well, thank you. I enjoyed it. Thank you. And that's it for today.

Blueprint Building Blocks Travel Savings Plan

SPEAKER_01 24:03

It's time for blueprint building blocks. Small changes that lead to big financial wins. Let's stack up for success.

SPEAKER_02 24:13

Plan the life you want. Pick one dream trip you've been putting off, add it to your budget, and treat it like a priority. Remember, tomorrow's not promised. Start a dedicated travel savings fund, set a timeline, and break it into small monthly goals. Use the right resources to maximize your experience. Travel doesn't have to be expensive, but it certainly can be luxurious.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

That's a wrap on today's Blueprint Building Blocks. Stay on track with your financial journey, subscribe to the Money Matters Podcast, and visit neighborsfcu.org slash financial wellness for more tools to help you build a strong financial future.