I began traveling far and wide almost as soon as I entered the world. I know that I am very lucky in that way, and I recognize that this is why I am the way that I am.
As an anxious child, my mind was so preoccupied by all things that I could not control, even at eight years old. I was consumed by my fear of climate change, the coming of December 21st, 2012, and contracting flu-like illnesses. And that is when I met my first therapist!
Ironically, I noticed that the only moments where I felt at ease was when I was traveling. Traveling – the thing where EVERYTHING could go wrong. Delayed flights, bad weather, unpredictable seat assignments, unpredictable travelers, missed transfers, I could go on. But to me, I felt like I was so obviously out of control that I finally could do nothing to control the situation. It gave me so much peace. And at twelve years old, when I was greeted with a kamikaze of a pigeon shit during my first few steps in Paris? I didn’t care – I WAS IN PARIS!!! I guess it doesn’t sound that romantic, but that was the day that Brookie B Travels was born.
Since then, I have done everything in my power to travel as much and as often as I could. When it came to picking a major in college, my only thought was, “All I want to do in life is travel the world and get paid for it.” Oh, the lofty ambitions! So, I chose Hospitality – the study of travel, tourism, and the hospitality industry, with “dreams” of becoming a general manager for a luxury hotel brand. I quickly shattered my own dreams as soon as I started working in hotels, realizing that the REAL achievement was to be the guest of said luxury hotel brand.
Even though I was living the life of a meandering and broke college student, I was still determined to travel the world, I just didn’t know where it was going to lead me anymore. I even started researching and utilizing websites that advertised cheap flights (cheapoflights.com was my favorite) that could take me places I’ve never seen before. This meant that sometimes I would spend more time in airports than at my destination (like 38 hours in Costa Rica, but 42 hours of travel time). It was never NOT worth it. I studied abroad in Florence, Italy and tried to see as much of Europe and Italy as I could, and landed an incredible internship at a luxury travel agency.
I felt like I was finally doing something that made sense to me. That internship was ten years ago, but I still remember it as the job that brought me the most joy, excitement, and fulfillment.
So naturally my first job out of college was as a salesperson at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, trying (and failing) to swindle people into purchasing rental car insurance. When that (unsurprisingly) didn’t work out, I tried a couple of different things and found myself accidentally tumbling into the full-time job that I have today, working as a Data Analyst. I don’t know how that all happened, but in the back of my mind and deep in my gut I always knew that I was going to find my way back to travel.
Through many trials and errors, and many (many) jobs, I found my way here. I’ve joined a host agency that allows me to do what I love most – show people how to travel well and put together itineraries that are well-researched, well-thought-out, and created with genuine love and intention. The dream is to be your go-to travel advisor for all things travel. And I want you to tell your friends! I created this website with so much love (and frustration as a non-IT girly), and with the goal to create a space where I can introduce myself as a travel advisor, and write about my travel experiences, my wannabe travel experiences, guides, tips, and whatever else I feel like talking about. I hope you enjoy, I hope you share, and I would be honored to work together.