Our busy travel season is winding down and summer is right around the corner. As our travel planners return to the office from all of the fabulous destinations where they have delivered programs, I thought it would be interesting to find out where they are planning to go on their own vacations – no work, just fun!

So, where do travel planners go on summer vacation?

Napa Valley and Riviera Maya

“To continue the tradition of traveling somewhere new each year, my husband and I are headed to Napa Valley. With our love of wine, it’s a bit shocking it’s taken us so long to get there. We’re excited to see another part of California and add a few more wineries to our list. We hear the food out there is also incredible, so we’re excited to expand our waistlines a bit.

We also wanted to make sure we got some R&R this year, so we decided to head to Riviera Maya straight from Napa. This goes against my ‘not repeating vacations’ motto, but because of my familiarity with the area and our love for Mexico, it was a no-brainer. I already know we’ll be partaking in the ATV/Cenote excursion and expanding our waistlines even more at Sur and Cenacolo on 5th Ave. in Playa del Carmen. 

Nashville, TN 

“I’ll be heading to Nashville, Tennessee this week to attend the CMA (Country Music Association) Festival! This is a four-day music festival that takes place right in the heart of Nashville. There are smaller performances at various stages and venues during the day, followed by the main attractions each night at Nissan Stadium. There are tons of performances, meet & greets, and other special events that will take place throughout the weekend. While there, my friends and I will ultimately be attending the organized events of the festival, but in our free time, we hope to check out the Grand Ole Opry and some highly rated BBQ and biscuit joints!”

8-Country Northern European Tour

“My husband and I travel as much and as we can during our vacations. This summer we are doing an eight country northern European tour over 16 days. Starting with Iceland, we’re looking forward to the Blue Lagoon Spa, a tour of southern Iceland, and the Reynisfjara volcanic beach known for its basalt columns. From there we head to Norway and Sweden to visit some friends and tour the old Olympic sites. Completing our first week is a flight to Amsterdam to meet up with a few friends for a U2 Joshua Tree concert. We’re all traveling together for a couple days through Belgium, and I’m looking forward to a night in the little town of Brugge, known as ‘The Venice of the north’. We head to Brussels the next day for ice cream and waffles (my favorite), and spend the day after in Luxenbourg exploring the old city on our way to Germany. From there we split off and explore Germany on our own (Cologne, Dusseldorf, Berlin, and Dresden). Finishing off with a night in Copenhagen to visit an exchange student my family hosted back when I was in high school – long before the days of Facebook! It will be an amazing trip full of friends and hopefully lots of hidden adventures!” 

Montego Bay, Jamaica

 “My boyfriend and I went to Montego Bay, Jamaica this past year for our vacation, where we did nothing but relax and loved every minute of it! Usually we like to book a lot of activities and squeeze in as much as possible on vacation, but not this time. We slept in and ordered room service whenever we wanted. The weather was beautiful, so we would go down to the beach or pool every morning after breakfast, and sipped local cocktails. One day we took a small glass bottom boat tour where our guides explained the Jamaican culture, showed us the most beautiful mountains and scenery that side of the coast, and let us know the best places to check out while staying in Jamaica. The last night we had a romantic dinner on the beach, laughing until our stomachs hurt, and participated in a lantern lighting ceremony. Memories like this really are so priceless!

Other members of our team are still planning. It’s always interesting to see what our travel planners are up to and what worlds they explore when they aren’t working! Where are you going this summer?