See the world with a little (or a lot of) help from travel advisors
An exclusive after hours visit to the Sistine Chapel. A private visit to recently excavated tombs in Egypt. Behind the scenes of changing of the guards in London.
These amazing experiences might be hard to tackle on your own, which is where an agent can help.
While lots of budding travelers turned to the internet in its early days, booking their flights and stays, and while some continue to do so, others have found the myriad of choices online exhausting.
“Things have circled back to people using travel advisors to plan their trips, whether it’s ‘just a hotel’ to get all the perks and upgrades, to more complex trips,” said Sharon Ronen, of Above and Beyond Travel.
Some clients, she said, “entrust me to know their vibe and what they like and give them options. I have other clients who have a sense of what they want to do but don’t have the time, energy, or desire to figure it out themselves. So it’s a mixture of all types of scenarios.”
SEEING THE WORLD, travel advisor Sharon Ronen visits Tuscany.
An aesthetician, Ronen became a travel advisor by way of sharing her adventures and itineraries with friends, family, and skincare clients.
When not giving facials at a salon on Larchmont Boulevard, Ronen “was an avid traveler and over the years collected a lot of information, tips, and recommendations.”
If a client was going to Paris she would give them a spreadsheet on the city with all of her recommendations.
Astounded by her wealth of information, someone told her, “You should really do travel, for real.”
Her clients travel the world, from Bali, Vietnam, and Bhutan to Italy, Canada, London, and Mexico. Japan is very much on trend right now. She booked 20 trips to the East Asian country last year.
Among her personal favorites are road trips of the golden state with her husband and dogs in tow.
Wherever the destination, she encourages her clients to spend a few days off the beaten path, away from the crowds.
She doesn’t charge a fee for customers seeking hotel and minor recommendations, and can even offer discounts, with amenities and upgrades. Her next tier, which adds tours, a yacht, or other extras, can range from $50 to $100 per day.
The all-hands-on-deck package has a $75 to $100 daily fee.
She stresses she can work within every budget. “I never want people to be priced out of traveling, because there’s lots of different ways to travel,” she said.
Whatever the destination, “Being a citizen of the world gives you so much more perspective and appreciation of how we live, realizing our way is not the only way, and dare I say, not always the best way.
“I love helping people who have the curiosity. It’s always possible to make it work.”
MACHU PICCHU is among travel advisor Diane Sherer’s destinations.
Her new website is scheduled to be up any day: aboveandbeyondtravel.biz.
Meanwhile, you can reach her at foratravel.com/advisor/sharon-ronen.
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Diane Sherer is founder of Beyond Traveled, a boutique luxury agency. Brick-and-mortar businesses may be gone, but high-end service is booming, she said.
The former divorce attorney and screenwriter turned her joy and passion into her day job in 2016.
The result is a bonus for the rest of us as she can privatize tours to museums, such as the Louvre and d’Orsay in Paris.
“I recently was able to get my clients a private, after-hours visit of the Sistine Chapel at the last minute the night before Easter,” she told us.
Another amazing adventure for some lucky travelers was a private underground visit of just-excavated tombs in Egypt.
There’s also behind the scenes/behind the glass tour of Churchill War Rooms and access to the changing of the guards experience in London.
Would you prefer private dinners with celebrity chefs?
Sherer works her magic out of her Beachwood Drive home, which she shares with her husband, and where they raised two sons.
In addition to 10 independent contractors, mostly in Southern California, plus New York City and Rome, she has partners situated around the globe.
Clients often plan a year out, and Sherer stays busy making hotel reservations and booking flights, mostly first class, some on private jets.
Where to? Everywhere…Mexico, Hawaii, Brazil, Aspen, Big Sky, the Caribbean and Japan come to mind.
DIANE SHERER in Japan.
Her fee ranges from $500 to $2,500 depending on the complexity of the trip.
Exploring other cultures and landscapes is a mind broadening experience, she said. “I love the world, and I love to learn. It’s the best way.”
Sherer can be reached at beyondtraveled.com.
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