Not your mother’s travel agent

It is 1992.

Your dad just got a Christmas bonus and decides this is the year the family is finally going somewhere. Somewhere warm. Somewhere special. So your parents do what everyone does. They get in the car and drive downtown to the local travel agency to plan a family vacation.

Inside, there are friendly receptionists and desks lined with agents ready to help. There are glossy pamphlets fanned out across tables. Cruises. All inclusive resorts. Theme parks. Europe, distilled into a few neat packages. You sit down, the agent asks a few questions about dates and budget, beach or city, then slides a couple of prebuilt options across the desk.

In many ways, it is simpler. But it is also narrow. The world is filtered through whatever brochures exist and whatever packages are easiest to sell. Most people do not see the full richness of what travel could be. They see what fits on a rack.

At the time, this model works. Travel information is scarce. Booking is complex. Expertise lives with the agent.

Then the internet shows up.

Online Travel Agencies, often called OTAs, enter the picture. Think Expedia, Travelocity, and Priceline, platforms that allow travelers to book flights, hotels, and rental cars online. Suddenly, travel planning is accessible to anyone with a computer and a credit card. Travel agencies do not slowly fade. Many disappear almost overnight.

Consumers now have access to everything. Every hotel. Every route. Every price. Planning travel becomes a do it yourself project, and for a while, it feels empowering. For the last twenty years, this has been the dominant model. Unlimited options, all at your fingertips.

And now we are hitting the wall.

Too many choices. Too many tabs open. Too many opinions that do not apply to you. Planning a vacation quietly turns into a part time job. Comparing rooms. Reading conflicting reviews. Wondering if the cheaper option is actually worse. Second guessing every decision until decision fatigue wins.

“Oh crap. Let’s just book Cabo again.”

Familiar. Easy. Fine.

But something important is happening underneath all of this. The problem with modern travel is no longer access, it is confidence. The internet made booking easy, but it did not make decisions easier. It did not help travelers understand tradeoffs, context, or what actually matters for their specific trip. Planning became overwhelming, not empowering.

That gap is where modern travel advising comes in, a new approach to travel planning built for today’s travelers.

This is not a revival of the old travel agent. That role is gone. Today’s travel advisors act as filters in a world of endless options. They narrow choices, prioritize what matters, and turn overload into clear decisions. They design trips instead of assembling parts, helping travelers plan vacations that actually fit how they want to travel.

This shift is possible because the tools have changed. Technology now handles logistics, while the human focuses on judgment. That often comes with added value like hotel upgrades, daily breakfast, or resort credits, not because prices are inflated, but because hotels prefer working with professionals who bring the right guests.

So no, this is not your mother’s travel agent.

It is a modern role built for a modern problem. A response to overload. A way to make travel feel intentional again. Because when everything is available, the hardest part is deciding.

Thinking about your next trip?

If planning feels exciting, do it. If it feels overwhelming, rushed, or high stakes, that is where a travel advisor can help. My role is not to replace how you like to travel, but to support it where it starts to break down.

If you want a calmer, more confident way to plan your next trip, you can reach out here. Even a short conversation can help you decide whether working together makes sense.

Travel should feel like something you look forward to, not another decision to manage.