Viva la Vida Travel with Carmen Schaffer

I like to say that somehow my career in travel has been one that had been laid out before me well before I knew it. Dating back to my younger years when I was enamored with the idea of traveling to China and working side by side with the ladies in the rice paddies or when a new immigrant student would grace our classroom, I couldn't move in fast enough to learn all about them and be their friend; I knew that experiencing other cultures  was integral  to my over all well - being. So, here I am:  forging my way in the travel industry, competing with big box online suppliers, and carving out a name for myself that will resonate with travelers as being their first choice in travel planning and support. Planning travel is more than just a paycheck for me. It's a way of being. It's away of channeling my love for other cultures and countries into other peoples lives. It's a way of living vicariously through other's travel joys when I myself am not able to travel. Trave...

Every great travel experience is almost always followed by a wicked post-travel hang over of sorts. You know the kind,  where you wake up thinking the sea is outside your doorstep or in my case, that howler monkeys are outside my tent. Your mind is flitting with amazing experiences that no one but you had. Your eyes see the world different. Your heart feels fuller yet in some ways, feels emptier~ maybe due to the longing of what was your existence just a few short days ago. Never the less, a post travel hangover is brutal. I'm coming off of a week of amazing experiences in Costa Rica with the Dreamsea Surf camp in Tamarindo. I spent a week "glamping" ( glamorous camping)in the forest with a tribe of people who came from all walks of life. 20 somethings wandered around in yoga pants and bikini tops while muscle clad young men did pull ups in the mango tree and in the distance, the sweet sounds of someone playing the acoustic guitar and singing to himself in the distan...