Viva la Vida Travel with Carmen Schaffer

The devil is in the details so . . .  Tell me what you want! When we travel, whether we like to have expectations or not, we have them. Somewhere deep in our psyche, we have imagined how our destination, hotel and experiences will be. We fantasize about how we will feel when we finally arrive but sometimes, what we arrive at isn't remotely close to what we were expecting. As a travel agent, there is NOTHING worse than having unhappy clients, so I do everything in my power to prepare the clients for their trip by asking a lot of questions. Sometimes, because I am human and am prone to errors just like everyone else,  I have made oversights in travel planning and let me tell you, it sucks ~ not just for the traveler but for me, the travel agent. Just like in any line of work, we master our craft as we go along, and working in the travel industry is no exception to that rule. That being said, here are some questions that I want you the traveler to consider when plan...

A couple of months ago, I had returned from El Salvador with a vision to bring a group of people to explore the country, it's culture and to share the love of Zumba and volunteerism with the kids and families in need. Truth be gold, my dream wasn't well defined, only that I really wanted to bring the positivity and good vibes of my local Zumba community to the beautiful country of El Salvador to spread goodness all around and to aid in self growth through volunteerism. Why do Zumba in El Salvador? That seems cheesy you may say. Well, here's why. Dance, no matter how good or bad you are at it, lifts your spirits. My instructor, Cathy Molinett has an infectious positive attitude that leaves even the most apprehensive of want to be dancer loving her Zumba classes. I wanted to bring THAT vibe to El Salvador and bring joy to those who need it. Okay so.... After a couple of meetings with Cathy and another interested friend, our vision grew... BIG. S...

As a Travel Agent or as I prefer to call myself, a Travel Ambassador, the struggle to compete in an online, click friendly world of travel is challenging at best.  Truth be told,  I've often wondered why more people aren't flocking to Viva la Vida Travel. Am I trying too hard? What am I doing wrong? I've struggled with my approach to business, my marketing, my focus group of clients and how to "find them" and have compared myself to other agents time and time again only to feel discouraged by my seemingly lack of "success" in the market. I'm not  nor have I ever been a one size fits all kind of a woman. I've never fit into any prescribed mold and have tended to follow my hearts passion when it comes to work and life in general.  Is that always the most lucrative way to be in this day and age? Hardly. Is it respected? Maybe. Is it what I know how to do? Yes. Does it work for me in my business? That depends on how you look at it. The goal...

I recently came back from my first trip to Ixtapa and Zihuatenjo on Mexico's Pacific coast and I must say that I was incredibly impressed. Everything I had ever heard about Ixtapa and Zihuatenejo was that it was a destination mostly inhabited by older and retired travelers who spent their winter months months there. By looking around the airplane, my hunch was right as the average age of the travelers was about 55. En route to Ixtapa, I was seated next to a lovely couple who were headed there for their 31rst year. "We have been to other places before in Mexico, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, etc. but we always keep coming back here because it just feels like home. The people are so nice and we have friends here who we now call family."  I was intrigued by their passion for the destination and was excited to explore on my own. I arrived at the Zihuatenejo airport and breezed through customs and immigration and before I knew it, I was outside waiting for my t...

More often than not, I notice people talking about how they feel like they are not living out their life's purpose, or worse yet, that they don't know WHAT their purpose is in this lifetime. This is a common phenomenon amongst most of us as we we get the college degree, the career, the spouse, the house, the kids, the minivan, etc. It has become the cultural norm that this is the path we must all follow to become "successful" in this lifetime.  This formula fits some people but I believe that generally speaking it doesn't fit most people. I fell prey to this very path yet there was always something inside of me that said, "This isn't quite right...for me." I went to college, studied Social Work, got the career, poured myself into it, got married, had the kids, got the house AND the minivan yet something within this path that I was following just wasn't feeling right to me . . . until I started Viva la Vida Travel. I have always bee...

El Salvador Feel the difference. El Salvador is a tiny country in Central America, neighbored by Guatemala to the North, Honduras to the East and Nicaragua to the South. It’s roughly the size of New Jersey. Albeit it a small country, it is packed with awe inspiring, dramatic scenery such as 7 active volcanoes, crater lakes,  some of the best surf spots around, delicious food and lastly, some of the kindest and welcoming people I’ve yet to meet. On my most recent trip to El Salvador, my first stop was at AST (Adventure Surf Tours) surf hotel in La Libertad. Arriving at the San Salvador airport, it’s a short 35 minute drive to get to the beach. AST surf hotel is a small, 20 person, surf hotel catering to surfers and adventurers alike. Not only do they offer private surf lessons but they offer day trips such as hiking to a variety of volcanoes, waterfalls, and trips to local colonial towns. The accommodations are modest and clean and every room gives you an ocean v...

There are moments when we are traveling that take our breath away in the very instance  we are experiencing them and then there are moments that start us thinking and reflecting AFTER we've returned home from our travels. Often times, it's these moments that have the most impact. On my most recent bullet -train- fast -trip to Japan, there were moments that beckoned my attention but in the hustle of the travel, were lost in the speed of it all. It's as though a dangling carrot of curiosity hung before me and before I could feed the curiosity, it was pulled away and another carrot dangled before me. Travel does that. It tickles your sense of curiosity and wonder and makes you think, sometimes not always offering you time to process the experience fully in the moment, but it works it's way into your soul and reveals that same momentary sense of curiosity in times you least expect. While I was in Japan, the hustle of traveling on trains, buses, subways, boats...