Humans of Travel

Steve Smotrys, managing director and senior vice president, commercial for the Americas at HX Expeditions, has decades of experience in the cruise industry — but his first taste of travel came in the form of roadtrips up the California coast. And his first time on a cruise ship? During his senior prom, onboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.  In this episode of Humans of Trave...

Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff of the Humans of Travel, is currently running a 10-part mini-series on the 2025 TravelAge West Trendsetter Awards, which recognizes some of the most forward-thinking and impactful travel advisors in the U.S.  Each year, the Trendsetter Awards recognize outstanding travel advisors across five unique categories:  Best Targeted Marketing Idea Best Group Booking...

Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff of the Humans of Travel, is currently running a 10-part mini-series on the 2025 TravelAge West Trendsetter Awards, which recognizes some of the most forward-thinking and impactful travel advisors in the U.S.  Each year, the Trendsetter Awards recognize outstanding travel advisors across five unique categories:  Best Targeted Marketing Idea Best Group Booking...

Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff of the Humans of Travel, is currently running a 10-part mini-series on the 2025 TravelAge West Trendsetter Awards, which recognizes some of the most forward-thinking and impactful travel advisors in the U.S.  Each year, the Trendsetter Awards recognize outstanding travel advisors across five unique categories:  Best Targeted Marketing Idea Best Group Booking...

Anne Marie Brown was born into one of Hawaii’s most iconic hospitality families — the Kelleys of Outrigger Hotels — and got her start in the industry with hands-on internships in nearly every department, from housekeeping and front desk to maintenance and the bell desk. Today, her path has taken her far beyond the Hawaiian Islands and the hotel world. Brown is now the co-founder...

Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff of the Humans of Travel, is currently running a 10-part mini-series on the 2025 TravelAge West Trendsetter Awards, which recognizes some of the most forward-thinking and impactful travel advisors in the U.S.  Each year, the Trendsetter Awards recognize outstanding travel advisors across five unique categories:  Best Targeted Marketing Idea Best Group Booking...

Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff of the Humans of Travel, is currently running a 10-part mini-series on the 2025 TravelAge West Trendsetter Awards, which recognizes some of the most forward-thinking and impactful travel advisors in the U.S.  Each year, the Trendsetter Awards recognize outstanding travel advisors across five unique categories:  Best Targeted Marketing Idea Best Group Booking...

In this episode of Humans of Travel, Ken Shapiro, group vice president and editorial director for Northstar Travel Group (the parent company of TravelAge West), speaks with Stephanie Brooks, vice president of product and operations for the Globus family of brands. Brooks’ passion for travel stems from seeing the power of shared experiences and personal connections, and she shares her own jou...

Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff of the Humans of Travel, is currently running a 10-part mini-series on the 2025 TravelAge West Trendsetter Awards, which recognizes some of the most forward-thinking and impactful travel advisors in the U.S.  Each year, the Trendsetter Awards recognize outstanding travel advisors across five unique categories:  Best Targeted Marketing Idea Best Group Booking...

In Part 2 of our conversation with Matthew Upchurch, the chairman and CEO of Virtuoso discusses the transformative challenges that have shaped today’s travel advisor profession. Listeners will gain insight into how the industry navigated the rise of online travel agencies, the strategic decision behind Virtuoso’s rebranding and the far-reaching influence of mobile technology and social...

As a second-generation travel industry leader, Matthew Upchurch — chairman and CEO of luxury travel network Virtuoso — offers a unique perspective on how the world of luxury travel has evolved over the past four decades. In this episode of Humans of Travel , the first of a two-part conversation, Upchurch shares personal stories from his upbringing, the pioneering legacy of his father a...

Welcome to Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff series of Humans of Travel. Today’s episode features Eli Wagner, founder of Wagner Bespoke Travel.  Wagner entered the industry about three years ago, and she has seen tremendous growth since, being named Virtuoso's Rising Star last year and surpassing $1 million in sales . She's also in the process of opening up a physical office in Santa Monica,...

Paul Brady didn’t always want to be a journalist. But when he participated in a language-immersion program in Italy between high school and college, he fell in love with travel. Now, he’s the current news director and cruise expert for consumer publication Travel + Leisure. In this episode of Humans of Travel, we’ll hear about what it’s like to work for one of the most well...

Welcome to Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff series of Humans of Travel. Today’s episode features Susie Flores of Countdown Travels, aka Cruisin' Susie  ( @cruise_yes_please ).  Flores began posting cruise videos to TikTok, and quickly gained traction on the social media platform. Now, she boasts nearly 100,000 followers (along with more than 8,000 on her Instagram) and runs her multimi...

Welcome to Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff series of Humans of Travel. Today’s episode features John Sutherland,  senior director of community impact at Tourism Cares.  Tourism Cares, a nonprofit organization within the travel industry, is dedicated to advancing positive social, environmental and economic impact to help the world's people and places thrive. The organization offers a profes...

Welcome to Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff series of Humans of Travel. Today’s episode features Asia Lantz, owner of Travel With Asia . Lantz recently moved to the Phoenix, Arizona area and has an especially unique way of marketing her business. Rather than focusing on garnering leads online, she has built a network of clients within her new community by meeting them during her free time,...

Welcome to Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff series of Humans of Travel. Today’s episode features Roman Chiporukha, the founder of SpaceVIP , a travel agency for space tourism. Chiporukha founded SpaceVIP after he sold a $50 million ticket for a passenger to fly onboard Axiom’s Ax-1 mission — the first all-private space mission to the International Space Station. Roman is an...

When Tom Marchant co-founded the tour operator Black Tomato with two friends, the term “experiential travel” wasn’t even part of the travel zeitgeist. Now, 20 years later, Marchant and the Black Tomato team remain committed to crafting bespoke, deeply personalized itineraries that feed their clients’ adventurous spirit and insatiable curiosity. In this episode of Humans of...

Welcome to Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff series of Humans of Travel. Travel advisor Kristie Keller of Addicted to Adventures entered the travel industry two years ago. Then, a chance encounter with Amadeus River Cruises' Executive Vice President, Marcus Leskovar, at ASTA's River Cruise Expo soon propelled her to success; since that meeting, she's booked seven groups (with 40-50 people, each) a...

Welcome to Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff series of Humans of Travel. This is Emma Weissmann, Executive Editor at TravelAge West, and your host. Michael Schottey, the vice president of membership, marketing and communications at the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) is the co-host for a brand-new podcast, Travel You Can Trust, with colleague Alvin Adriano. Here, he talks about the idea...

Welcome to Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff series of Humans of Travel. This is Emma Weissmann, Executive Editor at TravelAge West, and your host.  Today on Humans in the Hot Seat, we are welcoming Katie Brown, a travel advisor with Travelmation. Katie is an award-winning travel advisor; she entered the industry in February, 2020, just prior to the pandemic. In the past five years, Katie has...

Most readers of TravelAge West will recognize Mindy Poder's name from the top of the magazine’s masthead. As Editor-in-Chief, Poder oversees everything that happens at the brand, from managing content strategy and editorial mission to working with writers and editors, improving audience engagement and considering the ethical implications of AI use.   In the latest episode of Humans...

Note to listeners: Humans of Travel is on hiatus for the winter, with new, full-length episodes resuming Spring 2025. This is a bonus Humans in the Hot Seat Episode. Welcome to Humans in the Hot Seat, a spinoff series of Humans of Travel. This is Emma Weissmann, Executive Editor at TravelAge West, and your host. Angela Hughes, CEO of Trips & Ships Luxury Travel and developer of Luxury Travel U...

Note to listeners:  We're currently on hiatus until Spring 2025, but we're replaying some of our favorite episodes each week until we return. And you're listening to one of those "encore" presentations right now. Greg Mortimer, the founder of cruise line Aurora Expeditions, is a pioneer in the adventure and exploration space — he’s  traveled to many of the world's most remote and...

Note to listeners:  We're currently on hiatus until Spring 2025, but we're replaying some of our favorite episodes each week until we return. And you're listening to one of those "encore" presentations right now. Veranda Adkins, co-founder of the Association of Black Travel Professionals (ABTP) is passionate about making the travel industry more inclusive. In addition to helping run ABTP, Adkins i...