Goodbye 2010; Hello 2011

Happy New Year and welcome to 2011!
What were some of your best memories of 2010? What are some things that you are looking forward to in 2011?

I pulled out my 2010 planner - yes I still carry a paper planner with me even though I have modern technology devices that can do all that for me. Call me old school or whatever but there is something reassuring about seeing your schedule written down on paper. Now where was I? Oh yeah, I pulled out my 2010 planner and looked back over some of the things I had done this year. When I read some things in there I was a little shocked to remember they had happened in 2010. They seemed to occur so long ago I thought they happened in 2009. It was also a great memory jogger on just how far I have come in one year.

Reflecting over the year can be a good thing. You can see what you accomplished and what you didn't quite make happen. Our biggest change in 2010 was selling our house in Virginia and moving to Southern California. Now that was a challenge as I LOVE Virginia...okay they can keep the humidity but I miss the trees, the rolling hills, the green pastures, the small community feel. Yep I'm a small town girl at heart. Moving to Los Angeles has been a bit of a culture shock.

We started 2010 off with contractors in our house getting it ready for sale. There was also 12 years of crap to sort through and clear out so we wouldn't be dragging it cross-country with us. then in March 19 arrived. That was the day the house went on the market and we were ready. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get the house ready but we did it. The day it went on the market it looked like a model house. My realtor, Leigh Anne Monk, did a fabulous job of staging our house and pricing it to sell. We knew Leigh Anne was good at what she does, we just didn't realize how good! We had two offers in two days! The house was sold!

Then came the rounds of inspections, getting things fixed, and we finally closed on May 21. Then on June 7 the packers moved in and packed everything up, June 9 the trucks arrived and hauled it all away to storage until we find a house in LA. June 12 with a fully loaded UHaul trailer, the dog in the back of the Yukon we started our road trip from VA to CA. On June 16 we arrived at my mother-in-law's in Los Angeles. You don't realize just how big this country is until you drive across it. We enjoyed our trip and some of the sights we saw along the way. We didn't take too much time out to sightsee as we had Gus, our dog with us and because of the heat we couldn't leave him in the car to go sightseeing. But Gus made sure that we stopped every 2 hours for him to leave his mark in each state we passed through.

On the work side I was still working full-time as well as running our travel business part-time. My full-time work was undergoing a restructure and so I applied for some jobs that could be done anywhere in the country. On June 16 while somewhere in the CA desert in 103 degree F heat slurping on ice cream I got the call from the recruiter to tell me I didn't get any of the jobs I applied for. I no longer had a job. Now most people would probably kick and scream and pout, curse etc at the disappointment...not me...I actually cheered! The recruiter on the other end of the phone had no clue how to react to my outburst of happiness!

I had a feeling long before we moved that I wouldn't get any of the jobs I applied for, so I started thinking of ways to rev up our travel business and go full-time with it...something I had wanted to do since we started it in August 2008.So when the news came through that I didn't have a job, I started rejoicing. One of my life dreams was about to become a reality. July 30 was my last day with a company I had been with for just over 10 years. July 31 I walked into my office to start my first day as a full-time travel agent.

It has been one of the best things that has happened to me. I have been able to join networking groups and meet some wonderful new people, I have been able to devote more time to training so I can increase my product knowledge even more. I have been able to meet with cruise line reps and develop working relationships with them. I have been available to attend more training sessions put on by cruise lines, tour companies, etc. Best of all I have been able to spend more time with my clients and provide them with even better customer service.

In 2010 I was able to take four cruises. One was a family cruise on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas with 21 family members to celebrate 7 milestone birthdays that occurred in 2010. One was a 2-day inaugural cruise on Celebrity Eclipse that we got to do as part of Cruise Planners annual convention. Then I got a chance to do a 2-day inaugural cruise on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas and after that cruise ended my sister-in-law and I drove up to Orlando to spend two nights at Universal Orlando. We stayed at Loew's Royal Pacific Resort and spent a day at Islands of Adventure and Universal Park. Then my husband and I got to take a vacation - the first one in a very long time with just the two of us by ourselves. We were on Norwegian Epic for 7-nights sailing the Western Caribbean.

This past year has seen me complete my CLIA Accredited Cruise Counselor Certification (see previous blog entry), Universal Park Specialist Certification, Sandals Specialist Certification, Avalon Waterways Specialist Certification, Globus Family of Brands Certification, just to name a few.

So that were some major milestones that were achieved in 2010. What does 2011 have installed for us...well on our agenda we have house hunting - yes we are still living with my mother-in-law - luckily I LOVE my mother-in-law, but we would still like our own place. I will also be studying for my certification in Meeting and Event Planning this will help me provide even better service to my clients who are looking at holding a meeting or taking a themed cruise. I am also working on my CLIA MCC (Master Cruise Counselor) Certification. I have conferences and trade shows that I will be attending to further improve my product knowledge to better serve you, my client.

This year is going to be client and charity focused. How can I better serve my clients? What improvements can I make to processes I have to help me better serve my clients? What customer service skills can I improve? What "little" things do I need to take more notice of to deliver the WOW factor to my clients? What charities can I get involved with? What fund-raising cruises can we hold? What theme cruises can we hold that people would be interested in?

These are just some of the questions I am asking myself as we start off the new year. What are some of your goals for 2011? Have you made a vision board for 2011? Do you have a 501(c)3 charity that may benefit from a fundraising cruise? Do you belong to a club, association, networking group that would like to take a trip together? Maybe you belong to a church or synagogue and you would like to take a tour or cruise together to the Holy Lands. Maybe you have some friends that you enjoy getting together with and sharing some great food and wine - why not take a Food and Wine theme trip together? You could do a land tour, river cruise, or ocean cruise all with a Food and Wine theme for your group.

What would you like to do and where would you like to go in 2011?