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Happy 30th Birthday Andrea! from the JW Team

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Although Andrea and I have only known each other a short time, we’ve already shared many memorable moments…

We’ve been on narcoleptic elephant rides and monsoon-drenched bamboo rafts in Thailand. We pulled a mattress over a second floor balcony with a very thick string and stared at a pile of wood in an attempt to will it into a desk. We’ve eaten everything from mouthwatering New Zealand steaks to burned discs of dirt that were called “hamburgers.” We’ve suffered through stinky foot pasta and mosquito-infested warehouses. We witnessed the magic of baby wizard booms and the hilarity of Frank in a plaid loincloth on his daily rounds.

Here’s a Beerlao cheers to your 30th and wishing you a few work-free days of celebration (and an empty inbox upon your return).

 -Kristina

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We would all like to wish you a very happy birthday from Bangkok Office!  You are now turning 30 years old and have to behave responsibly be a good Mother, Wife and the Boss, we know you can handle it !!  Congratulations for the second consecutive year in Conde Nast Traveler Magazine, we are proud to be apart of Journeys within we will work hard as much as we can, thanks so much to give me the time off for our honeymoon we had a great time, I’ll send to you some photos.  Keep up the good work and send us 100 bookings a month J Have a great day and I hope you got everything you wanted, please say hello to little Boss Callie & Couper and Uncle Brandon, we all miss you !!

 

All the best……

Bangkok Office

 

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…..Happy 30th Birthday to a terrific boss and dedicated mother and wife.  I hope this day brings you happiness and laughter and I hope you enjoy this milestone with your loved ones! 

 – Melissa

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Almost 3 years that I am working at Journeys Within. Ever since I started here I have felt like Journeys Within is the best place to work and Andrea is very nice to me. She taught me how everything works and always gives the good advice.  Now I am confident with my work and am learning a lot from it.

 

Another special memory is my trip to Vietnam and Thailand that Andrea arranged. These trips  been the best experiences of my life so far. Each part of the tour I had different good memories and will never ever forget them. One thing that I never forgot with Andrea is the days that we toured Dalat , Vietnam (with Brandon, Callie and Couper). It was SO cold! And Andrea asked me, “are you ok Narla?” This question made me happy and feel like have her taking care of me all the time while I’m in Vietnam.   I’m really enjoy with my both trip Vietnam and Thailand.

 

August 30th is Andrea’s birthday, so I would to say  “Happy Birthday to Andrea” . I am wishing Andrea success, happiness, healthy and get done all her great jobs. Now I am doing my best job to make everything going well with the tour for the guests. Andrea, if anything that I can help to make the company good and you happy please let me know at any time.

 

Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! : )

 

Best,

 

Narla

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Well, well, well. Look at you Miss 30-Year-Old Thang!!  Who would’ve guessed that you’d do so friggin much in less than 10 years! Well, you probably did. 😉

 

I’m so honored to be able to call you my friend – and colleague!! I wish you all the luck in the world, and pass along all the good vibes I can give. Have a wonderful 30th birthday! Hope to see you soon!!

 

Love – Lindsay

 

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Geez! I don’t know why this little blurb is so hard to write. I would love to write something smart and witty, but I am just at a loss for words. What I would like to say is that I am so honored to be a part of this team and to be learning and working with you. You are brilliant, kind, funny and a great friend.  It is not often that you meet someone who is so passionate about what they do and still so hands on and is successfully making changes and an impact in the world. You are a true rarity. I hope that on your birthday everyone else has the clarity to see how fantastic you truly are – what a perfect gift that would be.  (Dang, I am good at picking out presents! Ha Ha Ha!).

Happy happy birthday .

April

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Congratulations Andrea, on being named one of Conde Nast Traveler’s Top Travel Specialists Two Years in a Row!

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I want to take a moment to congratulate our Director of Tours, Andrea. She has been named a Top Travel Specialist for the second consecutive year in Conde Nast Traveler Magazine. The current August issue will be available in print within the next week.

Andrea was named a travel specialist not only because of her knowledge of the countries and her length of experience, but because of her continued efforts to maintain impeccable quality tour experiences and her personal passion for the company and the countries in which we tour. This spring Andrea personally conducted guide training in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. She also conducted numerous hotel inspections to make sure the hotels we offer are up to her strict standards of quality as well as inspected new hotels to offer to our guests. She opened up a new office in Laos and new Journeys  Within Our Community non profit in Laos. Needless to say it was a very busy off-season, but her continued efforts to improve Journeys Within are visible within every tour.

I am very proud to be a member of such a great team and to have a leader that inspires me to continue to improve not only my personal work ethics, but to also continue to improve the company and to continue to improve the quality of life for the people within the countries which we tour. I would like to express my most sincere congratulations to Andrea, I can think of no other person who deserves the title of Travel Specialist. … Read more »

Our Signature Hotels

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After living and playing in Southeast Asia for the last 6 years we have had many hotel experiences. We have been lucky enough to stay in some amazing properties and we have definitely have had some less than appealing places…websites can be deceiving! I have done hotel inspections in every country, in every city we go to and we have found some hotels that we feel embody the spirit of Journeys Within. Our Signature Hotels are in all price ranges and in all countries, they are the places that when we travel we like to stay. The hotels that we feel give a little more than is necessary. We consider them our partners in making each trip we run special and memorable. We have stayed in all of our Signature Hotels and we have included reviews from other tour consultants as well as from guests so you can get a real sense of each property. Our rating system is described below, my good friend Dawn Johnson once warned me that it was a ‘socks on’ hotel and I loved the mental image and expanded on her clever description. 

Shoes On: A more basic property that might not be clean enough for even socks…hopefully there would be another compelling reason to stay here.

Socks On: Not dirty, but not really ready for bare feet either. Sometimes this is used for good value for money places that are fine…but could use some new carpets.

Socks Off: Clean and fresh, you can take your socks off and not worry about stepping on anything or getting grubby feet.

Everything Off: This is for those special properties that make you want to get naked! Fluffy white beds with lots of pillows, sparking clean hardwood floors and big bathrooms with only flattering mirrors.

For a detailed list and full reviews of our Signature Hotels go to archive.journeys-within.com… Read more »

Honeymoon Registry!

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Andrea and I were talking about some new services that we could offer for our guests and she and I agreed helping with a honeymoon registry would be something people would enjoy. So I looked around and found a great site that offers honeymoon registry for free, www.honeyfund.com.  

 

 I have put together a sample honeymoon registry at http://www.honeyfund.com/wedding/journeyswithinhoneymoon. Here you can see examples of how your wedding guests give the gift of upgrades or pay for an adventure already on your itinerary. Your registry is completely customized for you. Honeyfund will host your registry free, and I can set it up and maintain it for you as a courtesy service. Unlike other services where you simply receive the money, when your guests give a gift I will directly book it and send you a confirmation of your gift. (Just one less thing for you to have to do yourself – which is nice:) I personally know how stressful planning a wedding can be, so I hope to make this as stress free and fun as possible. If you have any questions – please do not hestitate to contact me.

Congrats again,

April… Read more »