Happy New Year

Anne and I wish you a Happy New Year!

We look forward to a new year with hope and good travel times. We stand ready to help you get the best value for your upcoming trips and create memories of a lifetime

May your upcoming year be full of joy, may you be safe and well and all your dreams come true.

Thanks for your trust in us!

Savor Life . . .make memories . . .Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!

Anne and Hank

Anne in her favorite city in Europe—Brugge

Anne New Year’s Eve 2020

Hank New Year’s Eve 2020

At the Captain’s Table on a river cruise

The Emotions of Travel

The Emotions of Travel

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

This has been a roller coaster year for travel.  Sadly, many have faced great hope of fun travel, exciting experiences and a great trip, only to have their hopes and plans dashed by the pandemic.

From a personal perspective, in most years we help 40--60 or more couples travel.  In 2021, our final count will be 8, yet many more were booked and had to cancel or delay their plans. 

The emotional toll of this is hard to put into words—we like to make dreams come true, not ruin them.  We feel this very deeply since there is little we can do but emphasize how sorry we are, try to move quickly to avert financial loss and provide the hope of a new trip experience to continue the dream.

Perhaps one of the hardest things we face is when circumstances beyond our control force us to make changes.

Even more devastating, besides the emotional loss, is when it also turns into a financial loss.

So, let’s explore together and learn about the emotions of travel and maybe some tips to limit financial loss in the uncertain travel environment we are faced with at present.  The tips are from a previous blog I wrote earlier this year and updated but seem even more relevant now.

The Emotions of Travel

We all love to dream.  Most of you can close your eyes and imagine a better place than you are presently experiencing (unless you currently are on a great vacation or at an awesome event).  

Often it is travel you dream about—getting away, experiencing new places, the sights and sounds, the food and wine, the iconic buildings and spaces, and expanding your knowledge of the world.

Here is a radon sample of pictures showing some of the dreams listed above:

Inside the walled old town of Tallinn, Estonia, Anne captured in this photo a small tranquil alleyway. It is quite a contrast to the stark walls that surround the old town area.

How about a parade? Can you hear the music and drums pounding as costumed folks in the tiny country of San Marino march and play at noon?

The traditional way to make funnel cakes at a Christmas Markets stall in Budapest, Hungary. I’ll bet you can imagine how good this sweet treat is!

Even the nobility had to escape their duties of governing. This is the wonderful rose garden of Bamberg, Germany, located in northern Bavaria.

A spectacular picture of the city of lights, Paris France. Can you see yourself here?

Maybe you would like to visit the best palace ever built. This is the entrance to Versailles, France with the throngs of visitors who come here to see this opulent palace.

I think going to Europe, just makes you want to visit or see castles. Often they are located on impressive cliffs like Bled Castle overlooking Lake Bled in Bled, Slovenia.

The Acropolis of Athens built from 495-429 BC, is a symbol of Greek legacy and the foundations of democracy. Can you imagine walking the grounds that ancient civilizations utilized?

I think there are two emotions of travel—Anticipation and Expectations.

One of the best part of travel is your anticipation of going on a trip and the expectations of what you will experience.  Even as I write this, my mind often drifts to going on a river cruise, or visiting Europe or our upcoming trip to Egypt.  There is so much to see, do and experience, that 50 years’ worth of travel is just not enough—I want more!

Anticipation is excitement about something that is going to happen.  The key word is excitement.  Our curiosity is endless—will it be fun, boring, memorable, dull or just average?  Our minds are such a powerful thing—mankind has created such amazing things and better ways to live because we used our brain power. 

Anticipation for Anne is Brugge—her tranquil spot in Europe to enjoy this medieval gem.

Now you should go and see what has been created or preserved to witness the amazing achievements and places created on our planet.

Expectations are a strong belief that something is going to happen.  The key word is belief.  We believe that an upcoming event or experience is going to be fun, boring, memorable, dull or just average.

I always expect to eat well in Europe and this is visual proof I usually do! Here is a Christmas day feast in 2016 Anne and I shared with our travel chums, Denise and Mark Thomas.

Our goal as travel advisors is to help you get travel experiences that exceed your expectations.  While this is usually possible, sometimes circumstances change so drastically, risk factors of travel exceed the anticipated benefit of a trip.

Travel Does Have Some Risks

In a perfect world, there never would be a problem when you travel—all would work seamlessly.

However, that is not the real world.  First, let me say I am the guy for who the glass is always half full, not half empty.  I accentuate the positive and minimize the negative.

Yet, this environment is different—currently in Europe, the risks at some locations outweigh the benefits of a visit but this should abate in 2022.  We have advised 4 clients to cancel their Christmas Markets river cruise trips in December, as the quality of the trip is not worth the benefit of just going—most Christmas Markets have been canceled, there will be minimal port stops on the traditional Upper Danube route. It sure is a lot of money to pay to spend most of your time on a ship instead of enjoying the amazing destinations on this route.

At the very minimum, we all (our clients and us) will suffer an emotional loss and some financial loss.  We also canceled our Europe River Cruise on the AmaMagna on the Danube but we are still planning to go on our Egyptian River Cruise.

10 Prudent Steps to Get Your Confidence Back to Travel Safely in the Future

We hope that some of these steps you were already doing as savvy travel folks, but if you haven’t, now is the time to implement these 10 steps.

1.     Travel Suppliers are facing daunting challenges right now but those with enough money resources and are efficient operations will survive and do well.  More than ever, your choice of the right vendor is essential.  Some, even the best, will make poor decisions that will impact you.  We will continue to vet them, and honestly let you know who to use and who to avoid.  We will also advise when to cancel, even if it results in a financial loss of commissions for us.

2.     Don’t go it alone or try to use on-line travel agencies or booking sites.  Many have found a real live person can respond or will respond—the horror stories of the fall out of cancelled trips just has reaffirmed our profession.  The main reason you will never see a booking engine on our website is exactly for this reason—we need to talk to you and really learn who you are and what you want in your travel plans.  Again buyer beware—use the right person who matches your travel ideas and styles.

3.     Always use a credit card unless you know exactly why another form of payment must be used.  The only time we have resorted to wire transfers or check payments is with vendors who have a sterling reputation.

4.     Buy travel insurance but know exactly what you are trying to protect.  Look for exclusions that may render the policy useless to you.  Supplier travel insurance that is offered by a third party supplier must be carefully examined.

5.     Take a hard look at penalties, cancellation fees and supplier cancellation policies (often called contract of carriage).  Recent events have made this once usually glossed over detail, really, really important now.  Buying from online vendors with non-refundable rates to save money is just too risky right now, or anytime really.  We can’t emphasize enough to carefully read the Terms and Conditions of the vendor.  One of our ways to help you is to clearly point out some key items and make sure when you make a deposit or full payment, you understand you have accepted the supplier’s Terms and Conditions.

6.     Review the safety measures all the vendors have added to their products.  Realistically assess your risk.  We will be glad to help here.

7.     Review the risks of the places you want to see.  Again, realistically asses your risk along with any travel advisories and warnings.  Also look at the quality of the travel experience—is just going since you want to get away, worth a poor quality trip?  I guess, it goes without saying, we can help here also.

8.     Let’s recognize and thank the folks who clean our rooms, prepare and deliver our meals, help to protect us during our travels whether as a captain, pilot, cruise director, travel guide, housekeeper, waiter, and others—the front lines are the folks who will ultimately ensure our safety.  Maybe give them better tips when it is appropriate.  Also, don’t blame them for decisions beyond their control just because they are making the best of poor vendor decisions.  Remember, you chose to go in these difficult times.

9.     Don’t deny your dreams for fear—address the problems, assess the risk and then take a leap of faith when the time is right but realistically asses if it is the right time—don’t worry, we again have your back.

10.  If you have cancelled plans, carefully consider a future travel credit versus a refund.  There is no right answer here for all.  We are available to advise you on the advantages and disadvantages of your options.  Many vendors are providing increased benefits if you take the waiver.  Any refunds will take time to process (if even available) and there are some disputes ongoing right now, to include legal action against some vendors.

My Final Thoughts

It is sad I had to write this, yet we are very hopeful this is the last time we will have to honestly report the downside of travel.  Trust me, it will get better and pretty much get back normal.

We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise specialists, and Europe destination experts.  We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe.  We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you.  We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.

When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.  And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process.  We think we have all these qualities.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 50+ years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.   His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

Flexibility

Flexibility

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

Anne had some good thoughts about flexibility in travel.  We got to talking and I ask her to write down her ideas as an opening for today’s blog.  Here is what she wrote in quotes:

“Last week we celebrated 35 years of being together. It will be another 13 months before we celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.

Needless to say, there have been a lot of changes during this time: job changes, residential changes, losing and gaining family members and friends.  We’ve learned patience, adjustability and a lot of give and take.  But the one constant that has existed through these years is the need to adapt to changes, regardless of how much control we have over any situation.

The ability to adjust and adapt has never been more important than it is now in the present world of traveling during COVID.  

Just like any relationship, patience is also a required trait to be able to travel and enjoy your trip.  Being open to whatever the experience provides, rather than being locked into a single, set in concrete itinerary will make the trip much more fun.”

So, let’s explore together and learn about flexibility during travel—thanks Anne, for sparking the idea for the blog and providing a great opening!

Pre-planning for the Trip

During this time of ever-changing regulations, there are some steps that can help you still realize a trip and possibly enjoy it even more than any initial plan you had originally scheduled.

Obviously, it is very important to check with the correct government entity to verify what is required for your destination.  Our first advice—make sure you know the requirements of the places you want to visit. 

Knowing the documents needed and procedures will help you plan for an easier trip.  This is easier said than done, as government regulations seem to change often and add concerns. 

We believe most of this is misunderstood requirements but some, like the possibility of a quarantine, cause people to become extremely over anxious.

Even Anne, with her knowledge of the various travel requirements of the 4 countries in Europe we were planning to visit, was apprehensive about various face mask requirements listed on websites—she packed 4 different types; medical basic, FFP2, Kn95, N95, and even face shields.  We only needed the basic medical ones—you just can’t use the cloth ones.

Wearing masks in Europe can lead to some great experiences—these 6 pictures are at a small restaurant locals eat at—Anne found it from asking our hotel staff—it was so good we went back a second time!

Masked up and ready to go inside

Going inside

Looking great Anne

Hank ready to eat

My Meatballs—they were excellent

Anne’s Vol-au-Vent—a wonderful chicken dish so good, we came back a second time so I could have a whole dish

The other concern is COVID testing to get back into the United States or perhaps will be required in the future for entrance—relax, Europe has great testing sites in all the airports that are easy, quick and reliable.  We should note what a great job some vendors, especially AmaWaterways has done to make this process easier—Europe certainly ahead of the US in testing for COVID.

Now that you have determined the government requirements to travel, then determine what you would do if part of the trip is cancelled, interrupted or needs to change (this is where we can really help—we can fix most travel difficulties that might arise—as you know we are a text message, phone call or email away). 

Here is some sound advice—don’t try to do too much in a short time.  This is what I like to call the rookie Europe travel mistake—you want to see everything and fear missing out on something that the trip becomes so hectic it is not fun anymore.

Opportunistic Time Costs

In travel, I believe there are things you can do that will increase the value of your time.  Some may cost more money, some may just involve careful planning and some may just be a special opportunity that suddenly comes up.  

While planning a great trip, I think you need to balance all three of these factors to get the best results.  The last factor is just more important nowadays—you need flexibility!

So, how do you make the perfect balanced trip?  I think the first step is to identify your core values of travel—why are you going and what do you want to experience?

 Here are my core values when I travel or think about planning a trip—perhaps these will help you understand why you travel and what you want to experience on your future trips.

My Core Values for Travel

When I travel I do so for several key reasons.  They are:  

• ·       To add balance to my life,

• ·       To look for beauty,

• ·       To satisfy my curiosity about a place,

• ·       To help me grow as a person with new experiences and cultures,

• ·       To help me to gain knowledge and learning, and

• ·       To help me seek pleasure, happiness and wisdom.

8 Rules We Use to add Flexibility to our Trips

They are:

 1) Make sure there is time to share with your travel companions;

2) Remember and celebrate important dates (milestones);

3) Connect with the locals;

4) Put away devices for most of the trip;

5) Laugh and be positive;

6) Make your significant other feel special;

7) Show kindness to others, and

8) Be thankful.

Photo bombed—we always get along with the locals and it adds fun to our experiences

Brugge is known for mussels—Anne’s large meal

An Example—Our Recent Trip Required Flexibility

We were in Europe in August 2021, traveling in COVID times.  Yet it was not COVID that changed our plans—it was our rail connections!  Here is a tip to avoid these problems—always ask the hotel staff if they know about any transportation disruptions—even though we did, at check in, the rail workers decided to extend their work stoppage longer than originally planned and we learned about the problem the day before we had planned to leave Brugge.

Ready to go to Brugge after a wonderful river cruise on the Rhine

What a wonderful view of Brugge at night

Ready to go 2 days later

As seems to happen at times in Europe, the German rail workers decided to strike on Mondays and Tuesday during the month of August 2021 for better wages. As a result, we had to alter our plans and spend the last 2 days of our trip in Brugge—Anne was delighted to say the least!

It does bring up a lesson learned—always check your transportation arrangements prior to the next segment.  Anne cancelled our hotel arrangements and made a new seat reservation for us. We lost a minor $11 or so for a previous train seat reservation that we decided just wasn’t worth the hassle of standing in line at a rail station ticket office for a refund.

It is true we lost 2 days to visit Frankfurt and stay in the old town area, but here is what we gained—2 more wonderful days in Brugge!  Since Anne is always making great connections with hotel staff members, it was easy to fix for the most part. 

The truth of the matter—we just used our 8 rules to add flexibility to our trip, but we really didn’t think of them as a checklist—it just has become our way of travel and as you can see—it is all about your attitude and being flexible.  

It was relaxing, Anne found a local artist who made awesome jewelry that was one of a kind and not cost prohibitive, we wandered, and we revisited 2 great restaurants a second time and it was just plain fun!  We only used our devices to fix the connection problems and just spent time together.  

Awesome rings

Some of the wonderful items Anne found while wandering

Relaxing in Brugge

Please go back and re-read the list above of our 8 factors—we used them all (the milestone was the return to Europe after almost 20 months) and you will see we just adjusted our expectations and had a blast!

My Final Thoughts

I think it is clear that being flexible during your travels will help make the experience better.  We would encourage to apply flexibility to your travels and the experience can be wonderful!

We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise specialists, and Europe destination experts.  We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe.  We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you.  We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.

When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.  And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process.  We think we have all these qualities.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 50 years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.   His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

Escorting Clients

Escorting Clients

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

Yesterday, May 6, 2021, was National Travel Advisors Day.

I starting thinking about the things we miss about the current travel restrictions, and it became clear to me that one of the most important was guiding and escorting clients.

So, today’s blog is about that important and rewarding part of our job and a tribute to those who has trusted us with their vacations.

Our Role

Our role as escorts and guides is to provide a safe and unforgettable European travel experience to our guests and clients.  We are part entertainers but our primary role is to educate our guests about the destinations we are visiting.  Sometimes we handle all these duties ourselves.  Other times we partner with others in our industry to provide an even enhanced travel experience.

Our Duties and Responsibilities

Our primary duty is that we are always responsible from start to finish, to manage all aspects of the tour. 

Sometimes, especially with European River Cruises, we often handle any pre and post trips as the primary guide.  During the river cruise, we assist the river boat tour manager and handle many details directly for our clients.

We do have special tours, designed and led by us.  Our 2014 and 2019 Anniversary Celebration of D Day certainly are our best example of this type of tours.

We have other duties.  These include:

We must have an expert knowledge of the European tour we are escorting clients on, to help our clients learn and experience more during their vacation.  This always means we must thoroughly read, research and provide appropriate commentary about our tour destinations and be able to point out these unique features to our guests.  This often requires us to visit the destination on our own to familiarize ourselves of the exact location of top sights and to be able to find these sights during the tour.

We must be able to handle various problems and emergencies that might arise during the tour and resolve them to ensure a great experience for our guests and have them travel in a safe and healthy manner.

We must be able to vet our vendors and coordinate every aspect of the travel experience so it is seamless and hassle free along with providing an outstanding trip.

We must be able to handle transportation and transfer operations during the tour—from reading maps, communicate directions (sometimes in a foreign language) and even handle luggage.

A Brief Look at Our Escorted Trips by Year—A tribute to our Guests!

2014

We started the year, leading a small networking group of the Houston Business Cabinet and some family members on a short 4 day Caribbean cruise.

Our first major escorted tour was the 70th Anniversary of D Day during which we led 14 wonderful folks on a 7 day excursion in late May to the first week of June.

2015

In 2015, we led two groups on 2 different AmaWaterways trips.  .  The first was on the Blue Danube Discovery River Cruise on the AmaDagio.  Prior to the cruise, we led one guest on a tour of Budapest and then escorted him in Nuremberg.

The second was the Rivers and Castles River Cruise on the Moselle and Main Rivers, again on the AmaDagio

Later, we escorted 2 guests on a Danube Christmas Time cruise on the AmaPrima.  We continued on to Prague, where we escorted this couple during the Christmas markets festivities.

2016

In 2016, we led a river cruise group on a Provence River Cruise on the Rhône River on the AmaDagio. 

Later that year, we escorted 2 guests on Rhine River Christmas Markets Cruise.  At the end of the cruise, we led our guests on a tour of Paris.

2017

We escorted 2 guests on an AmaWaterways “A Taste of Bordeaux” river cruise.  We continue on with the same folks on a special tour to the Loire Valley Region of France.

2018

We escorted 3 guests on two different AmaWaterways river cruises in 2018.

First, we escorted a great friend on the second leg of his 2 week AmaWaterways Danube Cruise and then guided him in Prague.

In December we led 2 guests on a Christmas Markets cruise on the Rhine. 

Later, we continued on to Castel Engelenburg for a special European Christmas trip. 

We continued on to Brugge, Ghent, and got a special Flanders Fields WW I tour, where we organized, guided and help arrange the special WW I tour.

2019

It was a very busy year in escort duties for us in 2019.

First we led 33 awesome folks on a trip of a lifetime to the 75th Anniversary of D Day celebration.  We worked 3 years to design and execute the trip and the results were great.

Right after that trip, we then escorted 8 guests on a Rhine River Cruise on AmaWaterways on the AmaSerena.

We finished the year on a special themed jazz cruise escorting 2 clients on the AmaKristina on a Danube Christmas Markets cruise.  Prior to the cruise, we escorted our clients through Vienna. At the end of the tour, we escorted them in Nuremberg.

Our Future Escorting Trips

We are looking at a special tour of WW I sights in the Belgium, Luxembourg and France areas in a special tour we will lead in 2022 or 2023, depending upon when Europe reopens and we can complete a tour recon to ensure the excellence our plan trips have achieved in the past.

You can be assured we will be on the rivers again, escorting clients when the opportunity arises.

If you would like to be placed on an interested travel list for either the WW I tour or a river cruise or both, please contact us using the email at the bottom of this blog.

My Final Thoughts

What a great adventures—I really think you can see how much we love escorting our guests in Europe and sharing experiences—just another reason we love the Old World of Europe so much! 

Since 2014, we have led 12 escorted tours on land and on the rivers of Europe and one ocean cruise group—13 in all.  We would like to thank our guests who trusted us with their travels—we believe we exceeded their expectations.

We hope you enjoyed these pictures as much as we enjoyed seeing them during our travels.

We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise specialists, and Europe destination experts.  We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe.  We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you.  We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.

When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.  And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process.  We think we have all these qualities.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 49 years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.   His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

Happy Thanksgiving

May you be safe, well and happy. We are so thankful for your support, friendship and trust of us.

We can’t wait to help you in the future.!!

Anne and Hank

Our Constant Search

Our Constant Search

 By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

The travel business could be defined as a constant search.

 What is the search for?  What are we looking for?

 We are looking to match 3 things to help you, our clients!

 We are looking for the right product or trip, at the right time, to the right person.

 So, today, let examine what our search means for you.

Our Business Structure

 Visit Dream Destinations, LLC is a luxury leisure travel company.

 Our mission is to provide customers with the highest quality, expertly planned domestic and foreign leisure travel with a focus on Luxury Cruises, European River Cruises and European Vacations for groups and individuals.  We exist to attract and maintain customers.

We want to become the trusted travel advisors of choice for discerning travelers who want a good value for their travel budgets

 The Right Product or Trip

A trip on a river cruise is almost always the right trip for many. This is the Rhine River Gorge.

 Our slogan says it all—“Savor Life . . . make memories . . .Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!”  As the slogan implies, we find the right trip for each client that they will remember for a lifetime.

We are small enough to give our clients personalized service, yet big and experienced enough to them the right trip!

 Finding the right trip or product vendor requires a lot of knowledge and often some detailed research on our part.  The only way we will get it right is to listen very carefully to you.

 In travel agent jargon, it is known as qualifying.  But to us, it is listening to what you want and what you do not want.

To get started we need at least 4 things from our potential clients.  They are: 1) a trip destination or transport method in mind, 2) a budget, 3) a date for travel and 4) is a good fit for us and you. 

Now the more specific you can get, the better trip we can design.

Our goal is to create exceptional trips for our clients.  We will accomplish this by applying our 3 core values to the sales process.  Our core values are trust, knowledge and care.

We establish rapport with you by developing trust—we are who we say we are.  This leads to common ground, good communication and relationships.  We try to under promise and over deliver.

We next ask a lot of questions and listen—what exactly does the client want?  What have been the best previous trips?  And perhaps the most important—Why do they want to go?

Now we apply our knowledge and research skills—in short, our clients learn—do we know what we are talking about? 

Matching the right person to the right trip at the right time is crucial for our success.

Throughout this whole process, you should be thinking--do these folks of Dream Destinations care about me and have my best interests at heart?

We want to form a partnership with you—not just sell you something.

In simplest terms we inform, handle questions and then you decide.

We also respect you, our client—there are boundaries, we use your preferred method of communication and never are pushy.

The Right Time

Timing often is everything in the travel business.  It is not uncommon for folks to ask us to help them plan a trip after 9 to 18 months after they have found about our services.  Some even 3 years or more after finding out about us.

Why?  It is simple—travel is usually not an impulse buy!  You need time to plan for a vacation window, perhaps save up for the trip, or make sure it happens on just the right time, like a milestone time or festival.

So, even after they decide to go there will be some lag time—we usually book trips 9 months or more before they go on their vacation.

These four pictures emphasize the right time—two anniversary tours of D Day we led:

Our 70th Anniversary of D Day Tour in 2014.

Part of our 75th Anniversary Tour of D Day tour on 6 June 2019—we helped guide 33 on this once in a lifetime trip

The Right Person

No matter how hard we try, we can’t be everything to all people.  So we target certain travelers. 

Our 3 most targeted clients are potential river cruise clients, 7 day or longer ocean cruise clients and European tour clients. 

Here are the profiles of a good match for our #1 client, River Cruiser

1.     60+ but we see this trending lower

2.     Many retired

3.      Enjoy small villages or historic sites

4.      $80,000 median income—usually higher

5.     Visited Alaska/Hawaii/Europe

6.     Taken a 7 day or more ocean cruise but really would like to try a smaller ship

7.     Well-travelled

8.     Will spent $200+ a night per person if value is there

9.     Milestone life event—significant anniversary or birthday

10.  Like wine/food

Here are 10 pictures of the right people—all have used us to plan their river cruises:

Here is the profile for our # 2 client Luxury Ocean Cruiser

1) Median income $97,000—could be lower on shorter cruises

2) College grads—76%

3) Median age 40—48%

4) Retired—20%

5) Married—79% and often like to bring their family on the cruise or travel with friends.

Here are 5 photos of some folks we have helped take ocean cruises:

Our # 3 Client, European tour client, usually has the same profile as our river cruise client. Here are some photos of tour clients:

Client Retention

We have 4 areas we concentrate on to enhance our client retention.  They are:

1.     Communication.  We will contact each customer after each trip for feedback & follow up on these results.  We will send a hand-written note to every person who books with us before & after the trip.

2.     Content.  Our website, blogs, PDF slide shows are of exceptional quality and reflect our brand and advertising.

3.     Consistency.  We will follow up 100% on our promises—we will return calls and e-mails as promised.

4.     Create Community.  We try to blog each week with high quality topics that help our clients learn more about the travel opportunities we can provide them.

Our website has over 10,440 visitors this year (as of today 19 November 2020), so it must have something worthwhile for you-- either content or inspiration—hopefully both!.

About 2,849 visit our home page and then over 7,591 have gone to another page on the website.  This means they find our content worthy of a second look or they went directly to the desired page from a web search.

By far, our Best Europe River Cruise Routes Guide (2,849 visitors) and our Europe River Cruise Comparisons 2020-2021 (1,967 visitors) are the two most visited pages on our site.  It is a small wonder, because we feel these are as good a resource as is available to most folks on the worldwide web.

Why don’t you read them now?  Here are the links:

We want to turn our best clients into lifetime clients.  We hope you feel the same about us!

My Final Thoughts

Our goal has always been to help you travel better and get more value for your money.  The right trip, at the right time for the right person.

We would like to thank those of you who have trusted us for their travel needs and look forward to helping you again and anyone else in the future who might need our help.

When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.  And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process.  We think we have all these qualities.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 49 years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.  His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

The Benefit to You from Our Travel Experiences

The Benefit to You from Our Travel Experiences

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

Sometimes, we just have to “toot our own horn” so to speak.

We have unique first-hand knowledge about European travel and especially European River Cruises.  We use that knowledge to plan great trips.

The benefit to you is a better vacation.

Our goal is simple--to help you get a better understanding of European travel and the huge value to you of a European river cruise vacation and experience based on our vast knowledge about these travel options.  Then you can decide if it is the right option for your vacation.

Ready, to learn more?—let’s GO!

What We Do For You

We pride ourselves in providing travel advice that benefits you in 4 ways.  They are:

We design vacations that matches your travel style.

We will help you reach your—Dream Destinations.

We are your travel solution and inspiration!

We design customized trips that are just right for you.

The Importance of First-Hand Knowledge

You want a travel professional who knows from first-hand experience what you will experience on your vacation—that’s us!

We have been on over 25 ocean cruises, and taken 18 week-long Europe River Cruises.

We try to travel to Europe 2-3 times every year, usually escorting clients nowadays.

I have been traveling to Europe for 49+ years, Anne since 1989.

We will provide you amazing information on European trips, since we have written 50 European Cities Destination Guides.  We have personally visited 43 of the 50 Cities—most with several days visits.  Most of our guides include a PDF slide show of the most important sights to see at that city.

Our Guides provide you a quick, portable summary of 1) the best sights and things to do, 2) transportation option to get around in the city and 3) information about possible day trips to nearby sights that can be easily visited to enhance your vacation experience.  

We have written 51 European River Cruise Port Guides.  These guides have great value, as they help you decide if a particular cruise route is right for your trip and to help you decide upon the included tours during the trip.  It also ensures you won’t miss anything during the visit.

The bottom line is that we use this knowledge to match you to the right vendor, at the right time, to get you the best possible vacation—a true benefit to you!

This a great way to help you decide if we are the right folks to help plan your next vacation, especially for European Vacations and European river cruises.

A Blog Example—Why Buy a Europe River Cruise from Us?

As you may know, we have written over 75 blogs about European River Cruises.  Here is one example, detailing why you should use us to buy your European River Cruise.

Summary--There are about 75,000 to 100,000 professional travel agents in business in the United States (at least in 2019—not so sure there are that many in 2020 due to the pandemic and resulting crippling blows to our industry).  

There are also the giants of the internet (Travelocity, Expedia, etc.) and wholesalers (Costco).  You can also buy direct from many travel vendors.  To be sure, you the consumer, have a lot of choices and ways to buy travel.

With the plethora of options, it got me to thinking—Why should you buy a river cruise or for that manner, any travel from us, Anne & Hank Schrader, of Visit Dream Destinations, LLC?

I will begin by answering this question by explaining what the Europe River Cruise Trends are and then talk about sellers of travel (travel agents and others).

For sellers of travel, my game plan here is to define our competition first, and then tell you who we are, what we stand for and who are customers are.

Finally, I will explain why you should buy a river cruise from us.

Why it Matters—you have lots of choices and deciding if we are the right folks to use is critical to your success.  Europe river cruising is a wonderful vacation but is often sold by agents who just don’t know enough about the product to make a good vacation an exceptional one that exceeds your expectations. 

We gained that knowledge by earning certification as specialists in several river cruise companies but primarily by cruising the European rivers on the companies we sell.  There is no substitute for first-hand knowledge.

Did we convince you that we are the right folks to use to plan your Europe river cruise?

Here is the link to this blog

An Example of How One of Our Trips Enhanced a Tour We Led

In preparation for our D Day Tour we led in 2019, we made a recon visit to Bayeux, France.  We inspected the hotel we had reserved (3 years earlier) for most of 33 guests that we guided on our 75th Anniversary of D Day tour.  Since the hotel did not have an elevator, we selected rooms for guests that would be best for them.

Churchill Hotel in Bayeux—this picture was taken during our 27 November 2018 recon visit

We also scouted out restaurants to recommend to our guests during our 4 day stay in Bayeux, since meals were not included in the tour. 

La Din’nette—one of the several good restuarants in Bayeux we found

We also determined our original plan of moving our clients on the tour from the small Bayeux train station with only stairs to Paris for the final night of the tour was not feasible or desirable.  We had to get our vendor to provide a round trip motor coach for the transfer from Paris to Bayeux and then return to Paris.  This visit enhanced our successful tour and prevented a potential disaster for our guests.

While some of our clients were aware of these efforts, it is the behind the scenes efforts that take a trip from good to excellent.  We pride ourselves in providing exceptional experiences and work hard to deliver them to our guests.

Part of Our 2019 D Day Tour at the Airborne Museum on 6 June 2019

Anne and Hank with our 2018 TravelAge West Wave Award—a huge honor for a small travel agency

Pre and Post River Cruise Extensions—Our Knowledge will Enhance Your Trip

Most folks want to extend their stay either pre or post (usually both) in combination of their European river cruise.  We excel in comparing the vendor’s offers compared to doing the trip on your own.  Here is a great example of how our knowledge can enhance your trip.

Astronomical Clock on the Town Hall in Prague Old Town Square

Prague Old Town Square

Prague is a common pre or post cruise extension for river cruises.  On our trips to Prague, we have guided clients and conducted recon visits to prepare our city guide. 

On one trip, we were able to compare the offering of one vendor, AmaWaterways, of their extension to an independent trip by our clients or an extension led by us.  We were able to go on a guided tour of some of the sights led by a guide hired by AmaWaterways and got to compare our services compared to their offering. 

This is a key business differentiator between our services as compared to our competitors.  We could now help our clients decide the best option for them during this segment of their vacation.

My Final Thoughts

It is my sincere hope you agree with us, that we have met our two goals of this blog—we can provide you great useful, information that will enhance your next vacation and we are the right folks to help you plan your next vacation.

When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, especially a pricey Europe river cruise, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.  And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process.  We think we have all these qualities.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 49 years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.   His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways  Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

Have Desire, Will Travel

Have Desire, Will Travel!

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

Today’s blog title is inspired by an old TV show called “Have Gun, Will Travel”.  It was a 30 minute black and white Western about a single gun for hire.  The phrase really means, he is ready to go! 

So, today, I’d like to tell you about why you should seek out travel experiences with our help—you should “Have Desire, Will Travel” and be ready to go when this pandemic mess is solved.

How “Have Gun, Will Travel” Inspired Me to Write About Travel Experiences

The hero of the show was Richard Boone (Paladin), a West Point graduate, who wore all black when on assignment, and was a Calvary officer in the Civil War.  You can see the parallels for me now—West Point grad, Black Knights (Army Sports nickname) but as a young kid, I wasn’t thinking about that—he was just a cool guy in an action TV show.

His calling card was a black knight chess piece with these simple words “Wire Paladin, San Francisco”.  Again, a parallel—email us for travel help @ hschrader@dreamdestinations.com .

Even the name Paladin has meaning in history—a Paladin was a trusted knight during Charlemagne’s rule.  These noble knights (12) fought with Charlemagne against the Islamic invasion of Gaul (present day France).  The most famous was Roland.  While most of this is mythology, being a trusted advisor is an important feature of any relationship.  Do you see the parallel here?—we are trusted advisors who services will remove the hassles of your travel planning and trips.

My Travel Experiences are a tale of Have Desire, Will Travel

I have been traveling all my life.  My late father was a career Army Officer (thanks for serving our country for 33 years Dad!), so I started at a very young age to travel and learned to love it.  My Dad also loved to travel and US National Parks were very special to him, so our family had camped in and visited most of the 59 major parks by my early teen years.  

My Mom and Dad on a hiking trip—one of our favorite activities

I can also say I have spent at least one night in all 50 States in my lifetime and lived in 14 different states.  Along with living on Okinawa and in Panama for several years, I have spent about 6 months total in Germany, so I have also experienced several different cultures for extended periods of my life.  

The breakdown of different countries is something like this-- all of North America, all of Central America, all but one of South America, 35 of 50 in Europe, 13 Caribbean Islands, 2 Middle East, 1 Africa and 6 Asia—maybe 81 or so countries in total.

But this is not about where I have been, it is about what I have experienced.  Unlike some travelers who want to see every country and brag about how many they have seen and even set criteria to make sure it “qualifies” as a new country or territory, I just want to experience how other folks live, work, play and the culture they have created for their lives, especially in Europe.  

But this only is helpful to you if we can use my and Anne’s past travel experiences to help you have better trips.  Let’s explore that further together.

Creating New Experiences in Travel

So, how do you create new experiences in travel—here is a partial guide for you!

I think the first step and the most important step is deciding: Why you want to go on the trip? 

Have you read about it and want to see it firsthand?

Is this a romantic trip to share with your significant other?

Do you want to learn about how different cultures live their lives?

The next step is: What do you expect to see and experience?

Do you like small villages?

Maybe castles?

Do you want to concentrate on one country?

Do you have any activities planned or desired?

The next step is: What time is available, when do you want to go and who are your traveling companions?

How much vacation time do you have?

What time of year?

Who all is going—the family, your spouse or is it solo?

The next step is: How will you get there?

The classic planes, trains or cruise transportation questions—what arrangements and level of comfort do you need?

The next step is: What type of accommodations do you desire?

The question is also often the level of services vs. the budget—what fits best?

Now let’s put it all together and start making adjustments—reality vs. desires.

An Example from our Travels

We want to go to Europe for 2 weeks or more.  We want to go on river cruise and visit Brugge again, as it is Anne’s favorite city in Europe. 

We want to go to as many of the Christmas markets as possible. 

A typical Christmas Markets booths

Anne and Hank at the Thurn and Taxis Christmas Market in Regensburg, Germany with the owner of the HutKoeing (Hat King) with our new hats

Anne would also love to do a baking or cooking class if possible.  We want to go with our travel chums (another couple who likes to travel with us).

Denise (one half of our travel chums) and Anne bake gingerbread cookies together

We will need to select a cruise, get flights and also use trains.  We have a favorite hotel in Brugge but will need to find some other hotels for our planned stops.

View from our favorite hotel room in Brugge

We will use AmaWaterways, as it is our favorite European river cruise company and offers the best value for our money.  Maybe use AmaWaterways for flights—it depends upon price and convenience

We will need some Euros, travel documents and figure out what clothes to take.  We need to arrange for Libby, our dog, to go to the Doggy Hotel and make sure she gets the special play day package, to swim and run with the other dogs.

Libby Ready to go to the Doggy Hotel

I think this example helps you understand how detailed the planning for a good trip becomes to maximize the experiences.

How We Can Help

Does seem like a lot of details, doesn’t it?  But the answer is to let us plan it for you—we can be your Paladin!  We have the expertise to get it all right for you and find places and space you just didn’t know about.  We are ready to go to dive into the details, so there is zero hassle to you!

My Final Thoughts

We are your Paladin—Have Desire, Will Travel!  So now is the time to take action when travel restrictions are lifted!  We will be ready to help!

When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.  And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process.  We think we have all these qualities.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 49 years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.   His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways  Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

Travel Enjoyment

Travel Enjoyment

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

Travel is good.  Not only is it good, there are many studies that prove it has significant health benefits.  Right now, it sure would help raise my mood—it has been almost a year since we have visited Europe and I sure miss it. 

For me, however, the biggest benefit is personal growth and learning—I just feel a little stagnate right now—yes, idle thoughts that could be quickly solved by a good dose of travel.

I yearn for that stimulation!  How about you?  Do you feel the same?  I suspect so!

So, let’s examine the benefits of travel together and hope we can soon return to the normal world of travel—I believe it will happen in 2021.

Some Facts about Americans and Travel Overseas

According to a study conducted by Hostelworld Global Traveler Report (2017 data), Americans are about 50% less likely to travel abroad than Europeans.  The report states that 29% of Americans have never left America. 

The average American has visited 3 countries; UK residents average 10 countries; Germans 8 countries; and Frenchmen 5 countries.  While it is true it is easy and cheaper to travel if you live in Europe to other countries, it saddens me to know so many Americans are missing learning and experiencing most of our wonderful world. 

Far too often, Americans choose Canada, Mexico and somewhere in the Caribbean for their only international visits.  We would hope they would expand to other worldwide locations—especially Europe. 

The good news is that most of you reading this are not the ones who have only visited 3 countries—you are the exception and we applaud you!

I Learned at a Young Age the Benefits of Travel

My parents started my lifelong love of travel at an early age.  My Dad loved the outdoors, and we often went camping as a family.  As most of you know, my Dad was a career Army officer.

When he was reassigned to Okinawa (I was 12 years old), we visited most of our nation’s national parks on the way to the West Coast of America.  We drove across America to get to a ship that took us to our new home—it sure was a great learning experience to see a lot of America!

Landing on Okinawa with my Mom and Dad in the background

But the real lesson was living and traveling in the Far East.  You can read about a rice paddy, but until you see a small plot of land worked by hand by folks living so differently than you do, that you began to understand how complex our world really is. 

My School Days picture form 1962-1963

Yet, you also quickly learn people all over the world are basically the same.  They may look different in their outward appearances, but they have the same wants and needs as you and I do.  Experiencing different ways of life, and connecting with locals, is a far better way to learn about the world than reading about different cultures in a text book.

I was lucky— I was exposed to our unique world at an early age and it quickly changed my life for the better.  To this day, my wanderlust is still strong—thanks Mom & Dad for exposing me to the benefits of travel at an early age!

The 4 Health Benefits of Traveling

It is good for your heart health.  A study of overseas travelers reported that there was a reduced risk of heart attacks in men and women.

Travel enhances your cognitive abilities—it sharpens your mind.  New challenges in a different environment will stimulate your brain.  It is especially true of folks who engage with the local people and their culture.  Just experiencing different languages will improve your communication skills.  Most travelers at least learn a few new words or phrases in a different language and are exposed to new foods, so it is easy to see how travel can sharpen your mind.

You get to relax and disconnect.  Wandering old medieval towns of Europe, sharing an al fresco meal in Rome or Paris—that is my idea of relaxing—with a good glass of wine and locally grown, seasonal food!  

Most of all, I want to slow down a little and savor life and my surroundings.  I always seem renewed after travel and there is evidence that many folks upon returning from a vacation are in a better mood and more creative.  I know I am.

5 Great Reasons Your Travel Experiences will Make You a Better Person

You will become more confident.  Change is difficult sometimes but it will help you grow.  When you travel, you become different.  You leave your comfortable, known world and venture into the unknown. 

The best part is that the unknown soon becomes familiar and usually awesome.  Good or bad experiences still leave you changed, but I will tell you, most travel is great.  The best part of venturing out is that you gain confidence in yourself.  It is very empowering to know you can handle new experiences. 

You can read about a place but until you experience it, you do not really understand it.  Battlefields, Biblical sites, ancient towns, stunning structures, different food markets, and jaw dropping scenery are all different when you visit in person.  Pictures and words are never the same as being there.  It is amazing how many times I have visited a new place and the visit completely changed what I thought the place was like. 

Chateau Chenonceau France

Travel will also quickly teach you how little you know about the world.  Even as a former teacher of World Geography, who thinks he knows a lot about the world, I still have a lot to learn.  Always after every trip I take, it just reinforces that there is so much more to learn and experience.  It always makes me eager for the next adventure!

Lake Bled Castle in Slovenia—I never knew about this wonder place until a visit in 2010.

Travel will make you appreciate your life and the world we live in.  You see some of the wonderful things humans have created.  They have created amazing buildings and structures. 

Pont du Gard

People of different cultures have found many ways to create good, tasty meals and great beverages and when you try some of them, you will wonder why you hadn’t tried them sooner.  You will be amazed at how they have adapted their lives to their surroundings and environment.  You will see beauty. 

Cordon Blu

Lobster in Brugge 2019

These experiences are life changing and you will have been given a true gift—a better understanding of our world and the people who live on our planet.  Travel broadens your horizons.

Travel will provide you experiences that you will never forget.  We have been lucky to have experienced so many, it is hard to select just a few, but I will try. 

Wish you could have joined us savoring excellent wine and food floating on the rivers of Europe in a river cruise boat as castles peer down on us from the cliffs.  Celebrating the holiday seasons in the many Christmas markets of Europe is always a highlight. 

An Advent Calendar House in Lucerne, Switzerland

Watching a play in London is fun and was made even better riding the Tube (subway) with many folks dressed up as characters from The Rocky Mountain Horror Show. 

Drinking beer at a pub in Dublin, Ireland with rugby fans from Ireland and Scotland just prior to their international test match later that day, is really getting down with the locals. 

Anne’s new drinking buddies at Kehoe’s Pub Dublin Ireland

Gazing on some of the world’s great art in Paris, London and St. Petersburg helps you understand how creative humans can be. 

Magnificent artwork in the Louvre Paris France

Learning to cook a great meal from a celebrity chef in Wales was a bucket list for Anne on her 60th birthday. 

People watching in the many outdoor cafes of Europe can be so entertaining you will sit for hours enjoying the street life of Europe. 

An excellent people watching Ristorante in San Marino

Walking in ancient ruins, imaging that we were famous ancients of an era long past, allowed us to bring history to life. 

Ruins of the Roman Forum in Rome

Doesn’t this make you want to go—just writing my blog has stirred my desire to get back to Europe soon!

My Final Thoughts

Travel is good!  There are so many benefits of travel that outweigh the minor disadvantages of making travel arrangements (most of which we can easily solve for you), so now is the time to take action when travel restrictions are lifted!  We will be ready to help!

One of the great joys of our business is helping others experience the benefits of travel—we hope we have provided real travel enjoyment in their lives.

When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.  And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process.  We think we have all these qualities.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 49 years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.   His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways  Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

The Dream Destinations Brand

The Dream Destinations Brand

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

We have been in business for almost 25 years.  It has been a great experience and we love helping folks find the right trip for their vacations.

I just finished a webinar for over 1100 participants yesterday for AmaWaterways (22 July 2020) and my talk was about how to boost river cruise sales to help other travel agents.  It was fun—I had a blast!

Photo AmaWaterways who kindly granted us permission to use this slide in this blog

However, during the presentation instead of how to increase sales, it became crystal clear to me what I was really talking about was our brand—who we are, what we stand for, how we do business and what it means for our clients.  Our success is really due to our core values not the techniques we use.

Just before the webinar, Kristin Karst, one of the co-founders of AmaWaterways ask me if we ever thought about becoming a bigger agency by hiring others to expand our business.  I replied that we want to assure our clients got the best and we were pretty happy being a small mom and pop organization (I have the best boss in the world—my wife Anne!).

Photo AmaWaterways who kindly granted us permission to use this slide in this blog

Her reply was to me—“Quality over Quantity.”  She went on to relate how she and her then co-founder partner and future husband (Rudi) started just like that as their premise to begin their business—there is a wonderful picture of her she shared working on a laptop at her kitchen that I could easily relate to—they were small then but had wonderful ideas.

It brought back fond memories of us staring our home based business.

They have gone on to build the best European River Cruise Company, in our humble opinion.  Their tag line is “Leading the Way in River Cruising” and their core values include “partnership; passion and prepared.” 

In short, they have created a river cruise line they would be proud to travel on themselves.

Thinking about their wonderful brand and our partnership in offering their great products, it got me to thinking about the importance of our brand.

So, this week I’d like to talk about the history of brands, our business brand and what it means for you.

The History of Brands

A brand is designed to represent something. 

Brands didn’t really take off until the Middle Ages.  It really started with the coat of arms system in northern Europe.

Sometimes Coat of Arms symbols were used on shields

Berg Eltz Coat of Arms

Hampton Court Palace Coat of Arms

I’m sure most of you know about these symbols—it has unique elements to help identify the organization—who they were, most probably their family allegiances and usually their alignment and allegiance to a king or royal family.

In a time when most could not read, this visual symbol conveyed a clear statement of who they were and what they stood for in their society.

Chambord Palace Coat of Arms

This was continued later by guilds and shop keepers by the visual signs and symbols of their trade—remember most still could not read during these times.

While the exact origin of these signs is unknown, many think they originated in the Alps region of Germany.  There is actually a German word of these emblems zunftzeichen which implies these wonderful signs represent the pride and tradition of skilled craftsmen who provided quality goods to their town or village.

Schloss Hotel sign

These wrought-iron signs were made by specialized blacksmiths. These craft men helped advertise the business represented by the sign, but they also benefited by their artful signs and became sought after by local merchants. 

The wrought-iron signs were commissioned by local tradesmen who were members of a particular guild, such as bakers, shoemakers or tailors.

Coffee Shop Sign Cesky Krumlov

Guilds are associations of artisans or merchants who control the practice of their craft.  In medieval cities, craftsmen tended to form associations based on their individual trade or skill.  In the Middle Ages, all craftsmen were members of guilds.  

Shop Sign Rudesheim

The guild’s senior craftsmen controlled the working hours and conditions of work of their members.  They also made sure work was of proper quality by setting standards and using apprenticeships to teach younger workers the skills and techniques they would need to succeed in their chosen trade.

As society advanced, these “coats of arms” and shop signs developed into brands—slogans, trademarks, tag lines, and branding.

So, now it is time to go from the history of brands to our brand.

Our Brand 

Our Mission

We spent a lot of time thinking about who we wanted to be in the business world.  It first started with our mission statement.

Our mission is: Anne & Hank Schrader, of Visit Dream Destinations LLC, are certified travel professionals who will provide you with the highest quality, expertly planned domestic and foreign leisure travel with a focus on cruises, European river cruises and European vacations for discriminating travelers.

Our Tag Line—Savor life . . . make memories . . . Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey starts here!

I think is really sums us up—we are all about creating trips that are exceptional that will help you enjoy life better, make unforgettable memories by traveling to great places and it all starts with us.

But what does this mean for you? 

I think it means we have to develop a way to work with you to achieve our mutual goals of a great trip.

For us, it boils down to the core values of trust, knowledge and care. 

So let’s see how we approach these elements

Trust

For us to be successful in our business, we have always recognized the importance of developing trust that we are who we say we are.  Trust and integrity are valuable traits and, in my judgement, in short supply in our country.  Too many make promises they can’t or won’t keep.  

My whole life has been devoted to service after graduating from West Point—20 years as a US Army Officer; 20 years as a coach and teacher and 24+ years helping others travel to the right location. 

My 1971 Graduation from West Point

Anne is equally dedicated to trust and integrity—she always thinks about what is best for our clients, every single time.

 We think trust is the cornerstone of our relationship with you.  We try to under promise and over deliver a great travel experience for you.  

We strive to make your travel experience better by helping you make wise choices, eliminate hassles, and help you get the best value for your money.  

In short, while working with us, we want to provide a trip that will exceed your expectations.

Travel Knowledge

Our brand, Dream Destinations, requires us to have extensive travel knowledge--Do we know what they are talking about?

With over 24+ years of experience selling travel to many satisfied clients, we know both what you need to make your travel experience better and the knowledge of what is available to match you with just the right vacation.

We have extensive first-hand knowledge and do comprehensive research on trips.  We have planned hundreds of successful trips to delighted clients and we are eager to plan yours.  

Like a little proof?  Here are two great examples:

Our 75th Anniversary Tour to D Day was, by any measure a huge success.  No other 2 person agency attempted such a tour for 33 folks.  We planned it for 3 years, our cost was several thousands of dollars less than many other large scale tour operators, and we avoided many pitfalls of waiting for long periods to see and experience the awesome events of that horrible day 75 years ago.

Part of our D D Group

“Trip of a Lifetime!”

— Jim B. 2019 Dream Destinations 75th Anniversary of D Day Tour

Our knowledge of Europe river cruises is exceptional.  We have been on 18 Europe river cruises, written over 76 blogs about all aspects of Europe river cruises, have 3 items on the first page of Google, we have 51 port guides (they are free) for you, and we have helped dozens enjoy river cruising in Europe.  And if that we not enough, we have 50 free guides to most Europe Cities you might want to visit before or after your Europe river cruise.

Chef’s Table 2019 AmaWaterways

“ “The travel pros—if you are interested in experienced, unbiased advice on European river boat tours. Hank and Anne have personally done all the tours, and helped us find exactly the right tour and company - three times. Dream Destinations handled the reservations flawlessly, kept us up-to-date on deadlines, and provided great recommendations on activities of interest. We go with them every time.”

”

— — Jane and Len A Rhine River (2015) Rhone (2016) Seine (2017) and Rhine (2019) All were on AmaWaterways

Do they care about me and what I need?

We treat each of our clients as friends, because we don’t sell travel to clients—we sell travel to friends.  There is a big difference—how your trip goes makes a world of difference to us.

We like to say we are small enough to deliver personalize service but big and experienced enough to get you just the right trip.

We try to match you to just the right experience and make it logical, realistic and affordable in your price range.  We do not sell on price—we sell on value. 

What we do not do

Our goal is to provide you with information but not bombard you with offers you do not want.  We really try to get to know you and match your desires to opportunities when they arise.

We are low-key and strive to provide the right info in a relaxed, no pressure situation.  In my opinion, there is a big difference about being eager to be your travel professional and being an obnoxious salesperson.

We are excited to help, but know the boundaries—the truth is we want to form a partnership with you—not just sell you something.

It is as simple as this—we inform, you decide.

We also realize you are busy and we respect your time by trying to contact you in the form (phone, email or written) that works the best for you at the time that is the best for you. 

In short, we respect you!

My Final Thoughts

I think our brand is exactly what we hoped it would be—it represents who we are and what we stand for. 

We would like to thank those of you who have trusted us for your travel needs and look forward to helping you again.

We also look forward to helping anyone else in the future who might need our help.

When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.  And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process.  We think we have all these qualities.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 49 years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.  His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways  Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

A Gift for You on National Travel Advisors Day

A Gift for You on National Travel Advisors Day

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

May 6 is National Travel Advisors Day.  I suppose some deep thinkers could come up with all the wonderful reasons to enter this profession, but for us it is really simple—we just like to help folks travel better.

In our almost 25 years advising folks about travel, we have learned how to navigate the maze of travel options to deliver great trips for our great clients.  The only thing that really counts in this business is that our clients are happy with our help.

A Thank You Gift

To say thank you, we would like to offer you a $50.00 on-board credit per cabin on any AmaWaterways cruise you book in May 2020 through us.  The booking can be for sailing seasons 2020-2022.  We picked this option, as our client satisfaction with AmaWaterways is off the charts good, and it always is good to get even a small discount on any travel booking.

You don’t even have to select your cruise yet.  Just let us know you want to take advantage of the offer using this button

If you might need some help deciding upon which route to go on, either call us or read our route guide.  Here is the link:

Now, to the Rest of Our Weekly Blog

So, this week, after a very brief summary of our qualifications, I’d like to introduce you to the real stars—some of the wonderful folks that have trusted their travels to us.

Just to make this a little easier to read, I have organized these folks by trip types, but don’t think they only take one type of trip—most often could easily fall into several categories.

Ready?—Let’s go!

We Are the Right Folks to Plan your Next Travels

If I had to select only one reason we are really good travel advisors, it is we try to match the trip to its purpose—why do our clients want to go on this particular trip?

Here is what you can expect from us:

·        We design vacations that match your travel style

·        We will help you reach your Dream Destinations

·        We are your Travel Solution and Inspiration

We have 24+ years as a full service travel agency.  We like to say we are small enough to give you personalized service, yet big and experienced enough to get you the right trip.

Our knowledge of Europe river cruises and Europe travel is exceptional.  We have been on 18 Europe river cruises, written over 60 blogs about all aspects of Europe river cruises, have 3 items on the first page of Google, we have 51 port guides (they are free) for you, and we have help dozens enjoy river cruising in Europe.  And if that we not enough, we have 50 free guides to most Europe Cities you might want to visit before or after your Europe river cruise.

River Cruisers

Perhaps our best overall ability to help you travel is our travel specialty, European River Cruises.  Here are some folks who we have helped enjoy the special means of travel:

AmaWaterways Rivers & Castles Cruise 2015.

AmaWaterways Danube Cruise 2015 Group

2013 Doyno River Cruise Group

AmaWaterways Captivating Rhine Group 2019 at the Chef’s Table.

AmaWaterways Enchanting Rhine River Cruise

AmaWaterways Provence River Cruise Group

AmaWaterways River Cruise Group 2015

2018 Emerald Waterways Group

Christmas with Kilts 2018

Tour Clients

We handle both individual trips and group trips.  In my humble opinion, our best ever group trip was the 75th Anniversary of D Day Trip.  We would like to introduce you to some great folks who have trusted us with their travels:

70th Anniversary of D Day Group in London

70th Anniversary of D Day at Victory Services Club in London

75th Anniversary of D Day at Ste. Marie Eglise Airborne Museum

Bob and Johanna at Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument

Jakie by a Bunker at Pointe du Hoc

Lester Holt and Hank at Utah Beach June 5th 2019

The Erkums at London Bridge

Special Occasions

Great memories, perhaps romantic, maybe a milestone or just family travel—another aspect of the business that makes us proud to have helped.

Sisters Amber and Mindy in Las Vegas

Proposal in Tulum, Mexico

Sandals Honeymoon

Collins New York Trip

Ocean Cruisers

We have help many here also and sent folks to almost every sea and ocean on earth.

Alaska Adventure Group

Tave Alaska Group

Cruising for the Cause

Joe and Linda Caribbean Cruise

Celebrating my 60th Birthday with family

Zip Lining in Belize



Avid Travelers

Avid travels do it all—from African safaris, to exotic locations, from Asia to Europe and Alaska, we have helped many folks.  Why don’t we meet them?

Boin Family in Chichen Itza, Mexico

Mary and Jack in Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Dinner in Paris

Ready for a Bike Ride on the Moselle River, Germany

Denise and Anne Baking Cookies in Nuremberg, Germany 2019

The Patterson twins and their wives, Mont-Saint-Michel

Mark and Denise on a Thames River Cruise, London

Jeff and Hank 2018 Danube River Cruise

Hank and Anne in Regensburg, Germany with their new hats

My Final Thoughts

Wow—what a great group!  It is an honor to have helped them and we look forward to future travels down the road.

We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise experts, and Europe destination experts.  We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe.  We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you.  We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.  As you can see, our full service agency can get you to almost anywhere you desire to travel and provide you a great experience and vacation.

When you are spending your hard earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 48+ years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.  His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

You Are Our Ideal Customer!

You Are Our Ideal Customer!

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

This might seem like a strange topic for our blog, but in reality, it may be the most important aspect of our business—who is our ideal customer? 

We believe you, our readers, our friends and associates are our ideal customer!

In my work lifetime of 49+ years, I have been a career Army Officer, a teacher and coach, and a travel advisor.  These 3 careers have one item in common-it’s all about relationships with people.  We think our best asset, while advising you about travel, is our relationship with you—we strive to be your trusted travel advisors.

We will do our best for you by matching you with the right trip so you can experience the joy of being in a wonderful place and learn all about it and share these experiences with family and friends. 

So this week, I would like to boldly tell you who you are; what you want from travel; how we can help you achieve your travel goals; and how we recognize you.

Ready?—Let’s go on this journey together!

Who You Are

Here are some characteristics of most of our clients—how many of these match who you are and what you want from your travels?

First and foremost you are active folks.  You have succeeded professionally, physically and socially in your lifetime.  Probably, you are a college graduate and you are married.  You may still be working or just recently retired but you have been in the workforce for over 40 years. 

Ready for a bike ride—Jane, Len and AmaWaterways Wellness Host June 2019 River Cruise

You are reasonably affluent and willing to spend $10,000 or more on a trip that matches a travel experience you want.  You are well traveled—you probably have visited Alaska, Hawaii or Europe, or all three or other great places in the world.  You might have even lived for a while in a foreign country.  You probably have been on a 7 day ocean or river cruise.  You have realistic expectations—you know great trips are expensive. 

Christmas Eve Dinner in the Netherlands with Mark and Denise Thomas 2018

You seek great value in your trip—the best experiences for your money.  You know geography and world events—chances are you read a lot.  You like art and history.  You like both big cities and small villages and historic sites.  Most of you really like good food and wine. 

Vienne, France Picnic—many of clients love great food and wine

You often seek Authentic Travel.  You often want to venture beyond the ordinary by getting to know a destination through its people and customs.  These travel experiences are both educational for you and entertaining.  You seek out local history and lore; local food; delight in meeting local people and like hands on experiences.

A night visit to Cologne Germany Christmas Markets—Authentic Travel at its Best!

Sometimes you want to be pampered—you want to have a temporary lifestyle that exceeds your daily lifestyle.  You want to mark milestone celebrations with unique travel experiences.  You have worked very hard in your lifetime and you want to reward yourself for your past and future achievements.

Room Service in Suite 809 on SilverSea—awesome breakfast—luxury at its best!

What You Are Seeking From Your Travels

Here are some common items we feel most of you seek during your travels—again, we would like you to see how many of these align with your travel desires:

You want travel to enrich your life with experiences.  You want to travel with friends and family to share these experiences. 

What an experience—for Anne’s 60th birthday, we prepared a chef’s meal in Wales by attending a cooking school led by famous chef Angela Grey at a vineyard. We prepared Cog au Vin, Lyonnaise Potatoes and Crepes Suzette!

You want a way to make your dream travels happen as easily as possible.  You have done your research before you seek us out and you want to turn your dreams into reality (according to Google, 62% of all leisure travelers use the internet to research their trip and the average traveler visits 20 different websites prior to making a purchase—you may be one who has done such extensive research).  But, you probably would prefer avoiding the hassle of making choices without all the facts and are often thankful for help you can trust, especially if it does not cost you extra or come with hidden expenses or deceptive descriptions of any aspect of your trip.

Many times your trips have different goals.  Sometimes it is a new experience.  Sometimes it is a familiar place.  Sometimes it is an escape.  Sometimes it is pure luxury—the best the world has to offer.  Sometimes it is active and full of adventure. 

Great Family Trip—the Boins in Chichen Itza

You dream about travel a lot.  I’ll bet if you close your eyes and start thinking about where you would like to go and what you would like to experience, you can quickly think of 3 or more places—your own personal bucket list. 

Brugges, Belgium—Anne’s favorite place to dream about!

The bottom line:  You want a vacation that is fun, safe, hassle free and a good value for your money.

How We can Help You Achieve Your Travel Goals

According to Google, there are 5 distinct stages of travel. They are 1) Dreaming; 2) Planning; 3) Booking; 4) Experiencing; and 5) Sharing.  We help you in all of the 5 phases of travel by turning ordinary trips into extra-ordinary experiences. 

How do we do this?—we really know who you are!  We know what you like and do not like.  We do not want your trip to be okay or good—we want it to be the best vacation you ever take!  We always ask a lot of questions about your travel desires so you dreams become reality by our careful planning and booking on your behalf.

We are not Hank.com or Anne.com—we do not work for a cruise line or a resort or a travel company—we work for YOU!  There is no booking engine on our website—we need to talk with you, really know you and then plan and book your trip. 

Then once are the details are in place, you get to experience a great vacation and share those experiences with your friends and family.  Pretty cool, huh!  We have been in business for 24+ years helping folks just like you have great vacations—believe me it is an honor to get it right for you and try our upmost to exceed your expectations. 

We know what a great value is in travel and will find it for you.  Ask yourselves—who do you know who have been on 27 ocean cruises, 18 river cruises, visited over 80 countries and written 50 city guides for European destinations and 51 port guides for Europe River Cruises? 

We really know our stuff about travel and we use our experiences to enhance your trip.  Maybe most importantly, we don’t want to be one and done with your travel—we want to be your trusted travel advisors for life. 

You aren’t only our customer—you are our friend and we treat all our friends with respect and will do the right thing to help you achieve your travel goals. 

Almost every time we plan a trip for someone, we ask ourselves why would anyone try to do it themselves, especially since it usually cost nothing extra to use us, as the vendors pay us and you will pay the same regardless if you use us or not. 

The bottom line is we know what you are seeking from your travels and we can help you achieve your travel goals so we can get you the right experiences on all of your trips. 

Our Traveler Hall of Fame

We have a unique way to recognize your trust in us by selecting us as your travel advisors.  We have created the Dream Destinations Traveler Hall of Fame to thank you.  Hall of Fames are design to recognize noteworthy people and their achievements and contributions and we are thrilled when we get to add a new person to our Hall of Fame.

So, doesn’t it make sense that we induct you into our Traveler Hall of Fame for using us to make your travel dreams reality?  We love to recognize your value to us by expressing our appreciation that you trusted your travels to us.  Any time we get it right, it motivates us more to maintain and improve our efforts on your behalf.

Erkuns at London Bridge—Great Father and Son trip!

Bob and Johanna on our 75th Anniversary of D Day Trip 2019 at Pointe du Hoc with Ranger Monument in the background

On our website we post pictures and the stories of the folks who have enjoyed their travel with us.  Here is the link to view some of the wonderful folks we have helped have great vacations and we hope to add your name here soon!

Dream Destinations Traveler Hall of Fame

My Final Thoughts

Did we get it right—are you our ideal customer?  We are pretty sure you are!  The next time you are thinking about traveling, why not contact us to help you achieve your travel expectations? 

Let us make you member of the Dream Destinations Traveler Hall of Fame. 

We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise experts, and Europe destination experts.  We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe.  We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you.  We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.  As you can see, our full service agency can get you to almost anywhere you desire to travel and provide you a great experience and vacation.

When you are spending your hard earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. 

Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 48+ years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.  His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

When Faced with the Unexpected, We Seek the Familiar

When Faced with the Unexpected, We Seek the Familiar

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

We are faced with a situation most of us never could have anticipated—stay at home orders, fear of an unseen health enemy and serious disruption of our economy.  I think almost all of us would like to have a return to normalcy—the familiar rhythms of life. 

And for most of us, that world is a world with travel.

So, this week, I’d like to write about how we in the travel world will get back to the familiar—our world with exciting travel.

Appreciation of What Travel Does for Us

Our world seems topsy-turvy—unexpectedly the simple things have just gone away temporarily. 

For example, meals and meal time has changed in such a short time.  It’s almost as if what could be a more fun and often exciting event, now has become a necessity instead of a memorable, pleasant experience (except maybe in our home—with a great cook like Anne, I am more than well fed!)—we just don’t like to be deprived of anything, especially the chance to eat outside our homes on occasion. 

It sure makes me appreciate our world and the familiar even more than before this pandemic hit us.

Humans have always seemed to bond at meals, especially as societies matured. 

A meal was even better with a view, at a different local and sometimes during a trip.  Someone brings you your meal, often offering something unusual, different or even fabulous.  It becomes an occasion and makes memories.  Many times it was during a trip.  You didn’t have to do dishes afterwards—don’t you miss that right now?

A Memorable Meal on an AmaWaterways cruise with a group we led in 2015

Familiar.  Memorable.  Exciting.  Fun.  Usually shared with someone special to you. 

I’ll bet you sure would like to go to eat out at a restaurant right now, instead of carry-out.  And get on an airplane, and start traveling again.

Where did it all go—the simple pleasures of life and our great experiences of travel?

The answer it is still there but just postponed a little.  Trust me it will come back!

For me, I think I appreciate travel more than ever now.  I am already ready to get going again and help folks return to normal.

I predict there will be a surge in travel requests when this event settles down, so it might be a good time to start thinking about a return to normalcy.

Resilient Travelers

Almost every one of our clients are resilient travelers.  I define these as folks who still see the value of travel, know it will come back and anxiously want to get on the road, airways, the trains and ships. 

A true resilient traveler my classmate Jeff

We all love to dream.  Most of you can close your eyes and imagine a better place than you are presently experiencing (I pretty sure I am right about this right now!).  Often it is travel you dream about—getting away, experiencing new places, the sights and sounds, the food and wine, the iconic buildings and spaces, and expanding your knowledge of the world.

Dreaming about historic sites in France—I sure miss these!

Doesn’t that just sound awesome right now?  It sure does to me!

We will be ready to help our resilient travelers.

Perhaps the famous Irish poet (Nobel Prize in Literature 1995), Seamus Heaney, said it best in this quote which has some strong meaning for our resilient travelers

“If we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere”

We can get through this together.

Biding Your Time

It is a good time to bide your time—start thinking about what you are missing and what you are going to do to fix it.  Maybe a bucket list.  Maybe a trip with friends.  Maybe that river cruise you were putting off.

So why do folks create bucket lists?  Why do they anticipate travel and a break from the routine?  What is it about travel that is so important?

One of my bucket list places—Peterhof Palace, near St. Petersburg, Russia

I certainly don’t have all the answers, but it usually begins with a desire to see and experience something different.  We humans are curious people. 

Anticipation is excitement about something that is going to happen.  The key word is excitement.  Our curiosity is endless—will it be fun, boring, memorable, dull or just average?  Our minds are such a powerful thing—mankind has created such amazing things and better ways to live because we used our brain power.  Now you should go and see what has been created or preserved.

I was always curious about the beauty of the Alhambra. I promise you it didn’t disappoint! Alhambra Palace walls

But in the time of the unexpected, how do we get to the familiar?  I think the first step is for us to stay in contact with you and build better bonds as we bid our time together.

It is our job to discover what great is to you, and advise you, our client, how to get it.  It is a constant process of getting to know you, building trust, adjusting to lifestyle changes—a dynamic process that requires us to contact you often. The more we know about you, the better job we will do when travel opens its doors shortly. .

Expectations

Expectations are a strong belief that something is going to happen.  The key word is belief.  

I just think many of us have dampened our expectations right now—where did the familiar go?

Please don’t lower you expectations.  We expect to start traveling soon and so should you.

Believe travel will return soon—it will. 

Believe you will travel safely, you will experience good things and have fun again—you will.

Don’t be a pessimist, be an optimist.  I predict the familiar will come back soon!

Let me leave you with a though from Maya Angelou, the famous American poet:

“Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space.  Invite one to stay”

We believe it should be hope—please be hopeful—we expect travel will get better when this subsides.

We will be Here When This Passes

Trust me, this too will pass.  It is just a question of when. 

Medical folks at some point will come up with methods to deal with this problem, travel suppliers will strengthen their preventative measures and the travel industry will improve to provide you better, safer trips.

My Final Thoughts

In the face of the unexpected in travel, we are going to help you get back to the familiar—great travel to dream destinations.  We are here for your needs.  We like to think of ourselves as your good friends, ready to help, because that is what real friends do for others.

We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise experts, and Europe destination experts.  We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe.  We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you.  We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.  As you can see, our full service agency can get you to almost anywhere you desire to travel and provide you a great experience and vacation.

When you are spending your hard earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 48+ years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.  His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways  Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

Shopping on the Danube

By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert with help from Anne Schrader

www.dreamdestinations.com

My wife, Anne, is a shopper. She likes to say she’s really a “window shopper”, just looking and doesn’t really need to buy whatever has just caught her eye. She can make a stroll wherever we are last for hours. And she’s right, she does just “look”, but if the item of interest won’t break the “souvenir” budget, or won’t be too difficult to transfer back home, then I’m more than happy to make the purchase.

Now before you hear a lot of “Awwws”, let me be honest and say that I do  this, not only to be the sweet, loving and adorable husband, but mainly because I just want to go somewhere to sit, drink a beer or glass of wine and have something to eat. Ergo, the sooner the new acquisition has been placed into the ever-present reusable shopping bag that accommodates Anne everywhere, I get to reap the reward and partake in a pastime we both enjoy -- food, beverage and people watching!

Danube Shopping Overview

Shopping during travel is considered one of the many activities that can have a great influence on the location you visit. One of our favorite shopping river cruise routes has to be on the Danube River.

We always look for local items not readily available in the United States. In Vienna, Austria we bought a drindl (the traditional dress of Germany and Austria). Here is a great picture of Anne in her drindl, we bought on a summer AmaWaterways Danube cruise—darn does she look good—I’m a lucky man!.

Anne in her drindl with Kata (the cruise manager) and Carmen from the barstaff

But that is not the reason for this blog post—it is really about value during our shopping experiences. For example, we almost always take a river cruise during the Christmas season to enjoy their famous markets. There are so many itineraries that provide the opportunity to visit both large and small markets and many of the larger cities have multiple markets which, after visiting the city once or twice on a cruise and not porting long enough to enjoy all of them, then a pre-post cruise visit to that location will enhance your river cruise.

Our Pre-cruise—Regensburg

This year we did just that. Our cruise aboard the AmaSonata started in Vienna and ended in Nuremberg. With this itinerary, we knew we’d visit the markets in Vienna, Linz, Passau, Regensburg and Nuremberg, with the option of visiting the market on a tour to Cesky Krumlov. We’ve done this route several times, during the holidays and also summer months. And our favorite port on this particular itinerary is Regensburg.

We have never really had the opportunity to explore this beautiful city as we would have liked to, as we knew on this cruise our port time would be limited and we would not have a chance to really have an in-depth experience at their two main markets. So, we did a pre-cruise stay for 3 nights in Regensburg.

What a treat, at night, the city is so walkable, the markets are truly bustling with the city’s residents! Even getting a reservation at the restaurants that are the mainstay for the locals can be a difficult, but definitely worthwhile, experience.

HATS

Anne’s New Hat with ear muffs

Shopping in Regensburg means one thing to Anne . . . HATS!  She discovered the Hutmacher on one of first cruises and now proudly owns 5 of his creations.  As usual, she’ll say she just wants to go look, but inevitably, she’ll depart the store with one of the big (really big) hat boxes, empty, as the new addition will be sitting securely on her Kopf (head)!

This trip, after years of gentle nagging, she actually inspired me to make my own purchase. And, I have to admit, even with 2 really big boxes to carry home on the plane, I might just be a convert.

Hank with his new Hat

But I will adamantly admit, even though the visit and ultimate purchase with the wonderful staff at the store and having the opportunity to meet the Hutkoenig at the Thurns and Taxis Christmas market, I still believe the best and easiest souvenir from Regensburg are the glühwein mugs that make it back to Anne’s ever-expanding collection.

Hank & Mark Thomas, on of our Travel Chums, at one of the Regensburg Christmas Markets—he took the picture of us with the Hutkoening owner

Glühwein—-A Christmas Market Tradition

Glühwein is the drink of choice at Christmas markets. This hot mulled wine comes in all forms of spices and even sometimes even includes liquor shots. We always buy some and, of course, Anne scours the markets for just the right mug(s) to add to her collection. The Glühwein mugs are a great idea—the can be reused to cut down on the waste, most are well designed with the year and place of the Christmas Market you visited and they, as Anne points out, don’t cost much. When you buy the glühwein, the beverage costs about 3-5 Euros and there is an added deposit of 1-2 Euros that is refundable when you return the mugs. Some Glühwein Booths actually sell the mugs alone but that varies. They may be breakable, but they are small and the best part . . . while you can return the mugs to receive your original deposit, drinking the hot Glühwein adds so much to the Christmas market experience, 1 to 2 Euros seems like a very small price to pay for the memories. Just save some room in your suitcase and, like Anne does, carry some bubble wrap to get your mugs safely home—another cool tip from Anne!

Here is some pictures of her every expanding collection

3 Regensburg Christmas Mugs

Anne’s Growing Collection of Christmas Mugs

Our Europe River Port Guides

So, what does this mean for you? As you can see, there are just so many ways to expand an Europe River cruise experience and shopping is just one way—we almost always do extra explorations of the many river cruise ports in Europe and have now 51 port guides available for your use.

The idea is simple—you get an in-depth look at the port prior to your visit—it includes the must see sights and helps you decide which tour best suits your travel style if several tour options are offered. Best of all they are free—just go to our River Cruises section on our website, scroll down to the bottom of the page on the route you desire, then click on the port(s) you desire and we send you the PDF PowerPoint slideshow and, for the larger cities, a word document that expands on the port. We cover the Rhine, the Main, the Mosel, the Waal loop of the Rhine (Tulip Time), the Upper and lower Danube, and French River cruise routes of the Rhone and the Bordeaux route. We are in the process of posting the list for some of these ports but they should be available in a couple of days if the port you desire is not listed yet.

Just to show how we could create great experiences for you, here is a picture of Anne with our other travel Chum, Denise—they went to a cooking school in Nuremberg (post cruise trip)to learn how to make gingerbread cookies (Lebkuchen).

My Final Thoughts

Who knew shopping could be so fun, even for a non-shopper like me! Let us help you enjoy Europe and experience the magic of new experiences and cultures.

We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise experts, and Europe destination experts.  We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe.  We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you.  We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.  As you can see, our full service agency can get you to almost anywhere you desire to travel and provide you a great experience and vacation.

When you are spending your hard earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 48+ years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.  His other Certifications:

• AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

• Viking River Cruise Specialist

• Scenic River Cruise Specialist

• Emerald Waterways  Specialist

• Avalon Waterways Specialist

• Brit Agent

Happy Thanksgiving--We All Have A Lot To Be Thankful For In Our Lives

With only about a month left in 2019 and the great celebration of Thanksgiving here today, we would like to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving. We hope all who are in your lives are well, safe and happy.

Anne & I have a lot to be thankful for and we would like to express our gratitude to all who have helped make our lives and this year better.

First, thanks to our military—without you past and present, we might worry about our safety—even as I write this, some are standing watch for our protection today as they do every day.

Second, we are grateful to work in the travel industry and help make dream trips possible to others. I think most folks like to take pride in their jobs, and our pride come from helps others have experiences of a life time. Each trip, to us is special, no matter how simple or complex.

2019 has been quite a year for us. We help more folks travel this year than previous years. Our 75th Anniversary of D Day tour, sold out in one month, won us an award for our marketing efforts from a major travel magazine and it was fun, sobering and meaningful—a travel experience next to none! I turned 70 this year. And, Anne is still fun, beautiful, tenacious, demanding and has made my life better (best decision I ever made was to ask her to marry me!). Pretty cool year, don’t you think!

We are grateful for all of you who trust us with your travels. Each of you are special and have brought joy to our lives. Thanks for your trust in us!

We are grateful for our key vendors of 2019—AmaWaterways (and all their incredible team members—they are part of our family), Europe Express (especially the groups department) and Emerald Waterways. All of you provided our clients exceptional trips—Thank You!

Our wish for you is to have a peaceful, joyous holiday and please express your gratitude to those who have made your year better.

Happy Thanksgiving—may our paths cross soon!

Anne & Hank.