Navy Veteran Has Travel-Filled Career Culminating as an Advisor

Since launching in 2018, Nexion’s Veterans in Travel program has kickstarted travel advisor careers for nearly 300 U.S. military veterans.

Adventure Awaits World Travel, an agency owned by Navy veteran John Matthews and his wife, Jackie, is one example of the successful agencies that the program has produced over the years.

“It’s great that they help veterans get started in the travel industry,” Matthews told TMR. “The fact that they were willing to honor veterans and give people like me this opportunity, and the additional benefits that came along with it, was just a great opportunity. “

Roots in the military
Growing up, Matthews’ father was a Navy pilot, and Matthews became fascinated with planes, dreaming about where they were going. He and his family took road trips across the United States throughout his childhood.

“My parents believed travel was an important part of our education so we did lots of car trips and things as a young family,” Matthews said.

Then as a teenager, Matthews took his first international trip to Paris, a school field trip that sparked his love of travel even further.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Matthews graduated from Naval Academy in 1979 and spent six years in Navy submarines. He was stationed on the U.S.S. Los Angeles out of Pearl Harbor and traveled around the Pacific Rim to places such as the Philippines, Guam, Hong Kong, and Vancouver.

“I really enjoyed it,” Matthews said. “I got the chance to go to a lot of interesting places and have a lot of responsibility as a young man.”

Building an agency
After he returned from the Navy in 1985, Matthews attended business school. His love of travel landed him a job at American Airlines for a brief time, and then at Boeing for the next 20 years.

When it came time to retire, Matthews knew he wanted to keep busy. One day, he and Jackie were vacationing in Maui when the idea hit them to start a travel agency.

“We were on the beach watching the sunset and we kind of joked with each other, ‘how can we do this for a living?'” Matthews said. “We love the travel industry, so why don’t we get into travel?”

It took about two years of research before they decided to join a host agency and that Nexion was right for them. Nexion’s Veterans in Travel program was a big selling point for its group coaching sessions and discounts on membership and training programs.

By 2019, Adventure Awaits World Travel was born. Of course, just a short year after starting, everything came to a halt due to the pandemic.

“We took the time to do a lot of training, get smart about suppliers, get our website up and running, and that sort of thing,” Matthews said. “It was actually a productive time so that when travel came back, we were ready to make the most of it.”

In late 2023, Adventure Awaits World Travel won a Travel Weekly Magellan Award. Matthews credits part of his agency’s success to his military background, which more than prepared him for the stressful situations of being a travel agent.

“In the military I learned at an early age how to manage stressful situations. When you’re on a submarine or any role in the military, you’re under stressful situations at various times, so that’s been very helpful,” he said. “And also managing multiple conflicting priorities – we have numerous clients and all the details of all their trips in different stages of the process, and balancing those and getting things done in a timely fashion in a way that meets or exceeds the customer’s expectations is important.”

Tips for success
Matthews noted that having a niche and charging fees are important and that, while they may not make sense at first, pay off in the long run. Adventure Awaits primarily sticks to cruises and group travel and has charged fees from the beginning despite being hesitant to do so before establishing themselves.

But the biggest tip of all is in the keen, face-to-face marketing, Matthews said, which he credits to Jackie. The duo prefers getting out in their Texas community in person to find new clients. They have presented at Chamber of Commerce meetings, retirement communities, and the like.

“There are all sorts of organizations that are looking for speakers and often have a hard time finding people, and if you’re willing to reach out to them and offer to come and speak, people love that” he said. “It doesn’t have to be a sales presentation, it can just be about travel in general or new cruise lines or new destinations, things like that. And travel is visual, so you get a chance to do a presentation with lots of beautiful pictures and some videos.”

Matthews’ final thoughts?

“For the veterans out there, I would encourage them, because a lot of them have been overseas during their time in the military, and if you loved it and like traveling and want to share your experience, travel is a wonderful industry to be in,” he said. “You get to learn about great things. Most people love to travel and want to talk about it and appreciate the help. It’s a great opportunity and the Veterans in Travel program is a great way to get your foot in the door.”