Search Travel Market Report

mainlogo
www.travelmarketreport.com
  • News
  • Tours & Packages
  • Cruise
  • Hotels & Resorts
  • Destinations
  • Retail Strategies
  • Niche & Luxury
  • Well-Being Travel
  • Training & Events
  • Who We Are
    • Anne Marie Moebes
    • Brian Israel
    • Dan McCarthy
    • Denise Caiazzo
    • Dori Saltzman
    • Kelly Fontenelle

Travel Advisor Does a U-Turn After Cancer Diagnosis

by Marilee Crocker / May 29, 2022
Travel Advisor Does a U-Turn After Cancer Diagnosis


Debra Harris had just retired from a 27-year career in federal law enforcement and was preparing to launch a second career as a travel advisor when, at age 51, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

A Type A personality to her core, Harris said she was stopped in her tracks by the 2013 cancer diagnosis. “It was like hitting a brick wall. I had all the questions anybody’s who’s ever been diagnosed with cancer asks: Why me? What did I do? What is the universe trying to tell me?”

Harris was enrolled in a travel professional certification course and was deciding how to structure her as-yet-unborn business, Life’s Journey Travel, LLC, when she was forced to hit the pause button. For about a year, she put her business dreams on hold while she focused on her health.

After recovering from the necessary surgeries, Harris moved from greater Washington, D.C., to Myrtle Beach, S.C. Then she took stock. “I said, OK I’ve got this. Now how can I share this path, this journey, with others?”

Awakening to her mission
The cancer experience had changed Harris in big ways, including by opening up this former “just-the-facts ma’am investigator” to her more creative side. “This was my awakening,” she said.

It also altered her plans for her travel business. “This whole cancer thing was like a long dream. When I woke up, I had better defined what I wanted to do.”

“What the cancer journey told me is that I really need to find people who need to benefit from this. Some of them are baby boomers, and some are those people at the top of the echelon who are very very busy, who just check a box when they travel. But life isn’t about checking a box, nor is travel.

“I feel that my mission is to help people slow down and savor life. Use all your senses. Recognize what’s important. Take in the moment. Breathe.”

For the joy of it
Harris’ sweet spot is small group immersive travel. “I enjoy food, wine, immersive experiences. Learning and insatiable curiosity are what drive me when I travel, and those bespoke experiences, those little things that you’re only going to get either working with me or traveling with me.

“There are people who call me who want to do 10 countries in 10 days. That is not my traveler. I want to work with travelers who are interested in lingering a longer, diving a little more deeply, and getting a sense of the place.”

Joy now serves as Harris’ guidepost when deciding whether to plan a trip for a client. “I need to get joy from the trip you’re taking and to send you somewhere that I know you’re going to get joy.”

Finding her clientele
She has found success attracting new clients from her engagement with local groups that feed her personal interests. She’s a member of two wine clubs, a gastronomy club, and a garden club, all of which happen to align neatly with her preferred style of travel.

She’s also collaborating with the genealogy researcher who did her own family tree to explore ways of pairing ancestry research and travel, and she plans to add genealogy research travel to her offering next year.

When qualifying clients, Harris draws on the high-level interviewing skills she acquired as an investigator for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

“To me, the most important question is the why, and from there continuing with open-ended questions and diving a little deeper. It’s really finding out what their dreams and aspirations are for a trip and qualifying around that.

“If I have something I can add that adds value to their why, that’s where I get joy.”

Harris will only work with customers with whom she feels a connection. “My relationship with my travelers has to be genuine, authentic, and real. It cannot be just because I see a commission check.

“I want that relationship. That’s the part that really brings me joy. It if doesn’t bring me joy then it is one and done. Life is too short.”

That focus on building authentic relationships with clients helps differentiate her, she said.

The importance of support
Harris credits the coaching support she has received through her host agency, Gifted Travel Network, with helping her to redefine her business vision and clarify the unique “medicine” she has to offer.

She encouraged other travel advisors to surround themselves “with a supportive, collaborative community in the industry that you can bounce ideas off of and ask for advice.

“In the cancer journey, there are so many support groups. You need that in the travel community too. That’s another thing cancer taught me.”

  79
  0
Related Articles
SEO Nets Big Results for One LGBTQ+ Travel Specialist
Specialized Travel: A Niche With Infinite Room to Grow
How One Travel Advisor Made the Jump from Selling Weddings to Bar Mitzvah Vacations
How a Nurse Became a Specialist in Selling Plant-Based Travel
Three Tips for Travel Agent Success from One Industry Veteran
How to Advance More Women Into Leadership: Lessons From Fox World Travel
How One Advisor Is Helping Get Ukrainian Refugees from the Border to Other Countries
Supplier VP Joins Ranks of Travel Advisors, a Long-Held Dream
Travel Advisors Sound-off their 2022 New Year’s Resolutions

MOST VIEWED

  1. All U.S. Flights Grounded Due to FAA Computer Outage
  2. Norwegian Cruise Line Brings Back COVID-19 Requirements
  3. Delta Air Lines Will Offer Free Wi-Fi Starting on Feb. 1
  4. Forbes Says ‘You Need a Travel Advisor in 2023’
  5. Cruise Ducks: A Cruising Tradition Travel Advisors Should Know About
  6. What’s New in Travel Agent FAM Trips

MOST EMAILED

  1. Forbes Says ‘You Need a Travel Advisor in 2023’
  2. Here Are the Automatic & Suggested Gratuity Policies for Each Major Cruise Line
  3. All U.S. Flights Grounded Due to FAA Computer Outage
  4. Delta Air Lines Will Offer Free Wi-Fi Starting on Feb. 1
  5. Tour Operators & Advisors Forced to Cancel Trips as Peru Shuts Down Machu Picchu
  6. Cruise Ducks: A Cruising Tradition Travel Advisors Should Know About
TMR THIS WEEK
Sponsored by Explora Journeys
//services.travelsavers.com/AMGService.svc/REST/GetImage?ImageID=790a5703-649e-ed11-9b4d-005056a855ed&Width=350&Height&250

Selling Savory Cruise Experiences to Foodie Clients

With the boundaries of food and beverage programs being pushed across nearly every sector of cruising, the interest of clients in culinary experiences is also piquing.

Read More...
TMR Subscription

Subscribe today to receive daily in-depth coverage, analysis of industry news, trends and issues that affect how you do business. Subscribe now for free.

Subscribe to TMR

Top Stories
ASTA’s General Counsel Peter Lobasso Appointed to DOT Subcommittee
ASTA’s General Counsel Peter Lobasso Appointed to DOT Subcommittee

Lobasso will serve as the ticket agent representative on the subcommittee. 

Read...
Allianz Adds “Cancel Anytime” Coverage to OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier
Allianz Adds “Cancel Anytime” Coverage to OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier

Cancel Anytime covers the "most unforeseeable circumstances."

Read...
Consumers Want More Personalization When It Comes to Travel Planning
Consumers Want More Personalization When It Comes to Travel Planning

More than ever, travelers want the ability to customize their vacation packages. 

Read...
SEO Nets Big Results for One LGBTQ+ Travel Specialist
SEO Nets Big Results for One LGBTQ+ Travel Specialist

"SEO actually works the way they say it works," says Scott Wismont. 

Read...
Travel Advisors Save the Day … But Travel Protection Can Save the Trip
Travel Advisors Save the Day … But Travel Protection Can Save the Trip

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the past several years is that when it comes to travel, it’s safest to expect the unexpected at every leg of the journey. 

Read...
We Tried ChatGPT – Here’s What It Said About Travel Advisors and Their Future
We Tried ChatGPT – Here’s What It Said About Travel Advisors and Their Future

Even a robot knows that travel advisors are here to stay.

Read...
TMR OUTLOOKS & WHITE PAPERS
river cruise 2022
group outlook 2022
lux cruise outlook
CP White Paper
Multi-Gen Outlook
River Cruise Outlook 2019
View All
Advertiser's Voice
Celebrate National Don’t Plan for Vacation Day with Delta Vacations
About Travel Market Report Mission Staff Advisory Board Advertise
TMR Resources Webinars Calendar of Events Outlook/Whitepapers Previous Sponsored Articles Previous This Week Articles
Subscribe to TMR
Select Language
Do You Have an Idea Email
editor@travelmarketreport.com
Give Us a Call
1-(516) 730-3097
Drop Us a Note
Travel Market Report
71 Audrey Ave, Oyster Bay, NY 11771
News |Tours & Packages |Cruise |Hotels & Resorts |Destinations |Retail Strategies |Niche & Luxury |Well-Being Travel |Training & Events |Who We Are
© 2005 - 2023 Travel Market Report, an American Marketing Group Inc. Company All Rights Reserved | 243 South Street, Oyster Bay, NY, 11771 USA | Telephone (516) 730-3097| Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy