By Joanna Dodder Nellans
Have you ever taken a vacation to escape your busy life, only to spend much of your vacation time taking care of others instead of relaxing and refueling? This especially tends to happen to women, as they traditionally fulfill the role of the nurturing soul.
Dream Travel Management offers an easy solution: a women-only trip.
“I’ve been contacted by so many women,” relates Jennifer Burns, owner of Dream Travel Management. “We’re all just kind of overwhelmed with life, and looking for a spark.”
Burns knows the feeling. Married at 19 to a fellow Prescott native and working full-time, she was really needing that spark after they added three children to the mix. So at age 34, she and her husband, kids and dogs moved from Prescott to Hawaii. Experiencing her first trip off the mainland, she realized the importance of travel to her life so she got involved in the business.
“It sparked this yearning to explore and get to know other cultures and traditions,” Burns said.
Back in Prescott five years later, she now works for Adventure Travel and just launched Dream Travel Management as an affiliate. Dream Travel also manages local vacation rentals.
Her first annual women-only trip will head to Thailand with a maximum of 16 people on Nov. 11-22, 2019. India and then Africa will be next. Burns anticipates that participants will form life-long bonds with their fellow travelers based on their similar outlooks and passions. They also will enjoy safety in numbers.
While researching the Tai culture, Burns came across the coinciding Yi Peng and Loi Krathong festivals that sparked her desire to make Thailand her first women-only trip. Festivalgoers release thousands of rice paper lanterns into the full-moon sky and float Krathongs (decorated baskets) down the Ping River after making a wish.
Every Dream Travel tour includes an element of charity. For the Thailand voyage, the group will visit the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary outside of Chiang Mai to learn about the elephants and then feed, play, wash and even swim in the river with them. A portion of the trip cost goes to the sanctuary, too.
The journey also includes an excursion to Baan Tong Luang to experience the culture and crafts of the hill tribes there. Lodging accommodations throughout Thailand often consist of exotic boutique hotels.
The adventure ends appropriately with relaxing time on the beaches near Phuket, so gals can soak up the sun and energy before bringing that newfound energy home.
Dream Travel is offering an early-bird registration discount of $300 through March 30. Save a spot for only $300, with final payment due Aug. 9. For complete itinerary and details, contact Burns at [email protected] or 808-320-0117.