Who I am
About Melissa.
“I plan travel around where you are in your life. Empty nest. Big anniversary. Kids finally out of the house and you’re looking at each other going, now what. That’s my specialty. I know Alaska like the back of my hand and I’ve sailed more ships out of Galveston than I can count, but the trip always starts with your season, not my sales pitch.”
A Texas girl who became Louisiana through and through.
I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. In 1998 I moved to Southwest Louisiana, and I have called it home ever since. That is nearly three decades of raising a family in DeRidder, building relationships across this parish and the ones next to it, and putting down the kind of roots that only happen when you stay long enough to watch other people’s kids grow up too. I came here Texan and I am Louisiana through and through now, and I would not trade either half of that.
That history is why this business runs the way it does. Southwest Louisiana is a place where relationships are the whole point, where people remember what you said the last time you talked, and where recommendations are given carefully because your name is attached to them. My clients are not accounts. They are neighbors, family friends, and the people my neighbors send to me. That is the standard, and it does not slip when a client happens to live somewhere else.
Credentials and experience.
I am an independent travel advisor with Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, with an Alaska cruise specialty and ongoing training across major cruise lines and land programs.
Credentials, certifications, and press mentions
Placeholder for the specific certifications, cruise line specialist designations, awards, and press mentions Melissa wants featured here. Add or edit this block as things get confirmed.
Trips built around seasons of life.
My favorite trips are not the flashiest. They are the ones that land at the right moment for the right people. A retirement finally taken. A milestone birthday given the weight it deserves. A first big trip with adult children who are old enough to actually enjoy it together. I plan around where you are in life, not where an algorithm thinks you should be. That is the whole philosophy, and it is the reason my clients keep coming back.