Good Neighbor Podcast: Union
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Residents of Northern Kentucky! Based in Union, KY....The Good Neighbor Podcast helps the residents of Northern Kentucky get to know local business owners as people. We allow the business owners and influencers in NKY to tell the stories of how they started their business and why. We hear about their families, their personal interests and why they love living in and serving resident of Northern Kentucky!
Good Neighbor Podcast: Union
Cruising, Disney, and Why Trip Insurance Actually Matters
Ever wondered if using a travel agent costs extra? Carolyn Strahan of Strahan Travel Adventures shatters this common misconception while revealing insider tips that could transform your vacation experience. With four cruises already booked between now and next year, Carolyn doesn't just sell travel – she lives it.
For cruise enthusiasts and novices alike, Carolyn offers practical wisdom gained from firsthand experience. She recommends four-day voyages for first-timers and shares surprising remedies for seasickness (who knew green apples could help?). Her expertise extends to matching travelers with their perfect cruise line: MSC for families seeking water slides and entertainment, Virgin for adults wanting child-free luxury, or specialized options for mature travelers through Celestial and Viking cruises.
Disney vacations represent another cornerstone of Carolyn's expertise. Having witnessed her own grandchildren experience the magic of Disney, she understands the importance of timing these special trips when children are old enough to create lasting memories. Whether you need a comprehensive package or just park tickets, her personalized approach ensures your Disney adventure exceeds expectations.
Perhaps most valuable is Carolyn's passionate advocacy for travel insurance. Drawing a compelling parallel to home and auto coverage, she explains how this often-overlooked protection can save travelers from financial disaster during medical emergencies abroad. Her simple wisdom resonates: "You don't buy insurance because something will happen; you buy insurance in case something happens."
Ready to plan your next adventure with expert guidance that doesn't add to your travel budget? Connect with Carolyn at 859-866-5320 or visit strahantraveladventures.com to discover how a local travel professional can transform your vacation experience.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, mike Murphy. Thank you, charlie. Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host of the Good Neighbor Podcast. We talk to local business owners so that you, the residents of Northern Kentucky, can get to know them as people, northern Kentucky can get to know them as people and you get to see their face, hear their voice, learn a little bit more about them, so that they are more than just a logo on a business card that you might pick up at a chamber event or maybe, you know, see their logo in an ad. We want you to know them as people.
Speaker 1:So the person that I have with me today that we're going to visit with is Carolyn Strahan with Strahan Travel Adventures. Carolyn is a local travel agent and she's got some specialties that she likes to help people with when they travel. So she's one of those people that when you're interfacing with her, it's because you're about to have a whole lot of fun. And so, without further ado, carolyn, welcome to the show and tell people all about Strahan Travel Adventures.
Speaker 2:Thank you. My name is Carolyn and I own Strahan Travel Adventures. I decided to become a travel agent because I like to travel and I thought what better way to travel more would be to be my own travel agent. I thought travel agents used it would cost more to have a travel agent and then I found out that that's not true. So I like to book cruises because I like to go there on them. I like to do universal and disney as well for my niches. I do book other things, but those are the things I like to specialize in so cruising and disney, two big categories Of the two, I would say.
Speaker 1:you know, if you had to pick one, what's your favorite? Are you a cruise person or are you a Disney person at heart?
Speaker 2:I am actually a cruise person at heart. I have four booked between now and next year oh geez, going to Dominican Republic and San Juan. Aruba, bonaire, carousel and New England and Canada are the four that I have going on right now. Well, holy moly, you're gone more than your home England and Canada, or? Before that I have going on right now. Well, holy moly, you're gone more than your home.
Speaker 1:I tried to be Well, good for you. I mean that's, I mean if, if you got to live one way, that's one way to live. And I, I, I'm right there with you I, I would love to be able to see the world from the deck of a ship. And I know that some people maybe say cruising is not for me, because one thing I've heard is I get claustrophobic. So how do you feel about that? Have you ever felt claustrophobic on a cruise ship?
Speaker 2:I have not. I have had inside staterooms and I've had balcony staterooms and I've never felt claustrophobic because what I'm really doing in my room is sleeping. So I go in there and sleep, get up, take a shower and then I leave for the day and I go to breakfast and go see the shows that they have to offer, or go to the casino or go see a comedian or an illusionist or, if I want to, I can just sit on the deck and read a book and have the ocean air, you know, just to be able to smell that and just relax that way yeah, no that talk about the ultimate stress relief.
Speaker 1:I think that would be, yeah, very, very relaxing.
Speaker 1:I've never been on a cruise before and it's not because I feel like you know, I would feel claustrophobic, it's just, um, I've. I've never really had the opportunity to do it and for the most part I mean I grew up in the airline industry so I could travel free most of my younger years. So I would just fly all over the country and take in different experiences. That way, cruising is something that's always interested me. I'll do a cruise someday, but for somebody who is like me and they've never cruised before day, but for somebody who is like me and they've never cruised before, would you say is there a recommendation? Maybe a particular cruise line or a type of cruise, or maybe the number of days? What would you say to somebody who's never done it but is interested in doing it?
Speaker 2:I would say to try like a four day cruise, because it gets you out there for a couple of days. You kind of get your sea bearings around you and you know whether you are going to like it or not. Um, what I like about cruising is that you get to go to multiple places and see, oh, I really liked bonair, I went to go visit and then I could fly to bon air and spend a week there. Or, um, oh, I didn't particularly care for nasa bahamas, so I don't need to go back there to visit um, so that's what I like about cruising is that you can do that. But I think a four-day cruise is long enough to see if you're gonna get seasick. Um, and to see if you're gonna get seasick and to see if you're gonna like it.
Speaker 2:Some people don't like cruising, and that's okay for them. You know it's not everybody enjoys the same thing. Everybody else does. Some people do not like Disney. I love Disney, but and I want to take my grandkids to get Disney because I know that they will enjoy it, but not Disney isn't for everybody yeah, so.
Speaker 1:Well, on the cruise thing, uh, seasick you mentioned, you know you, you can find out if you're going to get seasick. And if you, if you're on one of these four day cruises and you know, not even fully into day one, you realize that you're not enjoying it because you're seasick, is there a way to combat that, to overcome it?
Speaker 2:There is. You can get the little patches that go behind your ear and get those from your doctor. I've seen them on Amazon as well. So I would suggest, if you're prone to motion sickness, that you would go ahead and take those with you and put them on 24 hours before you even get on the ship. But if you don't, you can always bring Dramamine with you to help combat that. If you eat like green fruit, apples and pears, that helps. So if you go to the buffet you know, see where they have their whole fruits at and if they have a green apple or a pear, to grab those and take those to your state realm. That way you have them throughout the cruise.
Speaker 1:I have never heard that before. I had no idea that was even a thing. Green fruit, huh, or green green fruit, green foods, what is it? Just?
Speaker 2:it's green Green fruit is what I've heard, like apples, green apples, or pears, are green.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:That's what I've heard.
Speaker 1:I don't get Just the chemical within the fruit.
Speaker 2:I think so.
Speaker 1:Okay, wow, interesting. So there's a tidbit for the listeners that they've probably never heard. I know, I've never heard it. So if you are cruising with children, is there a favored cruise line that's kid-friendly?
Speaker 2:MSC has some beautiful ships and they have lots of entertainment for the children. They have water slides and zip lines and golf. Some have golf, little miniature golf, basketball, stuff, so depending on how old the children are, but I think MSC is one of the better ships for children.
Speaker 1:So are there also cruises, specialty cruises for maybe retirees say, you know, 55 and above, if you're kind of older, if you've got a little higher budget, where I would say what's the more effluent cruise line, if there is such a thing?
Speaker 2:There is. There is. Virgin is strictly all adults. There is no kids on it. So if you have the luxury and the money to go on a little bit more expensive cruise, I would do that. If you don't want the kids around, I would say Celestial. How do you say that?
Speaker 1:Celestial.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I believe, celestial.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Viking is another cruise line that's adults and caters to them.
Speaker 1:All right, before we get off the cruise topic, what is the? What's your all time favorite cruise you've ever been on?
Speaker 2:That would be MSC's. I'm very partial to them. Like I said, they're. They're a newer shipping company or a newer cruise company, but they have beautiful ships and they just have a new one that came out in April called World America. So I'm going to be going on that in August, but I just think they have a variety for everybody, no matter what age you are.
Speaker 1:So, before we move on to the Disney and Universal niche, I want to ask you is there, I mean, are you married with children, and what is your family life look like?
Speaker 2:I am married to my husband, royce, of almost 31 years, and we have five children and we raised our niece, so that is actually our sixth child and together we have six grandchildren right now and number seven on the way. Six grandchildren right now and number seven on the way.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's a lot Good for you. That's a lot of love to to be surrounded by yes, they're my pride and joys. So, um, I know, when you think kids, uh, you think Disney. When you think Disney, you think kids, even if it's adult kids like me, I mean, I'm a kid at heart. I'll always like Disney parks. I'll always like Disney. Have you ever taken the whole brood to do a Disney visit? Have you been that brave?
Speaker 2:I have not been that brave, yet we did. My daughter and her husband went to Disney and I met them down there for a couple days. So I was down there with four of the grandkids and they had an absolute ball and absolutely loved it and they still talk about it to this day. And they're 9, 6, 4, and a new 1-year-old. But obviously the 1-year-old was tiny when she went there, so she doesn't remember it. But the nine-year-old and the six-year-old and the four-year-old it was like when are we going back to Disney?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can imagine. So Once you get that appetite wet for Disney, you want to keep it going Absolutely. I mean, it is you know, you know it's, it's kind of a magical place and so when you see it through those young eyes for the first time, I got to believe. I think you know, when I went maybe I was seven, eight ish or whatever, and I still remember, I can still remember that feeling of walking into the park. So I'm 62 right now and if I can still remember something that vividly from age seven, that just tells you what an impression it made on me. So what do they say? The happiest place on earth. Is that what they call it?
Speaker 2:Exactly the happiest place on earth. Is that what they call it? Exactly the happiest place on?
Speaker 1:earth. Okay, so when you're with the grandkids, are you? Are you Grammy? Are you Nana? What do they call you?
Speaker 2:They call me Gigi.
Speaker 1:Oh, gigi, okay, Yep. Well, yeah, we have a Gigi in our family too. That's pretty cool. And then your husband what is he? Is he a papa? Is he poppy? Who's he? He's a papa, papa, okay, yeah, I'm a papa as well, yeah, so, yeah, we look forward to seeing Disney with our grandkids someday, and, yeah, it's a pretty special thing, and I kind of just want to wait till both of my grandkids are kind of old enough to be able to really appreciate the experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because when they're really young, they're not going to remember it. But, five, six is really good age for them to start to enjoy it.
Speaker 1:So, on the Disney topic, disney Universal theme parks down in Florida, what is your, I guess, what's the hot experience right now? I mean, when you sell a package, do you sell packages? How do you help people experience Disney, for instance?
Speaker 2:I do both. I sell packages, and then if they already have hotels lined up and they just want the tickets for the amusement park, I can do that as well.
Speaker 1:So when somebody reaches out to you and they say, look, we're about to have this Disney experience and it's me and so-and-so and three kids and whatever, we're going to be here this long and we don't have a rental car, if they just kind of lay that at your feet and you put an experience together for them, are they paying more for that than they would if they had done all that on their own?
Speaker 2:No, because what people don't realize is that commission is built into everything that they do. So if they get a hotel room, commission is already built into that hotel room. If they do a cruise, commission is already built into that cruise.
Speaker 2:And also with that to buy trip insurance trip insurance covers um, anything from like you're walking out the door to go get on a plane and you twist your ankle and break it, and now you're not being able to go on your trip insurance. Instead of being all out of all that money for your trip, you get reimbursed for that. Or if you're not being able to go on your trip insurance, instead of being all out of all that money for your trip, you get reimbursed for that. Or if you're on um, you're at wherever you go on vacation let's say aruba and all of a sudden you get sick and you have to be hospitalized. Trip insurance covers that. So I I highly recommend trip insurance, no matter what, because you never know when something's going to happen.
Speaker 1:So the cost of trip insurance is worth the possibility that something like that could happen. So yeah, I guess that's one thing that I know. Sometimes people say well, what are the odds? You know, I don't need trip insurance, Chances are nothing's going to happen, so I don't want to go to that expense. But have you seen times where people were darn glad they had?
Speaker 2:it. For example, I was on a cruise in November and we had a medical emergency at one of the ports and we got delayed leaving the port because we had to wait for an ambulance to come and take someone off the ship to take them to a hospital. Oh okay, and that trip insurance covers all that, and that trip insurance covers all that. So if your stay at the hospital is $50,000 and you don't have trip insurance and you're in a different country, most likely your health insurance is not going to cover that and you're going to have that expense on top of everything else.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, you have my attention, yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's kind of like you have a car insurance on your car. You don't ever think you're gonna get in a car accident, but if someone rear ends you or t-bones you, which is no fault of your own, you still have your insurance that covers that. Or your house insurance covers a flood. You know you don't ever expect that to happen, but it covers it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You don't buy insurance for oh, something's going to happen. You buy insurance in case something happens.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, that's a good explanation, so thank you for that. I'm sure that alone was worth listening to this conversation, because if you're going to invest money and time and emotion into a trip, the last thing you want is for it is your dream trip to turn into a nightmare for a reason that were not, you know, through no fault of your own, and one way to make sure that doesn't happen is the trip insurance.
Speaker 2:So yes, definitely.
Speaker 1:Well, you've convinced me, no fault of your own, and one way to make sure that doesn't happen is the trip insurance. So, yes, definitely, okay, well, you've convinced me. You've convinced me, hopefully, many others too that have been listening to us today. So we've been talking for about a half hour now. It goes by quick.
Speaker 2:It does.
Speaker 1:It's been nice getting to know you and just to hear about your business, uh, Strahan Travel Adventures. If people want to reach you, what's the best way to reach you?
Speaker 2:The best way to reach me is my phone number 859-866-5320. They can go to my website, which is strandtraveladventurescom, or they can look me up on facebook at strand travel adventures well, very good.
Speaker 1:Well, thanks for spending time with us today and I'm looking forward to hearing about some of your upcoming adventures in another edition of the good neighbor podcast. So I I'll say to you happy travels, safe travels, and to the listeners out there, everyone out there, until next time, please be good to your neighbors. Bye everybody.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Union. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpunioncom. That's gnpunioncom, or call us at 859-651-8330.