About

Hello, I’m Donna.

Some people stumble into their passion. I’ve always known mine, and it has taken me around the world.

My journey in travel began right out of the gate. I started my career as a travel agent, fell completely in love with the industry, and never really left it, even when life took me in other directions. Over the years I went on to work as a flight attendant and later as a sales manager for Sandals Resorts, experiences that gave me a deep, firsthand understanding of hospitality, logistics, and what truly makes a trip memorable. After that, I spent many rewarding years in education, most recently as an assistant principal. But travel was always there, woven into everything I did.

Throughout those years, I coordinated private escorted tours through Ireland: multi-day journeys through the countryside with drivers, guides, and overnight stays in charming villages. I arranged private day trips for groups exploring Rome, Florence, Naples, and Sicily. I planned excursions across Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, and Mykonos, tailoring each experience to the people I was with, not just the itinerary on paper. I wasn’t doing this as a job. I was doing it because I couldn’t help myself.

One of my most treasured travel memories is a day off the coast of Corfu. Our small group boarded a private boat, cruised to hidden coves and little coastal towns, swam in crystal-clear water, and watched our host cook fresh fish right on the boat, served alongside tzatziki, hummus, fresh vegetables, and local wine. Every single person said it was the best day of their entire trip. That is the kind of experience I want to create for every guest I work with.

This business is also the fulfillment of a dream that my husband and I have carried for nearly forty years. When we met in 1987, he co-signed a loan so I could attend travel school, after knowing me just three months. He always said he wanted us to own a travel agency together someday. I told him the industry was changing, that one day people would be able to book travel the way they use an ATM machine. I wasn’t entirely wrong, but the dream never went away. Trips by Donna is that dream, finally realized. Just without the storefront.

(My husband, to his credit, is a wonderful travel companion. He just prefers to show up and be surprised. The planning? That’s all me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.)

Travel is also one of my deepest personal values. I believe there is no better gift you can give someone than the experience of seeing the world. For years, I have planned and funded trips for my adult daughters and their families, because I believe that travel opens up something in a person that nothing else can. This August, I am fulfilling a lifelong dream of taking my youngest daughter and son-in-law on a Uniworld Boutique River Cruise through four countries on the Castles of the Rhine. One day, I hope to do the same with my other daughter, her husband, and my grandchildren. Until then, I make sure they get to travel too, by taking care of my grandchildren so their parents can get away and explore the world together.

I returned to travel advising in retirement because I believe that staying purposeful, continuing to contribute, to grow, to serve others, is simply the right way to live. This work gives me the freedom to do what I love, from wherever I happen to be. And it lets me keep traveling, which, if you haven’t noticed, is something I have absolutely no intention of stopping.

I can’t wait to start planning your next celebration.