Sue Rovegno – Travel Consultant

The places I’ve visited:

Antigua, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Japan, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, St. Barthelemy, St. Thomas, Honduras (Roatan), Ecuador (Galapagos), Mexico (Cancun, Tulum, Costa Maya, Huatulco, Ixtapa), Singapore, London, Nice, Monaco, Italy (Riviera Levante, Milan, Turin, Rome, Pisa, Sardinia), Iceland, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Seychelles, Papua New Guinea and Canada (Montreal and Vancouver)

The year I started in the business:

1989

The year I started with Travel Beyond:

2002

The things I enjoy most about consulting:

I feel like I put a little piece of myself into each trip that I design. The whole planning process is fun from the initial idea, through the excitement and questions prior to departure and finally, the phone call that I receive or make after my client’s return.

The most interesting trip I’ve designed:

I have two couples for whom I’ve done an annual trip for several years. They always travel in February and always are gone for a month or so. A few years back they decided that they would like to go to Malawi. Most people visit Malawi for a week or so but I had to find things to keep them busy for several weeks. I happened to be in South Africa at a conference and met with our ground operator for Malawi who was thrilled to have clients who wanted to see it all in Malawi! It was a memorable trip for them filled with kayaking, snorkeling, game viewing, cruising on the Ilala (which was an experience in itself) and helping out local communities. A great trip was had by all!

My favorite travel destinations:

Africa (in general) I LOVE Africa! It’s a destination that gets under your skin! Once you’ve gone, you know! I love the place, the people, the food and of course the animals. The feeling of being one with nature is so freeing, it’s my favorite place to be!

Costa Maya – Last summer my husband, 11 year old son and I rented a house on the beach about 4 hours south of Cancun. It was an amazing deal and we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. There were no other houses for miles in each direction, we were really in the middle of nowhere! The beach was beautiful, the stars were amazing and the people were fantastic! We were near the town of Majahual which had just been hit by a level 5 hurricane the previous year. Although the town was in various stages of reconstruction there was one thing for sure- the residents of the area are resilient, determined and happy!

In March of 1990, I was a pretty new travel agent. My mother, father and little sister and I went on a cruise over Spring Break with Princess Cruises and I met my husband to be who happened to be one of the ship’s Italian Officers. So, when people ask where we met, I tell them the Love Boat!

My most embarrassing travel moment:

My husband went with me to Botswana (first time in Africa for him) this past February. While we were packing our bags I hadn’t noticed that he was packing several white shirts. When we went for our first game drive at Mombo we came upon some lions who were walking directly toward our vehicle, toward my husband in particular. My client who was with us then asked why he had worn a white shirt and didn’t his travel agent tell him that white isn’t a good safari color? My face was so red!!!!