When I was growing up, my parents had this thing they would do. They'd wake us up in the middle of the night, completely out of nowhere, and tell us we were going somewhere.

Where? Girl, your guess was as good as mine.

We hadn't been told to expect a vacation. There wasn't some big family announcement weeks beforehand. We'd just go from being sound asleep in our beds to suddenly being on our way to who knows where. And I loved it.

By the time I was 13, I'd already been to Hawaii and the Bahamas. We went on cruises, visited amusement parks, explored different places, and had adventures that I still have photographs of decades later. Somewhere in there, my sister and I even went parasailing. I can't tell you exactly where we were, but I remember we did it!

Looking back, I realize how much those experiences shaped me. My parents gave us something that went far beyond a vacation. They gave us memories, a sense of adventure, and the understanding that there was so much more of the world to see than what was right outside our front door.

And here's what I love about that: I didn't have to know where we were going to be excited about the experience.

I think that's part of what I'm bringing to SGC Travel. Some people know exactly where they want to go. Others just know they want to go somewhere. And sometimes, the best experiences are the ones you never would have thought to plan for yourself.

I want to help people discover those places, have those experiences, and create the kinds of memories they'll still be talking about thirty years later. Because I know firsthand how long a good trip can stay with you.

And no, I won't be kidnapping anybody. You'll actually get to pick where you're going.