About Me

I have a passion for exploring the world's wonders. With almost 3 decades of travel experience, I have experienced unforgettable journeys individually and with fellow travelers.

Ashley is a seasoned travel advisor with J & A Travel Adventures. With her extensive knowledge of destinations and a passion for crafting unforgettable journeys, she excels in providing personalized travel experiences for clients. Ashley's attention to detail, creativity, and dedication ensure that each trip is meticulously planned and tailored to meet the unique preferences and desires of travelers. Her expertise and commitment to exceptional service make her a trusted advisor for anyone seeking a memorable and hassle-free travel experience with J & A Travel Adventures.

My mission is to inspire wanderlust and create bespoke travel experiences tailored to their client's interests and preferences. By leveraging my extensive networks and insider knowledge to craft authentic experiences that immerse travelers in the cultures, landscapes, and histories of destinations around the globe.

Me Ashley & my husband

What to pack?

I'll help you plan for the weather, location and activities.

Important Papers.

I'll you know if you need a hard copy of travel information before you leave and any important documents you made need.

Why are my travel experiences important?

Because I’ve been a continuous traveler for almost three decades, and I’ve learned to look for the fine details that can add stressors to a trip, such as where the good bathrooms are, what the immigration and customs process is like, or does the hotel rooms have hairdryers.


Because I have actually been there, I know which countries are better to visit with drivers and guides and where you are okay traveling on your own.


Because I have compiled my extensive knowledge of countries for such a long time, I am the perfect person to help you plan your trips and make sure that you do not have the extra stress that comes from traveling to an unknown country.

Happy couple in a beach

Trusted Relationships with Local Guides, Drivers and Hoteliers.

I have a knack for continuing relationships and communicating with guides, drivers, and hoteliers that I have used before. Those long-term relationships mean that I can produce a more personalized itinerary for you than a travel agent who is just clicking on a computer and finding a hotel or driver that they’ve never spoken to and probably never will.

Attention to Details

Finally, I’m also an over-planner. This means when I plan a trip for you, I research to make sure everything is as I remember. I reconfirm the details when I book. Then right before you travel, I triple-confirm your details. Therefore, when I tell you that the guide will be in your hotel lobby at a certain time, he is going to be there. These experiences are meant to be new and wonderful, and my diligence helps to ensure that your travels will be all you imagined.

When you are a client of mine, you are part of my family.

I want you to have an amazing experience and to make once in a lifetime memory. Therefore, I will take as much care planning your trips as I do for my own kids and parents.

Click below to schedule a consultation directly with me.

See My Latest Blogs

My Latest Travel Adventures

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5 Types of Travelers: Knowing What Type You Are Allows for Better Planning

October 28, 20235 min read

“I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.” - Hiliare Belloc

Introduction:

During a person's life, they can be five types of travelers.  Since I've traveled through all of them, let me give you a little bit of explanation. 

5 types of travelers

Traveler 1: Young Traveler 

Young or young-and-in-love is the first traveling experience a person can have.  This stage occurs between graduating high school and when you have your first child.  During this phase, it's all about excitement, entertainment, and enjoying all the fun that you can have traveling to as many places as possible on your limited days off.  My husband and I went through this stage from the age of 23 to 30.  During this time, it was about how we get to a beach and where we are going to find the best bars and dance clubs. Our trips were not glamorous, but they were full of life, excitement, and laughs. 

Traveler 2: Family Travelers, Especially with Young Kids 

These travelers have an overabundance of stress and amazing memories bundled into each trip.  Do you think that young parents are tired at home? Try taking a six-month-old on a 36-hour plane trip to Malaysia.  This is the time of life when adults look haphazard, frazzled, and just plain worn out. All you must do is look at a parent at Disney World with 4-year-olds or on a long airplane trip, and you can see in their eyes they're not sure this was the best choice to travel. When they returned home, they were more exhausted than when they left, but the memories they made when their child saw the ocean or tasted snow for the first time were worth all the discomfort of traveling as a family.  

Traveler 3:  Empty Nester Traveler 

This stage of travel begins the moment the last child leaves your house. It is exciting to be an empty nester. You feel alive again, and travel makes this stage in life even more exciting.   There's no more having to think about having two double beds in a hotel room or whether your child will enjoy doing this or that activity.  It's now just about you and your partner. All the mischief and fun you want to experience again, just at a little bit slower pace than when you were a couple of decades younger but with the bonus on a larger bank account. For us, it was the amazing trip to Amsterdam, where we experienced the tulips at Keukenhof Gardens and the fantastic food of the red-light district, that we truly began feeling like empty nesters. 

Traveler 4: Caregiver Traveler 

Being a caregiver to elderly parents or a disabled child while traveling is a challenging but truly rewarding experience.  As a traveling caregiver, you know that the trips are not about you but about your loved one. The trip is about allowing your elderly family member or disabled child to experience those places they've dreamed about all their lives.   Many times, these trips have to be pre-planned extensively to the most minute details because of mental or mobility issues.   Every detail must be thought through, whether your parent is going to be able to walk on that cobblestone street, if your child can get up the stairs for that ride, or if an activity is going to be too chaotic and noisy for your loved one.  These trips are very important to caregivers.  Always in the back of their mind is knowing that this may be the last time your loved one can travel.   This may be the last time they get to experience someplace new, and this might be the last major time you get to make memories with them. 

Traveler 5: Solo Traveler 

This type of travel can fall anywhere between all the rest of them at any point in someone’s life.  A solo traveler can be someone young, just out of college, and backpacking across Asia. A solo traveler may also be an empty nester that is tired of taking care of everyone else, including their partner, and just wants to feel truly free.  You may also become a solo traveler after a trauma such as a divorce or the death of your partner.  During this type of trip, the experiences are all about you, the places you've always dreamed of going to, and the things you want to do. It is about personal growth and healing.  Solo travel is about embracing the quiet moments and truly becoming centered and at peace with yourself.    

Each of these stages of travel shares one common theme: the need to see and experience more of the world. Each time is a chance to create memories for yourself or with the ones you love. Doesn’t that sound amazing? 

I love sending postcards home. During my Travels, I send a postcard home every day to one lucky person. Click the link below, and you might receive a postcard from my next adventure.

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The material and information contained in this blog is for general information purposes only. You should not rely on the information provided as a basis for making any business, legal, or any other decisions. Opinions, reviews, analysis, and reviews are the author's alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of the entities. J & A Travel Adventures makes no representations or warranties of any kind. Any reliance you place on such material is therefore at your own risk. 

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