As a kid, I think my interest in travel came from my great uncle and a school project in elementary school.
Long before the days of GPS and cell phones, I remember my uncle hopping on his Harley, and hitting the road for Alaska! He sent us postcards, and told tales breaking down on his way back home. But what always struck me most was that he just did it. Also, long before the days of the internet, I was assigned a 5th grade group project to plan a road trip. We could choose anywhere we wanted, but we needed to plan every detail—mileage, snacks, stopping points, hotels, car rental, everything. What was my destination of choice? New York City.
And that is where my travel story begins.

I took a couple of cruises out of Galveston right around the time I met my now husband about 10 years ago, but cruising seemed easily accessible. Getting on a plane and flying thousands of miles away, that on the other hand seemed completely out of reach.  Flying was something I had never done, and few people close to me had either, until I met my husband. Airplanes are apart of his daily life, and flying was as simple as getting in a car to him. 

After several years together, and eventually married, I guess he’d tired of my gushing over wanting to go to New York City. Finally one day he said to me, “Dana, if you want to go so bad, why don’t you just go?” Just go. As if it were the simplest thing on the planet. That very moment changed my life forever. 

I immediately started researching, and within a couple of weeks had flights and hotel booked for my mom & I go fly to New York City in December 2013 for a week of mother-daughter bonding and Christmas magic! That trip, far more life changing than the cruises I’d done, changed me to my core. There was something about NYC. And there was something about flying.

Over the next year and a half, we went on several other vacations, creating incredible itineraries for each one, and sharing them with my friends and family on social media. Throughout the time, more than a few people told me I should become a travel agent. 

Me? The girl who had only flown for the first time a short couple of years ago? Did travel agents even still exist? Could I really make a living out of something I was actually passionate about and loved?

I scoffed at the idea for 6 months or more, then finally decided to look into it. Until that trip to NYC, I never realized how doable, how attainable travel was, but with careful planning and saving, it could be done! And I wanted to share that with everyone I knew and beyond. I soon found myself launching Discovereighng with Dana Travel. In August 2015, something I never thought I’d do, fly on a plane & travel the world, became my life’s purpose. 

So here I am today, running a successful travel design company, helping others create incredible vacations just for them. More importantly, I’m showing God’s world to more and more of his people. Over the past few years, my passion for this career have grown immensely, and with each passing day I know that I am doing exactly what God designed me to do. What great joy to see my passion and purpose collide! 

I could not be more grateful to my husband for his simple words of “just go” and to New York City for opening my eyes to a whole new world. I hope that through this passion of Discovereighng with Dana Travel, I can help you discover a whole new world too!