Dreamward Travel, Inc.

08/27/2024

06/19/2024

06/15/2024

Enjoying Hawaii!

05/24/2024

Dreamward Travel, Inc. will be closed on Monday, May 27th, in honor of Memorial Day. May we all reflect on the sacrifices of our bravest and finest who died in the name of freedom.

05/23/2024

It's hard to believe that Dreamward Travel, Inc. has entered its 24th year of business! When the office of Dreamward Travel, Inc. opened, airline tickets were written by hand! Maria has seen so many things change in the world of travel, but one thing has stayed consistent - her excellence of service to all of her clients. CONGRATULATIONS, Dreamward Travel, Inc. and Maria! 🎉🎉🎉

02/18/2024

Dreamward Travel, Inc. will be closed on Monday in observance of Presidents' Day. Enjoy your long weekend!

01/02/2024

Happy 2024 to all of our friends and clients! We thank you all for your support this past year.
This New Year brings new office hours for us:
Monday through Friday, we will be open 8:30 AM-12 Noon and 1:00 pm-5:00 PM. Evenings and weekends are by appointment only.
We look forward to helping you realize your travel dreams!

11/22/2023

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and clients! We truly hope it's a wonderful holiday for you all.
Our offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday, reopening on Monday morning. For travel emergencies ONLY, please call Maria at 863-409-8915.

07/11/2023

Please note that Dreamward Travel, Inc. will be closed from July 14th through July 23rd as Maria goes on a family vacation! Emails will be answered as time permits. For travel emergencies only, please call 863-802-8409, option 2, for Yvette. The office will reopen on Monday, July 24th.

12/23/2022

All of us here at Dreamward Travel, Inc. wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy 2023! We hope you spend your holidays surrounded by love.
All offices will be closed until Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Maria will answer emails as her travel allows.

07/01/2022

We hope that all of you have a wonderful and safe weekend celebrating America's 246th birthday! Dreamward Travel, Inc. will be closed on Monday in observance of Independence Day.

06/08/2022

Maria will be traveling to Oregon for her grandson's high school graduation - such an exciting milestone! 👨‍🎓🎓🎉

The office will be closed from Thursday, June 9th through Tuesday, June 14th. While Maria will be working on existing travel requests during this time, we will not be accepting any new travel requests until June 15, 2022. Please only reach out with travel emergencies to 863-409-8915 if you are traveling during this time.

05/26/2022

We are forever grateful for our soldiers who gave all in the name of freedom. Dreamward Travel, Inc. will pause on Monday, May 30th, Memorial Day, in their honor. We will reopen on Tuesday morning.

05/17/2022

All of us here at Dreamward Travel, Inc. are beyond appreciative of all our clients and friends who have supported our small family business for 22 years! We are here for you and because of you. Thank you!! 🥳🎉🎊

05/06/2022

We are wishing a Happy Mother's Day weekend to all of the moms out there, for none of us would be here without having a mother first. And, for those missing their mothers this weekend, we send extra comfort. It's a loss that cannot be replaced. 🌺🌼🌸

04/04/2022

Please note that the office of Dreamward Travel, Inc. will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday April 5th, however we will be working! The office is still closed on Wednesdays, with phone lines being answered by Yvette during normal business hours. Thank you!

03/03/2022

We are sorry to say that the office has no internet connection, including phone service as it's tied to the internet. We are hoping Frontier Communications will have this worked out some time tomorrow. Technology, right??

02/16/2022

Dreamward Travel, Inc. will be closed Friday-Monday for President's Day.
For travel emergencies only, call 863-409-8915.

01/09/2022

We would like to thank all of you for your well wishes and prayers. We are so happy to say that Maria is on the road to recovery, and is feeling better than she has since December 22nd. She is not at 100% recovery yet, and will be working limited hours for the time being. For the rest of January, Maria will be working from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Yvette will be taking calls from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM on Wednesdays. Office visits are with an appointment only during Maria's workday hours listed above. Also, the office is closed on Monday, January 17th, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

01/07/2022

Just when you think it's over, it's actually Christmas today in Russia! Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7th, even though many Russian traditions originate from pagan culture. Christmas customs include caroling, fortune-telling, and following a strict Nativity Fast for forty days leading up to Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is spent with family, and is considered a time of forgiveness and love. Gifts are exchanged with loved ones, and homes are decorated with figures of angels, stars, and nativity scenes. Many Russians attend a Christmas mass on Christmas Eve. Russia's Santa Claus, known as Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), is slender with a wizard-like flowing beard, a long robe in different colors such as blue and white, and comes on New Year's Eve. New Year’s is still the bigger holiday in Russia in modern times. New Year’s is a big, public holiday with lots of spending, drinking, and eating, while Christmas is quieter and more private, and with the religious practices that are not included in New Year’s celebrations.

01/06/2022

Happy Twelfth Day of Christmas! Although for many of the African countries Christmas comes during the summer months, accompanied by lots of sunshine and colourful flowers in full bloom, the spirit of Christmas on this continent remains the same. All African countries share the global tradition of families traveling and getting together, often the only time large families will see each other all year, so it is very important. While many Christmas traditions of Southern Africa were instilled by the British during the colonial era and are very similar to the traditions we have back home, Christmas celebrations in the Northern Africa region are very unique from country to country. People try to be home for Christmas Eve, so they can help with the Christmas preparations. Houses and churches are often decorated with colorful balloons, ribbons, paper decorations, flowers and green leaves. For a Christmas tree, some people will have a Cyprus tree. Christmas in Kenya is considered one of the biggest festivities of the year. On Christmas Eve, many people, especially Christians, will go to a Midnight Church Service to celebrate. The service will have Christmas hymns, carols & songs, and often nativity plays (showing the Christmas Story), poems & dances. After the service, people go home and the party really starts - you might well not sleep that night! Some people will also go to church on Christmas morning if they haven't fallen asleep from partying all night! In the villages, mealtimes blend into each other and members of the family dance and sing around the fire. Popular Christmas foods include a barbecue which can be a goat, sheep, beef or chicken, and is eaten with rice and chapati flat bread. The big Christmas meal is called 'nyama choma'. People often make their own beer to drink and different tribes also have special dishes they make. If you live in a city you might have a western Christmas Cake, but these aren't very common in rural areas. In Kenya, Santa doesn't arrive with his Reindeer but might well come by Land-rover, a camel or even a bike!

01/05/2022

It's the Eleventh Day of Christmas and Christmas Eve in Armenia! As the world’s oldest Christian nation, the spirit of Christmas runs deep in Armenian culture. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Christmas on January 6th, as well as the Epiphany and the Baptism of Jesus (when he started his adult ministry). Some Armenians fast the week before Christmas, and have a lighter Christmas Eve dinner designed to ease the stomach off the week-long fast and prepare it for the larger Christmas Day dinner. On Christmas Eve, Many Armenians observe the tradition of going to church and bringing home lit candles to light their homes with light from the church, believed to bless their families and bring success. The candles stay lit until they are gone. Christmas Day is called Water Blessing Day to commemorate Christ’s baptism; holy water, blessed by the head priest, is shared with families in the community. Afterwards, families sit down to a special meal of fish—usually trout—and rice pilaf with raisins; they drink red wine, symbolizing the blood of Christ. In Armenia, New Year and Christmas traditions blend together. The standard holiday greeting is “Happy New Year and Christmas!” and families decorate “holiday trees” at home. This time is about beginnings: the birth of Christ as well as the start of a new year. Santa Claus, known as Winter Grandfather, traditionally comes on New Year's Eve (December 31st) because Christmas Day itself is thought of as more of a religious holiday in Armenia.

01/04/2022

Happy Tenth Day of Christmas. Christmas in Poland is called "Boże Narodzenie", which translates to 'God's Birth'. The Day of Saint Nicholas on December 6th is the unofficial beginning of the festive season in Poland. Well-behaved children receive small gifts on the day, whereas naughty children receive a lump of coal or a twig, called "rózga". Christmas Eve is a very important and busy day. The house is cleaned, the Christmas tree is decorated, and everyone puts on their best festive clothes for the main Christmas meal. It's traditional that no food is eaten until the first star in the sky is seen, meaning most people fast all Christmas Eve day. The meal consists of 12 different dishes, bringing good luck for 12 months or representing the 12 Apostles, and it's obligatory that everyone try at least some of every dish, even if you don't like it! No meat is eaten until Christmas Day, so fish (carp) is usually the main dish. At the beginning of the meal, a large wafer biscuit called an 'Oplatek' is passed around the table and everyone breaks a piece off and eats it and says a Christmas greeting. To welcome anyone alone or hungry, there's an extra place setting at the table for them to join in uninvited. Loneliness is considered the worst thing that could happen during a Polish Christmas, and homes are opened to welcome people. After dinner, presents are opened and lots of carols are sung before going to Midnight Mass. In Poland, gifts are brought to the children by either Saint Nicholas, Grandfather Frost, the Baby Jesus, the Starman, Little Angel, or Little Star, depending on location.

01/03/2022

It's the Ninth Day of Christmas! Christmas in Sri Lanka is a festive time to share love, kindness, compassion, and most importantly gifts with family and friends. Even though Sri Lanka is a mostly Buddhist country (only 7% of people are Christians), Christmas is highly celebrated by almost everyone. The Christmas season starts on December 1st when people let off fire crackers at dawn! The streets are decorated, shopping centers have large Christmas trees, and Santa Claus is well loved and seen in many shopping malls and at Christmas parties. On Christmas Eve, churches hold Midnight Mass to herald the dawn of Christmas. At midnight thousands of firecrackers are lit – a very popular Sri Lankan practice at any major festival. After mass, everyone goes home to share cake and wine and exchange gifts. The main Christmas meal, which could be lunch or dinner, has to be accompanied by local delicacies such as yellow rice, chicken dry roast, fried eggplant curry, spicy potato curry, cashew nut curry, pol sambol made with coconut and fish. There are special cakes for dessert, like Bibikkan (Sri Lankan coconut cake), Sri Lankan Love cake, and the most important Christmas Cake, which starts being prepared a month before the holiday. Brazil may boast having the tallest floating Christmas tree, but the Sri Lankan Christmas tree is the world's tallest artificial Christmas tree on land. It was built on the Galle Face Green in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the tree is 236 ft, 6.58 in. tall and opened on Christmas Eve 2016.

01/02/2022

For two years, Dreamward Travel, Inc. has been upside down navigating travel in a Covid 19 world. We are sad to report that it has become very personal, with Maria being sick with Covid 19 right now. She is not in the hospital, thankfully, but she is very sick. This has not been easy for her, and it's not over. We know there are so many who love and care for Maria, but PLEASE do not call her right now. The phone disrupts her sleep. If you believe in prayer, we ask for your prayers of healing. Please note that the offices will not be reopening on January 4th as planned. We do not have any way of knowing when the office will reopen just yet. Our energies are going towards doing whatever possible to get Maria's health restored. We apologize for how this may affect you. I know my mother, and she's probably more worried about our clients than her sickness right now. But, I think we all agree we need her to get well!