Deb Summers Travel Design

27/08/2024

My best is 6 today! She is everything I could never have imagined would be possible. She is fierce and confident and funny and particular and thoughtful and adventurous and brilliant. Somehow I get to be her mom. That is true magic.

09/08/2024

Active adventures for tulip season!

02/08/2024

Our second port on the Big Island was Kona, and wow. Wowwwww. You're just riding along in your Uber, surrounded by lava rocks and the most beautiful beaches you can imagine. It really looks like theyve just carved through some freshly cooled lava and made a little road here and there. So cool.

After a group tour the prior day, we split up today. graciously hung out on the boat with the kids (because NCL kids clubs are not open during the day on port days 🙄) while .r.summers and I toured , .martin reeled in some big ones and .booth.92 went PARASAILING?!?! 😱 As an affiliate of , I am a Four Seasons Preferred Partner and can offer exclusive perks and promotions to clients, so I met with the sales team, toured several jaw-dropping suites and enjoyed a beachside lunch. I would absolutely recommend this property to anyone, kids or not, visiting the Big Island. Let me know if you want perks

31/07/2024

Magical details released! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™
Ministry of Magic™ opens 2025 at Universal Epic Universe at Universal Orlando Resort.

Learn more: UniversalOrlando.com/harrypotterministryofmagic

29/07/2024

Our next island was the Big Island. Our first of two ports on this island was Hilo, and we got really lucky with great weather. We took a small group tour of a few area highlights plus . I love that folks with limited mobility can definitely still experience the highlights of Kilauea, which was still smoking from a July eruption, and Mauna Loa, but if you're into active pursuits, there are great hikes, too. Banyan drive had tons of amazing trees planted by famous folks like Babe Ruth, and Rainbow Falls was beautiful. The landscape of this island definitely feels like it just popped out of the ocean. Black lava rocks everywhere! Seeing the Earth still in formation is amazing. My photos don't do it justice but I would hate to go to Hawaii and miss this amazing island! Next up: a tour of the Four Seasons Hualalai!!

27/07/2024

Our second and third days in Hawaii, we were docked in Maui. More cruise ships should dock overnight, IMO. It was so nice to get two days on each island! The first day we had planned a private tour to visit the Iao Valley and watch the sunset at Haleakala National Park, but wildfires shut down the summit, so we pivoted to the Road to Hana (a perk of private tours -- you get to choose!). That road is WILD. Over 100 blind curves and 50+ one lane bridges. But really cool sights along the way, including black sand beaches, famous banana bread and shave ice, a waterfall for swimming, a lunch stop for awesome huli huli chicken and a beach full of ENORMOUS Hawaiian green sea turtles (look closely, they aren't rocks!!). Tip: DO NOT DRIVE THIS ROUTE YOURSELF. it's downright dangerous. Our tour guide was a Hana native, and he was so good none of us even got car sick, which is super common on this route.

After a 10 hour tour day, we slept hard and then some of us were up early the next morning. A key to multigen trips -- not everyone has to be together all the time! .r.summers & went scuba diving, , Charlie, Owen and I snorkeled in an extinct volcano crater (did you know you can get seasickness WHILE IN THE WATER SNORKELING?! new achievement unlocked...), .martin checked out the and the rest of the crew hung by the ship's pool and took advantage of the drink package!
We all came together for dinner that night. Tip: splurge on the specialty dining package that gets you unlimited specialty dining. The service and food in the specialty (read: upcharge) restaurants was world's better than the main dining rooms (I expect it's designed that way...)
Next up: volcanoes, y'all!

25/07/2024

Getting 12 people from the East Coast to Hawaii, mostly using airline miles, was a fun undertaking 🤪 Our family of 4 chose to fly ORF-MSP-SAN, arriving late Thursday night, and grab an airport hotel room. Then, we flew Hawaiian Airlines SAN-HNL the day before our cruise embarked. Two notes:
1) NEVER fly in on the day of your cruise, if you miss it youre out of luck
2) Most HA flights do NOT have wifi 🤯 I learned this after take off, before I had even downloaded my Kindle book 😭
We grabbed a cheap hotel in Waikiki and had dinner at the gorgeous House Without a Key (I wish I had checked out their rooms, the hotel is 😍).
Everyone made it in later that night, and early the next morning we were off to . A couple of tips here: 1) get Arizona memorial tickets ASAP when they open online. The reservations are only $1 each but if you wait for standby, you may not get on the shuttle. 2) get there as early as possible. The crowds build substantially as the day goes on.
Then we all Ubered back to the hotel to get our bags and meet our transport to the cruise port. Boarding was easy and pleasant, and though our balcony room was much smaller than your average Disney balcony room, it was fine! Since we had a large group I had worked with NCL's groups department to make dining reservations so that we could all eat together our first night. And the ship headed off to Maui!

22/07/2024

When .r.summers had the idea to take the grandparents to Hawaii about 15-18 months ago, the complexities of the trip immediately became apparent. How do you create a once-in-a-lifetime trip for a group of East Coasters traveling 10-20 hours each way, from ages 5-65 of varying budgets, interests and mobilities, and get them to see as much of the 137 islands of Hawaii as possible without a) feeling like they missed something major b) becoming completely exhausted c) spending half your trip in airports?

We toyed w several island/hotel combinations but ultimately went with the ease of the only large cruise ship berthed in the US, the NCL Pride of America. Though it's not my fave ship or line, the ability to visit 4 Hawaiian islands with 2 days on each island without unpacking & waiting in the airport half the trip makes this ship incredibly popular, and it was a sold out sailing. We booked in March 2023 for our July 2024 cruise, and the price never dropped. It just climbed over time (so if you're planning to cruise in 25/26, it's not too early to reach out).

Then came the hard part. Finding pre & post cruise hotels, flights from 3 different airports on 7 different airlines, mostly booked with points, balancing the high cost of Hawaii in general w the desire for customized tours. I flexed ALL of my planning muscles for this trip, and in the end, 12 friends and family:
🇺🇸 Visited &
🐠 Snorkeled/dove in a volcanic crater & w sea turtles & seals
🏝️ Relaxed on the beach with some endangered Hawaiian monk seals
🏞️ Swam in a waterfall on the Road to Hana
🚁 Helicoptered over the Na Pali Coast & Waimea Canyon, probably the coolest experience of them all
🌋 Explored black sand beaches & lava tubes
🗿Learned about several Pacific Islander cultures at an authentic luau in an amazing tropical garden
🏎️ Parasailed, slingshotted, UTVed & sportfished across several islands
🦖 Nerded out over the many movie sites on Oahu and Kauai
And a whole bunch more I'm too tired to recall at the moment.
More granular detail to come, but for now, that multigen trip you're dreaming of? It's worth the effort, and I'd love to help.

14/05/2024

Looking back through photos from last week, I am reminded just how quickly it all seems to fly. Soon, she'll forget to be delighted by pink polka dotted sheets. The dining tables won't be scattered with crayons. No Anna costume to drip ketchup on. She won't say "I like your Genie shirt, Mommy!" She won't need to be reminded not to body-slam-hug characters. She won't find old school attractions exciting. She won't want to be silly with Mom.

Or maybe.... maybe she will. Maybe she will keep or recapture some of that childhood sense of awe and joy that keeps us sane in an insane world, the delight in details that distracts from the daily grind. Maybe she'll remember the play and fun more than the times I lost my patience.

The idea of a last minute girls' trip in was a little crazy, and I managed to lose my passport, sunglasses and credit card while wrangling everything solo, but you know what? I have approximately about the indulgent and beautiful time spent with my amazing girl.

Have a crazy idea? Let me help you make it reality.

12/05/2024

See? Sometimes it IS all your mom's fault 🤣🤣🤣🤣 but seriously, thank you, .booth.92, for teaching me to embrace the fun and joy in life, and for filling my childhood with both. Thank you for being our family's kinkeeper, for making sure we always got together for holidays and birthdays, for all the hard work, visible and invisible, over so many years. We are so fortunate to call you Mama and Nene.

30/04/2024

Happy birthday to my partner in all of life's great adventures, .r.summers. May your last year of your 30s be full of tight lines, Swiftie princess dances, far flung adventures, new experiences, salt & sand and family fun. If a fraction of the good you bring to patients and their families, and to us, is returned to you this year, it will be a good one indeed.

15/04/2024

In college and grad school, I enjoyed sleeping on trains and in airports and flying on bare bones, maybe-you-have-to-pay-to-use-the-potty airlines to see the wonders of Europe's capitals, riverside towns and countryside. But I wouldn't call it rejuvenating or refreshing by a long shot.
Now that I'm too old for that, a river cruise is really the perfect way to explore Europe without unpacking, missing days of your trip due to train strikes or air delays and lugging your bags over 1,000-year-old cobblestone (spoiler: even the fancy bags don't roll well!).
My clients love Tauck and Tauck Bridges, the kid-friendly family journeys that include their amazing river cruises. Douro, Danube, Rhine, Seine... which will you take this fall?

20/03/2024

If is on your radar in the next 12-18 months, it's not too early to start designing your dream trip. Japan is the perfect adventure if you're into experiencing something different from your home culture but also love your modern conveniences. It's also great for kids of all ages, but especially for tricky tweens and teens. Reach out and we will work together to design the trip of a lifetime!

11/03/2024

Our last day began with another beautiful breakfast in the club lounge at Hotel Granvia, followed by a calligraphy lesson in the sensei's house in a residential area of Kyoto. Our translator picked us up at the hotel and rode with us in the taxi to our sensei's home. Sensei greeted us so warmly with o cha (green tea) and sweets in her traditional Japanese home, where she had set up all the supplies needed to teach us the art of Japanese calligraphy. Our translator helped.wifh the lesson, and we did our best. The final product was a kanji of our choice on a gold board, and then the sensei asked if we would like to see her "door" for girls' day. She was very proud of it and we were very honored to be invited into another room in her home. Another amazing, authentic experience we wouldn't have found on our own.
Then it was time to head back to Tokyo via Shinkansen. Mt. Fuji was still being shy. An attendant was standing on the train platform when we disembarked with our name on a sign, and he escorted us to our waiting driver. No bumbling around the station required. We considered going back into the city after our driver dropped.us off at our airport hotel, but once we saw how.much there is to do and see.in HND -- robot assistant rentals, slot car racing (Owen won), a barber shop (Matt got a 10m haircut!), a replica Edo-period neighborhood full of Japanese-made goods for sale, a planetarium, cuisine of all shapes and sizes, a Mercedes shop, cafe and display... We decided to stick around. Tomorrow we start the long journey home, but we gain a day on the way back.
The boys agree this is one of our best ever trips. Japan has so very much to offer and we barely scratched the surface. Reach out if you'd like help planning your own journey to Japan. .r.summers

10/03/2024

Today was the best day of our trip, easily. Mazda-san is one of the best guides I've ever had, and it was a privilege to learn from him. We started at Nijo Castle, where the Sh**un stayed when visiting the emperor. No photos allowed inside but it was absolutely incredible. Then we enjoyed the Arishiyama bamboo forest before hiking up a mountain to the monkey park. The monkeys inhabit the mountainside and there's an area where you can feed them through a fence with strict warnings not to stare at them or touch them. Then we tried udon noodles at another locals-only joint (think shoes off, sunken seating). While we waited for our table, we wandered around a unique temple full of hundreds of statues. After lunch we visited the Golden Temple, and then Mazda-san took us to the temple where he has been practicing Zen Buddhism for 20 years. I had asked him about a mochi shop I had seen in , and he laughed with delight and said "How do you know about Ichiwa? That is in my neighborhood. I am a frequent customer. Come! I'll show you my 'hood!" And so he took us to his home, which he built near the temple so that he could bike through it on his daily commute, and introduced us to his wife. We walked through a beautiful tori, and there was Ichiwa, one of two places in the world (the other is their across the street rival) where you can get aburi mochi, which is mochi roasted over charcoal on bamboo sticks (grown at the shrine) and covered in a miso/sugar/soy sauce. We ditched our shoes for tatami seating, o cha (green tea) and this delicious, weird delight. We were the only Americans around, and Mazda-san introduced us to the owner (the one doing the roasting!) before we left.
It was one of those days that reminded me why I love to travel. I hope I have future clients lucky enough to tour with Mazda-san, and I hope to return to Kyoto soon. .r.summers

09/03/2024

Today was our first day touring Kyoto with the best guide, Mazda-san. He has visited all 2000 shrines in the city on foot or bike and knows everything about everything. The Imperial Palace was beautiful, but my favorite was Sanjusangendo. No photos allowed, but this 750 year old Buddhist temple with 1000 statues of the same Buddhist prophet was just amazing. We tucked in for a ramen lunch at a locals-only joint run by Mazda-san's friend, and then enjoyed a traditional tea ceremony in one of the most picturesque areas of Kyoto with great shopping including a fave with tons of Ghibli merch. We missed the ceremony yesterday due to train delays, but called and rescheduled us for today within minutes of me letting them know about the delay. The value of working with a company with this kind of excellent service cannot be overstated. Then it was time for the famous Fushimi Inari of 2000+ red gates, which was especially charming in the SNOW!! After a street food snack (fried yams, mochi, ice cream because it's never too cold when you're 10), we headed back to our lovely hotel. Tomorrow, we take on the other side of this amazing city! .r.summers

07/03/2024

Wow. What to say about yesterday morning at except you just need to experience it for yourself. We apparently even missed a few rooms despite circling back more than once. The art forces you to be in the moment. There's no map or plan, there's just discovery and change. And tea that blooms flowers. And looks of amazement on your child's face. Truly, this place was a major highlight of Tokyo and is a must do. And on the way out, we caught our first cherry blossom! The season starts in a week or two, so we felt lucky! Next up: Tokyo Disney!

05/03/2024

Today we had a video game enthusiast and licensed tour guide show us around some of the electronics-focused areas of Tokyo. Our first stop was . Every square inch of space is filled with everything from 1000 varieties of air conditioners to anything you could ever want as a game or anime fan. It's hard to express just how much STUFF you can buy as a fan here. Then, Owen lived his dream of arcading the day away in 8-story gaming centers, maybe 4 floors of each were fancy claw machines with, again, anything you could possibly imagine inside. He won his sister a giant Pikachu and himself some stretchy toy he saw on YouTube. He and Matt enjoyed lots of retro gaming, we peeked inside a Square Enix themed cafe, had totally glorious tonkatsu (panko fried pork) on the top floor of the crazy electronics store and then hopped over to Shibuya for Nintendo Tokyo and other gaming stores. We ended the day with Italian food -- yes, we are in Japan, but Tokyo has the best of every cuisine, and one of the best Italian restaurants in the city is next door to our hotel. See the photo with the road on top of the office building? That was our view from dinner 🤯 Next up: borderless digital art museum, Tokyo Disney and Kyoto!

04/03/2024

Our second full day in Tokyo was the perfect "rest day" between two full days of walking tours. First, we had a private manga lesson with an English-speaking manga author whose work has been turned into anime (she's the author of the manga in the first pic!). She was brilliant and we had a blast! Then the boys suited up for a batto swordsmanship lesson, which was a really cool experience until they gave my 10 year old a real katana and I questioned my life choices. 🤣 The sensei was very safe, though, and helped Owen cut through a rolled tatami mat. They learned how to walk, sit and stand like samurai.
Tokyo has dozens, maybe hundreds of themed cafes & restaurants (it has 80,000 restaurants in general 🤯), and Ninja restaurant is supposed to be among the best in terms of experience and food. It had its moments but still felt gimmicky. We got back on track with a lovely stroll back to our hotel through Ginza at night with a stop for French cookies (not just macarons!), because brings the best from all over the world, not just from Japan!
Next up: another day with an "insider," this time with a video game focus!
Let me know if I can help your family put together the perfect Japan itinerary!

03/03/2024

We made it to Japan! I'm so excited to be working with my in-country partner , who put together a wonderful itinerary for our Tokyo & Kyoto adventures! Our first day, we did a pop culture focused tour of Harajuku, Ikebukuro and Shibuya. If you've ever said "it's too peoply in here" then Tokyo might not be for you, but it's a place you have to see to believe. Tomorrow, Owen and Matt have manga and batto swordsmanship lessons (I'm playing photographer!) and then dinner at one of the many themed spots in the city. I have clients in Tokyo right now touring with a different company because their needs and expectations were a better fit with a different partner. As a , I can help you find the right tour operator for your family's travel style and budget.

17/02/2024

Spring break season is around the corner and my clients are going BIG for far-flung family fun, serene couples' trips, exquisite beach resorts and some magic.
🏝️A family of 4 relaxing in a villa with their own pool at . The best of both worlds: the privacy of a villa and the services of a luxury resort!
🌊A busy dual-physician family on a friend-cation enjoying beach fun and culinary delights .mx
🌅 Passport-free palm tree bliss in a suite perfect for a family of 4
🏰 Several families enjoying the magic with VIP tours, club level comforts and private cabins, and a family of 5 exploring more of Orlando from a suite
⛩️ Another busy dual-physician family exploring Japan with their adult kids on a private, fully guided tour curated with
🚢 Nonstop multigenerational family fun on Odyssey of the Seas
👩‍❤️‍👨 A much-needed couples getaway of club-level pampering
And more! And of course, I will share our 10-day insider tour of Tokyo & Kyoto with the incomparable starting in TWO short weeks!!

I still have limited space to help you plan your family's summer, fall and holiday fun, and it's definitely not too early.

13/02/2024

Happy to help y'all book a Bayou Adventure!

JUST ANNOUNCED 📣 Tiana's Bayou Adventure opens at Walt Disney World in Summer 2024! 💚 💜 💛 Five exciting reasons to join the celebration: http://di.sn/6188VsiOG

30/01/2024

JUST ANNOUNCED: Five immersive worlds. One amazing theme park. Universal Epic Universe opens
2025 at Universal Orlando Resort.

Let me add you to my 2025 Universal vacations list! I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS!!!!!