MONSTER MACAU- Flight Centre Global Ball 2014

The start of my Asia adventure began with Macau. You may ask why Macau? Or even where is Macau? Well, Macau is a small island off Hong Kong and it is the Las Vegas of Asia. I never imagined visiting Macau, and it really had no significance to me until it became the 2014 Flight Centre Global Ball destination. After that, every single day for a year I dreamed of Macau, all my hard work was for one thing- MACAU. Before I get into the trip I have to brag a little bit about my awesome company and what our Global Ball really is. Every year Flight Centre spends over 12 million dollars on our Global gathering which is basically a weekend long party to celebrate those who are at the very top of our company. I didn't just get chosen to go to Macau, it was a years worth of work that took me there. I had one full year to reach a certain number in sales to get to go to our Global Ball and the numbers are extremely high. Very few people get to experience Global Ball, and I am so unbelievably thankful that I had this opportunity. However, it did not come easy, I worked hard for this. My last month to make number one was September 2013. It was my first month as a manager and I worked harder than I ever have in my life....but guess what? I did it! I was number one in Liberty Travel and I was officially going to Global Ball. I was on top of the world, and began planning my Asia adventure. Nine months later I was landing in Macau. 

Venetian in Macau

 We arrived in Macau after a 16 hour flight to Taipei, followed by a 4 hour layover at 5am in the Taipei airport. Needless to say I was exhausted, but the excitement of finally being at Global completely overtook any desire to take a nap. From the minute we arrived, The Sheraton Macau was completely decked out for Flight Centre (we call ourselves flighty’s). I checked in and headed right to the pool for the Tiki pool party reserved just for Flightys. What an incredible start to Global, a day pool party complete with a DJ and drinks just for us! For our evening party we had been given Monster onesies to wear (the theme being Monster Macau). The minute we stepped out of the room there were monsters throughout the Venetian, leading into the colosseum. When we arrived we met up with our amazing area leader and fellow NYC team and enjoyed the party. Highlights- meeting our CEO (Skroo Turner) and dancing in onesies to the headlining act- Will.I.Am.

View from my room

Walking into the Monster onesie party!

NYC team in our onesies

Josh and I with the Flight Centers CEO, Skroo! 

Day two began bright and early for an inspiring day of conferencing. All nations decked themselves out in their countrys’ apparel. We marched with American flags chanting USA, proud as can be. The entire day was full of motivational speakers and defining moments. The energy in the room was electrifying and in that conference  I realized that I was apart of something so much bigger than myself, or my store, or my area. I am work for a  company that is a worldwide sensation, and I am so proud to be apart of the top 10% percent.  

The most inspiring conference

That evening was the awards gala, the formal main event of the trip. Everyone dressed to the nines, girls in ball gowns and the men in tuxes. We had a sit down dinner while the awards were given out and then it was onto the party! We ran straight to the front of the stage eager to hear who the surprise performer would be…guess who? Jessie Jay and Havana Brown! We danced the night away and it was probably one of the best parties of my life.

All dressed up for the awards gala

Front row for the Jessie Jay performance

The morning after we had a “recovery pool party brunch” sponsored by P&O. It was a great morning and I surely did not want to get out the pool and make the journey to the airport, but as 3pm neared I knew it was time to say my goodbyes. After a shuttle bus to a ferry to a taxi, we finally arrived at the Hong Kong airport for our evening flight to Bangkok. This was probably the most exhausting travel day of my life, and being on a boat for an hour did not help my seasickness. I was very thankful I had gotten us a room at the 5 star Banyan Tree in Bangkok-perks of being a travel agent. The hotel was unbelievable, I highly recommend staying here if you are ever in Bangkok. The staff was beyond helpful and friendly, the rooms were modern and spacious, and lets just say I could have slept in that bed forever. The next morning we spent the day at the Banyan Trees rooftop pool. It was great to just relax for the day, the tranquility of the Banyan Tree was just what I needed after the crazy weekend at Global. For lunch we had traditional Thai food and mango smoothies at a local recommended restaurant. It was a delicious meal, but I have to say, beware if you are ever in Thailand….the food is extremely spicy! As the afternoon neared, I knew it was time to check out of the luxurious five star hotel and make the way to the YOLO style Bangkok Centre Hotel to meet our group for the tour. We arrived at the Bangkok Centre Hotel and immediately noticed several other young travelers who were all about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Anxious and excited we waited to meet our CEO and the group of strangers who would soon become family.

Recovery pool party brunch

Amazing pool at the Banyan Tree Bangkok

I'm Baaacckkk- and so much to share!

WOW. I don't even know where to start. It is 4:42am on July 26th and I cannot fall asleep for the life of me  because I  have just returned from Asia and I guess jet lag really is a thing. Before I even begin to describe my life changing trip to Asia, I need to apologize for the two month blogging hiatus I have been on. From late May into June and July I experienced the busiest, craziest months of my entire life. I cannot remember a single day I had off of work, just to myself to lounge around and write a post. It was like my entire world was in first gear and I was hanging on for dear life. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing all the details, the good, the bad and the ugly of my life changing month in Asia. It was an unbelievable experience, and I feel so blessed to have made so many incredible new friends along the way. But....before I get into all that I should probably explain the craziness in June that all led up to my trip to Asia. Since I tend to Instagram literally everything, here is a re-cap of some of the highlights from my trip to LA through June and all leading up to Flight Centre Global Ball in Macau and the Asia adventure of a lifetime.

1. May 17th: My little brother David graduated from USC!!! I flew to LA for the weekend for graduation celebrations and quality family time. Congrats David, we are so proud of you and know you have a bright future ahead! I am so happy I was able to be in LA to celebrate you... 

2. #travelagentlife.... Josh, Evelyn, Danielle and I we were off to Mexico June 1st. Thank you Paradisus La Perla for that amazing Royal Master Suite complete with full dining room for our 24 hour munchies and the private jacuzzi on our terrace. Got to love it!

3. The day I returned from Mexico it was time for our NYCH night on the Lady Sandals Yacht. Thank you Sandals for a beautiful evening on your gorgeous boat! #nychville

Greg and I were re-inacting Titanic

4. After months of planning Tatiana and I finally had put together an awesome party for NYCHVILLE's Summer Nights and Neon Lights company buzz night...success!

5.. Happy birthday to one of my very best friends, Alyssa! What an amazing girls weekend we had in Atlantic City! Sander Van Dorn at HQ nightclub followed by Nervo at HQ dayclub....living the life! PS-Revel is by far the nicest hotel in AC and if you ever go DO NOT miss the HQ Beach Club day party at Revel!

6.  Returned from Atlantic City around 10pm, threw on a new outfit and we were off to annual Florence Reunion party at Mister H in the Mondrian Soho. It was so good to see all my boys in from Italy. I have missed you all loads, and there is never a dull minute whenever were together!

7. I celebrated my 24th birthday with all of my groups of friends from all over the world at my current favorite bar in NYC- Pig N' Whistle. It was a great night complete with the annual midnight hand grenade so thank you to all those who made it out. The next morning my girls surprised me with a table for club brunch at Il Bastardo. Such a wonderful birthday weekend!  Fun fact- throughout my travels in Italy I met each one of them below and to this day they remain my closest friends. They have truly been there for me though all the ups and downs in life and I couldn't be more thankful for them. 

8. As a surprise birthday gift Alyssa gave me a giftcard to Soul Cycle, with a card that said she would finally go with me. Noelle also agreed to go for my birthday so that Tuesday at 6:30pm, Chris and I finally got to witness Alyssa and Noelle in Michael's Soul Cycle class. It had been 6 months of us obsessing over Soul and because these two love me so much they finally caved in and went to a class. No joke, I literally cried I was so happy.

9. In the midst of all these celebrations, there was a bit of sadness. At the beginning of June I was presented with a new career challenge...to move from my home, the store I started my Liberty journey at on the Upper East Side and move over to manage the location on the Upper West Side. Moving forward was tough, but in life I have learned that we must step outside our comfort zone in order to push ourselves to be the best we can be. However, leaving behind my amazing team was beyond sad...our farewell dinner at Baraonda was a night to remember <3

10. Lastly, I will conclude with a photo collage I posted this morning as I boarded my flight back to the US. It was a reflection, a brief summary on the past few weeks...

"It's amazing how 18 strangers from 6 different countries can become like family in such a short time. This trip has flown by but the memories will last a lifetime. Thank you kinalmin for a life changing adventure, you are truly amazing for putting up with us every day! I can't imagine experiencing everything we did without this amazing group of people. I love you all so much and thank you for some of the best/insane/crazy/wonderful memories in Asia! ❤️❤️❤️ #family #friends #adventurers #abroadpics #asia#werealwayslate #gadventures"

STAY TUNED FOR A FULL LOW DOWN ON THE EVENTS OF MY ASIAN ADVENTURE!

Work Hard, Play Hard

One year ago I was headed off on my first conference with Liberty Travel. I had no idea what our conferences were all about or what to expect- so as I send my novice off on her first conference I decided to reminiss on the conference experience slash why I have the coolest job in the world. 

 When you start a career in the travel industry, the most appealing aspect of the job for any travel enthusiast is the opportunity to travel the world. While the chance to travel to ANY destination for free doesn't come around all that often, Flight Centre not only encourages us to travel, but actually insists we travel at least once a year by sending us on conferences in the Caribbean. My first experience at a Liberty Travel conference was my novice conference which was held at Beaches Ocho Rios and Sandals Grand Riviera in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Within the first year of your career with Liberty Travel, they send you on a conference to further train you, inspire you and provide you with valuable product knowledge. Sandals and Beaches (one of our top preferred partners) put us up for a few nights, showed us their properties, gave us valuable product training and of course-threw awesome parties for us! We were on the go from 7am to about 2am every single day, this was the conference experience. As I would come to learn, conferences are part of what makes Liberty Travel such an amazing company to work for- we work hard, but we play just as hard too.

Once you land in Montego Bay there is a Margaritaville ready and waiting!

View from my oceanfront walkout at Beaches Ocho Rios

View from the beach

It isn't only your novice year that you get to go to conference. Once a year all ATL's (assistant managers) have a conference and then all TL's (managers) have a conference. Recently in a leadership meeting I was asked "what was my best memory during my career with Liberty?" There have been so many, but nothing beats my first TL conference in Riviera Maya, Mexico. I had just been promoted to TL (for those of you who don't know, TL stands for Team Leader aka manager), and I had just been named #1 novice in all of Liberty Travel sending me to Global Ball in Macau this summer. I had officially accomplished my two career goals, I was beyond happy with my life, had made so many close friends, and I think all of this really hit me at TL conference. Once again it was all about working hard during the day but playing hard at night- we always get maybe 3 hours of sleep a night at conference, but it is SO worth it. 

Our TL conference was hosted by the RIU in Riviera Maya. On the first night my friends and I decided to explore Riviera Maya on our own. I was so impressed by cultural Spanish feel of Playa del Carmen. In Jamaica, we were taken right to the resort and the drive from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios is extremely desolate. What I enjoyed about being in Playa Del Carmen was the unique feel it had with the cobblestone streets and authentic taco stands where the locals crowded. On night two, after a great dinner party on the beach, we all headed back into Play Del Carmen to party at Coco Bongo. I can't really explain how much fun Coco Bongo is, but if you ever are in Mexico you MUST go. It is a dance club/live show with acrobats swinging from the ceiling and people dancing on the bar..... yes, I was at work. Let me re-iterate....BEST JOB EVER.

Live from Coco Bongo's

My good friend Alex and I at the beach dinner party.

Me and the great mentor and good friend, who hired me.

The following day we had the opportunity to visit Xcaret a natural reserve park where you experience Mayan culture, wildlife, and many adventure activities. My friends and I decided to do the underground cave swim, where we swam through caves across the park and came out on the other side at the beach. Xcaret is a truly breath taking place and after experiencing it for myself I now insist all my clients traveling to Mexico go here.

Back by the pool at the Riu

 I came out of that TL conference confident in myself and excited to be apart of such an amazing group of TL's. They have all been so supportive of me and mentored me through the good and bad this year. At the end of the day I couldn't ask for a better job- I get to travel for a living and have gained so many new friends along the way. This is just the beginning- looking forward to many more conferences and many more memories NYCH's <3

NYCH TL CONFERENCE 2013

stayed tuned......next stop Global Ball Conference in MACAU!! Looking for a job in the travel industry ? We are always hiring, visit www.libertytravel.com/careers  to apply! 

Cruising!

Honestly, I have never been a huge fan of cruising. I always thought cruises meant dining with herds of people at a buffet and ridiculously expensive drinks by the pool. Not to mention, I am prone to sea sickness so the thought of being on a moving ship for 7 days sounds like torture. When I was 18 my grandparents took my entire family on a cruise to Alaska. It was a once in a lifetime trip and truly spectacular. It made me re-think cruising all together because, well, taking a cruise was the perfect trip for my family. The cruise provided every family member with something to do, from kids clubs for the young ones to a high end fitness studio and spa for the adults... there was never a dull moment. Every time the cruise came into a port we had excursions set up for the day, one for everyones individual taste. We would go our separate ways in the morning and meet back on the ship in the afternoon. For example- my dad, brother and I spent one day helicoptering over glaciers then landing on one and hiking across it in glacial shoes. My younger cousins were too little to participate in this active excursion so they went dog sledding that day. It was the perfect setup!  On top of that, we had a designated dining time each night ensuring that at 6:30pm every single night our entire family of 14 would be dining together- no waiting for a table, no arguing over what time to east or where to go to dinner- it was all planned for us! I think my entire family would agree that we will always have the best memories of that cruise to Alaska.

Glaciers in Alaska

Hiking glaciers with my dad and brother.

Off-roading with my mom.

So when I started working at Liberty Travel, my one cruise to Alaska provided my sole knowledge of all cruising. Two years later, I can tell you exact deck plans on several of the newest, most modernized ships on the seas.  One of the best opportunities I have had since working in the travel industry was being invited to go on the inaugural sailing of Norwegian Cruise Line's brand new ship, the Breakaway! I had been doing so well with the company that my "area leader" had reached out to invite me on the sailing, I was so honored and thrilled- a free cruise?!?! YES PLEASE. People always say that with the newer cruise ships "the boat in itself is a destination." We were on a cruise to nowhere so the ship really was the destination, but I could 100% see why people love cruising. The ship was incredible! From the activities to the dining options and nightly entertainment, The Breakaway is a truly innovative ship. I was beyond impressed with the top deck that had a full blown water park, as well as the ice bar in the middle of the ship. Really an ice bar on a boat?!?!?  Because the inaugural sailing was for travel professionals to experience the ship first, everything was complimentary so we spent our days attempting to experience every single activity, show, restaurant and bar that the ship had to offer. On the last day of the cruise I stepped off the ship blown away by how amazing the Breakaway was and knew all of my cruise clients just had to experience this ship for themselves!

In the ice bar on the Breakaway!

I bet you're wondering why the sudden desire to write about cruising? Well, just last week I was invited to the "culinary reveal" of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' brand new ship, The Quantum of the Seas, setting sail this fall from New Jersey. Going into the event I wasn't too sure exactly what a culinary reveal was, but O-M-G am I so happy I attended this event....beyond words. The evening started in one room where we were offered appetizers and champagne. Following that room we moved into the presentation where RCCL execs welcomed us and explained their new era of dining, what they are calling dynamic dining. The focus of dynamic dining is to allow cruise guests to experience a variety of dining options while onboard at no extra cost. For those who don't know, every cruise ship offers several complimentary dining options, but then also has speciality restaurants such as a steakhouse or upscale Italian restaurant at extra charge. However, Quantum of the Seas will offer different restaurants at no extra cost, and we got to experience samples from each of the seven restaurants, plus the speciality restaurant- Wonderland. Following the presentation we were taken to a large room sectioned off into different restaurants which each offered their highlighted dishes for us to try.... this was not a good night to be on a diet! My friends and I completed the entire loop of restaurants trying every single dish and every single shot that was paired with it. Some highlights- mint crusted lamp chops from Chic, bacon roasted scallops from The Grande, a reuben turnover from The American Grill, and the Italian Anitpasti from Jamie Oliver's Italian kitchen! Just when we thought it was over we were taken into the specialty gastronomic dining restaurant, Wonderland. This was quite an experience...starting with the "dessert shots" of alcohol infused orange and key lime jellies. From there it only got better... disappearing noodles, dry ice wasabi bites and finally, the white chocolate pop rock dessert. The event was brilliantly done and was by far one the most exciting travel events I have been to. RCCL gave us all a real taste for what to expect from Quantum of the Seas and we all left the event looking SO forward to experiencing the ship this fall!

Lamb Chops

Bacon wrapped scallops

Specialty shot, can't remember what it was but we really liked them ;)

Jamie Oliver's Italian Kitchen

Liberty gang, waiting for Wonderland

Dining room table in Wonderland

Me and my good friend Josh- you'll be hearing much more about him when we go to MACAU in 3 months!

Jelly "dessert" shots

Have you ever been on a cruise? Try one out for yourself, even if you never imagined yourself on a cruise, I am telling you these new ships are quite the experience :)