Five Figure Lifestyle was created to be an inside look at the travel industry from a professional Tour Operator, Travel Agent and Travel Manager. Like most travel bloggers, I do travel for free, however, when I arrive on property, I get immediately to work to make everyone else’s vacation as smooth as possible.
I often work 16 – 18 hours days. I work more weekends than I have off. I’ve been yelled at because a beach contained too much seaweed. I’ve seen people vomit from too much alcohol, sea-sickens, the flu and every other reason you can think of. I’ve had groups of over 1,000 people arrive at a hotel with 180 incorrect room assignments. I’ve flown to Mexico on 12 hours notice to meet a group that only spoke Chinese. (Fun fact. I don’t speak Chinese.)
It’s not all bad though. Not even close.
I’ve hiked up waterfalls in pristine Jamaican jungles. I’ve kayaked through sea caves off the coast of Wales. I’ve stayed at some of the largest, grandest resorts in the Caribbean. I’ve celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I’ve lead a group of motorcycles over the Rocky Mountains. I’ve had dinner in a natural limestone cave. I met Drew Brees and Rob Gronkowski. I’ve watched more sunsets in Jamaica than I can count.
It was while floating in a private penthouse infinity pool overlooking the bay in Puero Vallarta at a five-star hotel that the concept of the #FiveFigureLifestyle was conceived. My co-worker and I were relaxing after a morning of conference coordination. The job had involved months of pre-planning, event organization and customer service to prepare for the 200+ person conference. As we lounged in the infinity pool on the 7th story of the hotel, watching the sun set over the bay and Pacific Ocean beyond, we contemplated our lives as travel hosts and all the ups and downs it comes with. We’ll never be millionaires on our salaries but here we are, sipping free margaritas and floating in our free penthouse infinity pool. Neither of us has paid anything to be there. We’d just planned and executed an excellent event. The #FiveFigureLifestyle isn’t for everyone but for those of us willing to lose sleep, sacrifice weekends and get yelled at for a million things that aren’t our fault, we get to enjoy some of the best perks you’ll ever find in a job.
This blog is not just about travel. It’s about the travel industry and those who make it run. I’ll share my travel tips, insider information, truths of the industry and all of the shocking things people can find to complain about with as much humor and sarcasm as I can muster. I’ll share all the juicy goodness of the #FiveFigureLifestyle, the good the bad and the ugly.
