Where My Love of Travel Started
When I was a little girl, I jumped at every chance to go on a trip, whether to spend the night at a friend’s house or tag along with another family on vacation. My sister was a homebody, but I loved to go, go, go! Even at a young age, I loved seeing new things and learning what other people thought about anything at all. Maybe this sharpened my skills to one day become a travel advisor.
Our family took two main trips a year, one trip to Walt Disney World, and one trip to Ocean City, MD. My father was a salesman for Alban Caterpillar and would win points and always used those points to take us to Disney. He was like a little kid in Disney. Walt Disney World was a huge part of our family story.
Being a Marylander meant loving the ocean. Ocean City was our hometown vacation spot. Watching the tides change as we were sitting on the beach all day was something I really enjoyed. When I had the chance to first go on a cruise in my 30s, I absolutely fell in love with seeing the ship glide through the water and watching sunsets on the sea. The sea is alive and owns its own world. How amazing! I have sailed on most major cruise lines, and each one brings me great joy.
Becoming a Travel Advisor
I’ll be honest, when I first became a travel advisor, I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I always knew I loved meeting new people and seeing what they liked. As my knowledge grew about places, I also met so many people in this glorious world of travel. The company I am partnered with was built by great people. Magical Vacation Planner is now the only Diamond-level agency with both Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resorts. This means we’ve sent a huge number of people to these amazing parks. We’ve also sent loads of people all over the world because our business has three branches – parks, cruising, and getaways. We have great partnerships with cruise lines and global travel brands.
We Love to Travel!
My adult travels as a parent began as soon as my husband and I could save up enough money to take the kids to Walt Disney World. My husband Bruce and I are high school sweethearts. We married in late 1994. We have five kids who also love to travel – Daniel, Jonathan, Julia, Jack, and Audrey. Daniel is married to Torie, and Jonathan is married to Emily and expecting our first grandchild! We have a mini Schnauzer named Tramp and a Border Collie named Waylon.
We took the kids on their first trip to Disney in 2002 and never stopped. We even homeschooled for two years and lived outside of Disney in 2007 and 2008. Now my kids are adults, and they love to road-trip across America. They also love cruising. Recently, Dan and Torie stayed in the Over the Water Bungalows at Sandals Royal Caribbean in Jamaica. They loved it.
The Best Travel Clients in the World
I love what I do, and I love my clients. I have the best clients in the world. We love to talk about travel, and I feel honored to be a part of their travel story. I have great respect for the travel industry and am proud to say I am working on my 13th year as a travel advisor and my 8th year as a Team Leader. I have close to 60 agents that I mentor and train in this industry as well. I love my team, and together, we learn every single day.
Travel is back, and we all made it through a very tough time. This industry stayed close as suppliers, agencies, advisors, and clients throughout the pandemic. Through this turbulent experience, I’ve learned to find joy in every part of this job. If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life! I love it!
Jenny Koppenhaver