Travel LISTTIN, LLC

I was scrolling through my pictures - trying to find images to add to the website (both for locations I've visited - and for pics of me for my bio). All I can say is - thank God for stock photos...  Here's the top four reasons I say so: SOMETIMES I am too caught up in the moment to take the picture! I noticed this on a recent trip to St. Thomas (in the Caribbean)... my companions were posing with different backgrounds or outfits - and stopping to snap pics of wildlife and locals...not me! If I am drinking in the view and fully being present - I am not worried about trying to capture it.  Secondly, I am not a professional photographer! So, I am rarely able to get the beauty and majesty I can see with my own eyes to make it through the camera lens. The pictures are often inferior! In this world of photoshop, deep fakes, altering images with graphic designing... we can jump through a dozen hoops to try and make the picture as beautiful as the experience truly was. This often resu...

 This past semester, I was juggling teaching high school full time, hosting an online class through SUNY, and working part time at the airport. In April, the idea for Travel LISTTIN, LLC formed on the commute to work. By the end of my lunch period, I had a rough business plan and three pages of notes. I scheduled a meeting with the Small Business Development Center and started doing my market research. By the end of April, I had filed my LLC - and published the notice in two newspapers (per NY state rules). I purchased the domain name (TravelLISTTIN.com), created my email address, and somehow had even more pages of notes! My birthday trip to the Caribbean for some snorkeling coincided with the end of the college semester, and I was able to start a social media presence (Blogspot, Facebook, & Substack) in addition to my teaching duties. I attended more meetings with the SBDC, refined my business plan, and started telling people about my mission. Thus far, in June, I found a grap...

There is no place like home. I don't disagree...I love my hometown and all its traditions. I love the Apple Fest, the fall colors, and the smell of woodsmoke when the seasons turn brisk. I love the hills and waterfalls and the hard work ethic that is evident in the small towns and farmers' fields.  I just think that there is so much to see - or experience - out in the great, wide "out there" - that exploration is a necessity!  Ideally, we all have a home base - a launching point - from which we can explore the world and know that there is always something safe to return to. I was blessed to have that experience - not only in the land itself, but in the support of my family. Some folks have to carve their way through life without that foundation - and I do recognize how lucky - how blessed - I am to have a "home." My son and I have moved A LOT in the last 14 years (and we are setting off on another voyage soon!) - and for us - home is each other - and the tra...

In my youth, the days before widespread cell phones or GPS (did GPS even exist back then?) - we learned how to navigate with paper maps. Teachers in elementary school chanted Never Eat Slimy Worms while we pointed to the corresponding directions - learning to orient our "noses to North" based on the sun's position in the sky. (It always rises to the East and sets in the West!) This went hand in hand with our Left and Right distinctions - and was just commonplace. These seem like old timey nonsense - but it works! I can still check the time and the sun's position and know which way is which. I am also blessed with an incredible sense of direction - as long as I am outside. (It is trickier for me inside a building like a hospital.) If I can't tell exactly where we are (for example - at night in a city?) I can still navigate back to our starting point - even if I take different roads or alleys to get there - because I have a general sense of the direction we need to...

Since launching Travel LISTTIN, LLC (travel planning and companionship because Life Is Short; The Time Is Now), I have heard so much enthusiasm for the concept! Also, in nearly half those interactions and conversations, folks tell me about a time when their travel plans went awry. Yes, when we are dealing with Mother Nature and the elements - trains and planes will get canceled or delayed, roads will close or detours will take more of our time than anticipated, and hotels and camppgrounds can suffer catastrophes that force them to cancel reservations. People contribute to the uncertaintly of travel (and life!) as well. However - the added benefit of having a LISTTIN companion with you, means that there is someone designated to resolve the issue for you. We don't just coordinate and plan your journey - we are right there with you! Our support is in person and in the moment - not over the phone and only during business hours in a different time zone. Maybe we have to scramble a res...

I will to continue to add to this list, but at the time of Travel LISTTIN, LLC's official creation, here are the countries I have been to already: Austria Canada England (& a couple of the British Virgin Islands) France Germany Ireland Italy Japan Mexico Norway Peru Poland Wales

I live in Upstate New York, specifically Onondaga County, which is a rural / farming community on the East Coast. However, I have traveled extensively around this great state - and can verify that the hustle and bustle of New york City is worth a visit (maybe just one), the Adirondacks are gorgeous, and from Albany to Buffalo (and everywhere in between) towns and cities have their own charm. Additionally, I think everyone has an obligation to explore their own country! My parents took me on a cross-country road trip when I was a teenager (all the way to the West coast), and the memories have lasted a lifetime. I was able to recreate some of that magic when my son and I spent the summer driving and camping all the way out west. (We ran out of time before we could hit the West Coast, but the plan is to tackle it in the summer of 2026.) Traveling from my 20s to now has permitted me to explore much of our nation - and the lists of states below are ones I have spent time in (for more than a...