​"My mom is a middle school teacher, so for her spring break I wanted to treat her to an all-inclusive beach getaway in Punta Cana. We took the nonstop charter flights with Swift and stayed at the Riu Republica from Thursday – Sunday. It was a short trip, but we had just enough time to relax and enjoy the sunny Dominican weather. The adults-only Riu Republica had everything we needed – a modern and clean room, lots of different pools, a variety of food options, and a beautiful beach! We were even able to get massages in a beach-front cabana surrounded by palm trees. The animated team at the resort was wonderful – they were always working hard to make sure everyone was having a great time, and each employee we met was very friendly. I definitely hope to return someday!
 
Favorite Restaurant: Olé, the Spanish restaurant – their steak was amazing!
 
Favorite Drink: Sammy Sosa, named after the Dominican baseball player – it’s a mix of Strawberry Daiquiri, Pina Colada, and Blue Curacao
 
Agent Tip: Book a Private Transfer so you can skip the lines at the airport and get right to your resort!"

-Maggie Groene 

We are thrilled to announce that Stephanie Turner, President of Brentwood Travel, has been elected to the Board of Directors of Ensemble Travel Group.  Established in 1968, Ensemble Travel Group is a member-owned organization of approximately 850 top-tier travel agencies in the U.S. and Canada.  As a new board member, Stephanie will help guide the overall direction of the organization.  Congratulations to Stephanie on her new leadership role with Ensemble Travel Group!

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​Benefits of Using an Ensemble-Member Travel Agent:
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​Imagine if you had the opportunity to speak with a globetrotter whose profession is wanderlust? Well, you can! Booking with an Ensemble-member Travel Agents can make your experience come to life with more travel experiences, promotions, and preferred suppliers.  Working with an Ensemble-member travel agent means access to a large selection of travel experiences catered to your unique style and preferences.

​When and why did you start keeping a journal?
Julie:  I started writing in a travel journal on my first international trip in 1990.  My husband, Alan, and I went to Ireland (with a group) and England (on our own) for almost two weeks and I knew I would never be able to remember everything we did and all of the fun people we traveled with without writing it down!

Carrie:  ​I started doing journals after my first ‘real’ international trip. My previous domestic travels and a Caribbean cruise were more like, “yeah, vacation!” but my first international trip was to Ireland and Rome.  That’s when I had my the world is huge, and complicated, and fantastic moment. And I purchased a blank journal at Dublin’s airport before my flight home.

​What are the benefits of keeping a travel journal?
Julie: Writing everything down helps me reflect on the amazing experiences we have had.  Each day that we are on a trip usually goes by so fast that stopping every other day or so to write in my journal helps me remember the adventures much more clearly.  Now, having nearly 30 years of journals to look back on is invaluable to me!

Carrie:  One reason I really like keeping a journal is for the little moments that happen on a trip that seem to get overshadowed by the trip itself. In Kyoto, we were walking past a group of school kids (maybe 8-10 years old), and they were staring at us. My husband was completely oblivious, but I made eye-contact with one of the kids and she got a huge smile on her face and said “hello”, I smiled back, waived, and told her “hi”.  Then the group of kids covered their mouths, giggled, and ran away. I’d like to think these kids probably wanted to practice their English and it was a cute fleeting instant where I felt like I got to connect a little with the locals.
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​Do you write during your trip or afterwards?  Do you keep notes in a book, computer, or an app?  
Julie:​ ​99% of the time, I write during our trip.  For some of the shorter, 3 or 4 day trips, I will sometimes wait until the flight home to “catch up”.  Every time I see a pretty journal, I start writing in it.  Then I would pick grab an old journal for the next trip and write in there.  

Carrie: I really try to write something any time I get home from a trip.  I do really think it’s important, because even after my husband read what I wrote about Japan, he told me that he had already forgot about some of the trip-and we’re not that old to have our memories slip like that.

​Do you use any techniques to organize your notes ?  
Julie:  My journals are far from organized!  I am trying to make time to transfer all of my journals to the computer to make something sensible out of them.  For the last couple of trips, I have actually been writing on my iPad.​
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Carrie:  Typically, I just get on the computer and do it when I get home, but hand writing notes along the way helps a lot.  Before I start, I will also compile both the pictures from each of our phones and get the itinerary out.  That way I know where we were at and when and have the pictures handy to jog my memory. 

What is your best tip for keep a travel journal?   
Julie:  For shorter, weekend trips, I have stopped keeping track of those.  But for longer, more adventurous trips, I always write about those.  Hopefully, my future grandchildren will enjoy hearing about all of the amazing places we have been!  You now have me thinking…we just spent a fun two weeks in California seeing our kids, visiting extended family, playing a little golf, doing a little sightseeing that I didn’t even think to write about.  I think I’ll get out that journal now!

Carrie:  My best tip is to write during the trip. This doesn’t mean sitting down at your hotel with your laptop. The best way I journal is to buy a postcard or two before dinner, and as your having your aperitif, jot down your thoughts on that day. Postcards are super easy to find and really inexpensive.  At the end of your trip, you now have a easily packable stack of postcards that you can use to compose your journal, or just keep it as is.  Personally, these postcards aren’t so much about what you saw, but how it made you feel. 
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​Japan has been on “the list” for years.  We wanted to experience a society that feels mysterious, and the juxtaposing of modern and ancient drew us in.  When we decided to do a big trip, Japan was it. We would finally get to see this amazing country first hand.
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Now what to do with 8 days in a country that offers a tourist so much to experience? From Sapporo in the north down to Yonaguni in the south, each city, each island, each prefecture, has its own personality and attractions. Eight days didn’t feel like enough, but we wanted to see as much as we could while setting our own schedule. Narrowing down what to do was difficult, but for our first (because there will be a next time!) trip to Japan, we focused on Tokyo, Hakone, and Kyoto. 

We landed in Tokyo in the early evening, our driver-in full suit and white gloves (we would soon find this was standard for taxi and transfers) was waiting for us with our name on a sign board. The journey to the hotel was about an hour and a half, we flew into Narita Airport, which is further from the city than Haneda, but our flight
options were better into Narita. When we arrived at the Hilton Tokyo, in Shinjuku we decided to take a nap then go to dinner. We didn’t wake up until the next day.

We woke up obnoxiously early the next day and went to visit the Tsukiji Fish Market (it opens at 5AM and you should go before 9AM to see the bustling of the market). It was overwhelming how perfectly the chaos was organized. There were people on carts taking the morning catches to the vendors, locals doing their shopping, and wares and fish I didn’t recognize. We wandered and watched and then had sushi for breakfast, although we passed on having a beer with our breakfast like many of locals were doing. 

From the Fish Market, we hopped on the subway and ambled down Takeshita Street. This street is full of Japan’s latest fashions. Young adults and tourists were popping in and out of the many clothing shops and themed cafes. The street is famous for their crepes-we had to stop and have one.
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Just a few blocks from Takeshita is the Meji Shrine.  As the path to the shrine rambled on, we stopped in our tracks upon seeing the first tori gate welcoming us, and it hit us-we were in Japan.  Hours ago, we meandered through a district that is a pop-culture bellwether and crossed the street to a shrine that was built in 1920. At the Shrine, we sauntered through the grounds and the gardens. The gardens were so tranquil, we had no inkling we were in the middle of a metropolis larger than New York City.

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​From the Shrine, we ventured to one of Tokyo’s most photographed areas- Shibuya Crossing. Even though we were there before evening rush hour, it was packed. We observed this perfectly orchestrated bedlam before doing a few crossings ourselves. There is a Starbucks that overlooks the crossing for an elevated view. 

Our last day in Tokyo, we started our sightseeing at Hamarikyo Garden. This is well planned garden, where the flower species are staggered so there are blooms all year long. The garden is full of lakes and teahouses and even a duck-hunting blinds built in the late 1700s. After admiring the gardens and having a bit of serenity before getting back into the city, we boarding a boat to take us north to Asakusa. The hour-long boat ride was a great way to see Tokyo from a different perspective. You could see how the neighborhoods changed from sky-rise buildings to smaller homes. We even got to see where the ships dock at the fish market.  

​A few blocks from the dock is the Sensoji Temple. The complex is huge, with building and shopping everywhere you turn. Walking into the main hall feels otherworldly and the five storied pagoda looms over you. After taking in all we could at the Temple, we took a short subway ride to Skytree. Although very touristy, I’m glad we fit this into our itinerary.  Skytree is hard to miss, it’s 2,080 feet high and you can go to the top observation deck, overlooking Tokyo at 1,480 feet. On a clear day, you can see Mt Fuji. This could be an all-day experience, there is tons of shopping from chopsticks to Pokémon and the views are absolutely stunning. It’s hard to imagine how massive Tokyo really is until you’re at the top seeing nothing but urban landscape.  

​Hakone is a onsen (hot spring) town about an hour and a half from Tokyo for locals and tourists alike. It feels very rural compared to Tokyo and while it would take three days to see everything, but we only had one.  On our way to Hakone, we stopped at Odawara Castle.  This was one of my favorite stops in Japan. It’s beautiful and the town feels sleepy. The museum at the Castle was full of ancient armor and relics. After touring the castle, we walked back to the train station and after a short ride, we were in Hakone.

​Trains and gondolas are the way to get around in Hakone. At each stop, there’s a little village with shopping, restaurants, and hotels. We only had time to explore one and we chose the Owakudani Station. What’s interesting about this stop, is that you go over a volcanic area with sulfur vents. The smell is overwhelming and the landscape is eerie. There is hiking you can do in the area and even eat a hard-boiled egg that cooked in the steam of the vents that turn the egg shells black. After exploring, we got back on the gondola and took it to our ryokan. 

A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn dating back to the 8th century. There are all kinds you can book, but this was our splurge. Upon arrival, we left our shoes at the door as the floors were covered in tatami mats. We were seated in the bar and given a welcome drink as were checked in. When we arrived to our room, our hostess showed us how to dress in the provided yukata (bathing clothes). Then we were left to relax in our private onsen on the balcony of our room overlooking the mountains until dinner. This was a welcomed treat as were averaging 12 miles a day on foot.  We would soak until we were too hot, cool down with a beer, then get back into the onsen until dinner time.  If you would like to experience a public onsen there are a lot of etiquette rules that I’d be ecstatic to share.
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Dinner was served in our room, and each of the 9 courses were better than the last-even if we didn’t recognize what we were eating. After dinner and another soak, we slept on traditional futons. ​The next morning, we were served a traditional Japanese breakfast in our room, then said goodbye to Hakone and the wonderful ryokan. Our stay marked one of the best cultural experiences we’ve had to date. We were off to Kyoto by bullet train. We spent the evening in Kyoto and had the best tonkotsu I’ve ever tried. 
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It was an early morning as met our driver at our hotel to take us to Miyajima Island Hiroshima. We arrived via bullet train to Hiroshima, then ferried to Miyajima Island where the Tori Gate in the water welcomed us. This is another place I wish we had all day to explore, as the water receded, you could walk right up to the gate. The town had so many specialties restaurants-we had oysters-and there was so much more to explore and so many deer to pet.

After our time on the Island, we went to the A-Bomb Dome and began our tour of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. The A-Bomb Dome is sobering. As our guide let us take in the magnitude of which were seeing, she led us to the Children's Peace Monument, then the Museum. This day was certainly thought provoking and was wholeheartedly different then the wide-eyed days had already spent in Japan, I am fortunate we were able to absorb part of the history. 

The next day, back in Kyoto, we took the train to Fushimi Inari. Stone foxes dominated the shrine, and everywhere you looked, there were orange tori gates-one after another- leading you to another part of the shrine. As we climbed up the mountain, there were offshoots of smaller shrines. The tori gates and shrines went all the way up the mountain.  That evening, we were picked up from the hotel and taken to a restaurant across the city in the mountain foothills. The opened-air restaurant was situated next to the river, and after we were served another multi course meal, met two Maikos and watched them preform.
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​On our last full day, we ventured to Ryōan-ji Temple, dating back to 1450. We were there early-before the other tourists and school children, and it was so serine. You can wander the temple grounds, which takes you to a perfectly manicured rock garden. There are 15 rocks in this garden, and only 14 are viewable at any angle. 

From Ryōan-ji Temple, we taxied to Arashiyama, which is just west of Kyoto. Arashiyama is an outdoor district where bicycling is popular. We began this part of our journey walking the paths of the bamboo forest and popping into the local shops that line the entrance and exists. From there, we found an amazing, small sushi restaurant for lunch. When my husband ordered the fatty tuna, the chef held the fish us for us to admire before slicing it. This was the best sushi we have ever tried and it took us months to have sushi after we came home-we were ruined.
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It’s a good thing we had a solid lunch, because we then ventured to Monkey Park. You literally have to climb a mountain to get there. But when we made it to the summit, over 100 Japanese macaques were there to greet us. You can feed them from a building in the middle of the park but keep your distance when wondering the grounds! This is their home and they take no issue with running in front of you. Between being fascinated by the monkeys and the stunning views of Kyoto from the top of the mountain, the hike was worth it. We relaxed by the Togetsu-kyō Bridge taking in the gorgeous scenery until we made our way back to the hotel.

That evening, we wanted Kobe beef for dinner, and wanted to do it right. The hotel made us reservations (and delivered a package to our room with our reservation time, the address of the restaurant, and the best way to get there) at one of the best Kobe restaurants in Kyoto.   The restaurant itself was very small-only seating about 15 guests. As the chef prepared our meal at the teppanyaki grill in front of us, he joked that he doesn’t catch eggs in his hat like the chefs in America.

The next morning was our last, and since our transfer wasn’t until the afternoon, we had time to explore Nijō Castle. We saw the shogun’s receiving rooms and gardens, then climbed the defense towers to get one last look at Kyoto before our flight home.
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Our visit to Japan was one of our best trips yet. The culture, the people, the food, has left us wanting more. This didn’t feel like a vacation, it felt like we were transported to another world. We were able to come into contact with the ancient and modern of this country-happening all within the same day.   Japan-we will see you again!

​This past October, Ensemble Travel Group and Carnival Cruise Line announced a new multi-year preferred supplier partnership.  Ensemble Travel Group is a member-owned and member-run organization of approximately 850 top-tier, independent travel agencies including Brentwood Travel.
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​Carnival joins its North American sister brands Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Cunard and Seabourn as part of the World’s Leading Cruise Lines preferred supplier team with Ensemble Travel Group.

​​Missi Wilson, Marketing Associate, believes that a Carnival cruise is a perfect introduction to the world of cruising.  ‘I had never cruised before or had even been out of the country until I sailed with Carnival when I was 18. They showed me just how fun cruising can be because it's such a unique form of travel. You're vacationing on the ship while you're going to your vacation spot. I'm definitely addicted to cruising after sailing with them"

​Travel Consultant Maggie Groene absolutely agrees! When she was a young traveler, Maggie enjoyed three Carnival cruises with her family.  "We chose Carnival because they have New Orleans as a cruise port. We have family in New Orleans, so before each cruise we would drive down and visit them. Each cruise we did an excursion in Cozumel, which is a great place for snorkeling. Because I was super young, the things that stood out to me were the towel animals in the room and the 24hr free ice cream machine."
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Benefits of Using an Ensemble-Member Travel Agent:
​Imagine if you had the opportunity to speak with a globetrotter whose profession is wanderlust? Well, you can! Booking with an Ensemble-member Travel Agents can make your experience come to life with more travel experiences, promotions, and preferred suppliers.

​
​Working with an Ensemble-member travel agent means access to a large selection of travel experiences catered to your unique style and preferences.

​'My daughter and I shared her 40th birthday celebrating in New York City.  We love going to the theater and enjoyed performances of Frozen, The Play That Goes Wrong, and Come From Away.   Frozen is spectacular, The Play That Goes Wrong is very funny and Come From Away is very inspirational.

We also visited The Downton Abbey Exhibit which was wonderful. It made me miss all the characters!

​We indulged in wonderful meals in Little Italy, shopped till we dropped and ended her birthday with a brunch at Tavern on the Green.   Soooooo much fun!'

​-Mickey Gaona

​'Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya was incredible.  Upon our arrival they offered an upgrade to the ocean front Imperial Suites.  We took it and were so glad we did!  Our rooms were on the 1st floor and walked straight out to the beach.  We also liked that they were in a very quiet area and we felt we got a great deal. 

We spent most of our days at the main pool.  There were constant activities and you could choose to do as many as you wanted.  The swim up bars were terrific and had top shelf liquor available.  No one even thought of leaving the property of this all-inclusive resort. 

The restaurants were amazing!  They had great nightly entertainment and you could go to more than one restaurant a night if you wanted.  We did appetizers at one place and main meal at another.

Everything involved with this trip was so smooth!  Frontier Airlines was great and the Cancun airport has been totally renovated and was awesome.  Transportation to the resort and back was also seamless.

A big thanks to our Travel Consultant Sue Deibel for everything.  Highly recommended and we will return!'

-Steve C.

Clients Steve and Patricia D. just returned this past weekend from their Star Clippers cruise and couldn't wait to share amazing pictures with their Travel Consultant Ashley Curry.  Their two-week journey on the Royal Clipper  whisked them away to several picturesque islands including Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and the Grenadines.  

A voyage on a Star Clippers tall-ship is truly a unique travel experience.  Think of it a as yacht-meets-sailboat cruise that’s guaranteed to provide you with luxury, comfort, adventure and indulgence all on the same trip.  The 'informal elegance' is perfect for any traveler looking to enjoy the best of the Caribbean!  

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​'Stacey  Hoehne was amazing planning our honeymoon! She presented us with a ton of options prior to choosing St Lucia. She delivered information throughout our booking process and even made us a vacation cheat sheet folder. She picked amazing seats for us on our flight to and from St Lucia. I would have not changed a thing about our recent booking with Brentwood Travel!

Thanks so much Stacey for everything!'

​-Chelsea

​When you work in the travel industry your resolution list doesn't always include just diet and exercise; instead, it's where to travel next! Some of our staff members shared where they hope to travel in 2018 that they had not visited before. We wish everyone a happy 2018 and we hope you complete your travel resolutions, too!