A month-long trip to France during childhood sparked Amy’s curiosity about new and different parts of the world.
Amy began her career in the industry when her own travel agent saw the potential in her to execute trips on behalf of others, in turn recruiting her to join the business. The irony? Amy shares that she thought travel planning would be a “fun part-time job.” Fast forward seven years and her deep passion for the work she does ensures it couldn’t be further from part-time! When she’s not busy planning trips for her clients, this all-encompassing excitement around the travel space of course bleeds into personal vacations – in fact, the running Zebala family joke is that Amy never wants to go to the same place twice. She firmly believes that the world is simply too big, offering so much to explore. She does, however, gravitate toward cities and emerging destinations.
After living in Chicago for more than a decade, Amy and her husband moved to Saint Louis where she now bases her business. She thrives off of experiencing unfamiliar cities, foods and cultures. A marathon runner, Amy loves to explore new places on foot, a way to genuinely experience the hidden sides of a city; she has enjoyed runs in Maui, Rome, New York, Panama, Tokyo, Kyoto, Chiang Mai, Hanoi, Riviera Maya, Barcelona, Lyon, and just recently, Cartagena and Cuba. Her perfect vacation day involves getting up around 7a (a luxury compared to her daily 5a alarm at home), getting in a workout, enjoying a delish brunch before exploring a city and stumbling upon a quaint spot to enjoy a leisurely lunch while reading…with a bottle of wine not too far out of reach.
It’s difficult to choose just one, so I’ll choose two…when each of my kids turned ten, I took them each on trips of their choice – London for my son and Paris (bien sûr) for my daughter. Both times, it was just the two of us. They loved these special days because I said “YES!” to everything and I absolutely loved seeing the cities through their eyes.
Africa is at the top of my list, the Pacific Northwest because I’ve never been to that part of the United States, and Poland, where my husband was born.
I start on the plane by doing my best to adhere to the time of my destination and sleep, eat, wake accordingly. I don’t follow the no alcohol advice, though; travel always seems like a celebration to me, and I love to start it with a glass of bubbles.
When traveling be sure to take your running (or comfortable walking) shoes! The best way to explore a new place is on foot, while you may get lost, you're sure to make unique discoveries as you explore the city in a special way.
