One of the things I love most about hosting The Travel Business Unpacked podcast is the constant reminder that there is no single path into this profession. Every advisor arrives here with a different history, a different turning point, and a different reason for believing that travel can play a meaningful role in people’s lives. Those stories matter, because when you listen closely to how someone found their way into this industry, you often gain a clearer understanding of what it really takes to build a travel business.

Erin Camin, founder of Brilliant Escapes Travel, did not enter the travel industry through the typical path. For more than a decade she worked in the advertising agency world in New York, building a successful career in an environment that moved quickly, demanded constant energy, and eventually left her feeling deeply burned out. Like many professionals (including myself) who have invested years into building something impressive on paper, she reached a point where the life she had constructed no longer felt sustainable, and once that realization surfaced it became difficult to ignore.

Erin decided to step away and take some time off to travel, initially imagining a short break that would allow her to reset before returning to her career. That break expanded into a ten-month sabbatical that gave her space not only to see new places but also to experience a pace of life that felt dramatically different from the one she had been living in New York.

She spent a month working on a vineyard in France during the grape harvest, where the days were defined by physical work, seasonal rhythms, and the shared focus of people who were all contributing to the same outcome. Her week-long visit to Thailand turned into a four-month stay after she unexpectedly fell in love with scuba diving, ultimately completing the training required to become a dive master.

Experiences like these do more than fill a passport with stamps, because they change the way a person understands the role travel can play in shaping perspective, confidence, and personal clarity.

When Erin returned home and began exploring the possibility of becoming a travel agent, she was not simply searching for a new career path but was responding to the transformation she had experienced during that year of travel. She wanted to help other people step outside their daily routines long enough to reconnect with themselves, their families, and the places they visit.

That kind of clarity matters because it shifts the foundation of a travel business. Instead of beginning with products, suppliers, or destinations, it begins with a belief about what travel can do for people and why those experiences matter.

Erin joined GTN’s Travel MBA program and launched her advisory business shortly before the pandemic began, a moment that would have tested anyone who was just beginning to establish themselves in the industry. Because her client base was still developing, she made the thoughtful decision to step back from actively planning travel while remaining connected to the GTN community and continuing to learn from the advisors around her.

When the world became more stable and she had a solid foundation in place, she restarted her travel business with renewed focus. Since then she has been steadily growing her client base while still balancing a full-time job, gradually building the stability that will allow her to transition fully into her travel business when the time feels right.

What Erin’s story illustrates so clearly is that the personal experiences we have with travel often shape the type of advisor we become. When someone has personally experienced the perspective travel can bring and has stepped outside their routines long enough to return home seeing their life through a different lens, the work of planning travel begins to carry a different meaning.

It becomes less about transactions and more about transformation.

Moments of contrast often provide that clarity, because we rarely become clear about what we truly want until we have experienced what we do not want.

When that clarity combines with patience, persistence, and commitment, a travel business begins to take shape in a way that feels intentional rather than rushed.

If you love hearing stories like Erin’s, tune into The Travel Business Unpacked podcast! Each episode dives deep into the real stories, practical strategies, and transformational moments that turn travel dreams into thriving careers. Listen and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and check out Erin's full episode here.