Frequently Asked Questions
Our Services
Create Joy is built from experience and knowledge. We not only have experience in different styles and forms of travel and planning, we also have experience in navigating and overcoming situations of unplanned adversity. We share a deep understanding and compassion with anyone trying to break away from chaotic routines, a lack of motivation, the monotony of life, shrinking comfort zones, grief, anxiety, depression, being overworked, or the feeling like their life is flying by without adventure. The reasons why people choose to work with Create Joy are endless.
Unlike traditional travel agencies, we hold sustainability, inner growth, community, and education at our core, aspiring to impact the world positively. Beyond travel experiences, we take a holistic approach focused on human wholeness in everything we do. We spark a sense of magic and mystery, inspiring learning and life enjoyment.
We help people aiming to get out of their comfort zone and experience a new awakening, particularly those who want to embrace the unknown, and taste life to the fullest through tailored travel, learning, and experiences. In order to do this, we do not take on every potential Create Joy traveler that comes our way. We limit the number of travelers we work with at a given time to ensure your travel experience has as much support and guidance as needed.
On a tangible level, our Founder has studied under the Transformational Travel Council, The Travel Coach Network, the GSTC Criteria training course, and the NASM Wellness + Behavioral change course, bringing a wealth of knowledge to her profession and to the attainment of client goals. And as everyone loves to know, Create Joy will save you time and money while helping you embark on a new journey.
Our Travel Coaching option provides our clients with assistance identifying and applying their goals, intentions, and travel needs, as they build out their itineraries, and prepare themselves for transformational and impactful travel experiences.
Travel Coaching is a good option for reluctant, new, or novice travelers looking to learn more about the planning process, and how to design one-of-a-kind experiences. We also recommend travel coaching to those who are:
- New to utilizing goals and intentions to plan impactful and transformational travel, but have planned travel experiences before
- Companion travelers, couples, or immediate family members looking for a shared goal or bonding experience, but are unsure how to build an itinerary that balances the needs of everyone involved.
- Planning lengthy travel (a month or more) and want help building a long-term itinerary with budget, impact, and sustainability in mind.
- Looking to travel in a budget-friendly manner
Travel Design & Planning means we build your itinerary for you optimizing your goals, intentions, and travel desires. This option shares aspects of our coaching services, while fully planning and preparing you for your holistic growth journey. We will manage and make your travel arrangements, including booking tours/activities, transportation and accommodations, and you will receive all the coaching perks and ongoing during-travel support that accompanies a Create Joy designed and planned experience.
Travel Design & Planning is great for those who are:
- New to traveling and are uncertain of how to build, manage, and arrange an impactful travel itinerary
- Looking to explore multiple destinations with varying experiences or multiple itinerary stops
- Companion travelers, couples, or immediate family members looking for a shared goal or bonding experience, but collectively do not have time to build an itinerary based on the shared and individual goals of everyone involved.
- Lacking time to plan and budget an impactful itinerary
- Looking to be relatively hands-off in the design and planning process, but want an impactful experience based on personal goals
Planning a growth-orientated and transformational travel experience requires trust and understanding between the traveler and the coach/planner. At Create Joy, we don’t just ask you to jump into this journey without knowing Create Joy is right for you. We look at your perceived challenges, as well as your desired goals, whether you already have them defined, or we support you in determining what they are. We explore your WHY, who you are, your routine and comfort zone, and dive into how Create Joy can help you.
We are transparent about our process and want you to feel comfortable working through your journey with us. Before signing the proposal and service contract, we provide you with a goal worksheet and questionnaire, and we set up a 30-minute Exploration call to determine if we are aligned to move forward together.
We understand that one of the challenges of travel is time. Some travelers have more time to dedicate to the planning and preparation process than others. We work with you to determine the best services for you based on your perceived challenges and goals, and the time you have available. You can look to coaching if you have more time to give to the planning process, or you can utilize our design and planning services if you feel overwhelmed by a lack of time.
What Create Joy asks of our travelers is that you are committed to the recommended preparations before you embark on your travels. This could be wellness (physical or mental) preparation, or it could be learning-based preparation to help you navigate the unknowns that may arise during travel. Understanding your time constraints will enable us to recommend preparation that fits into your schedule. We provide the resources and support necessary to achieve your goals, so you can have a transformational travel experience. We ask that you take the time to prepare and empower yourself to be successful.
We build a customized proposal and package based on your challenges and goals. Our packages start between $450 and $1000, and we are happy to share them with you. In addition, we work with you based on your budget, creating flexible payment plans that suit your needs.
Travel planning alone can take an abundant amount of time. Without a travel industry network or planning experience, the detailed research, and understanding of how to make your trip impactful and transformational can take 6- 8 hours per travel day. There is also the added time of back-and-forth communication between you and tours, attractions, and destinations, and with anyone else traveling with you. For a 5-day travel experience, you are most likely spending a whole work week (40 hours) planning and communicating before your 5-day trip.
In addition, some find the task of defining their WHY and planning impactful travel experiences around personal goals and qualities to be extremely time-consuming and daunting. Whether you want to learn and handle planning your travel experience, utilizing our travel coaching services, or you want Create Joy to handle the designing and planning for you, our resources and services help reduce or eliminate the time required to research and plan a transformational travel experience.
Impactful, sustainable, and authentic travel and experiences do not have to be costly. Create Joy uses multiple tools to monitor and track transport, accommodation, and tour costs to find the best price and overall experience for you. Create Joy also offers budget guidance and management to save time by monitoring costs and money, guiding you to or booking those savings for you.
Our process incorporates support and guidance into every step, whether you are receiving coaching services, or we are designing and planning your trip for you. We have spent more than two years developing and testing our process to help travelers achieve personal goals, overcome travel challenges, and take transformational journeys.
Create Joy’s process is community-minded, educational, earth-friendly, open-minded. We built our process to foster curiosity and ambitious-thinking, ensuring every stage is supportive and guides you easily from turning dreams into realities. You will find that we believe in you, encouraging you toward the empowered and capable person you are. And, we will be here for you from the initial stages of personal-development and travel planning, until your journey reflection.
Our process is flexible and adaptable so we can accommodate solo travelers, couples, friends, and immediate family members with different goals and challenges.
Personal Growth + Travel
Goal-oriented travel refers to the practice of setting specific objectives or intentions for a trip, which can greatly enhance the overall travel experience, prompting benefits that will last a lifetime. By having a clear purpose, intention, and goal in mind, you can turn a travel experience into something transformational.
To learn more about how goal and intention-setting can create a transformational experience, check out our blog: Why Set Goals and Intentions For Travel?
Here at Create Joy, we stand by the belief that travel is one of the most fulfilling and expansive ways to bring about personal growth and transformation. Travel can be mind, body, and soul-driven, it can revolve around experiences that challenge one’s comfort zone, it can broaden perspectives and instill a sense of self-fulfillment.
To get inspired and learn more about how travel can be a powerful tool for personal growth and transformation, check out our blog: Seek, And You Shall Receive.
That’s what we are here for. As our Founder understands, manifesting a life-changing journey is a big undertaking. And, how do you find that motivation, encouragement, and support that will propel you into action? That’s where Create Joys shines! We meet you where you are, and provide the resources and support that will make you feel confident, prepared, and able to achieve your goals with transformational travel.
To learn more, read our blog: She Believed She Could, So She Did!
At Create Joy, learning and education are paramount to our company values. We promote immersion in different cultures, exploring unfamiliar landscapes, and engaging with diverse communities. Through travel you gain exposure to new ideas, beliefs, and ways of life. This exposure in turn sparks curiosity, resilience, and flexibility within us, cultivating personal growth through the development of invaluable life skills. In addition, when we travel, we become connected to places and individuals, gaining insight into their joys, struggles, and aspirations. Ultimately, we see travel as a mechanism of social change that breaks down barriers and cultivates a more inclusive worldview.
Life-long learning means opening your mind and soul to new ways of life. Travel provides us with the opportunity to challenge our preconceived notions and biases. When we encounter different cultures and perspectives, we are confronted with alternative ways of thinking, living, and learning. By embracing the unknown, we expand our knowledge of the world. Travel is a catalyst for personal growth, allowing you to continuously learn, evolve, and become better versions of yourself – the definition of life-long learning.
Goals are specific, measurable, and tangible results that one wants to achieve. They are often set and tracked. For instance, a goal can be to learn Spanish on your next trip to Costa Rica, or to hike the elevation of Everest on a trip to the United States Northwest. Goals are often what drive travelers, making them focused and motivated toward transformation.
Intentions are about the energy or attitude that a traveler brings to their experiences. Each goal should have intentions. If your goal is to learn Spanish in Costa Rica, then you may set intentions to be open-minded, friendly, and confident. If you want to climb the elevation of Everest during a trip to the US Northwest, then your intentions could be to be strong even when uncomfortable, to think positively even when things may not go as planned, and to persevere when you feel like giving up. Taking your intentions and using them as mantras can support you in times of adversity during travel. Intentions also lend their hand to habit change. Intentions are the mental and emotional roadmap that guides you toward your goals.
Outcomes are the positive results you retain from achieving your goals and utilizing your intentions. They are the “WHY” behind setting goals and intentions. In the given examples above, the benefit of learning Spanish in Costa Rica could be understanding another culture, understanding different ways of living (Pura Vida), forming new ways of problem-solving, and becoming more social while facing the challenge of language barriers. If you climbed the elevation of Everest during your trip to the US Northwest, the outcomes from preparation, intentions, and accomplishment of your goal might be a change in attitude and routine behavior, development of mindful and healthy habits, increased positivity, increased courage and empowerment, and so much more.
In essence, outcomes are the destination, goals are the journey, and intentions are the map.
Partners
Create Joy is an ally of the Transformational Travel Council, a beautiful source for travel and experience partners who facilitate sustainability, personal growth, and learning. In addition, we are students of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, created by the UNWTO, UN Environment, Rainforest Alliance, and the United Nations Foundation. They have set the standards and criteria for sustainable tourism across the globe.
We continue to network and build partnerships with emerging and established social enterprise entities, such as EarthCheck, Green Destinations, and more. And, you can be sure our partners have been vetted and uphold the GSTC-certified criteria or similar green initiatives, as well as the three pillars of impactful travel.