Episode 6: Keith Waldon of Departure Lounge

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Journeys Profile. Today we are joined by Keith Waldon, the owner of Departure Lounge. Keith, you're very welcome.

[00:00:07] Thank you. Nice to be here.

[00:00:08] It's fantastic to have you Keith. Not look for those that don't know. Can you give us a background yourself and then we'll come to the company?

[00:00:14] Let's see. I am 58 years old born in a small town in North East Texas.

[00:00:20] Got involved in luxury travel when I was 20 years old.

[00:00:23] As at first a marketing intern for Roswell hotels wound up working for Roswell for several years through college after college.

[00:00:32] I didn't want to work for API travel consultants which became virtual.

[00:00:37] And that was one of my projects that I did there was the rebranding to create virtual.

[00:00:43] So as a brand, I was there 16 years and then 11 years ago, launched a kind of new concept for luxury travel agency,

[00:00:52] which is Departure Lounge. And we just celebrated our 11th anniversary of this past August.

[00:00:57] No, then can I ask you, give us a background to the company? What made you start it in the first place?

[00:01:03] Well, as far as Departure Lounge, I've been with both on the supplier side with Roswell and then with virtual also.

[00:01:12] I could see kind of full circle in the industry and my role at virtual also included working with outside industries that were catering to a fluent consumers.

[00:01:24] And because of my insight to these other companies and the other industries, I could see that our the travel agency industry was decades behind on technology compensation business model.

[00:01:38] And it was concerning to me, I really did not have a dream of owning a travel agency or having 300 bosses which I do today.

[00:01:49] But I felt compelled, I so in love with the virtual also network in particular and all the different constituents on the agency side and the supplier side and frankly, I was concerned about the future of the industry.

[00:02:04] This sort of been 12 years ago when the started to germinate and I wasn't seeing the young talented top people coming into the industry.

[00:02:17] Not only were they weren't flowing in at a rapid pace then, they didn't even know it was a career option because agencies were so invisible and many ways.

[00:02:27] And so that's what really made me think, okay, how do we rethink how to do a luxury travel agency with a different business model, different compensation approach and also a different way of engaging with the public to be on their radar.

[00:02:47] And that's really what kind of germinated the original departure lounge concept.

[00:02:52] Keith, will you take us through the background to the funding of the company? So very brave thing to do to start a company from scratch.

[00:03:00] What was your thinking as you were going through that process and can you give us an idea of how the first couple years were?

[00:03:08] Well, you know, departure lounge started as a retail storefront concept. The name departure lounge is because we were a high-end coffee and wine lounge.

[00:03:17] That was high tech with large touch screens that were the first of their kind at that time.

[00:03:24] And it was both a coffee and wine bar and a luxury travel agency, smooshed together.

[00:03:29] And frankly, it was a laboratory for us to try all of these new concepts and see what was affected, what wasn't, what was enjoyable, what wasn't all of those things.

[00:03:40] And we knew going into it that we would learn a lot. And my job was to pay attention and to put more gas and effort behind the things that work that we enjoyed.

[00:03:53] And pump the brakes on the things that didn't work or we didn't enjoy.

[00:03:56] And that's really how departure lounge evolved. And we evolved from what was then, I retail storefront concept.

[00:04:03] And now a global host agency, which we now have advisors on four continents. We have no storefronts anymore because social media has allowed that engagement with prospective clients to effectively happen without needing that gimmick of the storefront that we used to have.

[00:04:25] And I don't say gimmick in a bad way. It was a great, it was really a great force for us to ride for our first several years in business to establish ourselves on a local level and because it was so unique.

[00:04:38] It also helped us establish ourselves on a global level because people were talking about it.

[00:04:42] And that helped draw amazing talent into departure lounge. And then we just continued and we still do evolve constantly.

[00:04:53] Our programs are offerings, our compensation strategies and recent years we've evolved to support teams. So we have small to mid-sized agencies that actually come in as an independent company coming in and being an IC or with departure lounge.

[00:05:09] So we've evolved into kind of a set of these really the luxury travel advising world. And we're very, very careful about who we bring in. We bring in both veteran advisors as well as new to industry if they've got all the right things that we know will help make them successful and also be a good part of our culture, which we are really focused on kindness and professionalism.

[00:05:34] So we all kind of agree that it's just not worth it if we're not dealing with people that we really enjoy. And so there's a high level of engagement, there's a high level of kindness and just being nice to each other to the support teams to our partners in the industry.

[00:05:52] And that is really what our reputation has founded on. You mentioned 300 balsies there. Would you say some more words about that please?

[00:05:59] So my mentality about our travel advisors is they're choosing to work with us, the choosing us as a support service. So I work for them.

[00:06:09] The staff of the Parklands we work for these advisors so they really are our bosses. So when I say I've got 300 bosses, I mean it. And that because I mean it and my team we mean it.

[00:06:20] It means that we all of our hours and all of our resources are focused on how can we make things better for advisors. How can we give them a better selling advantage in the marketplace?

[00:06:32] How can we bring efficiencies to the table to make their life easier or take less time to do something? And then how can we bring more enjoyment into the profession as well?

[00:06:42] And so that's our focus every day is making things better for the advisor and also for their clients and them, and you know as part of that as well.

[00:06:53] So with that mentality it really helps us do a really good job for our advisors globally and we mean it and hopefully that shows. I think that's why we've had a really high level of retention of our advisors and certainly they're doing extremely well.

[00:07:10] We're on pace to sell $400 million this year with less than 300 advisors. So that's a huge average sale for advisor considering that we add 30 to 35 each year that are new to industry they're starting from scratch.

[00:07:24] So super proud of that average and then our folks on the hotel side tell us that our ADR as an agency is up there at the top or amongst the top globally for them as well.

[00:07:38] So we're selling the best product of the best products and that makes you popular as well with our partners. But when I ask when I talk to any of our partners at conferences or gatherings, the first thing out of their mouths is how much they enjoy working with a departure lounge advisor and that is very consistent and as long as that stays the case I'll be happy man.

[00:08:00] You mentioned kindness there keep that can come across as easy or perhaps even flipping it. But how have you installed those kind of values around kindness?

[00:08:12] Would you say a little bit more about you attitude to that from a culture standpoint creating that culture and then maintaining it?

[00:08:18] The culture really became kind of congealed and defined in year five. I realized how important it was. I had a series of events that happened that made me kind of really think about it and make some changes. I removed some advisors from our team at that time.

[00:08:34] They were not bad people. They just did not fit the culture they weren't as nice as I would have liked for them to be. So help them find other places and then really kept really focused on I added language into our contact with our independent contractors. It's a code of conduct.

[00:08:52] And it really defines how to behave with our partners with each other and just in things like when you're on a familiarization trip or you're attending a call for and so you're doing a side inspection. Just minimum levels of required behavior. So for those that are confused.

[00:09:13] Or as we would say in the South, maybe the parents and raise them right. We've spelled it out but it's not we're not trying to create duplicates. We have a lot of diversity on our team and I celebrate that. And so we've got every style of person, every color of person, every gender preference of person and all super welcome. I'm a gay man, owner of the agency.

[00:09:42] And so I really celebrate diversity, but the requirement is truly kindness and I think you have to demonstrate that. It can't be lip service. So and you also have to enforce it. So I have to be the one who enforces the rules. Occasionally has to remove somebody from the team. Thankfully that's been very rare.

[00:10:04] But I'm committed to doing that because what's left is an amazing cultural and amazing group of people. We really are very happy to work with each other, have lives together. You know this is a relationship driven business. So we truly do enjoy interacting with each other.

[00:10:24] Do you see that culture then reflecting into the end client? Could you talk about how you're hearing the end customer reacting to that culture experience?

[00:10:33] Well I'll tell you, you know good people attract good people. And we and then occasionally you know there's a client that comes along that's not good and they're not worth the challenges that they present.

[00:10:50] And we all are very supportive of each other of move on from that client. You know, don't don't dilly dialing and cut bait as we say and move on because that type of client will just run your day if not your week, if not your month and give you an ulcer.

[00:11:09] And it's just not worth it at any point. You know I just had an advisor that you know had to come to this decision for a client that was booking a $250,000 to far but the client was just a nightmare.

[00:11:20] Didn't fit our culture at the partial lounge certainly didn't fit this advisor and so you know she had to make the decision that she's just moving on. So that kindness, you know,

[00:11:33] connection drills down all the way to the client as well as well as our partners. I mean, our partners we don't do any recruitment for advisors most of the time a veteran advisor here's about us from our supplier partners.

[00:11:50] And the supplier will say, hey, you know, I think that you would be a really good fit for the partial lounge. They're not talking about their sales they're talking about their personality and the level of kindness that they have demonstrated in the relationship that's been built with that supplier partner.

[00:12:06] So, and we also were not focused even though we're doing quite well in sales. We don't drive people to sell more you've never hear me talking about sell more we have a minimum level of sales to stay on the team it's really low.

[00:12:21] It's just high enough to keep people away that want the title of travel advisor, but they don't really want to sell because our commitment to all of our partners is that anybody on our team is legitimate and really selling.

[00:12:33] But some of those are in their retirement years, but they still want to work part time. So they may, you know, not be focused on selling a million dollars a year higher.

[00:12:45] But we have a lot of advisors that are selling multiple millions of dollars a year and are so good at what they're doing. And they've really figured out how to establish themselves and market themselves.

[00:12:58] And then they're so willing to help others coming up behind them at the partial lounge and elsewhere on figuring out how to do that successfully. So it's a really beneficial group of people to be a part of.

[00:13:13] Now you mentioned those new in do you mean fresh out of university for example or something like that?

[00:13:18] It's not always like fresh to the job market. It's also fresh to the role oftentimes it's a career pivot and it could be someone that's, you know, on their 20s or it could be someone in their 60s are 70s that are doing a career pivot.

[00:13:32] And so they're new to the role of travel advisor. This year our rookie class, which means they've just completed their first full year as a travel advisor and they've been with us.

[00:13:45] We have our top 10 finalists for rookie over a year sold almost 15 million dollars for just 10 advisors in their first full year as an advisor.

[00:13:54] I think it has to be the best producing rookie class in the history of the industry because if you look at the rest of the rookies in that class.

[00:14:03] I think it's close with like $26 million in total from the rookie class alone, which is just remarkable. It's much higher than what we could typically see in the past on an average.

[00:14:17] So it's good to of course travel demand has been at a super all-time high, which doesn't hurt.

[00:14:22] I was going to ask you about that. But just before we come to demand, what are you seeing in the context of technology? How are you leading in technology? You've mentioned that as a key differentiator certainly in the past, but would you say some words on that?

[00:14:37] Yeah actually so back in 2020 when we all got to stay home for a year.

[00:14:42] We use that year to rethink our technology and strengthen it. And so we provide a series of platforms to our advisors.

[00:14:52] One is to gravify as our key partner on the proposal and travel document space, which in the app.

[00:14:59] So clients can see everything in their smartphone.

[00:15:01] We have a customized booking platform that pulls all of our preferred programs into one place.

[00:15:07] So an advisor can book into 35 different preferred agency programs. They can book into our own preferred programs. They can book virtual, so rates.

[00:15:18] There's all kinds of bells and whistles they can do with that. They can do it on a comparison level of, you know, here's seven flights for you to look at or here's six hotels and Paris.

[00:15:27] For you to look at what the rates for the dates that you're interested in.

[00:15:32] And the way that they send it can be either information only or it can be set up where the client can actually select and pay in. It gets booked automatically.

[00:15:41] And the advisor gets a notice.

[00:15:43] We also do that in a way that supports the individual brands of the advisors and their companies. So probably 70% are close to it.

[00:15:52] The advisors have their own brands. The rest use the departure lounge brand. We don't carry either way, but we're fully set up to support the individual brands.

[00:16:01] So the booking platform can be customized with the branding of the advisor.

[00:16:05] We also have client facing booking platforms that the advisor can put in front of their clients. That's password protected, but it allows the client to book their own hotels and rent a cars

[00:16:16] And still get all the upgrades and perks that we qualify for as departure lounge.

[00:16:21] And then the advisor gets a notification and reaches back out to the client and say, okay, I see you booked this property for these days and let's talk about the rest of the trip. What else can I help you with?

[00:16:33] So that has been a surprising success because there's so much to do it yourself.

[00:16:40] And type clients that they still like to work with the travel advisor because they know that added value that can be created.

[00:16:48] And then they usually learn over time that there's much more than that than an advisor brings to the table by being their backup before doing and after a trip and making all the magic happen and doing all the work.

[00:17:01] So but there's still a strong do it yourself.

[00:17:04] Type of clientele that wants to be really involved in the research and the planning because they really enjoy that.

[00:17:09] And the booking platform enables those particular clients to do that and enjoy it without taking business away from the travel advisor.

[00:17:18] If I did an interview with Stella from Wellness Escape recently and I asked her a question, I said, are we allowed to mention the C word?

[00:17:25] The the the the Covid word and she was not happy. Not happy to hear that you were over it is done but I want to what's your perspective on that covid bonds back.

[00:17:36] Okay, so she doesn't want to jinx the the fuck yeah it's it's up swing and travel has been remarkable, you know we.

[00:17:45] Two years ago and our ninth year we surpass a hundred million in sales the next year we hit two hundred and eight million so we more than doubled ourselves.

[00:17:55] And then this year we're on a pace to hit 400 million so part of that is new advisors joining but a large part of it is just growth and sales across all of our advisors so we had a.

[00:18:08] Last month I checked we were 71% up over year over year and total sales over the previous 12 months so the demand is there not only is the demand there but the.

[00:18:22] Calibre of the product is super high it's people not only wanted to travel but they want the best of the best they're now planning much further out so that they can get exactly what they want.

[00:18:34] So there's been a good bit of stabilization because coming out of covid it was craziness you know I want to leave next Thursday and I also want to plan my next three trips because they had you know start they were so stark crazy from being captured.

[00:18:48] So now things have stayed well out of bit people planning much further down the road but part of that is they know they have to.

[00:18:56] And so we have to get an order to get exactly what they want that specific suite at that particular hotel and that amazing location during the prime time of the year to be there.

[00:19:08] So they've they've learned that they've got to think further down and the advisor certainly has a role in that and teaching them okay you really need to be thinking about spring break at this time where you need to.

[00:19:19] I think you know your holiday get away for next year at this time where that if you really want to do that dream family so far and 2026 this is the time where we need to capture exactly what that isn't get it but.

[00:19:32] So and you know thankfully the especially with American clients.

[00:19:38] The economy has sent it can continue to be so robust and people's investment portfolios have had really double digit growth.

[00:19:48] So regardless of the banter and the presidential campaigns the reality is that people have gotten wealthier and wealthier and they continue to want to spend that on travel.

[00:19:58] And I think the the COVID hangover is good because it reminded us all that tomorrow is not guaranteed and don't put things off and I think.

[00:20:08] What you've seen in the marketplace is people are certainly not putting things off they're going and they're doing from your vantage point key what can the trends are you seeing.

[00:20:17] What are you hearing then in terms of the dollar spend you know is the attention and international travels far flung near show near shore what are you seeing and what's hot right now as the phrase goes oh well I mean.

[00:20:32] You know I think there's there's kind of a trend of a flung at clients trying to figure out how to stay away from crowds.

[00:20:42] Which is a might be a COVID hangover of people getting picked out of not being in crowds but I think it's also just you can't enjoy.

[00:20:49] And I think that's a place if it's too crowded particularly if it's also hot at the same time.

[00:20:55] So I think a flung of clients are looking for amazing experiences that are not crowds and not.

[00:21:03] Climate issues that are going to make it oppressive.

[00:21:07] So it's interesting and there's definitely with climate change there's a change on some of the places that we would normally send people certain times of year and you know Italy now you which.

[00:21:19] It's used to be more seasonal as now not seasonal people are going year round they're going in December and they're going in January so that they can avoid crowds so they can experience Florence without you know having millions of people walking the streets with them at the same time.

[00:21:36] So it's good for certain destinations I think some of the climate stuff is going to be a challenge with for other destinations because the heat's getting more oppressive or the weather's getting more unstable.

[00:21:50] So yeah it's interesting times you know we are parts of Asia are coming back India has come back South America has come back Japan is super hot New Zealand is very popular and so.

[00:22:05] Yeah all of those all of those things were happy to see no to demand thank you what are your expectations on how demand will flow over the next year in a bit if you got a perspective on on how things might be changing.

[00:22:18] Well I mean we have no reason to think it's going to change negatively at this point I think we're all kind of waiting to see what happens with the presidential election in November and what impact that could have or not have.

[00:22:33] On the economy and travel patterns you know we've been fortunate this year typically in a presidential election year it will be a slow down year because.

[00:22:46] In the past the political parties have been effective at creating a feeling of economic woes which can be a slow down and I feel because oftentimes has nothing to do with the actual economy.

[00:23:02] And this year that has been tried but the public hasn't changed their habits we did not really see any kind of slow down we obviously have seen a great increase in travel with our clients so.

[00:23:16] I'm happy that that was the case particularly since in past presidential elections that hasn't been the case I think people also.

[00:23:25] We're so used to misinformation at this point it's made everybody super skeptical about what they're hearing.

[00:23:50] Check books and bank accounts to see how they're doing and they're done quite well you know I would say most people have seen 15 to 20% increase in their portfolios over the past year alone so it's not a dire situation of any kind regardless of some of the drama in the.

[00:24:10] Political campaigns I wonder if you could talk about customer discovery and what's driving that so perhaps maybe 10 or 12 years ago when you were thinking about starting the company.

[00:24:20] I would imagine that it was very much a mainstream media focus on terms of discovery would that be very to say keep you know however you've seen the customer discovery journey change.

[00:24:32] Well I can you know I next year will be my 39th year and the luxury travel business and I my background is public relations media relations.

[00:24:42] And in my first years in the business the traditional media was key you know if you your property was Robin leaches life styles of the rich and famous or it was a big feature in travel and leisure or departures.

[00:24:58] That was a rainmaker event and now you've got media outlets so much more dissected and the much smaller and the readership has in many cases gone down on the traditional media and splintered into all these other outlets.

[00:25:17] But I think that just in the 11 years that we've been up and we've seen a drastic change in the impact of social media and how targeted it can be.

[00:25:27] And so I think you know it really is people's friends that are influencing them the most because interest brands are going and having experiences and they're posting them they're sharing it real time and that it's having an impact on the recipient of that and they're like I have to go do that I want to go do that.

[00:25:46] And sometimes that influencer is the problem. I mean our advisors are so good with social media themselves and sharing what they're experiencing and where they're going and that drives a ton of business.

[00:25:58] But their clients are also just as influential or more so and then the clients send the business to the advisor because when their friend reaches out and says hey how did you make that happen.

[00:26:09] Then that client saying here is my travel advisor at the partial lounge that did that so yeah social media has really really really changed and evolved and a great way.

[00:26:20] And these past 10 12 years or so.

[00:26:24] Keith we have various different types of suppliers listening what message have you got for them especially the ones that perhaps they don't know you how would they attract the departure line detention.

[00:26:35] Our director partner relations is Lauren LaCore and she's just magic and what she does she manages our preferred programs that we're a part of she manages our own preferred program which is called the Park's lounge VIP.

[00:26:48] We're very selective on bringing partners into our program.

[00:26:53] A lot of different criteria we actually vote on it at the advisor level to make sure that it's the right fit and that the support for the product is going to be there.

[00:27:02] And then it's very relationship focused as a primary contact with that product that we work with very closely similar to how we interact with ourselves.

[00:27:11] So we're all about preferred relationships you know we when you look at our business annually a huge percentage of it is within the preferred networks that were part of be it virtual so are the 35 preferred agency programs like for seasons preferred or rosewood elite and all the others.

[00:27:31] And then our own preferred program as well and so our advisors are you know their focuses to.

[00:27:39] Work with that product number one entirely vetted it's best in the world we've got incredible partners that are managing that business on the ground for us to make sure the client experience is top notch and upgraded with all the bells and whistles.

[00:27:52] And then oftentimes that because of the preferred agreements it's higher compensation for the advisor as well so they've got the financial incentive for their business.

[00:28:03] And it really is staying within that preferred product where I'm as the product where the advisor truly does have a selling advantage in the marketplace over the client looking at themselves.

[00:28:15] So it's just logical.

[00:28:16] Keith I wanted to ask about you yourself.

[00:28:20] I've got some questions that we ask all of our guests here on journeys profile so standby.

[00:28:25] And if you're not able to answer it's okay, it's okay I understand but question one I'd like to ask what is an undiscovered gem hotel destination or an experience.

[00:28:36] Gosh you know and this world of target be you can't be undiscovered and keep your doors up and so that's kind of.

[00:28:42] Got to be discovered to some degree I would say one of my favorites that's you know just open and recent years is the Palazzo portanae savatia and Florence which is my favorite city in the world and I live half the year soon to be more than that.

[00:28:59] And Northwest Huskney I have a home over there and then have another older state that I'm.

[00:29:03] Venturing into restoring over the next few years that will be my permanent home at some point when it gets finished and so that.

[00:29:12] Closeness to Florence is important to me and that property it's just a ten accommodation property that's just spectacular it's a former childhood home of Cosmo Medici and it's eight sweets to incredible luxury guest rooms got a Michelin restaurant it's got its own spa the GM is from.

[00:29:33] I've been on the day the chef is from four seasons for it's just incredible and it's the heart of Florence right off of.

[00:29:46] So if you have not seen that place get there it's incredible and the what is preserved and the frescoes and the carvings.

[00:29:57] And the way the building was kept pristine is extremely impressive so I love that place as a supplemental question there when did you first visit Florence gosh.

[00:30:09] I was in my twenties what was it the drew there you know my dad served in World War II and fought all through Italy he started in Morocco went to Sicily came up all the way through Italy.

[00:30:23] And actually in the region where I purchased my home and so I grew up hearing stories of Italy he would talk about how beautiful it was he wouldn't talk about the war but he talked about Italy.

[00:30:35] So I was kind of already in love with Italy before I got there and then when I got there it grabbed me right away I've always been drawn to old things and history and architecture and art.

[00:30:44] And people with character with big hearts and big personalities and of course amazing food and drink doesn't hurt either so Italy's got all the things.

[00:30:57] And my mom used to say when I was a baby and I first learned to crawl she could set me in the middle of any room and I would spin around once and take it all in and then I would dart towards the oldest thing in the room whether that was.

[00:31:10] I'll be so furniture or a person I was attracted to the oldest thing so Italy works really well for that as I'm continue to be a child inside although it's an 58 year old package these days so.

[00:31:23] Yeah, I love law flooring to me you know many cities on the planet take energy from man I have like a four day maximum New York is a great example of New York but if I'm there for more than four days I feel depleted something about four times I think because it's more of a pedestrian city.

[00:31:41] Does not do that it doesn't take energy for give me energy instead of taking it and so I can spend a lot of and 2022 and 2023 I rented an apartment and the core of flooring for two three months of a time which is how I got comfortable with the idea of buying a ride with you it was a step.

[00:32:00] But yeah, Florence just is one of my heart for sure. I love it. It's an amazing city

[00:32:05] Okay, so that's the undiscovered gem thank you

[00:32:08] You have another option here though, right? Because the question is what's your favorite hotel?

[00:32:12] So how will you handle that Keith?

[00:32:15] Well, I'm gonna stay in Italy and I'm gonna have to say the four seasons

[00:32:20] Tamina and Sicily is

[00:32:23] Extraordinary and I love

[00:32:26] What the owners have done and what four seasons have done with that property

[00:32:30] It's so incredible. So right now it's hard. You know, I have a lot of favorites

[00:32:36] For many years. It's the Oberoi, but I will as

[00:32:40] And would I pour India and that's still super special place for me? But

[00:32:46] Now for students to turn me and I think right now is in that leader position with me

[00:32:50] Right next question then is about your favorite city and I wonder do you should I say anything?

[00:32:56] Doesn't begin with F any city that doesn't be with F because we always hear about Florence

[00:33:01] What's it? What's a favorite city gosh, you know

[00:33:04] Florence is definitely my favorite

[00:33:08] and

[00:33:09] You know Rome and Milan and Venice or way up there as well

[00:33:18] Outside of Italy. I love Prague. I think Prague is an amazing city

[00:33:23] Of course, I love Paris and London and the states. I really love Charleston

[00:33:29] I think it's a very special. I love Chicago

[00:33:32] As a great in Boston again leaning towards some of the older parts of

[00:33:38] of the states so

[00:33:41] In Texas, you know, I'm here in my home here is in the Hill Country outside of Austin

[00:33:46] So I'm definitely an

[00:33:48] An Austinite and at heart even though I live an hour west of the city in the old country

[00:33:53] And it's been I've lived in this region for since 1998 came down here to raise my child

[00:33:59] And that's been a great thing for for Lily and for me as well and for the business so

[00:34:07] Yeah, but I think soon you'll find me mostly in Italy. My last question for your keys

[00:34:12] What does your perfect vacation look like?

[00:34:15] You know, it's it's been so long since I took kind of just a regular vacation

[00:34:21] You know, we travel so much in this industry tied to business that it's usually a blur a bland a business and pleasure

[00:34:28] And I've got that down. I think we have incredible friends in the business

[00:34:33] So we're always looking to when are we going to see each other again? In fact

[00:34:36] I was texting with friends today about upcoming

[00:34:41] Virtuals of chairman strip in Slovenia and ILTM and Khan and what we're gonna do and when we're gonna see each other

[00:34:48] And then the departure lounge annual meeting is next month and can't cune

[00:34:53] So, you know, you're always

[00:34:55] When you're gonna see your your people again and hang out, but yeah, I mean as far as for me

[00:35:02] a real vacation it is some downtime. It's some quiet

[00:35:08] Both my places where I live are very remote with big sweeping views and very few humans in sight

[00:35:14] In quiet and in nature and I'm an introvert. I like I need my space to kind of refill the tanks

[00:35:22] And so that's where I prefer to live and I really like to vacation in places like that too

[00:35:28] So one of my bucket list is to get myself to New Zealand for a couple of weeks because I know I will love it

[00:35:35] I have not been there yet, but all that I know about it and all that I've seen

[00:35:39] I know it fits right in with what I love the most as far as enjoying this planet

[00:35:46] And I don't like to be too much on the agenda and a true vacation. I like to have a lot of flexibility and kind of

[00:35:56] Do linear into what feels like the right interesting thing to do in the moment

[00:36:00] Which might be set by the pool all day or it might be you know go explore the city depending on what the mood is and

[00:36:07] How crowded it is and how the weather is and all those things so

[00:36:12] But these days because I am splitting time between

[00:36:16] Texas and Tuscany I really enjoy being at home

[00:36:21] And I've traveled so much through so many years that

[00:36:24] I have less interest in getting out there on the road and more interest in being at home and particularly this new project in Italy

[00:36:31] Which is taking in a state that was built between the mid-1500s and

[00:36:37] 1700s and bringing it back up to a new standard and turning that into my home that

[00:36:43] Has my interest right now. How long will that take keep this out of interest?

[00:36:47] Years longer than I would like be a test on patients, but

[00:36:51] Super special place about eight acres of land and a gorgeous old villa that really really

[00:36:58] Needed the love the villa had been taken over by the Germans and World War II and used as a regional headquarters

[00:37:03] And then the allied forces attacked the home and

[00:37:07] This day there's hundreds of bullet holes in the plaster

[00:37:11] So you can still feel what happened in that attack

[00:37:15] And I purchased it from the family that's owned it for more than 200 years and and with the commitment that I'm going to restore it and bring it back up to a top level

[00:37:25] And it's in such a gorgeous region north of Luca and the Garphaniana region and northwest Tuscany. It's really gorgeous

[00:37:33] Excited about that next adventure when we be able to move in do you think he?

[00:37:37] I think a good three years from now will see really dead

[00:37:40] There's in this restoration process things have to go in a certain order right now

[00:37:44] Getting their electrical lines buried right in the front of the property and putting in the first true driveway that the villa will have ever had for

[00:37:54] Automotive vehicles

[00:37:57] And then you know, there's literally there's a series of steps that have to be done in order

[00:38:01] So depends on how quickly each one of those steps can get done so that we can start the next one

[00:38:07] And it's definitely going to require some patients thankfully

[00:38:10] The first place that I purchased over there. I've got it very comfortable and I love spending time there

[00:38:16] And it's only 30 minutes away, so I didn't realize when I bought it that I was really buying a home base

[00:38:22] To enjoy while I was working on something else, but life is full of stage

[00:38:26] I've learned yeah, I've learned to list lean into that. I did not expect

[00:38:31] This past summer to make the decision to buy a second place, but you know sometimes things grab you

[00:38:36] Keith for those who'd love to find out more about the company and yourself what's the right next step?

[00:38:42] You know, go to departurelinos.com

[00:38:44] You'll find all the connectors there

[00:38:47] And check us out and we've got a directory of our advisors background about the company

[00:38:52] You can contact me through there as well so

[00:38:56] Yeah, that's where you find us

[00:38:58] Absolutely fantastic Keith can we say thank you so much for spending this time with us today. This has been wonderful

[00:39:03] Yeah, absolutely my pleasure. Great to speak with you. Thank you very much

[00:39:06] You