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Meet Melissa Downham of Departure Lounge in Stapleton

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Downham.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Melissa. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I kind of stumbled into the travel industry. My husband and I had been living overseas and traveled quite a bit. I had been working as a photographer for over ten years. When we moved back to the United States, we had no plans to slow down our travels. I decided to take what I had learned about traveling with young children and start a travel blog called The Roaming Family. After a few years of blogging, I came upon an article in Forbes about Departure Lounge, a totally unique travel agency in Austin that doubled as a travel agency and wine bar. The owner, Keith Waldon, had been in the industry for years and was making huge waves in the travel industry. On a whim, I called him up and asked if I could train and join his agency. The answer was yes and here I am! I’ve been working as an independent contractor with Departure Lounge ever since. My LLC is called Roaming Family Travel, LLC, but I primarily work under the Departure Lounge branding.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was a slight struggle in the beginning. As an independent contractor, you have to find your own clients. Luckily, as a former owner of a photography studio, I was familiar with marketing myself and all it entails. In addition, I don’t charge travel planning fees. Most agents work completely on commission from the resort or tour operator we book with. It is no extra cost to the client, but it does take some time to start making money. There were definitely some lean months!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Departure Lounge – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Departure Lounge has travel advisors all over the country. We are all independent contractors and all have our own specialties.

My specialty is family travel. So many parents are hesitant to travel with young children – for what I’m sure are pretty obvious reasons. I try to inspire parents to travel with my blog and let them know that it CAN be done. You just have to make minor adjustments to your travel style. It breaks my heart when clients say “Oh, we don’t want to take little Susie to France because she’ll never remember it.” Remembering every experience isn’t a requirement for enjoying and experiencing life. As parents, you’ll remember Little Susie’s face when she sees the Eiffel Tower for the first time. You’ll remember what fun you had on that beach in Mexico when your little one was three. Why is your child required to remember everything? Take the trip and bond as a family.

I’ve also been planning a lot of couples honeymoons and destination weddings lately. It’s so fun to help couples start a life together with a beautifully crafted trip.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Eventually, I would like to have a team in place. Currently, it’s just me and there are times when it’s so busy, I feel like I’m going nuts. Departure Lounge is franchising around the country and in the future, who knows? My husband and I have definitely talked about opening a storefront. Travel agencies are definitely making a come back. People are sick of trying to wade their way through all the online information and online travel agencies such as Expedia, Travelocity and others provide no personalized service. People want to know their travel advisor and there couldn’t be a better time to open a storefront travel agency.

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Image Credit:
All photos Z. Noelle Photography

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