From weekend hotels and rental cars to flights, trains, resorts, and complete vacations, Travel With Shipley can help you plan much more than a cruise.
When people hear that I’m a travel advisor, they often assume I only plan big, once-in-a-lifetime vacations. And when they hear cruises are my specialty, they may assume every trip I book has to involve a ship.
It does not.
I love helping people find the right cruise line, ship, itinerary, and stateroom—but that’s only part of what I do. Travel comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes it’s a week at sea. Sometimes it’s a flight across the country, a train through the mountains, or a hotel and rental car for a quick weekend away.
Your trip doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive, international, or tied to a special occasion to be worth planning. If you’re ready to go somewhere, I can help you explore the best options for your time, budget, and travel style.
Not every getaway requires months of planning—or a passport.
Maybe you want to spend a few nights at the beach, explore a nearby city, attend a concert, celebrate an anniversary, or simply get out of the house for the weekend. I can help you find a hotel or resort that fits the experience you want and the budget you have in mind.
If you also need a rental car, I can help with that too. A short trip may look simple, but choosing the right location, comparing room types, and coordinating transportation still takes time. Instead of bouncing between multiple websites, you can tell me what you need—and I’ll help bring the pieces together.
Air travel isn’t always part of an elaborate vacation. Sometimes you need a flight to visit family, attend a wedding, take a quick business trip, catch a cruise, or get somewhere without spending hours on the road.
I can help you explore flight options and connect them with the rest of your plans. That could mean adding a hotel near the airport, arranging a rental car after you land, or building in an extra night before a cruise so you’re not racing to the port on embarkation day.
The goal isn’t simply to get you on an airplane. It’s to make sure your flight actually works with the entire trip.
Sometimes getting there is one of the best parts of the experience.
Train travel can be a relaxing alternative to driving or flying—whether you’re traveling between cities or looking for a scenic journey. It can also be a highlight of a bigger vacation that includes hotels, tours, flights, or even a cruise.
If you’ve thought about traveling by train but aren’t sure where to begin, tell me what kind of experience you want. We can explore how rail travel fits into your overall plan instead of treating it like a separate puzzle you have to solve on your own.
A hotel can be somewhere you sleep for one night—or it can be the reason you take the trip.
I can help with practical airport stays, comfortable hotels for family visits, weekend escapes, all-inclusive resorts, and memorable properties in destinations around the world. The right choice depends on what matters to you: location, atmosphere, amenities, convenience, accessibility, relaxation, or simply staying within a comfortable price range.
You don’t need to know the exact hotel before contacting me. Start with the destination, dates, and what you want the stay to feel like, and we’ll work from there.
Sometimes the best vacation begins in your own driveway—or at a rental-car counter.
A rental car gives you the freedom to explore at your own pace, travel beyond the major tourist areas, or turn one destination into several. It can also solve a practical need when you fly into a city and want reliable transportation for the rest of your stay.
Whether the car is the beginning of the adventure or simply one part of it, I can help you fit it into the overall plan.
Cruising remains one of my favorite ways to travel—and one of the areas I know best. A cruise can combine transportation, accommodations, dining, entertainment, and multiple destinations into one vacation. But choosing the right cruise is about much more than finding the lowest advertised fare.
Different cruise lines, ships, cabin categories, departure ports, and itineraries create very different experiences. I can help you compare the options and narrow in on what fits the way you want to travel.
I can also help with the parts surrounding the cruise, including flights, pre- or post-cruise hotels, and rental cars. Your vacation begins before you step onboard—those details matter.
The most important part of travel planning isn’t any single reservation. It’s making sure all the pieces make sense together.
A flight should work with your cruise departure. A hotel should be in a location that supports what you want to do. A rental car should fit your schedule. A train journey should connect naturally to what comes next.
That’s where working with a travel advisor can be especially helpful. You can share the whole trip—not just one booking—and I can help you explore options with the bigger picture in mind.
Travel is personal. There’s no single type of trip that works for everyone, and there’s no minimum “size” a trip must reach before you can ask me for help.
You may be planning a cruise, a long-awaited international adventure, a relaxing resort stay, or two nights somewhere close to home. You may already know exactly where you want to go—or you may only know you need a break.
Either way, we can start there.
Cruises are my specialty—but they’re not my only superpower.
Click below today to browse travel options, contact me for personalized help, or check out the latest posts on my travel blog.
— RC Shipley
Travel With Shipley